Lenovo introduced its 10.1 inch Miix tablet back in mid-June and said it would arrive sometime this summer. That time is now, as it's currently up for grabs at Lenovo's website for a starting "web" price of $479 USD after using the "BACKTOSCHOOLIDEA" coupon code. The regular price appears to be a meatier $599 USD.
The specs list reveals a 10.1 inch LED-lit multitouch IPS screen with a 1366 x 768 resolution powered by Intel's Atom Z2760 dual-core SoC clocked at 1.8 GHz (1 MB cache), and a 6800 mAh Li-Polymer battery boasting up to 10 hours on a single charge. The tablet also has 2 GB of LPDDR2 800 MHz memory, 64 GB of internal storage, Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and a 1MP HD webcam. Windows 8 32-bit is the OS of choice.
Owners can use the webcam as an input device to effortlessly flip pages, rewind/forward music, change volume, and gesture other simple commands with the flick of a hand. It uses stored images of the user's face to allow logins without the need to enter a password, and even supports multiple users. The webcam is ideal for applications like Skype and Google Hangouts.
The tablet also offers a microSD card slot for an additional 32 GB of storage, a microUSB 2.0 port, a microHDMI port for connecting the tablet to an HDTV, integrated stereo speakers, and a 2-in-1 audio jack. There are several optional accessories including an AccuType keyboard "quick flip" case to instantly convert the tablet into a laptop form factor, 3G connectivity and a few others.
On the software front, the tablet comes packed with Microsoft Office 2013 Trial and a 30-day taste of McAfee Internet Security. There's also Lenovo Cloud Storage by SugarSync which automatically backs-up and syncs data that is encrypted on transfers for an extra level of security. Nitro Pro, Evernote, Skype, eBay and several other apps are also pre-installed.
Given how much space Windows 8 consumes on the eMMC flash, it would be surprising if Lenovo offered a model with less than 64 GB of storage later on. Currently, this is the only model listed, and the estimated ship date is August 29. There's also no indication as to when the promotion will end, so now may be a good time to scoop up this 10.1 inch Windows 8 tablet before the price jumps back up to $599.
