thinkpad 2 idle but fun speculation

[comment]

After using the TPT for several months I would like to offer idle but fun advice for the TPT 2 which is not even a rumor yet. 1.) New Tegra 3 Processor and Graphics Processing 2.) Keep all of the current ports 3.) Move the USB port 90 degress to one side 4.) Create a Keyboard folio that uses blu tooth or a special port add another USB port to the folio 5.) Add a flash to an improved rear camera 6.) Do whatever it takes to make the edge connectors more robust physically 7.) Within reason ( cost ) improve the GPS function 8.) Write the definitive note taking / hand writting conversion app 9.) consider using a magnesium or titaniumn case 10.) IR Blaster 11.) write an app that allow you to make phone calls when tehered to your phone as a hot spot 12.) Get rid of the edge buttons ( I like them but dont use them ) 13.) Louder speaker 14.) High speed travel charger 15.) Apps for marking on Pictures and Documents that are easier to use What are your suggestions

[p600]

I have a simpler suggestion

1) Leave Android to consumers and Ideapad line.

2) Make Thinkpad 2 a proper Windows 8 tablet (or choice x86 Android / Windows 8 when ordering), not larger or heavier than TPT, that can survive at least 6 hours on battery and have a normal 1.8" SSD of a reasonable size and speed inside, accept a normal power connector and overall be as good as any proper Thinkpad laptop (i.e. not Edge series). Just a single front camera for Skype calls will do, if you need to save a dollar or two.

That will sort a great deal of issues out of the box, starting from full admin rights, properly made pen input and good Office support, and ending with Linux capability and real software selection.

[Thjalfi]

I wouldn't count on any major breakthroughs with a TPT successor, if there is going to be any. Let's face it, a real digitizer is something of a niche product, not many people think that hey have use for it, save for artists or serious note takers.

Maybe people could realize the benefit of a real digitizer if they used it, but for that you need a snappy, functional device, that is also attractive for non-digitizer users and give them the digitizer as an extra. This though of course would need a serious commitment and resources, both of which Lenovo is not going to dedicate, because at the moment it is just a niche.

At the risk of sounding like a Samsung rep or fanboy (which I'm not), they just might have the reputation and resources to pull off the above mentioned scenario. 

[MouseLuckyDog]

Absolutely positively no Windows!

I don't want to have to reinstall it every five months. I don't want to have to run a virus scan every day. I just don't need the headache ( that a Windows machine comes with ) with my tablet. You want a Windows tablet spend $1500 for a Asus EEE Slate of Samsung Slate. I certainly don't want to pay so much.

As for digitizer, I have a hard time thinging of tablet uses where a pen is not useful ( assuming that you are not already using a typewriter ).  The only real ones are ebook reader, "mp3" player, and video player. Even ebook reader works better with a pen when the books are technical ( who doesn 't write in the margins of their books). In fact I think the biggest untapped sector of the tablet market is the "tablet with pen market". OK. Digitizer's are more then is needed in a pen but still I think they will have big appeal. Google probably thinks so too--otherwise why add digitizer support to ICS?

As a person  who does not an TPT, and is waiting for a TPT2 to buy, here is what I would like to see. Overall the same thing--namely basic ICS, maybe a bit more rootable. New features: 1) Tegra-3, 2) Fix all the nagging hardware issues, smooth out customer support problems, 3) Maybe tweak the memory up a bit.

[jiv]

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p600 wrote:
I have a simpler suggestion

1) Leave Android to consumers and Ideapad line.

2) Make Thinkpad 2 a proper Windows 8 tablet (or choice x86 Android / Windows 8 when ordering), not larger or heavier than TPT, that can survive at least 6 hours on battery and have a normal 1.8" SSD of a reasonable size and speed inside, accept a normal power connector and overall be as good as any proper Thinkpad laptop (i.e. not Edge series). Just a single front camera for Skype calls will do, if you need to save a dollar or two.

That will sort a great deal of issues out of the box, starting from full admin rights, properly made pen input and good Office support, and ending with Linux capability and real software selection.

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I think it would be a good idea to have a standard 20V power connector on the device. That way, we have the option of charging it with a standard ThinkPad laptop charger (eg, the 65W that comes with the X220). But the micro USB charge option should be kept as well. From my experience with Nokia phones, more than 1 charging option is never a bad thing.

[p600]

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I don't want to have to reinstall it every five months. 

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And you don't have to. I don't reinstall Windows every 5 months. Or every 15 months. Have never had any virus problems either in 15+ years of using Windows. All that despite my machines are used quite heavily for development with lots of software, including unfinished and buggy, installed/uninstalled all the time.

