Lenovo IdeaPad A1 $199 7" tablet

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It has an IPS panel and a magnesium alloy inner frame:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/01/lenovo-announces-ideapad-a1-the-199-android-tablet-we-go-hand/

The SOC is a 1GHZ OMAP3622 meaning it has an SGX530 GPU.

It seems similar in many ways to the Nook Color:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nook_Color

 

[muon]

Seems very similar to the old Galaxy Tab wifi only edition (p1010). Wasn't that an omap 3630 at 1ghz?

Since it hasn't got honeycomb, its probably better to get the 3G Galaxy Tab (p1000) with the much better hummingbird chip. That must be fairy cheap these days.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The IdeaPad looks like it will have a better screen. The Galaxy Tab did not have a good screen which limited its use as a tablet.

 

[muon]

The IdeaPad looks like it will have a better screen. The Galaxy Tab did not have a good screen which limited its use as a tablet.

Had a very good TFT-LCD screen. In fact, I think its better than the IPS screen I have currently on the HP Touchpad. Although, I haven't done a side-by-side comparison and am basing this off memory (compensating for the better ppi on the Galaxy Tab).

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Had a very good TFT-LCD screen. In fact, I think its better than the IPS screen I have currently on the HP Touchpad. Although, I haven't done a side-by-side comparison and am basing this off memory (compensating for the better ppi on the Galaxy Tab).

OK,maybe I was wrong about it being bad(I was basing this off memory too) but it still has a worse screen:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4302/battle-of-the-budget-tablets-nook-color-vs-galaxy-tab/7

"This isn’t to say that the Galaxy Tab has a bad screen; with a 733:1 contrast ratio and generous viewing angles, it’s a very good display, just not on the same level as the Nook. I really appreciated Samsung putting in a solid panel in the Galaxy Tab when I first reviewed it, because on a hardware level, the display is probably the most important part of a tablet. Both contrast ratio and viewing angles are huge factors in how usable any given tablet is, and it looks like B&N recognized that and pushed for the best 7” panel they could get, whereas Samsung used the same tried and true LCD panel they had previously."

The Nook Color has a 7" IPS panel which is probably the same panel in the A1.

On top of this the iPad and Touchpad share a similar panel too. Black level is much better on the 9.7" IPS panel.

 

[muon]

Yep, black levels will be better and viewing angles much better. Although the latter becomes less important on smaller tablets.

The thing with the Touchpad display I found is that even maximum brightness is too low for a lot of indoor situations. That's probably HP's fault though. Colour production also looks a lot better on the iPad. However, apart from blacks, the Galaxy Tab has the best looking colour production in my opinion (and this was a side-by-side comparison with the iPad).

Iconia A100 @ $299 is also interesting. No detailed reviews yet, so can't really judge the screen.

edit:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/acer-iconia-tab-a100-1004729/review?artc_pg=5

A very average screen.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yep, black levels will be better and viewing angles much better. Although the latter becomes less important on smaller tablets.

The thing with the Touchpad display I found is that even maximum brightness is too low for a lot of indoor situations. That's probably HP's fault though. Colour production also looks a lot better on the iPad. However, apart from blacks, the Galaxy Tab has the best looking colour production in my opinion (and this was a side-by-side comparison with the iPad).

Iconia A100 @ $299 is also interesting. No detailed reviews yet, so can't really judge the screen.

edit:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/acer-iconia-tab-a100-1004729/review?artc_pg=5

A very average screen.

There seems to variation in the screens:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19903139&postcount=4108

My one seems closer to the brighter one the chap had. According to Anandtech the Touchpad display is well calibrated for colour accuracy out of the box.

 

[kona786]

There seems to variation in the screens:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19903139&postcount=4108

he forgot to turn off auto brightness on the darker screen