LENOVO IDEATAB A3000

The Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 is essentially an upgrade to the company’s A1000 model; while dubbing this tablet as a full-on “laptop computer” (as does PR material and advertising) is more than a bit of a stretch, the A3000 can certainly meet the basic needs of a would-be tablet owner at a reasonable price.

The primary improvement over the IdeaTab A1000 – and several other budget tablets by the company – in the A3000 is the screen. Sharper, more resilient and more responsive than the A1000, this touchscreen is a step up for the company, though the resolution is stuck at a mundane 1024 x 600 pixels.

Upon picking up the IdeaTab A3000, the would-be owner is struck by two things immediately: The textured backside makes for a swell grip and easy holding; on the other hand (so to speak), the weight of this tablet is a substantial 0.89 pounds, putting it well at the extreme end of hefty 7” tablets.

Lenovo has done a decent job keeping pace with the competition, and offering the expecting specs for a budget tablet. The 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex processor is slightly behind the times but runs things smoothly enough in this tablet; the operating system is Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but since automatic upgrades from 4.1 were offered to customers buying earlier versions of the IdeaTab A3000, one would expect future Android jumps to become available upon release.

A decent product at a fair price is the Lenovo IdeaTab A3000, we’d say. This tablet is an OK alternative to the Google Nexus 7 and its ilk, though surely most folks will merely pony up the few extra dollars to go more “name brand.” (Open note to Lenovo: Bump that screen resolution up and then you’ve got a truly notable device.)

The Lenovo A3000 is a 7-inch tablet with an IPS display. It runs Android Jelly Bean, has a 1.2GHz processor and is 11mm thick. We've had some hands-on time with it at Barcelona - check out our video above to see what we thought, and browse the picture gallery below to get a closer look at the product. The A3000 is a definite step up over the A1000, with a higher quality IPS screen. Unfortunately, it's locked at the same low 1,024x600 resolution. The screen is definitely bright and features the same textured backside as the S6000 and many recent Lenovo Android tablets.