Lenovo announces IdeaPad A1, the $199 Android tablet, we go hands-on (video)

If you happen to thought you could not get a true Android tablet from a brand you’ve heard of for under $200, re-examine. Lenovo’s just announced the IdeaPad Tablet A1, a 7-inch Android unit that we got a sneaky first glimpse of back in July. Now it’s real, and it’s cheap, it’s running Gingerbread, and while it doesn’t hold a candle to the Galaxy Tab 7.7 , it honestly appears like something far above its price point. Read on for our impressions.

There are many cheap Android tablets available, but most have sketchy construction and plenty of are locked out of the Android Market — meaning no Gmail app, no Maps, and not one of the other built-in Google goodies. That isn’t the case with the A1, that’s running Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a single-core Cortex A8 processor. It has front- and rear-facing cameras (the back one rated at three megapixels) and a 7-inch, 1,024 x 600 display.

Again, those are specs that do not compare to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, but something tells us you will not manage to score this sort of for the $199 asking price that the A1 starts at. For that you’ll be able to get 8GB of storage, but a 16GB model will opt for $249, 32GB for $299. We’re told only the 16GB and 32GB models may be shipped to america, that’s a bit a shame, as with both microSD and SD expansion it will become fairly easy so as to add more. Connectivity is restricted to WiFi, but there’s a GPS in there, so it may make for a passable navigation device.

This certainly is not the slimmest tablet in the marketplace, but it’s totally comfortable to hang within the hand, and Lenovo says it has the identical type of magnesium alloy rollcage inside as used on ThinkPads, here adding durability and stiffness. Also, it’s available in pink, and also you don’t see that each day on a tablet. We did find the blue a bit of more fetching, but we can’t think less of you for those who choose the more refined black or white options when this thing ships sometime later this year.

Update: In case you’re wondering, yes, we asked if it might be upgraded to Honeycomb. We didn’t get a straight answer, however it didn’t seem particularly likely.

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This post is tagged: asking price, connectivity, durability, first glimpse, gingerbread, impressions, navigation device