Monday, November 16th, 2009
A new Lenovo IdeaPad was just shuffled through the FCC, who kindly took some pictures and made them public for the rest of us to see. Thanks to a detailed specs sticker on the backside, we know this is going to be a new netbook based on Intel’s forthcoming Pineview platform. This new netbook looks like an interesting piece. The system buttons have moved from above the keyboard to being integrated into the display bezel. The keyboard also stretches edge-to-edge a bit more and overall looks like it might be a bit bigger than the IdeaPad S10-2’s keyboard. The fingerprint-happy finish is there, but you’ll also notice something major missing: touchpad buttons. In all likelihood, Lenovo ditched the traditional touchpad buttons in favor of the touch-to-click feature that Apple initially popularized and now can be seen on other machines, including HP’s Envy 13 premium laptop. I’ve played a bit with the Envy 13 while it’s been in the Logic labs and don’t mind the touch-to-click, even the right-click is natural with an actual clicking action built into the touchpad. As long as Lenovo does their homework on the usability, this could work out fine and save the space of the two touchpad buttons. EDIT: Looks like this new touchpad could be the Synaptics Clickpad. I wonder what HP uses in the Envy 13. You’ll also notice that the keyboard has moved to a chiclet style, like the rumored ThinkPad netbook, and the arrow keys are slightly subset from the rest of the keyboard. This particular model will have a 1.66GHz Intel Pineview processor, which is likely the Atom N450, and comes with 2GB RAM and a 250GB HDD. While the display is the netbook standard 10.1-inch 1024×600, the rest of the specs are a nice step up from the standard netbook fare. We talked a bit about Pineview back in May, the new Atom processor that will combine the CPU and GPU on a single chip to reduce cost and power consumption. Higher performance processors will also be available and Pineview should help bring some profit margin back into the netbook game. Source: [Slashgear] Tags: leak, Netbook
Posted in IdeaPad | 2 Comments » Monday, November 9th, 2009 Intel Atom processor die Intel’s next generation Atom platform, codenamed Pine Trail, will be moved up and is expected to announce on December 21st, in time for CES in January. If you’ve been in the market for a netbook, you might do better to wait for Pine Trail or even the rumored ThinkPad netbook. Pine Trail offers a number of improvements over the current Atom platform, but the benefits a more tangible for Intel and its partners than consumers. The biggest change is moving the memory controller and graphics core onto the processor itself. While this doesn’t yield much in the way of performance improvement, it should reduce power consumption noticeably and most importantly reduce system cost. Intel and partners should see an increase in profit margin on the typically razor-thin profits that netbooks currently see. On the mobile side of things, the single-core 1.66GHz Atom N450 is expected to announce with 512KB L2 cache, Hyperthreading, and 64-bit support. Desktops, aka nettops, will get the dual-core D510 which is identical to the N450 save for 1MB L2 cache. A single core, 512KB L2 version of the D510 will be called the D410. Down the road we should see a 1.83GHz mobile chip dubbed the N470. Source: [The Register] Tags: intel atom, Netbook
Posted in Tech News | No Comments » Wednesday, October 28th, 2009  Lenovo has released a second configuration of their IdeaPad S12 netbook with NVIDIA Ion chipset, this one with a boost in specs. Just last week we brought you news that Lenovo had finally released their IdeaPad S12 12-inch netbook with the NVIDIA Ion chipset. While that first model featured boosted specs over a standard netbook with Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, and Bluetooth, this new model builds on that even more. The IdeaPad S12 model 295954U is upgraded to 3GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive over the other NVIDIA Ion model, with a $50 price bump to $649. Unfortunately this new model isn’t eligible for a discount just yet, but you can still get the lower spec’d model for $579. Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook, nvidia ion
Posted in IdeaPad | No Comments » Monday, October 26th, 2009
Along with the new IdeaPad models, Lenovo is also sprucing up a couple of the existing ones. The CULV IdeaPad U350 and S10-2 netbook will be able to be purchased with new textures and colorful patterns. The U350 will have new cover textures like brown lizard print, white lamb skin print and red light weave. The S10-2 netbook will have colorful new designs like pop art, violet floral, red floral, green floral, phoenix, garden, sailing and origami. Hit the jump for the image gallery of these designs (more…) Tags: ideapad s10-2, ideapad u350, Netbook
Posted in IdeaPad | 3 Comments » Thursday, October 22nd, 2009  We’ve been waiting a long time for this, but Lenovo’s IdeaPad S12 is finally available for purchase with the NVIDIA Ion chipset. The IdeaPad S12 model 29595FU is the only S12 loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit) and since its not bound by the WinXP licensing, it can be sold with 2GB RAM. You also get a larger 250GB (vs 160GB) hard drive and Bluetooth, which none of the other S12 models have. All of these new features, along with NVIDIA’s slick Ion platform, will run you $599 and it should ship within 11 days or so. It is even on sale $20 off, see how to get the deal below. What about you?
