Nice $229 Tablet!

have u tried updating it to jelly bean? mine says it's a priority update, however it always times out...i tried downloading the update file from lenovo's site, but it says its gonna take 36 hours....

I just got one today, and paid 229 as well.

ChudleyOne said:

... liking the screen, disliking processors, memory slots, non-stock OS & prices.....

Click to expand...

i'd agree that the search for the right tablet has been frustrating. there seems to be plenty of nice, high-end stuff, and TONS of crappy stuff - but not much in the middle.


here are some initial impressions:

the screen has been absolutely brutalized in every review that i've read on the a2109. the truth is, it's not that bad. it's definitely not that good, but it's not awful. the viewing angles are quite limited, and it's not very sharp. it's passable though.

the cameras aren't very good, and that wasn't a deal-breaker for me anyway. it'll make a video call just fine (in good lighting). i can't imagine using either camera that much, however i did want a front & rear camera.

the sound is nice.

hdmi out and micro sd are there.

it's only my 2nd android device, and getting all my stuff over from the play store was easy.

it's responsive.

it feels solid, and i really like the size of the device.

accessories.........dear god. unless you've got a contact in china, good luck finding a case for this thing. the only decently rated case on amazon that's actually made for the a2109 isn't in stock.



seems like a decent buy.

I'm picking mine up tonight after work, then taking back my Nexus 7. I've been doing the root thing for years, and I'm over it - I just want something that works out of the box!

With the Nexus 7 you don't even get a full tablet experience - it's a phablet - which goes to say that it's basically a large phone without the circuitry to make calls!

I was extremely underwhelmed by the Nexus 7 and am happy to find the Ideapad $229 with more screen real-estate.

After having picked mine up last night I have ZERO regrets. This is so much nicer than a Nexus 7!

Ironically, even though the nexus 7 wasn't rooted, I had a number of apps that wouldn't install on it from the market, HOWEVER, those same apps work 100% on the Lenovo!

Regarding all those people complaining in the reviews about the screen - if you aren't looking straight at it , the colors all wash out... Well, I've seen the same thing on pretty much every laptop I've ever used - just take your laptop screen, push it all the way back, and see what I mean! So, no complaints from me.

The sound on this tablet is 10x better than the Nexus 7. Trying to watch "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of Star Trek TOS via Netflix was MISERABLE on the Nexus - couldn't hear it without my ear to the back of the unit - that's not the case on the Lenovo!

I will note that even though the stock Lenovo launcher was perfectly acceptable, I installed Nova Launcher to get more of a stock android experience. Every one of the Lenovo widgets that came pre-installed work fine under Nova Launcher!

After I got the Jelly Bean upgraded I was able to disable pretty much any bloat that I didn't want to see in my app drawer via the Manage Apps controls.

Regarding the Jelly Bean update - last night when I tried to download it it would seem that the server was overloaded and I kept losing connect, but trying this morning at around 8AM the download was done in a matter of about 10 minutes and installed without a hitch!