Peter Barnette here, known as MrPeter1985 on the Lenovo Community Forum (and pretty much anywhere else). I love it there. So here I am to do a review or write if you wish on the ThinkPad Tablet known to us as the TPT.

I received the TPT on June 5th and boy I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. It came as Spec’d… NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 Dual-Core 1GHz processor _ ** Android™ 4.0 ICS_ _ ** 10.1″ HD IPS Display with Stylus and Corning Gorilla Glass_ _ ** 1GB DDR2 Ram_ _ ** 16GB Storage_ _ ** 8 hour battery life_ _ ** 2MP front cam, 5MP back cam_ _ ** 1 mini HDMI connector, 1 USB 2.0 connector, 1 micro USB connector, 1 dock connector_ _ ** SIM card slot, 3-in-1 media card reader_ _ ** Wireless N and Bluetooth® 2.0**_

Of the Pre-loaded apps that came with the TPT I use MyScript Notes Mobile the most. The pressure sensitivity works well. Making it pretty easy to sketch on. Writing is fun on the app. Very easy to re-size and move your drawings and/or writings.

The People app that came with it is also nice. I love all of what it shows for your contacts. Especially if they have a G+ account. In fact I believe it replaced the contacts app on tablets, at least on ICS anyways.

Although I did not have this Tablet before ICS came, I cannot go through all the newly added features as I am unaware of what HC had. I can however go through the settings I noticed different than K1’s HC, and other good to know settings.

The following is good to know tips and guide for beginners.

So obviously it asks you to sign in with your existing Google account or create a new one. Then the tablet will become ready to start using.

Settings

Okay, now click on the bottom right corner of the screen on the battery icon. That should pop up the Date and Time. Click the settings icon right under the time. Now the brief menu will slide up with quick on and off bottoms are located. Now slide down to the bottom where is says settings, click it. Here is where all of the need to configure options are located.

Wireless and Network settings

First area is Wireless and Network settings. If you see your Wi-Fi click it and connect to it. Once connected you can click in the top right icon (3 squares) Here you can change the advanced Wi-Fi settings. Like choosing when your Wi-Fi should sleep etc… There’s Bluetooth and Data usage. The more feature under Data usage allows you to put it in Airplane mode and even had VPN options.

Device options

Next is Device options. Here you have basic control over all your sound settings, display, storage and apps. In the Display options, you can disable the Physical Buttons (like I do sometimes) Enable HDMI, change font size and choose the Display sleep timer. In storage is where you can allow SD cards and USB storage devices.

Personal settings

After that you have the Personal settings. Here you can choose what you like to sync and not sync. Turn on and off your location and GPS. Secure the TPT with a screen lock, encrypt it with a pass code. Language and input is where you can change the Language, keyboard, mouse and trackpad speed and enable or disable Spell correction. Back up and Reset is  to back up you info and even do a Factory data reset. And for some reason allow the use of Cameras is located here.

System settings

Last is the System settings. You can change the Date and Time or leave it automatically based on where you live. Change between a 12 or 24 hour clock. Accessibility options for those in need of assistance. Developer options allow you to enable USB debugging, keep the screen on when plugged in, enable pointer location, show your touches, show CPU usage, force apps in 2D rendering, turn animations on or off, force apps to not keep activities running, and how many can run in the background. System Info tells you all the goodies and allows you to check for updates.

That was a nice run through of the System Settings for those new to Android.

Quick run through

Now moving on, the bottom left is 3 icons, the first starting from the left to right is the go back button, middle is home and last is background apps. Go back usually always allows you to go back when needed. Home always bring you to the home screen. The running apps button shows you what is still running and you can easily jump back and forth between apps and or just close the ones not being used by clicking the X.

Top left corner is a built in Google search, you can type or speak by pressing the mic beside it.

Top right icon is where the apps and widgets are located. You can drag apps to the home screens. Here you can see the Shop icon on the top right. That is where you can get new apps, books, music and movies.

Dragging apps is quite easy, just hold down on the app and slide it to where you’d like it to be. Same for removing, slide a home screen app to the top to the trash bin to remove it, not uninstall it. To uninstall apps you can do it on the App store or Apps settings in the System settings.

I’d like to point out the notice of Pen only mode now with ICS. It is listed where the quick on and off menu is when clicking on the battery and then settings. I also noticed the Panoramic picture option in the camera app. Pretty cool feature. If you move slowly and have everyone be still it works quite well. Your also able to tap the screen in Video mode to take a quick picture. Pretty neat as well.

On the unlock screen you can slide to the right to unlock or to the left to go to the camera.

Also the physical button beside the Home, Go back and Browser is the Screen Rotate lock, you can force the screen to stay landscape which is perfect for watching in bed.

As for the button on the pen, its the right click button for windows tablets, unsure what it is used for in Android, seems to not work with any app I’ve tried clicking it on.

Last but not least for my quick run through is the Apps bin in the middle of the bottom bar, you can add and remove apps there for quick and easy access.

I would easily recommend this to anyone as it’s one of the best tablets out there with Stylus, not some capacitive rubber tip pen. It writes well. Rubberized back, Scratch-less screen who wouldn’t want one? Decent dual core chip to power ICS smoothly. ICS made this tablet even more incredible. The ability to write and draw is what sells it for me.

Since everyone has seen the videos and have their own opinions about the drawing and writing, I find it quite nice myself. I have no issues at doing what I need to do with it. The 1 sec delay is no biggie to me when it comes to sketching. Doesn’t hinder me at all.

Stay tuned, drawings and future Videos coming soon!