IdeaPad U1 Hybrid and LePad Tablet: Lenovo’s Voltron Re-forms [Hybrid]

a couple of months ago, it seemed like Lenovo’s crazy-neat dual-processor U1 hybrid was pure vaporware . Turns out it just needed a bit retooling. The U1 Hybrid is back, giving Lenovo’s LePad Android tablet a Windows 7 dock. So what’s new?

First and best, Lenovo’s smartly ditched the proprietary interface that made the U1 Hybrid and Skylight smartbook untenable last year. As a substitute, the multitouch, (mercifully) 10.1-inch, 1280×800 LePad tablet will sport Android Froyo , with a Lenovo skin that loosely resembles their plans for a four-paned UI last year. Oh, and whole Flash 10.1 support is planned in addition.

Android 2.2 may put Lenovo a step behind competitors from Motorola, LG, Toshiba, and others who’ve embraced the tablet-friendly Honeycomb , but a minimum of you’ll have access to the Android Market. And who knows? Maybe Lenovo’s custom spin on a tablet OS will come out ahead despite what it’s built on.

The LePad also upgrades to a wicked fast 1.3GHz Snapdragon processor, and is derived with its own 1GB RAM and up to 32GB flash storage. That’s complemented by the U1 base’s 2GB DDR3 memory and 32GB HDD. And speaking of that keyboard shell: when the LePad docks with it, the flexibility-sipping (but lightweight) 1.2GHz Intel CULV I5-540UM takes charge and the operating system instamagically clicks over to Windows 7. Lenovo’s promising what they’ve called Hybrid Switch technology, which supports a ” continuous web experience” -meaning you won’t need to start from zero at any time when you dock or undock LePad.

The shell’s never an excellent notebook; you’ve only got two ports (one USB and one HDMI), and that CPU isn’t going to win many footraces. But whenever you reflect on it as a bonus, as access to a Windows 7 PC while you must actually get a (very) little work done, it actually doesn’t sound so bad.

Of course, whether it’s worth an additional $780 for what amounts to a Windows 7 PC accessory is a unique story. The LePad goes on sale in China this quarter (no word yet on US availability) for the imminently reasonable $520, but the U1 Hybrid (LePad + Windows 7 shell) shall be a $1300 gut punch. At that point, why not just get a LePad and a separate, way more powerful (and cheaper) Windows 7 laptop? Especially if, as apparently, web browsing is the best activity that transfers uninterrupted between tablet and PC mode.

We’ll know more once we get some hands-on time with the U1 this week at CES. Within the meantime, I’m just glad to work out that one of 2010′s most innovative products can also be one of 2011′s.

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This post is tagged: continuous web, ddr3 memory, dual processor, flash storage, proprietary interface, switch technology, web experience