LG Optimus Pad review: Glasses on

Tablets are killing netbooks, pundits say, and all gadget makers are jumping on the bandwagon. LG, it seemed, were in no particular hurry but now that their Optimus Pad is here, it shows they mean business. The 8.9" tablet is powered by Tegra 2 and adds a bit of stereoscopic 3D for a dash of excitement.

LG Optimus Pad official shots

On paper, the LG Optimus Pad is a beast. Other tablets lose out on quite a few specs. The Optimus Pad is powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chipset, which is the norm for droid tablets, as is Android Honeycomb.

5MP cameras are fairly rare though, dual-5MP cameras even harder to find. And they'll record 1080p in 2D mode when most others stop at 720p. And there’s 720p 3D video capture. The 2MP front-facing camera promises solid video calling experience.

Also, a standard miniHDMI port will sure save some adapter-related headaches. There's USB On-The-Go too, with a cable for that and a miniHDMI cable both included in the bundle. The LG Optimus Pad has the richest tablet package we've seen yet.

So, the Optimus Pad has a few more tricks than your average tablet. Here's the summary, along with the downsides.

Key features

• 8.9" 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen of WXGA (1280 x 768 pixels) resolution
• Tegra 2 chipset: Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor; 1GB of RAM; ULP GeForce GPU
• Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA 2 Mbps
• 32GB of built-in memory
• Dual 5 MP 2592x1944 pixels resolution autofocus cameras; geotagging
• 2.0 MP front-facing camera; Video calls
• 1080p FullHD video recording @ 24fps (2D), 720p HD 3D video recording @ 30fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot functionality; DLNA
• microUSB port; USB On-The-Go support
• Stereo Bluetooth v2.1
• miniHDMI port, HDMI v1.4
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Flash 10.1 support
• GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor; Gyroscope sensor
• Document viewing and editing out of the box
• 6400 mAh Li-Ion rechargeable battery

Main disadvantages

• Quite expensive
• Camera can't shoot 3D stills
• Non-replaceable battery
• No microSD card slot
• Screen is regular 2D, 3D viewing with anaglyph glasses
• No DivX/XviD support
• No telephony

The Optimus Pad and Optimus 3D are leading LG's charge into mobile stereoscopic imaging. Unlike the phone however, the Pad doesn’t have a goggle-free screen - it uses anaglyph glasses (unfortunately, there aren’t any to be found in the box), which spoils the viewing experience somewhat.

On the upside, the Optimus Pad is capable of playing 3D over HDMI, which can quickly turn it into your 3D movie player of choice. And if you don't have a 3D TV, you can use the same anaglyph glasses you use with the Pad itself.

LG Optimus Pad visits our office

Up next on the Optimus Pad channel is unboxing, followed by The Screen Show and General hardware overview, Season 2.