At its TechWorld event in Beijing today, PC giant Lenovo has taken the wraps off the latest member of its ThinkPad family, the new ThinkPad 10. Aiming to straddle the line between traditional notebooks and highly portable tablets, the ThinkPad 10 is a capable Windows 10 slate with an array of accessories to boost productivity.
We've had the opportunity to spend a short time with the new, second-generation ThinkPad 10 in China, and you'll find our hands-on photo gallery and first impressions after the break.
As we've come to expect from the ThinkPad line, there's nothing too ostentatious happening on the outside. The ThinkPad 10 packs its 10.1-inch Full HD panel into an unassuming form factor with rounded top corners. It's powered by an Intel Atom (Cherry Trail) CPU — Z8500 with 2 or 4GB of RAM, or Z8700 with 4GB.
It's neither the thinnest nor the lightest tablet around, however Lenovo promises a capacious 32 watt-hour battery capable of delivering up to 10 hours of real-world productivity.
While the ThinkPad 10 is a tablet at heart, it's augmented by a vast array of accessories — including a folio cover with a flip-out section to allow quick camera access, and as before, a ThinkPad keyboard dock complete with trackpad.
But Lenovo is also positioning this as a business-centric tablet, for buyers who might want the power of a fully-featured Windows machine alongside the portability of a tablet. It might not replace your regular workstation for high-powered tasks, but Lenovo is aiming to pack in enough enterprise functionality to make the ThinkPad 10 a serious contender. As such, the manufacturer has included its ActivePen technology for stylus input, working in tandem with its WRITEit feature, which lets users draw or write directly into any text field. In addition, there's also optional Smart Card and NFC functionality.
We'll need to spend longer with the Lenovo ThinkPad 10 before we come to any firm conclusions. Nevertheless, this interesting modular design could turn a few heads in the coming months. Look for the ThinkPad 10 to launch alongside Windows 10 this August.
