LENOVO IDEATAB A2109

The Lenovo IdeaTab A2109 is a bit of a paradox: It’s lightweight but bulky for a 9” tablet; the screen looks outwardly impressive but the 1280 x 800 resolution isn’t especially notable; and priced in the $300 range, it seems like a bargain but a relative lack of noteworthy specs can make this tablet feel overpriced.

Taking a few cues from the Apple iPad, the Lenovo IdeaTab looks a bit like a slightly smaller version of the market-leading device down to the brushed-chrome finish. Inside is a 1.2 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 1 GB of RAM, and the IdeaTab puts this to good use by including a bunch of Google apps plus Lenovo-specific apps including games, gaming portal and video editing software. The 16 GB of internal storage may be expanded with micro SD cards.

While this setup is ideal for most games, though, the screen again is rather blah. The plastic overlay doesn’t help, but future versions of this device would be well served with higher definition. In the final analysis, the Lenovo IdeaTab is something of a tweener: For some, the weight and size will be perfect while the low price will certainly inspire some to give this tablet a try. As for us, we’re waiting on the upgrade to push this device past the humdrum and to the top of the 9” tablet field…