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Lenovo IdeaPad S12

Nathan Edwards — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:30:00 -0500

How big can a netbook get before it stops being a netbook?

The guts of the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 are virtually identical to the IdeaPad S10 that we reviewed back in 2008—1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 160GB HDD, and integrated Intel GMA950 graphics. The difference is the body. At 11.4 inches wide, this is one of the largest “netbooks” we’ve ever tested. The S12 has a 12.1-inch WXGA screen with a 1280x800 native resolution—far superior to the netbook-standard 1024x600, and much more usable. The glossy screen is impressively bright even at low LED-backlight levels.

The S12’s keyboard features large, comfortable keys and is a joy to type on, although as usual, Lenovo has mixed up where the Ctrl and Fn keys should be. The glossy black patterned lid and matte-black ABS frame make the S12 one of the best-looking and best-constructed netbooks we’ve ever tested, although the battery is a little wobbly and the lid is a fingerprint magnet. Both RAM and hard drive are easily accessible and upgradeable.

You'd be amazed how much difference a screen with decent resolution makes.

While some S12s ship with VIA’s Nano platform and an Ion-based version is in the works, ours came with a standard N270, and its performance reflected that. The S12 took 708 seconds to complete our Photoshop benchmark—about the same as the Lenovo S10 and Samsung NC10, two other N270-based netbooks. In Quake III, the S12 grabbed a respectable 60.9fps, slower than the 63.8fps the record-holding MSI Wind U123 managed with the same settings. The six-cell battery lasted a respectable four hours, 15 minutes in our rundown test.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is not the fastest netbook we’ve ever tested, nor the smallest—but that isn’t the point. It’s a competent netbook in a much more usable formfactor. The higher screen resolution makes everything better—from browsing the web to editing photos and watching movies. And at a three pound, 6.5 ounce lap weight, it’s only a few ounces heavier than the Asus Eee 1000HE or MSI Wind U123—still light enough to throw in a bag and bring to the coffee shop.

Some might argue that a netbook with a 12-inch screen isn’t even a netbook anymore. We think they’re wrong. It’s still cheap (on the low end of $500) and portable, has great battery life, and the combination of a great screen and excellent keyboard means that folks who dismiss netbooks as too small to be usable have another thing coming.

Lenovo's Windows 7 Powered IdeaPad and IdeaCentre Systems Hit the Streets

Paul Lilly — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:44:05 -0500

Lenovo continues to flesh out its line of Windows 7 powered PCs, this time by adding a handful of IdeaPad laptops and IdeaCentre desktops built around the newly released OS.

On the mobile front, Lenovo unveiled a trio of laptops -- IdeaPad Y550P, U150, and U550 -- with the Y550P probably being the most appealing to power users. Why? Because it's the only one of the bunch to use Intel's Core i7 platform. Like the Y550, the U550 also comes in a 15.6-inch form factor, but drops things down a notch with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. And the U150 is aimed at the ultra-portable crowd. As such, it measures just 13.5mm thick and weighs a little under 3 pounds.

None of the new desktops sports Intel's Nehalem architecture, but the Lenovo H230 does make a strong pitch to penny pinchers. Starting at $300, Lenovo says consumers will have a range of HDD and DDR3 configurations to choose from. Those looking for a bit more oomph can step up to the K300, which is built around Intel's Core 2 Quad platform and includes an option for RAID. Rounding out the desktop solutions is the B500 all-in-one, which is also built around Intel's Core 2 Quad line.

Press Release

Image Credit: Lenovo via HotHardware.com

Lenovo Will Bundle Skype with its New Laptop and Desktop PCs

Paul Lilly — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:56:55 -0500

Lenovo has let it be known that every single ThinkPad laptop and ThinkCentre desktop PC will come with Skype already installed.

"If you're fortunate enough to get your hands on a Lenovo ThinkPad or ThinkCentre for your home or office, be sure to keep an eye out for Skype," said Peter Parkes, Skype's chief blogger.

That's great news for private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, who bought a 65 percent share of the company last month and would like nothing more than to see Skype's market share continue to grow. While terms of the Lenovo deal have not been disclosed, there's a reason why software companies pay tidy sums to have their apps come pre-installed on OEM systems.

As for consumers, you can view it as another piece of bloatware to be nuked after first firing up your new PC, or a handy pre-install of an app you may already use anyway.

Acer, Lenovo, and Others Launching Nvidia Ion-Based Products

Paul Lilly — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:42:45 -0500

Nvidia's Ion platform has gotten off to somewhat of a slow start, but that's starting to change thanks to Acer, Lenovo, and Zotac, all of which have recently launched Ion-based mobos and nettops.

Relative newcomer Zotac (founded in 2006) just launched its Ion-based ITX-F motherboard series for use in nettops. And in a nod to the power of customer feedback, the company's new 'F' series also sports a PCI-E x16 expansion slot.

"Zotac always listens to user requests for features. End users loved our Ion ITX series motherboards, but some requested PCI Express expansion. We listened and thus the Zotac Ion ITX F series was born," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, Zotac International. "Our engineers managed to integrate PCI Express x16 expansion without sacrificing any of the award-winning features either."

Acer, meanwhile, recently released its AspireRevo AR1600-U910H nettop with an Intel Atom 230 processor (1.6GHz) and Nvidia Ion LE graphics, and it streets for under $200.

