OMG! Did you hear? Lenovo has just added a BIOS feature to its new ThinkPads allowing you to swap Ctrl and Fn! Apparently this was a big request for many people in the world and Lenovo, being good guys, listened intently and pushed this passed the faceless bureaucrats in accounting and GOT THIS THROUGH! Hope, people, is what Lenovo promised, and change is what you get.

Honestly, though, has anyone even thought they needed this BIOS tweak let alone requested it? Anyone out there TOTALLY big into Ctrl being on the outside?

via Eng

Powered by Intel Core2 Duo processors, a 16:9 HD screen, HDMI and VGA outs are just some of the features. Lenovo also really hit the VoiP market hard with these. You’ve got WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, and some models have 3G built in. The camera resolution is supposed to be better, but we didn’t get any specs for it, so who knows. The integrated microphone now has a dedicated mute button for when you need to cut the audio. These laptops are even EPEAT and Energy Star certified to be green. So you’ll know that you aren’t horribly destroying the planet when you buy one.

The SL series is the lowest of the ThinkPad’s but the new SL410 and SL510 are the only members to be certified under Lenovo’s Enhanced Experience program. I’m not really completely sure what that means. According to the press release, “certified PCs deliver a faster, richer and easier computing experience over identical configuration, non-optimized PCs.” So they have the same hardware, they just run better for some reason? Why not just optimize all of them?

These should hit stores tomorrow, with a starting price of $529.

The U450p ultraslim laptop, if I’m honest, doesn’t look like a very good deal at for $800. The 14″ screen looks decent enough, but the Core2 Solo and integrated graphics don’t really impress. It seems like the dv2, which wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, might have this guy beat, especially after its updates. The U450p is, however, thin and good-looking, which was after all its goal.

There’s also the Q100, the new nettop. It’s a super-low-power, super-low-profile basic PC with a low-grade Atom processor, one gig of RAM, and 160GB of space. Sure, that sounds like garbage, but for $250 you could have one in every room; it’s good enough to run XP. You could also upgrade to the Q110, which has HDMI out, but really you’re better off spending the extra money to get the $500 Q700 HTPC mentioned above.

It’s a mixed bag, but Lenovo’s a good brand. If you’re looking for a kitchen PC or a basic HTPC, the Q series is a good bet, although set-top boxes like Roku and Popcorn hour do quite a lot of that for less money. Lots of options! That’s a good thing, right?

Quick Version: The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 represents one of the first netbooks to feature VIA’s Nano platform as a configuration option. You’ll gain some extra horsepower over Intel’s Atom setup while saving about $70 off the total system price, making the Nano a good option for those of you who want to watch 720p video. All that power comes at a price, though: decreased battery life, as the included six-cell battery only manages a little over four hours.

Features and Specs:

• VIA Nano ULV 2250 1.3 GHz CPU (800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 cache)
• Windows XP Home
• 12.1-inch LCD (1280×800 resolution)
• 1GB of RAM
• 160GB SATA hard drive (5400 RPM)
• Six-cell battery
• 802.11b/g wireless
• Three USB ports, card reader, VGA out
• Weighs 3.24 pounds
• MSRP of $429

Design: The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 feels a bit more substantial than your average netbook. Granted, it’s got a 12-inch screen so it’ll naturally be a little larger, but the computer itself is relatively heavy at almost three-and-a-half pounds and thick at 1.25 inches. It feels well-built, though, like it could take some light abuse without being much worse for wear.

The lid of the computer is a glossy surface covered in a pattern of little circles. It picks up fingerprints somewhat, but not as noticeably as to detract from the overall look and feel. In the photo above, the S12 is blasted with light from a halogen lamp — dust and fingerprints aren’t nearly as noticeable in regular light. The chassis consists of a standard black plastic and the screen’s hinges on either side feature decorative metal rings. All in all the S12 is understated, if perhaps a bit boring. Pretty standard for Lenovo, though.

Performance: To be honest, I’ve been impressed with the VIA Nano platform so far. Despite this machine only coming with 1GB of RAM and the CPU only being clocked at 1.3GHz, it feels more like a standard laptop than a netbook. While the Atom N270 CPU features a faster 1.6GHz clock speed, the Nano CPU in this machine has a faster frontside bus (800MHz versus 533MHz) and double the L2 cache (1MB versus 512KB).

I’d personally upgrade the RAM to at least 2GB, though, as once I started opening multiple tabs in Google Chrome, things slowed down a bit. After I popped in an extra 1GB stick of RAM, everything starting humming along quite nicely.

As for watching video, HD Flash video is a no-go since it relies heavily on the CPU, unfortunately, as is most full-screen Flash video (low-quality Hulu worked okay, high-quality stuttered) but the S12 was able to play most everything else I threw at it.

Here’s a list of what worked full-screen in Windows Media Player:

• 720p WMV
• 720p DivX
• 720p XviD
• 720p QuickTime
• 720p MP4 (footage from HD Flip Mino Ultra)
• 480p MP4 (footage from Samsung Camcorder)
• 480p XviD

Note that the actual QuickTime application requires a minimum of a 2GHz CPU. QuickTime files played inside the QuickTime player stuttered but when using the K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows Media Player to play QuickTime files, they played just fine.

Finally, the S12 tends to run hot. When using the machine on my lap for an extended period of time, my left leg would get mighty toasty. Not uncomfortable to the point where I’d want to move the computer to a tabletop, but hot enough that I definitely noticed it and would try to shift around somewhat. Just something to keep in mind.

