The best Tablet in its price range. Review on Lenovo IdeaTab A3000

I researched for almost 2 months and inquired with a dozen Tab owners and Tech Savvies to buy the best Tablet that suits my budget and requirement.

I needed highest possible configuration in the price range of 12, 000 to 15, 000 rupees.

Options I had and why I rejected them(Brands with models in the above said price range only):

1. Micromax - No sim slot, reviews about performance were not impressive

   
   




2. Samsung - Expensive by Rs.3, 500 with just 1 sim slot and no cores

   
   




3. Asus - Though lesser than Lenovo, the tab has lesser Internal storage and no cores in CPU

   
   




4. Nexus - Same price range but no SIM slot

   
   

Why Sim slot is important?

I primarily chose to buy Tab to use Google Maps with GPS to avoid asking strangers for directions while travelling. To take the advantage of 3G connectivity to browse when there is no Wifi available.

For Rs.13, 500/- I got 2 Sim slots, 16GB internal memory, Micro SD support till 32GB, 1.2Ghz Quadcore processor with 1GB DDR2 RAM(I would've been more happy if RAM was DDR3).Wow no other product in the current market can match this.

PERFORMANCE

Display - Very good, clear and impressive. I am enjoying studying through PDF docs.

Resolution - Very good. I couldn't see any difference when compared with Rs.35, 000 worth Galaxy S3

Touch sensitivity - Fantastic. Very clever sensitivity

OS GUI - One of the best. Though all other tabs in the same price range is of same OS of jelly bean, I quite didn't like Asus top menu GUI that is owned by one of colleagues. So I am glad I chose this.

Games - I play Candy crush, Uno, Hayday and Tab runs smooth

CPU and RAM - Have installed almost 50 apps and there isn't any deterioration in the performance. Very good.

GPS - In couple of reviews here, people have complained about delayed GPS connection. That means, you turn on GPS and the device keeps saying detecting GPS satellite for a long time. I too had the same issue and by exploring a little bit I discovered what the issue is. Lenovo is concerned about customers Internet Data usage so they have by default turned off following GPS features that in other brands is turned on:

1. Location access(Goto settings > found under PERSONAL)

   
   




2. GPS EPO assistance(Goto settings > Tap on Location access > Tap on GPS satellites)

   
   




3. A-GPS(Goto settings > Tap on Location access > Tap on GPS satellites)

   
   




4. Auto download satellite position data(Goto settings > Tap on Location access > Tap on GPS satellites > Tap on EPO settings)

   
   

So you have to turn on the above listed 4 settings by following path mentioned in the bracket and. Hurray! GPS will connect in less than 5 minutes like a charm. Don't worry about using up internet data by turning on these settings. I use GPS with these settings turned On for an hour and the data consumed is just 7 to 15MB

I really don't know why Lenovo has hidden these options. It was really hard for me to discover it.

CONS

Camera - Rear camera is good but demands a lot of light. If light is insufficient, the picture turns out to be dull. However, I like the auto-focus feature that does a good job.

Battery - This is my first smart device. I feel battery back up is too bad. I pick up fully charged tab and play a game for 10mins and the battery goes down to 98%. In an average usage trend, you will have to charge the tab once in 12 hours(Further I feel battery is fixed type and not easily removable, though I haven't tried yet).

All in all I am satisified for what I have got for Rs.13, 500.