I do have a TPT. And I like the size, and the materials used (case could be stronger though), and the screen, and am overall happy with the device after buying a dock, and glueing the buttons, and rooting.

What I don't want anymore is the headache that comes with Android. I don't want to look for a complex and flimsy "solutions" to elementary problems solved decades ago, from proper NTFS support on external devices and ending  with connecting USB speakers/headphones.

I don't want "rootable". I want full admin rights out of the box, and ability to change anything if I choose to. Yet still get all software updates when the OS vendor releases them, not many months later (or never), when the hardware vendor finds me worthy of the update. It's not easy, but "full" OSes have learned how to do that a long time ago.

I want the ability to backup the device, and restore everything the way it was on a new device, not necessarily with the same specs and not necessarily from the same manufacturer.

I don't want to use dumbed-down versions of software, when normal Office and Photophop and Visio and everything else can, finally, run on the portable device not larger than TPT. I want to be able to copy a picture from one application and paste into another, without too many steps. As to pen support, Windows in 2005 was far better thought through out of the box, when it comes to pen input and handwriting recognition, than Android is today.  Windows Journal  (not even mentioning OneNote) is far superior to all Android note-taking apps I've seen on all accounts, from speed to flexibility, usabily and handwriting recognition.  

Again, it's not quite Windows specific really, and any recent Linux distribution would be still better than Android for power users. It was not quite possible to run "full" OS-es on a device with TPT formfactor until recently, but times have changed,  hardware is almost there and "full" OS-es are more touch-friendly than they used to be.

For consumers who use the devices mainly for reading and light browsing Android tables are excellent though. Tegra2 tablets have finally reached their reasonable, "cheaper than the cheapest netbook", price levels of $200-300 per device. EzPDF is an awesome application, and it can cut margins from the books, better using the limited space available at 10" screen. But all that hardly needs pen. iPads are very good for these particular purposes too, are a bit simpler, have great customer support with physical stores, and don't have problems with updates too.

[p600]

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I think it would be a good idea to have a standard 20V power connector on the device. 

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And even the relatively big diameter of the standard plug wouldn't be a problem: Thinkpad's pen storage socket is even larger. 

[Lkbig]

One of the biggest problems with using a windows tablet is the license fee to install the OS. This would inevitably raise the cost of the TPT.

Here's what I would propose for the TPT 2

Android ICS with rapid upgrade to Jellybean when that comes out.

Same ports but like already mentioned, move the USB port 90 OR add a second USB port on one of the sides.

Tegra 3 or Krait S4 either are good but I since Tegra 3 has LTE issues I would expect the S4 chip.

2GB of ram. Supposedly the K1 replace ment (look up K2010 on Youtube) has this.

Fingerprint reader on the back

Digitizer

Full administrator access.

Full HD display (you don't need more than that on something this small. Eyes can't see the difference)

A proper keyboard dock like the Asus Transformer series tablets

The dock would have a full SD slot (for a total of 2 full sd slots when docked)

The dock would also have a battery which would charge the tablet, also like the Transformer series

Faster recharging times when you charge the tablet without the dock.

No hard keys like the the TPT. Just touch keys on the screen.

Just my 2 cents.

[p600]

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One of the biggest problems with using a windows tablet is the license fee to install the OS. This would inevitably raise the cost of the TPT.

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Cost isn't that big issue really. AFAIK, a basic Windows OEM license cost to significant manufacturers is less than $50, and less still for huge vendors like Lenovo/HP/Dell. Plus Android isn't free either, with companies like HTC and Samsung paying per-Android-device royalties to Microsoft & Co for patent protection, and Apple wants some money too now.

Realistically, the difference between the same PC running Ubuntu and Windows in a retail store is $20. Or could be even $0.

[Thjalfi]

This is what I was talking about:

http://www.slashgear.com/will-the-stylus-have-the-last-laugh-07226492/

I would focus less about high-end specs and more about proper integration of the OS. It has to be attractive to a normal user without the hickups we are seeing with the TPT. The active digitizer can't be the sole selling point where someone has to jump through enormous hoops with the device (software- and hardwarewise) just to have the advantage of said active digitizer.

Of course, if you have a messed up system and are lacking space / performance because of that mess, there are two ways to solve it. One is to just throw more memory ore computing power at it and hope that the mess will become less obvious. The other, more elegant but also probably more laborious, solution is to clean up your mess so that the system runs faster on the hardware you already have. It IS possible.

Let's see what Lenovo decides.