Display: One of the stronger points of this machine, the S12’s LCD gets plenty bright with nice color saturation. It’s glossy without being very reflective at all, and the viewing angles are relatively wide. You’ll enjoy watching movies and looking at pictures. The 1280×800 resolution is a godsend, too, especially if you’ve been using a 1024×600-resolution screen in the past. Text is crisp and clear and the 12-inch panel makes everything very readable without having to sit too close to the screen.

Battery Life: Ah, the great netbook tradeoff — battery life versus performance. With this machine, you get performance. While Atom-based netbooks are now clearing 8 hours using six-cell batteries, the S12 will manage about half that. Lenovo includes its own power management application that allows you to choose between Performance, Balance, Low Power, and Super Energy Saver. I was able to manage almost five hours with Super Energy Saver but found that regular computing was much more enjoyable using the Balance setting.

Still, figure about four hours to be on the safe side. That’s enough for a long flight or train ride or perhaps an entire workday of off-and-on computing.

Keyboard and Trackpad: The keyboard is okay, not great but not bad either. I would have preferred that it stretched end-to-end to make use of all available space but the keys aren’t too bad for typing. I found the space bar to be a bit squishy, sometimes requiring an extra press to get the keystroke to register. As netbook keyboards go, I’d put the S12’s in the upper-middle tier. Better than most but not truly outstanding by any means.

The trackpad works well, no complaints there. There’s a nice, identifiable vertical scroll area with slightly-raised bumps on the right-hand side and the two mouse buttons are easy to click. The entire area of the trackpad isn’t huge, by any means, but it’s overall a serviceable way to move the cursor around the screen.

Speakers: The speakers actually get plenty loud, which is nice. And at full volume, there’s no distortion. The low-end is a bit weak but, in general, the speakers are above average as far as netbooks go.

Upgrades: Pretty straightforward. There are two bottom-side panels, one for the RAM and wireless chips and one for the hard drive.

Overall: The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with the VIA Nano platform hovers in an interesting category. It’s a little more than an Atom-based netbook as far as power is concerned — perhaps closer to the CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) range than anything else.

The price is absolutely wonderful for what you’re getting — at $429, it’s a solid deal for a well-built, relatively powerful netbook-style computer. However, the short battery life along with the overall weight, thickness, and so-so style of the machine leave a bit to be desired. From a purely computing standpoint, though, you’re getting a nimble little portable computer that can play back most video files and handle most tasks with ease. I’d upgrade the RAM but that wouldn’t be totally necessary for most average, everyday use.

All in all the S12 is a good early offering from Lenovo and VIA, especially for anyone looking for a little more punch than you’d normally get from an Atom-based netbook.

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 [Lenovo.com]

Green Dam, a filtering software that’s supposed to protect China’s population from harmful content (and can be called a piece of garbage on more than one level), seems to trigger anticipatory obedience (you could also call it business sense, I guess) within some PC companies. Even though the Chinese government postponed its plans to make the software mandatory with all PC shipments in the country from July 1, Acer, Asustek and Lenovo already bundle their hardware with Green Dam.

Lenovo has started shipping Green Dam-equipped PCs in China without telling their customers. Apparently the world’s fourth largest computer manufacturer is afraid nobody will buy Lenovo PCs anymore if it does. Asustek is less cautious and has begun shipping PCs with a Green Dam CD in early July. And Acer plans to do the same from the beginning of August.

Not all companies are joining the Green Dam bandwagon though. Sony began shipping its PCs with the software as early as June this year but stopped in the meantime. Other makers, such as HP or Dell, haven’t even started.

UPDATE – A word from Lenovo:

Regarding your story, you may want to clarify for your readers what you
mean by “bundle” and “equipped.” For China consumers
who purchase a Lenovo PC, we are providing a CD-ROM in the box. It is up to
the customer whether to install the CD or not. Thanks.

Via China Daily

Ah, the netbook. Back in 1999 or so I remember one of my co-workers spent over $3,000 for a mini Sony Vaio PCG-C1, the kind with the tiny keyboard and woefully underpowered processor. Fast forward a decade and we’ve come full circle with the netbook. These still woefully underpowered laptops still have tiny keyboards but they cost a pittance and, for a certain subset of users, they’re some of the most compelling pieces of hardware to come out ofTaiwan and Japan in years.

Origin Story

The netbook was supposed to save the PC industry. Cast your memory back to 2007. We were just on the edge of the global financial precipice. Desktop sales were flat and laptop sales were soaring. All seemed fine. But there was a problem: the laptop market was considerably different than the desktop market. Desktop PCs sat comfortably in a den and were upgraded over time. Junior wanted to play The Sims so he installed a new graphics card. Sis wanted a scanner – she added an all-in-one. Dad was going through a mid-life crisis so he bought a new case. PCs generated sales in peripherals and, once the PC was maxed out, it was relegated to the basement and a new one purchased. PCs cost a pittance to make and could be sold at a slight profit.

Laptops, on the other hand, were stagnant. You bought a laptop and held onto it. For many it became a main computer, but one you never upgraded. You could add some memory and plug in a printer, but you weren’t purchasing overpriced graphics cards or hard drives.

In the years preceding the netbook, laptop manufacturers played with a few possible upgrade paths. First, they stuffed desktop hardware into laptops to create the Desktop Replacement. These massive laptops weren’t portable, had horrible battery life, and were prohibitively expensive. They knew that this was the wrong route towards riches.

