

Lenovo shows new Android laptop in user manual [pdf] - WestCoastJustin
http://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/ideapad_a10_ug_english.pdf

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ludoo
If I could find a 12" or 13" Android laptop with a nice screen, good keyboard,
no fan, and decent specs I'd use it as my primary machine. Debian
kit+console+a decent editor is all I need for work, and for play Android has
more and better apps than Ubuntu or any other Linux distro.

It's about time manufecturers started producing them.

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dublinben
Hasn't the Oyua shown that most Android apps are pretty terrible if not used
on a touchscreen device? For the features you want, it's going to be
comparably priced to a $1000 Surface Pro.

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recursive
It's debatable whether it's shown that, but it doesn't give us much
information about this device even if that's true. The statement that Android
apps are terrible on non-touchscreens doesn't necessarily tell us anything
about how good they are on touch-capable devices.

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leokun
Nice. Also HP already sells an Android laptop:

[http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/x2/slatebook-x2.html](http://www8.hp.com/us/en/ads/x2/slatebook-x2.html)

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unwiredben
Seems very similar to the Asus Transformer, another table with a keyboard
docking station that makes it laptop-like.

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seabrookmx
For everyone complaining about using Android without a touch screen, you have
obviously never done it. I have an MK808 and MK908ii Android stick (the latter
of which uses the same chip set as this Lenovo) with a Logitech wireless
keyboard+track pad combo as my media center. It works flawlessly, and the
latest Chrome build is fast and stable. I can access my NAS and stream movies
over Samba without worrying about the format, or having to have the NAS box do
any stupid transcoding etc.

Best $65 I've ever spent ($130 including the keyboard).

I own a Chrome boom as well, and while I can see the benefits of ChromeOS,
Android is vastly more functional. For example, the method I outlined above
for streaming movies wouldn't be possible with ChromeOS unless I booted
another distro in a chroot(like with crouton).

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radley
Lenovo IdeaPad A10 Specifications:

10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen

Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels

RAM: 1GB / 2GB based on storage

Processor: Quad-core Rockchip RK3188 processor, 1.6 GHz

OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Storage: 16GB / 32GB versions, expandable with MicroSD card

 _(I 'd like to see an Android laptop that takes itself seriously, with proper
storage, screen, etc)_

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Nux
I stopped being interested after "Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels".

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gcb1
thats actually fine for a 10"

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seanmcdirmid
Only if low end. Compare to the 2x res of a nexus 7, for example.

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PaulHoule
Windows is going to wrecked in the low-end hardware market since switching to
Android could shave $100 off the cost of a cheap machine.

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arrrg
Not sure about that. Netbooks didn’t really work. This seems similar to
netbooks. Many of those also didn’t have Windows but at least some sort of
explicit desktop UI. This is a mobile UI on a desktop device. Not sure how to
square that.

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deelowe
Netbooks worked just fine. Intel stopped updating their cpus for them and
Microsoft wouldn't offer a lightweight OS to support them after XP was EOLed.
Intel/MS purposefully killed the netbook. I know plenty of people who'd rather
have a decent netbook over their tablet.

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fidotron
Ideally we'd be looking at Cyanogenmod fully and easily supported on
Chromebook hardware, but they seem busy enough, and until then this might have
to do the trick.

The real problem is finding a laptop that isn't built like crap, and I would
doubt anything of this nature is going to change that.

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dangero
"The real problem is finding a laptop that isn't built like crap"

The other day I went to Best Buy with the intent of buying a non-Apple laptop
to make it easier for me to do some Windows development. I left empty handed
after being appalled by the bulky plastic machines I found. It felt like the
PC laptop industry hadn't evolved in the last 10 years since I switched to
Macs. They did get somewhat thinner and nicer at the high end, but then I was
getting no price benefit over just buying a Mac.

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dublinben
I think your first problem was looking for a professional-quality computer at
Best Buy. They've always been full of cheap plastic junk that can only be
pushed on unknowing consumers.

Have you considered the Thinkpad X1 Carbon, Yoga 13, Vaio 11/13 or Asus
Zenbook?

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dntrkv
But at those prices, why not just get a MacBook Air? Sure, the build quality
of the Zenbook is getting close to that of a MBA, but it's still has a ways to
go yet it costs the same (or even more). Sure, it may have better specs, but
really, for most people's use cases, the MBA is more than fast enough.

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rogerbinns
My Thinkpad T430s let me change the memory to that of my choosing, add an
mSATA stick of my choosing, change hard drives of my choosing, has an extra
mini-pci slot, expresscard slot, supports Linux well, replace the DVD drive
with another battery, and has a superb online manual that lets me (or anyone
else) make any repairs or updates.

At the end of the day it is my machine to do with as I please. Apple's stuff
not so much.

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onosendai
I've been using an X230 as my personal laptop for a while and I _absolutely_
love it. Comparing it to my work T430, it's smaller, with a vastly better
screen (IPS, albeit lower resolution) and on the whole it doesn't make too
many compromises versus the T series.

I second the Lenovo service manuals. Behind the excellent Linux support
they're the reason I buy Thinkpads. Not only can you completely disassemble
them, reading through their service manuals it's almost like Lenovo encourages
you to do it. Compared to this, a teardown of the 2013 Macbook Air makes for
some pretty depressing reading: soldered RAM, proprietary SSD modules,
proprietary screws, etc. I get why people buy the Air and Ultrabooks, but I'm
glad the T and X series are still around and still dependable workhorses that
you can service yourself with nothing more complicated than a swiss army
knife.

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bfish510
This seems weird to me seeing as they could have used Chrome OS. I imagine
it's because this will be marketed as a touch screen laptop though.

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camus
I'll never get ChromeOS. An Os where you cant install anything is useless.
Want to use webapps? use a browser,at least on Android I can develop "native
apps",run background processes. Tell me what can do ChromeOS that Android cant
do? All google services are on Android.

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Pxtl
> Tell me what can do ChromeOS that Android cant do?

Boot up fast. Never get malware. Never get bogged down by a process running in
the background. ChromeOS is the OS-level version of "Worse is better". The
ultimate "just works" zero-maintenance device. Android keeps demanding more
and more hardware to stay performant, ChromeOS is comparatively light.

That said, I'm always surprised that Google maintains 2 OS's (plus their
internal Goobuntu distro). Remember that Android wasn't really suitable for
this until Android 4 - no landscape mode, no Chrome browser... even now,
Android's home-screen looks rather ugly in landscape since the app icons are
terribly spaced. I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be looking to discontinue
ChromeOS as Android gets better features in that space.

The big failing is that Android's app space is fixated on touch, and reaching
out to touch a laptop touchscreen sucks.

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dublinben
>The big failing is that Android's app space is fixated on touch, and reaching
out to touch a laptop touchscreen sucks.

If Google has learned anything from the launch of Windows 8, it's to keep
touch/non-touch operating systems separate. Even if they occupy similar form
factors, you still can't expect a unified UI to work well.

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Aldo_MX
After using a Surface Pro, Windows 8 began to make sense. Still I don't
appreciate the lack of Start Menu in the desktop portion of the OS,
fortunately Start8 compensates that nuisance.

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coryfklein
What is an "Android laptop"? Is it different from a laptop that has Android
installed on it?

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gboudrias
That means no paying for a Windows license even though you don't want it!
Awesome!

