Introduction

Right now ... tablets are "the hottest" products on the market. Everybody is making them, even Amazon and book sellers have tablets available for sale. And the funny thing is ... they DO actually sell a lot of them! This is all thanks to apps, e-books, e-zines and newspapers, which have been the main driving force for tablet owners.

Now we've all heard of Apple iPads and Android tablets, as they've been around for a number of years, but there is another player lurking in the dark ... Windows RT/8 tablets. These Windows RT/8 tablets have only recently been spotted at keynote speeches and IT exhibitions such as CES. Actual availability of these tablets have been extremely limited, due to several reasons, including a lacklustre Windows 8 apps store, and the confusion over which OS type (Windows RT/8/8 Pro) manufacturers will adopt. Another hurdle is the cost of the components used to cope with the Windows 8 OS, making these tablets hugely expensive when compared to others. An average Windows 8 tablet will probably set you back at least USD $600, RT models will be cheaper and less powerful. With all these negative points stacked up, it's no wonder Windows 8 is getting such bad press, and it doesn't help when there are media groups determined to give Windows 8 a hard time. The only thing I can say is ... let's see for ourselves.

So when we got the chance to take a look at a Windows 8 tablet, we couldn't refuse. Having an actual tablet running Windows 8 Pro in your hands is quite exhilarating feeling, albeit over-rated.

Big PC layers like Dell, HP and Lenovo have been jostling to get their Windows 8 tablets out to mass market for some time now. However, there have been delays over what type of processor different manufacturers will be using ... some opted for an Intel Atom or the more powerful low-voltage Core i5, while other have chosen AMD's APUs ... with some even using Nvidia's mobile chip, the quad-core Tegra. Whatever they use, the bottom line is that it's ultimately governed by the OS ... Windows 8.

In this quick hands-on review, we'll be taking a look at the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 ... It's one of the thinnest and lightest Windows 8 (Pro) powered tablets available on the market. According to Lenovo, it's the tablet you've been waiting for ...

"Three of the world's leading technology companies collaborated to build the world's leading tablet experience. Featuring the best that Lenovo, Microsoft and Intel have to offer, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 redefines business, appeasing IT manager and end user alike in one productive, mobile, reliable device."

The Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 certainly looks attractive, especially with its sleek design and matt finish. Under the bonnet, you'll find the new dual-core Intel Atom processor Z2760 with four-threads, capable of running up to 1.80 GHz. It also features 2GB LPDD2 SDRAM and 64GB (e-MMC) of storage, which is just about enough for most Windows users these days. However having said that, will it really be enough to run a FULL version of Microsoft Office 2010?

The screen is a 10.1 inch (16:9) IPS LED touchscreen (backlight, anti-glare, 5-finger multitouch) and is capable of HD WXGA (1366x768) 720p resolution. For graphics, its powered by an integrated Intel HD SGX545 GFx, supporting 12 bit, 1080p video @30fs and DX9.

All-in-all, the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2 seems to be a very powerful and full-featured tablet that runs Microsoft Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. Let's take a closer look at the specs.

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