Then they played with mini-PCs for the living room. These PCs fit in teeny-tiny cases and were supposed to sit next to your TV. Windows Media Center promised a 10-foot TV computing experience for all. I doubt many of us have actively used Windows Media Center – let alone Apple’s Front Row experience on the Mac Mini – in the intervening years.

These two branches of hardware manufacturing looked like dead ends. However, by learning how to stuff more technology into a tiny package, laptop manufacturers were able to use fairly low-power desktop chips inside tiny cases.

In about 2007 the OLPC suddenly appeared. The OLPC, if you’ll recall, was the proto-netbook. It was a woefully underpowered laptop for developing countries with a hand crank to charge it. It was great for kids who have never seen a computer but not so great for power-hungry Americans. I once saw a man who could be charitably called a massive geek – in a good way – whip out an OLPC at a conference. He started it up and its speaker began to quack like a scalded duck. It was, in general terms, useless as a real laptop.

Then Asus, a heretofore unknown PC company, hit upon an idea. Why not take cheap processors, stuff them into some of the small motherboards they had been working on, add a laptop screen and keyboard, and make a mini-laptop? They could stuff in Intel’s cheap new Atom processors and make something that is essentially a peripheral laptop. In a strategy that can be attributed to Pimp My Ride, laptop makers knew that consumers loved laptops so they decided to add a laptop to their laptops. The larger, more expensive laptop would sit quietly in the den while the netbook would scoot around the Internet, while you were on the couch watching TV or in the kitchen making pizza bagels.

Thus the eee PC was born. It was amazing. Laptops were now less expensive than some graphics cards. A $400 laptop was something the average consumer could stand behind. Sadly, manufacturers didn’t stand behind the consumer.

The Terrible Truth

The netbook will die soon. They were a cynical play by an industry in panic. They knew they couldn’t get people to buy expensive hardware so they sold inexpensive hardware at a massive discount, hoping against hope that they would sell enough units to make a profit. And profit they did. But, almost three years later, people are discovering the awful truth: netbooks are horrible. Devices like the Macbook Air, for example, are on par with hardware that came out at the turn of the century and the tiny notebooks we tested were fine for most purposes but try to get any real work done and you run into a wall. While they are striking, they’re unacceptably slow for most applications.

But, in a way, it doesn’t matter. You’re not supposed to run desktop apps on your netbook. In fact, you can bypass most of the major issues simply by focusing on web-based apps like Gmail and Zoho Office.

Also, try telling a cash-strapped consumer not to buy a netbook. It’s futile. Nintey-nine percent of computing time at home is spent on the web. Unless you’re a gamer, you probably fire up the laptop for porn or recipes and little else. So, on the aggregate, netbooks are just fine. But woe betide the netbook user who suddenly wants to do some video editing. Interestingly, many netbooks are going back to the store for exactly this reason: consumers feel conned by their relative uselessness.

What’s Next

The next logical step in the netbook world is the ultralight. These ultrathin laptops – think a better MacBook Air rather than eee PC – appeared briefly in about 2006 but disappeared when folks realized they still wanted optical drives. I remember bringing a Gateway ultralight to an IT shop once in about 2006 and the team thought it was an “old” notebook because it didn’t even have an optical drive.

Now, however, optical drives are all but useless. Streaming and downloading are the way to go. Therefore, expect to see ultralight laptops with screens 12 inches or bigger. The netbook will turn into what can only be described as an iPod Touch and manufacturers will fall over themselves trying to replace their mid-tier laptop line – the kind that you’d carry with you on a business trip – with ultralights that can actually do a little work. The prices will rise and crap notebooks like the Cloudbook will blow away.

Think ChromeOS will appear on netbooks? Think again. It may appear on devices similar to the CrunchPad but the netbook as we know it will soon be running Windows 7 and liking it.

Where Does That Leave Us?

It leaves us on the edge between notebooks and ultralights and so we dug up the best of the current crop of what we’d still call notebooks yet can actually run a few apps. The current MacBook Air is much more powerful than its predecessors and new processors from AMD and Intel will supplant the runty Atom with something like the Athlon Neo, a more balanced chip with a bit more speed.

However, the days of $200 laptops are numbered. There’s no profit in it. This race to the bottom has to stop and, although you will see laptops like the Lenovo Ideapad S10, below, netbooks will slowly migrate to faster – and more expensive – hardware. If this year’s COMPUTEX was any indication, this is the year of the ultralight.

This is not to say that $200 laptops will go away. Manufacturers have already opened that Pandora’s Box and can’t close it. But they will be marginalized by manufacturers and distributors.

That said, here are a few hotties that we played with over the past few weeks. N.B. Apple didn’t get back to us about the 13-inch MacBook or new Air in, but I’m sure Apple makes fine hardware, right?

To test we ran an AVI movie on repeat for a full battery cycle and then ran PrimateLabs Geekbench.

But I’m Shopping for a Netbook

What should you look for? Lots of memory – 2GB at least, and a 2GHz or better processor. A Core 2 Duo is probably your best bet at this point. Unless you’re absolutely sure you won’t even be watching video on your netbook, anything less is a waste of money. I’ve seen some netbooks that can barely surf YouTube let alone run Final Cut Pro.

Don’t be fooled by price. The cheapest netbook is the worst one. A laptop manufacturer can’t sell something for $350 and still add in any bells and whistles. Windows itself takes up a large percentage of a laptop’s cost.

