I heartily believe in a company's transparency and honesty.  I believe Lenovo is the type of company that would believe in this too.  I don't think they would ask consumers to invest heavily in a purchase with a "oh you'll just have to wait and see approach."  In that vein, there are definitely some questions out there about the forthcoming Thinkpad tablet.  It is a verrrrrry exciting product, and I cannot wait to get one, but there are definitely some questions.  I have several of my own, and I have been compiling some other common ones I see.

Hopefully, Lenovo will take the time to answer some of these here.

Hardware:

1. Does the keyboard include any ports itself?  You lose usage of the USB port on the tablet when connected to the keyboard, so are there some on the keyboard to make up for it?

2. Does the keyboard include a battery to extend the tablet's life like Asus' Transformer?  If no, is that a feature that might come in the future?  Maybe a second, pricier keyboard accessory option?

3. Does the pen have recording capabilities in the vein of HTC Flyer or Livescribe?  If no, same question as the keyboard?  A future feature?  A second pen option?

4. How long between initial release and the 3G release?

5. Will the HDMI out work with any HDMI cable and convert it HDMI, components, etc.?

6. How long is the warranty?

Software:

7. Is the pre-loaded software removable?

8. Is the bootloader unlocked?  Is it rootable (understanding it would void a warranty)?

9. Is the notes app searchable within the notes app?  I know it's a third-party, but they have limited info on their own app.  It would be a huge pain to export everything just to be tablet to "ctrl+F" it.

10. Will side-loading be possible?

11. Is this upgradeable to the newer versions of Android when they arrive?

12. Return policy?

These are questions to start, but I'm sure more will come up and I'll try to post them here.  I hope Lenovo will be open about their product and its capabilities and limitations.

Thank you, whoever might help!

Very good questions. One that I have and have not been able to discover in my reading and searching...how much does it weigh?  Also, how thick is it?

1. No USB port on keyboard folio. USB supports two functions: a) External keyboard/ mouse which you don't need in keyboard folio, and USB file transfer (w/ plug & play support, just disconnect tablet, plug in USB key, transfer files and then re-attach keyboard folio.). No ports on the keyboard ensures a thin and low weight design that was also durable.

2. No it doesn't (thin and light requirement). Additional keyboard is not in plan.

3. No it doesn't and mic capability is not in plan. Tablet itself has a microphone that can be used w/ android's impressive voice recognition software as well as 3rd party apps. No need on the pen.

4. 1-2 months

5. Depends on the cable itself. No guarantees from Lenovo. The Tablet puts out a digital signal via HDMI.  Advise caution against too-good-to-be-true low cost conversion cables that might not work.

6. 1 year base warranty.

7. Most additional 3rd party SW is removable. Some apps required to not be removed by Google (e.g. YouTube)

8. Lenovo encourages voiding the warranty independent software development and tech innovation.

9. No not searchable (corrected from previous post) and can be exported to text file or image (jpg).

10. Yes. There is a setting that allows users to "enable unknown sources"

11. ThinkPad will push out Over the Air (OTA) update for Ice Cream Sandwich the next OS

12. Depends on retailer but for lenovo.com, same as other ThinkPad products.

** Edited to remove typos and clarify that OTA update is only for next major Android update. Clarified that Notes mobile is not searchable.  Clarified point 8 about Lenovo supporting software development.

Thank you for all the answers.  Great things to know.

The battery life situation is a little unfortunate as 8 seems low and the battery in the keyboard would be a nice supplement.  I understand the logic with the weight/size though.

I'm glad Ice Cream Sandwich will come.  And it seems pretty open source.

The notes app is really the disappoint.  The single best thing digital notes have over a legal pad or notebook is being able to search.  I hope third parties come up with some better notes apps soon and hopefully employ the tablet's mic to track audio recordings.

App developers--PLEASE!

Thanks again for the great and fast reply.  Most of the answers are exactly what I was hoping they'd be.

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wrote:

Very good questions. One that I have and have not been able to discover in my reading and searching...how much does it weigh?  Also, how thick is it?

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According to .... See.... http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/pdf/ThinkPad_Tablet_DataSheet_AU_08July2011.pdf

WiFi model: 715gm

WiFi + 3G model: 730gm

Height: 260.4mm

Width: 181.7mm

Depth: 14mm

Cheers,

Bill

@ jmp6p your comment made me rethink my lax statment about voiding warranties above. So I altered the statement to make sure I don't carelessly get anyone (including myself) into trouble.

Sorry to be so metrical dumb but living in the USA we are familiar with imperial. So, how does that translate?

That said, thanks for posting the info

Really interested in this tablet.  I will probably be picking this one up and "gifting" my Xoom to my fiancee! :smileywink:

I have a few questions: 

• Does it come with file management software for manipulation of files on a SD Card or USB stick?
• Does it work with SDXC memory cards?
• Do the hardware buttons on the tablet have any kind of disable setting so that you do not accidently press them while holding the tablet in landscape mode?

thanks,  looking forward to the release!

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wrote:

4. 1-2 months

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Will a non-3G version be upgradeable to 3G when available?

A few remaining questions:

Hardware:
1. Does the keyboard include any ports itself?
1. No USB port on keyboard folio.

But there is also another micro-USB port, right? Is it blocked when docked? Or is host mode limited to just one of the two USB ports?


3. Does the pen have recording capabilities
3. No it doesn't and mic capability is not in plan. Tablet itself has a microphon...

This would be the way to go. Best, would be to put a bluetooth mic near the speaker. One mic could even be paired with numerous tablets for *much* better audio.

5. Will the HDMI out work with any HDMI cable and convert it HDMI, components, etc.?
5. Depends on the cable itself. No guarantees from Lenovo.

I think you missed the question here. Does the video card component also output RGB, composite, component, and s-video signal? Neither cable nor software will do this. This has to be in the hardware/firmware -- then supported by specific bridging cables (HDMI-to-RGB, for example.) This ability would make the tablet useful for presentations on a wider variety of screens. Projectors in business and education often still have just RGB.

Software:
8. Is the bootloader unlocked? Is it rootable?
8. Lenovo encourages voiding the warranty independent software development and tech innovation.

I still don't understand the answer. It means there is nothing designed to stop the device's user from rooting the system? The bootloader is not locked?

Thanks for any clarification.

Also, do you have ideas when would a version be shipping in Japan?