Lenovo LePad revived, alongside the Ideapad U1 hybrid

Almost a year has passed since we first heard about the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 hybrid, at CES Las Vegas in early 2010. Not many details followed and for a while we were actually sure Lenovo dubbed this prototype. However, we were wrong, as details of that same design emerged in the last months and a new prototype was spotted recently.

We’re talking about the same idea, of a detachable touch tablet that can be used as the display of a standard mini laptop or as a stand alone tablet. And while not much has changed in terms of concept since early this year, the tablet is completely new and is called the Lenovo LePad .

The guys at Engadget managed to spend some time with a still early U1 + LePad prototype, bend to be released in Asia in the next month and managed to post some impressions and photos. More details here.

U1 Hybrid + LePad = the versatility of a proper laptop and the mobility and comfort of a touch tablet

The LePad is a 10.1 inch touch tablet with Android 2.2 and a custom designed UI on top. No exact details on the hardware inside this gadget, but it seems to be able to easily play HD content and offer pretty snappy everyday performance. So perhaps a Tegra 2 platform lies within?

The LePad comes with a custom Android 2.2 and probably Tegra2 hardware

The U1 docking is still a mystery for now. It does come with a proper keyboard/trackpad, a pretty bulky chassis with dedicated hardware inside and will run Windows 7 (so it’s built on an x86 platform, but we don’t know whether it’s an Atom or an Intel ULV based one) . However, the unit was not functional when the guys at Engadget had it in their hands, so there’s nothing more to be said about it for now.

Earlier rumors claimed the LePad to start selling this month, with the IdeaPad U1 docking available in January. Both seemed to be delayed though, so perhaps we’ll hear more about them at CES, when we’ll probably find details about specs, battery life, pricing and availability. So stay tuned.

Tags: 10 inch tablets, Lenovo, Lenovo IdeaPad, Lenovo netbooks, touch tablet

Last updated: March 27, 2012 | Published: December 24th, 2010 | See the comments or add yours!