Lenovo IdeaPad A1 now on sale in the U.S.

Lenovo has made available its budget-friendly IdeaPad A1 tablet for U.S. customers through its official online store. The tablet was first hinted at late July when the unit arrived at the FCC.

As an entry-level alternative to the more expensive IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad tablets, the 7-inch IdeaPad A1 includes a single-core 1GHz OMAP 3622 Cortex-A8 CPU, 512MB RAM, 1024x600 resolution screen, front-and-rear cameras, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth and a built-in 1-cell battery for around 5-7 hours of usage. There is even a healthy amount of physical connectivity options with microUSB and dedicated SD/microSD card readers. Overall, the unit is 0.88 pounds (0.40kg) and only 0.46-inches (1.17cm) thick.

The A1 tablet starts at only $199, the same price as the Amazon Kindle Fire. Unfortunately, this specific model will only house a 2GB SSD, so buyers may want to take advantage of SD cards for additional storage. For $50 more, however, users will get 16GB of internal storage and a wider range of colors including pink, blue and white.

While Lenovo is currently taking orders, don’t expect to receive the tablet until around Halloween at the earliest as units are not expected to ship until at least October 27^th.

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