Avoid Linux, at least the pre-installed versions. Sorry, Linux nerds, but it’s true. Buy an XP model and install Ubuntu or whatever later, but don’t get the Linux netbook because it’s cheaper. Maybe Chrome OS will change all that, but Linux-based netbooks are usually running some wonky, kiosk-oriented installation, making them nigh-on unusable.

Go major manufacturer. If there’s anything China is good at it’s creating OEM devices and badging them for sale in the US. All of those Sylvania, Everex, and CloudUnicornNotebooks you see online are exactly the same netbooks with a different sticker on the front. It may look like a bargain but it’s garbage.

Reviews

Click to read

Lenovo Ideapad S10-2

Price $349.00
Screen Size 10.2″
Processor Intel N270 1.6 ghz
Memory 1 GB
Benchmark 861
Battery Life 4:05
USB 3
Display out 1 VGA
Keyboard Tiny, but usable
Mouse A bit too small, side scroll
Bottom Line Priced to move. B

This small netbook uses its patterned gloss top to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise standard appearance. Despite its light weight (2.65 lbs according to Lenovo) it feels very solid, not flimsy or delicate.

Like all notebooks, its keyboard is rather small. However, it’s surprisingly usable. The key layout is very standard feeling, and with a little practice, or small hands, it would be just fine for any daily use. The touchpad is also cramped, though it also is intuitive after the first few minutes. It makes up for its small size by being sensitive. Not only that, it has some multi-touch features as well as standard side scrolling. The 1.3 Megapixel camera also works as a facial recognition system for logging in. An interesting feature sure to wow the ladies.

Hardware wise this machine is pretty standard, based on a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom, it packs 1 gig of RAM for pretty standard netbook performance. Its battery life at 4:05 minutes while watching a movie also seems standard. Its 10.2” screen is very readable, and the colors are acceptable. The included Windows XP works great for its OS, and it will already be familiar to almost any purchaser.

MSI XSlim X340

Price $899.99
Screen Size 13″
Processor Intel U3500 1.4 ghz
Memory 2 GB
Benchmark 1248
Battery Life 2:18
USB 2
Display out 1 HDMI + 1 VGA
Keyboard Flimsy, standard size
Mouse unremarkable, no scroll
Bottom Line Nice styling, underpowered. B

Although this is an ultra-thin very light laptop, and it’s definitely sleek, I couldn’t help my immediate impression of cheapness. With plastic chrome accents on its ports that seem to have been put there in an attempt to distract from its ultra-bland, uniform gloss black finish, to complete its blandness all of its status lights are plain white. It almost looks like a laptop I could buy in a shady market somewhere in China. In the interest of fairness I tried to look past that. Aesthetics, after all, have little impact on the utility of a laptop, and it is weight and thickness are definitely impressive, especially at its price just under 900$. It may be the only sub-grand ultra-thin out right now.

Unfortunately I was immediately disenchanted again when I attempted to open it. A magnet holds the lid shut, and to open it, you have to grip the lid by the narrowest of lips, then suddenly, its vaunted lightness is working against you because the bottom wasn’t heavy enough to separate the magnet. I had to use my fingernails to open it the first time. After the first time though, the problem seemed to get less and less extreme every time I opened it. Now it seems to open just fine. So again, I forgive it, after all everything has a break-in period.
Once opened, I like the screen, its colors are 13.4” screen looks good. Its colors are bright and vibrant, brought out by the glossy screen. The keyboard looks good with large un-crowded keys. Unfortunately they also have a problem. The whole keyboard flexes alarmingly. While unsettling, and in general adding to my impression of cheapness, it doesn’t actually interfere with typing. The keys are large, and have a satisfying amount of resistance, which makes up for the flex after the first few minutes of typing. The touchpad is acceptable, its smooth plastic finish is very usable and familiar, and the uni-piece button has a satisfying press and subtle click. The pad itself seems to be missing any scroll features though, no side scroll or 2-finger, it brings back fond memories of Windows 98 when I had to click and drag the scrollbar down.
On the hardware side, this laptop runs on a single core Intel Ultra Low Voltage processor, which along with a much better than netbook integrated Intel GPU means it benchmarked significantly higher than a netbook. Along with this comes higher power consumption, and when your keeping it as light as this (2.7 lb) that means short batter life. In our test it lasted 2:18. Honestly, despite its shortcomings, using this laptop was fine. It’s definitely quicker than a netbook, even running Vista. Its large screen and keyboard make it feasible as your main computer, while still maintaining great portability. The price is even pretty good, and if you are want a netbook supersize, they even make a model that runs on an Intel Atom.

Dell Adamo

Price $1,998
Screen Size 13.4-inches
Processor Intel U9400 1.4 ghz
Memory 4 GB
Benchmark 2010
Battery Life 3:07
USB 2 + 1 eSata/USB
Display out 1 Displayport
Keyboard Backlit, Large, good
Mouse Nice pad, bad buttons, side scroll
Bottom Line Amazingly slick, expensive. B+

This sleek ultra-thin laptop looks great. Its black-brushed aluminum body is accented by a strip of high gloss plastic. When you open it, the first thing you notice is the large backlit keys with huge futuristic font glowing at you. When you type on them they are satisfying, and probably my favorite feature of this whole machine. The touchpad also is really nice, one of the best textures I’ve come across. It’s an ultra fine-brushed metal that feels incredibly smooth. The mouse buttons I am much less sold on. They click loudly, and require a deceivingly firm push, deceiving because of a slight play in the buttons. The high-gloss, 13.4” screen looks great, very vibrant, but that’s inside. Its so shiny, I suspect if you tried to use this in the sun, it had better be to do your make-up. That’s not the only problem with this laptop. It’s all about the appearance. The hardware inside it is less than exciting, especially for the base model’s starting price of just under $2000. Its processor is an Intel Core 2 duo running at 1.4 GHz. Although it has 4 gigs of RAM, it acts sluggish constantly. Its battery life is its most impressive performance point, and in our test it lasted 3:07 hours. This laptop was clearly designed to look good, and it definitely does, but for the kind of money you have to pay for it I would have expected better performance.