How appealing is the NVIDIA Ion chipset to you? Do the gaming capabilities matter on a 12-inch netbook? What about the forthcoming Flash acceleration coming from Adobe next year? How to get the deal - Choose the accessory & warranty options for your IdeaPad S12 (29595FU, column on far right)
- Apply coupon in shopping cart with no spaces before/after: USP11THINLGT
Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook, nvidia ion
Posted in IdeaPad | 1 Comment » Monday, October 19th, 2009  Lenovo’s 12-inch netbook, the IdeaPad S12, will finally be available with the NVIDIA Ion chipset on October 22nd in Japan according to reports. A post on PC Watch, a Japanese news site, apparently indicates the arrival of the S12 with Ion goodies as the same date of Microsoft’s official Windows 7 launch. NVIDIA Ion will add HD video playback capability to the S12, something a regular Atom or VIA Nano powered netbook couldn’t touch. It should even play a good variety of games, including the pretty recent Call of Duty 4 as indicated by the HP Mini 311. It will also add an HDMI output, although unfortunately the Atom chip probably still won’t be able to handle HD Flash video like Hulu or YouTube. You’ll have to wait until sometime in 2010, when Adobe adds NVIDIA GPU acceleration support for Flash and every NVIDIA Ion PC gets an instant leg-up on its competitors. You may not realize it, but Flash animations eat a lot of your CPU and just having this update should give your system a decent performance boost. Back in May when Lenovo announced the IdeaPad S12, a $499 target price was indicated for the NVIDIA Ion version, although this could go up to $550 according to current rumors. Other netbooks with the NVIDIA Ion platform are the HP Mini 311 and Samsung N510. Source: [PC Watch] via [Netbooked] Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook, nvidia ion
Posted in IdeaPad | No Comments » Tuesday, September 29th, 2009  Quick GlanceGood: 3 USB 2.0 ports, good keyboard feel, improved size & layout Bad: No dedicated Home/End keys, no expansion slot The Rest: Just like every other netbook | Specs | IdeaPad S12 | | Processor | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) | | OS | Windows XP Home | | Memory | 1GB DDR2 | | Graphics | Intel GMA 950 | | Storage | 160GB 5400rpm SATA | | Display | 10.1-inch WSVGA (1024×600) LED backlit glossy; 200 nits | | Optical | None | | Ports | 4-in-1 card reader 3 USB 2.0 VGA output Ethernet | | Dimensions | 10.2 x 7.6 x 0.7-1.8 inches (6-cell) | | Weight | 6-cell: 2.65 lb | | Price | $349 as tested |
(more…) Tags: ideapad s10-2, Netbook
Posted in Reviews | 4 Comments » Monday, September 28th, 2009  In my review of the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 12-inch netbook, I doted on the S12 for offering a solid keyboard, good key placement, and competitive features at a good price. I also noted that one of the best things the S12 has going for it is the choice between an Intel Atom and VIA Nano platform, with NVIDIA Ion coming soon. The VIA Nano platform offers better performance with a small hit in battery life and a bit of a price drop. Right now Lenovo is taking $20 off instantly, but also has a limited stackable $50 coupon that brings the price of a VIA Nano based IdeaPad S12 to $379 with free shipping. Check out the specs and details on how to get the deal below - VIA Nano ULV 2250 1.3GHz; 1GB DDR2; VIA Chrome9 HC3
- 12.1″ WXGA; 160GB HDD; 6-cell battery; 802.11b/g; XP Home
How to get the deal Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook
Posted in Laptop & Tablet PCs | No Comments » Monday, September 14th, 2009  In honor of my review of the Lenovo IdeaPad S12, I thought I would share a deal around the 12-inch netbook. Both the Intel Atom and VIA Nano versions of this machine are on sale, although the deal on the Atom one expires TODAY. Remember that the VIA Nano processor and graphics chipset should noticeably increase performance to a more usable level, but you will take a penalty in battery life. The Atom-based S12 is available in black or white at $449 after a $50 instant discount. If you want the more powerful VIA Nano version, Lenovo is taking $20 off instantly and adding a $50 coupon on top to bring the price down to $379. Details on how to get the deal below How to get the Atom-based IdeaPad S12 deal - Choose a black IdeaPad S12 (295954U) or white IdeaPad S12 (295955U) with Intel Atom
- Discount applied automatically – EXPIRES TODAY 9/14
How to get the VIA Nano-based IdeaPad S12 deal - Choose the black IdeaPad S12 with VIA Nano (295956U)
- Enter coupon code in shopping cart with no spaces before/after: USPNETBOOK09
Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook
Posted in Laptop & Tablet PCs | No Comments » Monday, September 14th, 2009 Quick GlanceThe Good: ExpressCard/34 & 3 USB ports, good keyboard feel, available VIA Nano processor, NVIDIA Ion forthcoming The Bad: Iffy touchpad, no dedicated Home/End keys The Rest: Just like every other netbook | Specs | IdeaPad S12 | | Processor | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) | | OS | Windows XP Home | | Memory | 1GB DDR2 | | Graphics | Intel GMA 950 | | Storage | 160GB 5400rpm SATA | | Display | 12.1-inch WXGA (1280×800) LED backlit glossy; 20 nits | | Optical | None | | Ports | 4-in-1 card reader 3 USB 2.0 VGA output Ethernet ExpressCard/34 | | Dimensions | 11.5 x 9.1 x 0.9-1.4 inches | | Weight | 6-cell: 3.42 lb | | Price | $449 as tested, $429 with VIA Nano |
(more…) Tags: ideapad s12, Netbook
Posted in Reviews | 6 Comments » | |
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