Lenovo Unveils ThinkPad 8 Tablet

Lenovo has jumped into the CES fracus with an expected array of new ThinkPad notebooks and Yoga convertibles, but the Chinese firm has also thrown a new bone to the tablet world. It's announced the ThinkPad 8, an 8-inch Windows 8.1 slate aimed primarily at the business class.
Lenovo ThinkPad 8 More specifically, the ThinkPad 8 is going to sport an 8.3-inch, 1920 x 1200 resolution display -- one of the highest yet for a Windows 8 slate of this size -- a quad-core 2.4GHz Intel Atom chip, 2GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of storage. A 8-megapixel camera will be included on the back of the slate's black aluminum chassis, as are separate microSD, microUSB, and microHDMI ports.
The whole thing will weigh 0.92 pounds and measure in at 8.8mm thick, and Lenovo says it'll get 8 hours of battery life. An optional 'QuickShot Cover' can magnetically attach to the tablet, and Lenovo's added in a neat little trick that lets users quickly peel it back to access the main camera too.
Everyone from Toshiba to Acer to Dell have released 8-inch Windows Cheap Tablet PC over the last several months, but most of those devices have focused more on being affordable than being particularly powerful. The stylus support of last year's ThinkPad Tablet 2 is gone from Lenovo's upcoming version, but with its sexier design and comparatively impressive spec sheet, the ThinkPad 8 looks like it's striking a higher-end balance between quality and price.
The 32GB model will start at $400 when it launches later this month -- putting it in direct competition with the Apple iPad mini Retina -- though pricier configurations with more storage and 4G LTE connectivity will be out as well.
Lenovo is showing off the ThinkPad 8 at CES this week, so we'll be sure to add some impressions once we get our hands on the device.
In addition to this tablet, Lenova also unveiled the MIIX 2, a 2-in-1 laptop, as well as the Yoga 2 convertible.