Lenovo Thinkpad T400s

Price $1,599
Screen Size 14.1″
Processor Intel P9400 2.4 ghz
Memory 2 GB
Benchmark 2753
Battery Life 2:22
USB 2 + 1 eSata/USB
Display out 1 Displayport + 1 VGA
Keyboard Very standard, good, Top lit
Mouse Nice texture, satisfying, 2 finger scroll
Bottom Line Excellent build quality, speed. A

This laptop looks just like Thinkpads for years. It does because that look is utilitarian, logical, and well thought out. Its keyboard feels perfectly standard, requiring no getting used to, my one small complaint is that the control key is not the bottom corner, it is one in from the corner, and as a result I have hit the function key accidentally often. The touchpad has an interesting texture that I like, a fine grid of tiny bumps. It makes using the touchpad very tactile. The touchpad also allows you to 2-finger scroll. There is of course also the ThinkPad’s signature “trackpoint” nub.
An interesting feature is the built in keyboard light, which makes so much more sense to me than backlit keys. With the LED keyboard light you get some ambient light that you could read by or whatever you need. The 14” monitor looks fine, it can get quite bright, to the point it hurts my eyes inside, but that combined with a matte finish screen makes this laptop feasible to outside use on a sunny day. Those combine to make this a laptop that is useful virtually anywhere I would normally be. Combine that with its light weight (3.9 lb) and you have one of the most useful laptops available. Hardware wise it’s also very capable, based around a 2.4 GHz Intel Core2 Duo, it has 2 or 3 gigs DDR3 of memory. Of course running all that while keeping the weight down means that the battery life is less that phenomenal, and during our tests died after 2:22 hours. This laptop is the one for you if you need a powerful easily portable laptop you can use almost anywhere.

with Berkeley Beyers

The S10-2 has three USB port, VGA-out, and bog standard audio-in and -out. Most interesting is the delicate polka dot styling on the laptop’s cover, perfect for nights on the beach or a weekend at the glue refinery.

We’ll do a little testing of this laptop this week – look for our bonanza netbook/ultralight blow-out shortly – and get back to you on performance and fun-itude.

Here’s what you get for the low, low price of $450:

• 20″ 16:9 display
• Atom 230 processor
• Intel 945GC chipset
• Integrated graphics (boo)
• 1-2 GB DDR2 667
• 1 2.5″ HDD slot
• “Tray in RAMBO (1 slot)” – not sure what to make of that
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Memory card reader
• Built-in speakers

Not a bad deal for five bills. It’s even pretty nice-looking. Although for a kitchen PC, a touchscreen might be nice. Or of course, you could put together your own barebones PC for under $150…

Have you been following this Nvidia-Intel spat? Long story short: Nvidia suspects that Intel has been giving laptop manufacturers a sweet deal vis-à-vis Atom processors and Intel’s whole chipset+integrated graphics chip. This upsets Nvidia because its own laptop graphics platform, called Ion, hasn’t been able to find a way onto a laptop… until now! Yes, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 will be the first laptop to use Nvidia’s Ion platform. It’ll be $449 when it launches in June. And yes, it’ll have a 12-inch screen (like my first PowerBook).

Now, why is this Ion thingamajig important to you? Well, as the owner of a pre-unibody MacBook, let me tell you that graphics performance, whether I’m playing World of Warcraft or trying to watch 1080p video—I just saw Valkyrie the other day, and I kinda liked it, to paraphrase that dumb song—is criminal. I’d be better off connecting a strawberry Pop-Tart to the motherboard, using that as the graphics processor instead of the on-board Intel nonsense.

In short, the Intel integrated graphics “solution” is trash. Rubbish of the highest order.

So, we hold out hope for Nvidia. I’ll defer to Venturebeat when it claims that Ion will be able to run XP, Vista (something of a resource hog, as you’re all well aware), and 7, as well as 1080p video.

(Isn’t it a holiday or something? Why am I even here?)

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – May 25, 2009: Lenovo today announced the IdeaPad S12, the company’s first 12-inch netbook. The new netbook takes the best in connectivity, style and entertainment features in Lenovo’s other netbooks and brings users the next level in netbook computing with improved usability and performance. These enhancements include a 12.1-inch screen, a 100 percent full-size keyboard and new graphics options with the NVIDIA ION™ platform.
“We’ve heard from consumers loud and clear about the need for affordable and extremely portable computing devices, and we’ve responded by introducing our third netbook with a completely new form factor, making mini-computing more usable and redefining value in today’s market,” said Dion Weisler, vice president, Business Operations, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. “We are pioneering new territory in the developing netbook arena by being the first vendor to give customers high quality video and entertainment capabilities in a netbook with optional NVIDIA ION graphics.”
Elevating Power and Performance

Whether it’s looking at photos, playing music, emailing or cruising online, consumers want smaller and more portable PCs. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook is raising the bar for higher levels of netbook computing with choices of the Intel Atom processor with Intel integrated graphics or the Intel Atom processor with NVIDIA ION graphics. Also, for the first time on a netbook with NVIDIA’s ION graphics platform, users will be able to enjoy brilliant 1080p high definition video with silky smooth playback.