Finally, Lenovo has jumped on the Ion bandwagon with the launch of its IdeaCentre Q110 nettop here in the States. Priced twice as much as Acer's cut-down model, Lenovo's version comes with the same Aton N230 processor, but uses the regular Nvida Ion graphics chip.

Lenovo Boasts Fastest Windows 7 Boot Time

Paul Lilly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:24:11 -0500

If this were the Old West, Lenovo would be the gritty cowboy boasting the fastest draw in town. Challengers, both new and old, would step up and challenge the gunslinger to a shoot out, and at some point, Lenovo would likely fall.

In the modern era, Lenovo doesn't have to worry about catching a bullet between its eyes, but it will have to back up its claim of having the fastest Windows 7 boot-up and shutdown times. According to Lenovo, its ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktop PCs for businesses load Windows 7 up to 56 percent faster compared to booting XP or Vista.

The company also said its IdeaPad and IdeaCentre consumer PCs certified for "Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience" will load 33 percent faster and shutdown 50 percent faster than hardware that's not certified, even if using identical components. How is this possible? Through BIOS tweaks, Windows 7optimizations, special onboard hardware drives, and a rewritten power manager, Lenovo says.

China's "Green Dam" Web Filtering Initiative Dead in the Water

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:40:52 -0500

Although, earlier this year, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology mandated that the vaguely named “Green Dam Youth Escort” web filtering software be bundled with all new PCs, including the imported ones, it later postponed the July 1 deadline before eventually scrapping its edict last month.

Now all remaining major PC manufacturers have stopped bundling the software with their PCs, with the announcement that Sony, Lenovo and Acer will no longer be bundling the controversial software.

However, it is still mandatory for those administrating public use computers to have Green Dam Youth Escort installed on such machines. But one unnamed Chinese high school is said to have flouted the government’s order by deleting the software from its computers. It is not often that China offers obeisance to outside pressure.

Image Credit:MSN

Lenovo Unveils Netbook-Killer Desktop the C100

Jason Barry — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:08:33 -0500

While netbooks are getting all the attention these days, Lenovo thinks the desktop can get a piece of that small-form-factor low cost action. They released the C100 all-in-one widescreen desktop computer starting at $399.

The Lenovo C100 features an 18.5in (16:9) flat-panel driven by the Intel GMA 950 chipset. They packed in 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM all powered by the Intel Atom 330 dual-core processor. It also rocks four USB ports, integrated DVD burner, webcam, speakers and a microphone crammed into a 2-inch deep profile, rivaling some LCD monitors.

It stands to be an impressive computer product at a seriously low price point. Dion Weisler, vice president of Business Operations at Lenovo brags it’s “Packed with cool experiences and available at a very affordable price, the C100 expands Lenovo’s consumer offering for the fast growing all-in-one market segment.”

Obviously not for the hardcore gaming enthusiast, but these machines have their purpose. Would you buy one?

Hands-On with Lenovo's Multi-touch Thinkpad T400s

Florence Ion — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:00:00 -0500

When we last visited the Lenovo Thinkpad T400s, we gave it a relatively good score based on its sleek, black matte chassis, its comfortable ergonomic keyboard and its reliable on-the-go specifications, which included a 128GB SSD. Now, the T400s has had a minor overhaul in hardware (including a touchscreen LCD) and software and we were lucky enough to get some hands-on playtime with the still-in-beta SimpleTap multi-touch software.

This version of the T400s now includes a capacitive multi-touch screen, which integrates the finger-gesture actions a tablet PC into the desktop interface. Tap twice with your index and middle-finger to initiate the proprietary SimpleTap interface; you’ll be able to control the basic functions of your computer from this menu, including the brightness of the display and the audio settings, as well as any hot keys and web pages you may want to bookmark. Additionally, you can use your fingers instead of the Multi-touch Touchpad or the TrackPoint joystick to navigate around Windows, though we found that using touch to hit small Desktop icons was a chore.

The SimpleTap Menu, which pops up when you tap the screen twice with both your index- and middle-finger

This Simple Tap feature reminds us a lot of the iPhone home screen, with each transparent square tile functioning as its own application. In essence, SimpleTap accomodates new customizable hot keys that are not embedded into the hardware, and can be switched out and utilized in any manner the user prefers.You canadd custom application links or even bookmarks to your favorite websites.

The SimpleTap menu icons can be arranged however you like. Some buttons bring up other options, like the volume menu in the top left corner.

Though it seems to be a bit of an overkill for a laptop that does not have a reversible swivel LCD screen, we can see how the touchscreen could benefit professionals that do not have the luxury of having an external mouse or a tablet with them at all times—like graphic designers, doctors, and engineers using Auto Cad. The screen however, isn't a pen-based digitizer, so you'll have to rely on your fingers.

SimpleTap is currently still in beta mode and the multi-touch gestures are not supported by all programs. Regardless, the new T400s comes equipped with Windows 7 and the Microsoft Touch Pack, which includes a handful of nifty games, a touch enabled screen saver, and the Microsoft Surface Collage, which allows you to arrange your photos into a collage for your desktop. Though it may seem a little out of place to include a touch screen on a non-tablet computer, we’re excited to see if more laptop makers will adopt this hardware in the future.