LG optimus Tablet or Pad

The LG Optimus Pad has been a long time coming.

After months of persistent rumours, LG finally announced its 3D tablet at MWC in February.

Rebadged as the T-Mobile G-Slate in the US, it was long rumoured that the Optimus Pad would pair 3D video capture with a glasses-free 3D display like the one on theNintendo 3DS and LG's own forthcoming Optimus 3D handset.

However, that turned out not to be the case. What we have here is a Tegra 2-powered Android 3.0 honeycomb tablet with dual 5MP rear-firing cameras for 3D video capture. The display is not 3D compatible in any way – it's a standard 8.9-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen with a 15:9 aspect ratio and 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution.

On-board memory is provided by 1GB of RAM, while our test unit came with 32GB internal flash storage.

 Android 3.0, 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU, 1GB RAM, 32GB storage, 8.9-inch capacitive screen at 1024x768, 2x 5MP rear-facing cameras for 3D capture, 2MP front-facing camera, phone-friendly 3G, 630g.


The Optimus Pad is a super-looking tablet and has the USP of having dual 5MP rear-firing cameras for 3D image capture. Add to that dual-core Tegra 2 CPU, a decent screen and Android 3.0 and you've got an exciting tablet on your hands. But pricing could be this tablet's Achilles heel – it's going to be pricey.

For a long time we didn't know how much this tablet was going to cost, but it's just gone on sale in Carphone Warehouse for a scarcely believable £749.99. Yes you read that right. No, you're not imagining it - sit down before you hurt yourself.

At this price, this tablet will need to deliver the moon and more to be worth recommending. So, does it have the chops? Let's find out.

It weighs 630g and is substantially thicker than the likes of the Apple iPad 2 – so in general it doesn't have the same premium feel of Apple's tablet or theMotorola Xoom. It feels plasticky rather than solid.

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