“NVIDIA ION graphics help deliver the same features found in premium PCs at lower price points and new form factors,” said Rene Haas, general manager, Notebook GPUs, NVIDIA. “With enhanced graphics, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook is perfect for watching movies, playing popular games like Spore, flipping through vacation pictures or enhancing family videos.”

The IdeaPad S12 netbook offers plenty of up and running time with up to six hours of battery life to support the mobile demands of netbook users1. Because netbook users need to stay connected wirelessly, the netbook comes with WiFi connectivity and ready for 3G with an ExpressCard slot to enable connectivity2. To hold the photos, music and videos users keep on their netbooks, the IdeaPad S12 netbook offers ample hard drive storage and memory with up to 160 GB of storage and 1 GB of memory. For peace of mind in case data becomes corrupted, Lenovo’s OneKey™ Rescue System can help recover user data or device settings.

Loaded with Style and Entertainment

In addition to the netbook’s sleek and sophisticated ring pattern design in black or white, users can make the netbook their one-stop entertainment device, starting from the moment they turn it on. Lenovo’s expanded VeriFace facial recognition technology makes logging in a snap by recognizing the user’s face. If users want “on demand” functionality, they can go into the Lenovo Quick Start environment and check email, browse the Internet and more without waiting for the full operating system to boot. They can also don any set of headphones and enjoy surround sound audio with Dolby Headphone technology. If opting to watch video on an external monitor, they can easily connect through the netbook’s VGA port or HDMI port on select models. They can also choose among several multimedia formats to upload through the 4-in-1 multicard reader.

An Improved Computing Experience

Lenovo designed the IdeaPad S12 netbook for consumers looking for a super thin, portable and affordable device that offered a familiar, computing experience. Lenovo enlarged the netbook’s WXGA screen from 10.1 inches to 12.1 inches for better viewing and made the keyboard 100 percent the size of a full-size laptop to make typing easier and less cramped. And when it comes to portability, by measuring less than an inch thick4, the netbook leads the industry for thinness compared to other 12-inch netbooks. The lightweight IdeaPad S12 netbook weighs in at just three pounds5.
Pricing and Availability6

The IdeaPad S12 netbook will be available in June through business partners and www.lenovo.com. Pricing for models starts at $449. Models with the NVIDIA ION graphics will be available later this summer.

Lenovo has a handsome little sale going on for the next couple of days on various laptop and desktop models. Most carry an instant “you pay what we pay” employee discount plus an additional 10% to 15% with coupon code USPSAVEBIG.

ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre desktops, and ThinkStation workstations get an additional 15% off while IdeaPad U and Y series notebooks, IdeaCentre, and H-series desktops get the 10% discount.

The promo code is good until this Friday, May 22nd.

Lenovo [shop.lenovo.com via GearDiary]

Lenovo is “exploring” the possibility of a ThankPad-branded netbook. Such a netbook would, one guesses, be the first specifically aimed at the business crowd. Does this mean that we’re beginning to see the blurring of the line between netbooks and notebooks? One can dream, friends. One can dream.

This all comes as a result of Lenovo’s netbooks doing pretty darn well for themselves. The IdeaPad, which was first released in 2008, isn’t too shabby: the gang over at Laptop Magazine gave it high(ish) marks; it so impressed Australian officials that 230,000 of them now are now circulating inside schools in New South Wales and Victoria.

The natural progression is, apparently, offering the same netbook benefits—low cost, small size, the ability to cheekily say to your friends that you own a “cool new netbook”—to the landed, business elite. But then you run into the problem of, well, if you really want a more powerful netbook, why not just buy a regular laptop?

Which is to say, when does a netbook cease to become a netbook? (Well, “problem.” Who cares, I say. It’s all silly, marketing nomenclature anyway.) Is screen size the deciding factor? Can we have a 12-inch netbook? (Remember: it wasn’t too long ago that Apple had its store shelves a 12-inch PowerBook.) What about a 14-inch netbook? Larger? Larger?!

In any event, the point of all this nonsensical banter (at best!) is that Lenovo has admitted to at least thinking about making a business-y, ThinkPad netbook.

And then peace will break out, surely.

Photo: Flickr

This won’t be a long review. The drive works great. I received a 320GB version to test out, and was immediately impressed by the build quality. It’s compact, feels very solid, and is covered with the same grippy but satiny finish as Razer mice. I wonder if there’s a name for that stuff.

There’s a little slot that its built-in USB “tail” fits into, which never gave me any trouble but is probably a haven for crumbs if you keep this drive in your bag a lot. The tail is about 4 inches long, just enough to connect to a laptop comfortably, or (to my delight) hang like a leech off the back of your desktop. There is also a power cord, which is only necessary if you’re plugging the drive into a non-powered USB port. I didn’t have any trouble on my Mac or on the rear ports of my desktop.

