Lenovo Group, the fourth largest maker of personal computers on the planet, this week unveiled its first netbook with 12” screen as well as Nvidia GeForce 9400M core-logic (Nvidia Ion) with built-in graphics core. The company hopes that advanced graphics capabilities and relatively large screen will quickly make the novelty popular among performance-hungry consumers.
Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook is based on Intel Atom N270 (1.60GHz, 512KB L2 cache) microprocessor as well as either Intel 945-series or Nvidia GeForce 9400M (Ion) core-logic set. The IdeaPad S12 comes equipped with 12.1” screen with 1280x800 resolution, 1GB DDR2 memory, up to 160GB hard disk drive, 10/100Mb/s local area network controller, 802.11 wireless network controller, Bluetooth module, USB, Expresscard and so on. The S12 netbook utilize 3-cell or 6-cell batteries. The Nvidia-based IdeaPad S12 will also support HDMI output.
“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. 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,” said Dion Weisler, vice president of business operations or Idea product group at Lenovo.
The IdeaPad S12 netbook will be available in June. Pricing for models starts at $449. Models with the Nvidia Ion chipsets will be available later this summer.
“Nvidia Ion graphics help deliver the same features found in premium PCs at lower price points and new form factors. 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,” said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook GPUs at Nvidia.
Tags: Lenovo, Ideapad, Intel, Atom, Nvidia, Geforce, Ion
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Discussion started: 05/26/09 09:02:39 AM
Latest comment: 06/26/09 05:54:28 AM
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1.
These Atom platforms are so low-performance that I feel we stepped 6 - 7 years back in time. An Atom CPU is much slower than an AthlonXP 2000+ CPU in many tasks and if they don't include at least a Dual Core Atom 330, I wouldn't even consider the product. These computers, no matter if they're laptops or PCs, are offering nothing else than Internet browsing & music playing @ the level of performance offered by a mid range PC from 2002 ~ 2003. The video playback is saved only by the fact that nVIDIA's chip had some hardware acceleration.
I think this is only a shamelessly way of mulling money from today's computer buyers.
And the price is humongous. Ok, so it has slightly better battery life but ANY Celeron or Sempron laptop out there offers twice the performance for the same price and a full configuration with a DVD-RW drive and a bigger LCD screen.
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Posted by: East17
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Date: 05/26/09 09:02:39 AM]
2.
Bigger isn't always better. What you're buying is a SMALL netbook. SMALL is the primary feature. SMALL is the main selling point. If you can squeeze a Core 2 Duo in a netbook-sized package with the same weight and battery life, by all means go and start a company to do it because you'll make an assload of money.
Similarly, if you can figure out how to increase the screen size without increasing the size and/or weight of the form factor...please let me in on your secrets.
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Posted by: panfist
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Date: 05/26/09 12:58:59 PM]
+ expand thread (2 answers)
- collapse thread
It's important not to be ignorant. There are numerous SMALL notebooks out there. Particularly with 12" LCDs would be these :
FSC Esprimo Mobile U9200 T5250 120GB 1GB [560$]
HP Compaq 2710p Core 2 Duo U7600 80GB 1GB [600$]
MSI VR220X-007EU T3200 250GB 4GB [650$]
The fact that the Atom platform is 100$ cheaper and has a longer battery life doesn't compensate for the fact that it has 4 ~ 5 times less performance and no DVD-RW drive , much smaller HDD and other missing functions .
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Posted by: East17
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Date: 05/26/09 02:05:08 PM]
Are these official prices, or promotions?
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Posted by: mathew7
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Date: 06/26/09 05:54:28 AM]
3.
These Atom platforms are so low-performance that I feel we stepped 6 - 7 years back in time.
Really? But how much power does the Athlon use? How much cooling does it need? The bigger the coolling, the bigger the weight.
If you would find a similary configured C2D, you could not buy it for less than $1500.
If you think about size, the cheapest is around 15". Go smaller, you need better cooling design. Go bigger, you pay more for materials.
The netbooks just broke this patter by including (or should I say removing) performance. But also heat. Because of Atom, they can even put cheaper (read:less dense) batteries and get the same battery life.
Some people don't need performance, but do need cheap portable computer. How come you do not complain about mobile phones? They are much smaller, have higher runtime, but their performance is awfull. Oh yeah! You never bothered to compare a phone to a computer.
The phone does phone calls and not much more. And phones do not run the desktop Windows and IE (passing blame to MS).
I think ION platform offer a very good balance. Do you buy a Core2Quad desktop with nvidia 9400 for 1920x1200 gaming? How about a Celeron with GTX280 for 1280x1024?. They are both unbalanced (CPU vs GPU) for gaming.
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Posted by: mathew7
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Date: 06/26/09 05:49:27 AM]
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