LG G Slate Review

While the Android tablet movement has been slow to get off the ground, there are some promising examples of what's possible already on the market. The LG G Slate for T-Mobile is one such device that's worth a look. Featuring powerful hardware, a superb Android implementation, and plenty of options for expansion, LG's tablet has the potential to become a genuine overnight success if it can get enough users to give it a chance.

The LG G Slate comes equipped with an 8.9-inch, 1280x768 pixel display capable of outputting 1080p video. Those impressive resolution numbers can be credited to the brawny Nvidia Tegra 2 processor under the hood, clocked at 1 GHz and backed up by 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. This configuration gives you plenty of wiggle-room to multitask without maxing out the system's capabilities. Battery life under moderate load is a fairly impressive 8 hours or so, which isn't bad when you consider the device's media capabilities. It also sports three cameras and three speakers, which are of middling quality compared to tablets in the same price range.

When it comes to expansion, the G Slate features mini-USB and mini-HDMI ports for connecting peripherals, as well as the standard 3.5 millimeter headphone jack. Unfortunately, there's no microSD card slot, so any data transfers will have to take place over the network. Thankfully, the network in question is T-Mobile's 4G High-Speed Broadband. So lackluster upload and download speeds are never really an issue. The G Slate is also fairly slim for an Android tablet, measuring less than half an inch in thickness. Weighing a mere 1.3 pounds, it's solid without feeling overly heavy.

Google's terms of use for their Android 3.1 platform stipulate that manufacturers can't tinker with the operating system too much beyond the stock configuration. And the LG G Slate doesn't deviate from the formula, giving you what you'd expect from Honeycomb with a few additional features. Besides the usual Google applications, you get QuickOffice HD for viewing documents, 3DCamcorder and 3DPlayer for working with video and T-Mobile TV for streaming a pre-selected assortment of programming. Using Honeycomb on the G Slate is a slick and hassle-free experience, with few performance hiccups to speak of.

The feedback from most users has been largely positive. Currently sitting at a three-and-a-half star out of five rating on Amazon, the overall response from consumers is that LG's tablet is an outstanding device hampered by a few drawbacks. The major gripe is the lack of memory expansion via an SD card slot. But if 32 GB of on-board storage is enough for you, the G Slate is perfect for anyone in the market for a new tablet.