Secure and self-contained

So the main event in this case is obviously the keypad. And I think it’s great. When you plug it in, nothing happens except an LED lighting up on the drive. This is your cue to simply put in your PIN and hit the green button. There can be several passwords that work, although I wish each PIN would give access to a different set of data — wouldn’t that be awesome? But no, since all PIN administration is contained on the drive itself, there are no complex permissions to be negotiated. You can enter admin mode and add or remove PINs, and while I eventually figured it out, it’s a bit difficult to tell what stage you’re at when the only thing the drive can do is show a light blinking or steady, in one of two colors. But I set it up with my PIN in a couple minutes, and then put the instructions somewhere I’d remember them — I suggest you do the same. The buttons themselves are slightly recessed, have a nice click, and feel like they could be pressed about a billion times before breaking.

Performance is fine; I didn’t do any quantitative testing because performance isn’t really the point of this drive. But it hums right along at expected USB2 speeds, and didn’t seem to choke with either large files or large numbers of small files. Transferring a bunch of 6GB+ files took as long as I expected and no longer. Noise is very minimal.

Costly but effective – like your mom

If you’re a secret agent or something, this would be a sweet thing to have. Actually, I think it’s probably good for just about anyone to have, if only for keeping secure records and that sort of thing. The trouble is it’s mighty expensive. Just over $200 is the cheapest I saw the drive going for, and since you can get a terabyte for half that, it’s pretty clear that Lenovo is aware they’re catering to a limited audience that cares primarily about security, not dollars-per-gig. If you’re a privacy-conscious person and want a well-put-together drive with easy and functional security (and don’t mind paying a premium), then this is a great choice.

The MRT800 (Chinese) is of the “all screen” variety of devices, although there are a plethora of inputs and stuff around the edges, as behooves one of the versatile East Asian breed of PMP. The touchscreen is a disappointing 480×272, but it supports most of the formats you can think up, including FLV. Good, is anyone else tired of transcoding? It’s got a MicroSD slot for storage — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Of course, it really comes down to the interface and fun factor to see whether this thing is any good, and with luck it’ll be coming to the US for us to play with.

[via GenerationMP3, Gadget Review, and SlashGear...phew]

There’s some changes going on at Lenovo. The corporation, of which the Chinese government is the largest shareholder, will turn its attention toward so-called emerging markets, such as the Middle East and Asia, China included. This necessarily comes at the expense of places like Western Europe and North America, where Lenovo will lessen its presence.

Lenovo is doing this to offset the lack of demand found in more mature markets. Yes, blame the recession. It also helps that China, again, part of that we’re-focusing-here-from-now-on motif, accounted for around 45 percent of its sales last year.

Long story short, you won’t be seeing as many Lenovos on the store shelves here in the U.S.

The cases for the S20 and D20 ThinkStations actually look nice enough to sell separately, so keep an eye on Lenovo desktops to see if you can score one. It’s got the usual ports, a display on the side, and carrying handles on both the front and back. That helps a lot in situations where boxes get moved around a lot — mainly businesses and LAN parties. The guts are either a Xeon 5500 or W3500, and for a graphics card you’ve got your choice between NVIDIA Quadro or ATI FirePro cards. Or this Tesla thing I haven’t heard of, which is mainly for math computation. For putting together those math games you guys all love so much.

It’s also super economical in power and noise as well as being really eco-friendly. They use a ton of recycled and post-consumer plastic in the case, although of course the components are still mostly toxic — of course, even the cardboard computer had that problem. Even if it’s not completely effective, it’s always good to see companies making that move towards green.

In any case, they sound like nice machines, and honestly if they’re good enough for Epic, they’re probably good enough for me. They’ll be starting at just over $1000 for the S20 and $1500 for the D20.

I’m really gonna miss you, Pocket Yoga. Turns out the whole thing is a two-year old concept that’s never going to make it to market. Johnson Li, director of Lenovo’s Innovation Center in Beijing, says that Pocket Yoga was an experimental project that’s been simmering for a couple years but “is finished” now and won’t be developed or sold.

Interesting that it’s been around for two years, yet it still seems like a capable device by today’s standards. Oh well. Thanks for the memories, Pocket Yoga.

[via SlashGear]

Here are some more photos:

Sort of fits in your pocket. Sort of. It reminds me of my 7th grade shop teacher’s gigantic wallet that must have given him chronic back problems.

Writing on the screen. Very nice. It’ll also likely make this machine very expensive.

An overhead shot of the keyboard. Looks like the pointer stick is in the upper right-hand corner. Can’t quite tell where the mouse buttons are located, though.

And finally, a look at some dainty hands typing.

Other than these images, other details are non-existent. The screen on the device doesn’t even give any hints as to what operating system would be used.

Lenovo Pocket Yoga [Flickr via Electronista]

What could you get for $700? Well, you could get a busted, stained MacBook off Craigslist, you could get a brand new Samsung NC20, or you could get an honest-to-god convertible touchscreen laptop. Not the latest model (far from it) but buddy, it’s a swivel-screen tablet PC! For $649!

These systems can be quite expensive, but right now you can apparently take over $1000 off and get one for a pretty ridiculous price. Even with only a 12.1″ 1024×768 screen and a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, this is a sweet deal. I’d recommend upping that RAM, though.

[via TechReport]

Well hello there, Lenovo. Who knows what in the hell this thing really is, aside from the fact that it looks an awful lot like Sony’s don’t-call-it-a-netbook VAIO P. According to a translated version of Engadget Chinese, “A friend in Beijing in Beijing greeted the IBM Lenovo office. I think it is the concept of Lenovo machine, or even just a model can not be changed. The appearance of skin texture are” Ah, that’s much clearer now.

So shall we go with prototype for now? When closed, the unit appears to be ensconced in leather. It looks like a little purse or a restaurant bill!

Details are non-existent, so speculate away.

