Lenovo outs IdeaPad P1 with Windows 7, shunts it to workers
updated 12:00 am EDT, Wed July 20, 2011
Lenovo IdeaPad P1 a last gasp for Win 7 tablets
Lenovo contributed a third model to its tablet introductions early Wednesday with a lone Intel model. The 10-inch IdeaPad P1 will be one of the last Windows 7 tablets and support both finger-touch and an optional pen. It carries an unnamed 1.5GHz Intel chip (likely an Atom Z670) and will be slightly bulkier than Android models at 0.57 inches thick and a weight just under two pounds.
The company is scarce on most details but is conspicuously shifting it away from home users, where the IdeaPad K1 is seen as a better rival to the iPad. It's considered an ideal option for those who want to work with Office as well as a handful of extras like Flash and HD video.
Timing is unusual for the P1; the design we tried in January won't be available until the fall, just months before Windows 8 arrives. Lenovo didn't say to Electronista whether the new IdeaPad would run Windows 8, although any models that last until mid-2012 would be capable of running the upgrade.
The IdeaPad P1's strategy follows a similar pattern to that of the HP Slate 500. Where it was originally shown as a home model, it was eventually pushed to business and moved back to nearly a year after it was first shown. Unofficially, it's suspected that the lack of a true touch-optimized Windows interface, as well as power-hungry Atom processors, has led them to back away from direct competition with Apple.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
They're never gonna give up
on trying to push Windows 7 tablets to consumers, despite the consumers always pushing back hard. It's a damn Windows netbook without a keyboard. Why the heck would consumers want something like that after they've already tossed their netbooks for iPads?