Lenovo’s newest netbook, the 12-inch IdeaPad S12, is now available with the VIA Nano processor & chipset option mentioned at announce. This should actually provide a decent performance bump over Intel’s Atom chip, but will also of course use more power in doing so. If you’re curious as to the difference, hardware tech site [H]Enthusiast put the two platforms head to head, albeit in desktop form. This article should give you a good idea as to the differences.

Unfortunately the new model is not covered under the 10% off coupon currently running. With the 10% discount on regular price $499 Atom-based S12 netbooks, you can choose from an Atom or Nano based netbook for about the same price. The only catch is what while the Atom-based S12 models are available in two colors, there is only one Nano model and we don’t have a clue as to what color it is. We already deciphered which color each of the other netbooks was, but this one is a mystery for now. Keep up the good work Lenovo.

Check out Lenovo’s IdeaPad S12 models here.