Lenovo IdeaPad A1 tablet goes on sale for $199

By Rue Liu/Oct. 6, 2011 4:27 pm EST

Lenovo has begun taking orders for its IdeaPad A1 tablet, which we first saw in an assortment of candy coated colors back in September. The budget-friendly 7-inch Android 2.3 Gingerbread slate features mid-range specs and is priced starting at $199, right in line with the recently launched 7-inch tablet from Amazon called the Kindle Fire.

Although it lacks the fanfare and appeal of Amazon's offering as well as the ecosystem of products and services, the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 has some hardware components that the Kindle Fire lacks—mainly cameras. The IdeaPad A1 features a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The tablet features a 7-inch LED display with 1024 x 600 resolution powered by a TI OMAP 3622 Cortex A8 1GHz single-core processor and has offline GPS and navigation. It measures 11.9mm thin and weighs about 400 grams. It also has Bluetooth, WiFi, micro SD, micro USB, and stereo speakers.

The $199 price is for the 2GB version in black, while the 16GB version in black, blue, white, or pink is priced at $249. Pre-orders start today with shipments starting October 27.

[via Android Community]