Thin and light, the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 is one of the best looking Windows 8 tablets on the market

It is powered by Intel Atom 1.8GHz dual-core processor with 2GB RAM and 32/64GB solid state drive. The 10.1-inch display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, a bit lower than some of its rivals.

The rubberized matte black finish looks great and provides a firm grip. All the corners are rounded and there is a pocket on the left for a stylus.

Windows 8 is designed for touch and there is no need for a stylus, but it comes in handy for taking notes, drawing and navigating the Windows 8 desktop. It offers a natural writing experience with a precision fine tip while the palm rejection technology allows for the natural resting of your hand on the screen without disrupting the display.

It has one USB 2.0 port, micro-SD slot, micro HDMI port and a docking port for an additional keyboard. There’s also a mini-USB port that’s only for charging. The lack of a USB 3.0 port is a disadvantage. On the top of the device, there are slots for a full-sized SIM card and a micro-SD.

The volume rocker and auto-rotate control is on the right of the device.

I watched The Avengers on the ThinkPad and the colours were sharp and crisp. The sound quality was good enough to watch movies, but did not do justice to music.

The front facing 2MP camera supports a 720P HD Webcam with LED, while the rear camera is 8MP with auto focus and a LED flash. The ThinkPad only supports 720P video capture and not 1080P (full HD).

Pictures taken from the rear camera in bright light are sharp and rich, but those taken in shadow are dull with washed out colours. The shutter lag is short, but there is no way to adjust the focus or enhancement filters.

The battery lasted more than nine hours with heavy use, which is pretty decent.

Lenovo has bundled many apps with this tablet like QuickSnip, Companion, Skitch and a cloud storage facility. QuickSnip lets you load pictures from a library that you can cut and edit with the stylus. The Rara app has access to millions of music tracks but you need to sign up and pay a subscription.

The ThinkPad is priced at Dh2899.