[Engadget Chinese via SlashGear]

Lenovo announced two new smaller, cheaper desktop PCs today. The ThinkCentre M58e and A58 are built for the cost-conscious business consumer, with a starting price of $399. The PCs run cooler and quieter than previous ThinkCentres (as should be expected).

The A58 (pictured) will be marketed to small-to-medium-business customers as a low-cost desktop with a new design. The M58e meets Energy Star 5.0 and EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold standards, making it a greener option for mid-market and large companies. Both desktops will be available at the beginning of April. Judging from personal experience, HP and Dell dominate the business market. Lenovo will have to do better than $399 to compete with them.

Lenovo Retools ThinkCentre Business Desktops for Smaller, Lower Cost Options

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – March 10, 2009: Lenovo today announced that it is retooling its desktop PC portfolio to give customers two new, smaller, lower cost options. Lenovo’s new ThinkCentre A58 brings small-to-medium-business customers reliable, secure and affordable desktop technology in a new design, while the ThinkCentre M58e provides the technologies and green features that mid-market and large companies need to stay productive and efficient. With more customers demanding smaller desktop PCs today, the desktops come in tower and small form factor models.

“Customers are feeling the pinch of the challenging economic times, and are demanding PC products that give them the most value for their dollar,” said Dilip Bhatia, executive director, global desktop marketing, Lenovo. “We’ve crafted the latest Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops to give them the essential technologies they need to stay productive, reliability features and service plans to stretch their dollar further and security options to protect their business.”

Security, Reliability and Efficiency

For two layers of protection, users can combine Lenovo’s Rescue and Recovery tool included with the desktops to help in recovering and restoring lost files along with Lenovo’s Online Data Backup service to keep data backed-up in a secure, off-site location. Preloaded on both desktops, customers can try the service free with up to 5 GB of storage for 90 days.

The new desktops provide the security businesses require with features such as a fingerprint reader on several optional Lenovo keyboards for easy password management, I/O port disablement to help protect against external threats and a chassis intrusion switch to help detect tampering in the PC.

With select EPEAT Gold-rated models and models that already meet the Energy Star 5.0 criteria, which take effect in July, the ThinkCentre M58e desktop helps large enterprise customers ensure their PC technology is among the most energy-efficient and environmentally responsible on the market. For companies with large fleets of PCs, the savings can quickly add up. A ThinkCentre M58e desktop combined with a ThinkVision L1940pW monitor can save organizations approximately $40 a year over previous Lenovo desktop and monitor solutions.¹ Additionally, both the ThinkCentre M58e and the ThinkCentre A58 desktops are GREENGUARD certified, meaning they have been tested for up to 2,000 different chemical emissions.

Value-Added Tools Help Manage PC Investment

Most businesses purchase PC technology as an investment to be managed over several years. However, Gartner reports that only 13 to 16 percent of the total cost of PC ownership over the lifecycle of the PC comes from initial hardware costs, and the rest are software and ongoing management costs.² The new ThinkCentre A58 and M58e desktops help organizations manage both upfront hardware costs and ongoing management costs in several ways.

Lenovo has engineered unique, ThinkVantage Technologies on the ThinkCentre M58e and Lenovo Care tools on the ThinkCentre A58 that are included in the cost of the PC. These tools help companies avoid IT costs and lost productivity associated with individual PC usage in SMB environments, such as data recovery, as well as issues IT managers in large corporations face such as IT help desk calls, password resets, asset management and more.

Lenovo includes a variety of tools on the desktops such as Rescue and Recovery to help recover and restore files and Power Manager to easily manage and remotely control a PC’s energy usage even when it is turned off. They also include Client Security Solution, Client Security Password Manager and more.

“All of our customers have different computing requirements, but with Lenovo’s ThinkVantage Technologies (TVTs) we have the tools to service their varying needs,” said Andrew Shannon, regional vice president of sales, MCPc. “We use the TVTs with almost every customer to help build and deploy images. We have over 40 customers that we’ve helped deploy TVTs in the last several months with an emphasis on ImageUltra, Rescue and Recovery, Access Connections (laptop only) and Power Manager. It continues to be our underlying goal to help them and us save time and money.”

IT administrators can deploy and manage Lenovo ThinkVantage Technologies across a fleet of PCs through purchasing LANDesk software. Additionally, the ThinkCentre M58e desktop offers platform stability of up to 15 months for corporate customers who may deploy technology over an extended period of time.

Essential Technologies

The desktops feature technologies including choices of:

• Intel Core2Quad and Core2Duo processors
• Onboard Direct X10 graphics support
• Support for up to 1TB of storage
• Up to 4 GB memory
• Blu-Ray or DVD burners

Ongoing Service and Support

Lenovo offers a variety of warranty options as well as its ThinkPlus Priority support service plans

which give customers 24×7 technical support and priority call routing, among a host of other features and tools. For those in-the-middle-of-the-night scenarios, ThinkPlus Priority support can help support critical business needs while helping businesses reduce or eliminate the need for around the clock IT staff, which can translate into significant cost savings.

For complete lifecycle management, Lenovo offers custom imaging and deployment, as well as Asset Recovery Services, a solution that provides for computer take-back, data destruction, refurbishment and recycling. Customers can also recover value from their old PCs which can then be used toward the purchase of new ones.

Pricing and Availability³

The ThinkCentre A58 and M58e desktops will be available at the beginning of April with models starting at $399. They will be available through business partners and www.lenovo.com.

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