Lenovo

Like a smaller, less-ornate version of the IdeaPad U110: That's my initial impression of Lenovo's new Netbook, which I saw in prototype form at a meeting this week.

What I saw was not quite the same as the IdeaPad S10 that will make it to the States come October--this was the 9-inch version for international markets--and it wasn't yet fully functional. Still, it was enough to get an idea of the look and feel of Lenovo's first Netbook. The glossy case, which will be available in red, black, and white, proved rather prone to fingerprint smudges. … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Working on a Fujitsu Siemens laptop to cordlessly watch a film trailer on an Asus monitor across the room while listening to speakers controlled by a Realtek wireless USB dock, Jeff Ravencraft touted how USB lets many peripherals work wirelessly at once.

A year after the first wireless universal serial bus products started appearing on the market, more products with the cordless capability are coming to fruition. Juggling several gadgets at a downtown hotel here Thursday, Ravencraft, president of the USB Implementers Forum, wanted to demonstrate how the new technology can impact consumers.

His organization--founded by the group of companies that developed the Universal Serial Bus specification--works to certify wireless USB devices, and so far, 45 products--ranging from computers to hubs to monitors--have received the nonprofit's stamp of approval.

Ravencraft, who also works as a technology strategist at Intel, met with CNET News in advance of next week's Intel Developers Forum, where many wireless USB products will be demoed. … Read more

Intel talked up its supercharged processor at the Montevina unveiling last month, but now the first notebooks with it are making their way to the public.

Some people have wondered if four processing cores inside a laptop is overkill, but Lenovo clearly doesn't think so.

Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 is the first to market with the Core 2 Extreme Quad Core processor. As you might imagine, this isn't one of those thin-and-light notebooks the industry is so high on. Nope, the W700 is a mobile workstation, but "mobile" isn't really the emphasis here.

"This … Read more

Set to debut on Tuesday at the Siggraph conference in Los Angeles, Lenovo's new ThinkPad W700 mobile workstation is full of firsts. The 17-inch laptop is the first time ThinkPad has ventured into desktop replacement territory, and its larger-than-ever case will pack in not only the latest-generation components, but also two features we've never before seen on a laptop: a digitizing pad integrated into the wrist rest, and a built-in color calibrator.

The 4.7-inch-by-3.2-inch digitizer is essentially a mini-Wacom tablet that sits next to the laptop's touch pad. The digitizer pad can be mapped to … Read more

It's been a week of flashbacks, and not just because I went to a concert that featured '80s bands ABC and The Human League. I also (hypothetically) relived the '90s as the CNET laptop editors (hypothetically) debated the merits of touch pads versus pointing sticks. Turns out people are still very passionate about their preferred laptop mousing method; join the conversation by voting in our poll at the bottom of this post. Meanwhile, PC World flashed us back a decade or so by revisiting a classic debate: laptop or handheld?

Fortunately, we had some new releases to jolt us … Read more

Lenovo Group reported a 10.5 percent increase in its fiscal first quarter revenues, despite a weakening global economy.

The computer maker reported revenues climbed to $4.2 billion in the quarter ending June 30, up from $3.8 billion a year ago. Shipments of PCs climbed 14.6 percent for the quarter.

"Despite a softening global economy, we delivered solid gains in worldwide sales," Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo chairman, said in a statement.

Sales in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, for example, increased by 26 percent, while Asia Pacific shipments grew 11 percent.

The Americas, however, … Read more

If you had Lenovo in your who-will-be-the-next-to-release-a-Netbook pool, come forward and claim your prize.

Lenovo on Monday announced the IdeaPad S10, the company's first Netbook, scheduled for an October release. Ingredients that make up the IdeaPad S10 include a 10.2-inch LED-backlit display, an Intel Atom processor, a keyboard that's 85 percent the size of a full-size laptop keyboard, and Windows XP. Lenovo will release two models initially.

A $399 model will include 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive, and $449 will bump those specs up to 1GB of memory and a 160GB drive. The IdeaPad … Read more

It's nearly August, which means one thing: CNET Labs is drowning in back-to-school laptops. But, thanks to the launch of Intel's new Centrino 2 platform earlier this month, there are also a few new laptops for grown-ups to enjoy. One that we've had our hands on this week is Lenovo's new ultraportable, the ThinkPad X200. We took some time this afternoon to compare it with both its predecessor and the ThinkPad X300 introduced earlier this year.

We've completed performance and battery testing (battery life was especially impressive) and will post the full review of the ThinkPad X200 as soon as we can get final pricing for our configuration. Meanwhile, check out side-by-side pictures and comparisons of the ThinkPads X61s, X200, and X300 after the break.… Read more

Last night, while the East Coast was crawling into bed and the West Coast was tucking into dessert, Intel was officially launching its new mobile platform, Centrino 2. In addition to new processors, the platform includes an 802.11n wireless card and new integrated graphics with support for high-definition content. The platform also supports graphics switching, which lets you choose between integrated graphics (for longer battery life) and discrete graphics (for better performance).

Laptop manufacturers were quick to adopt the new platform, and many took the opportunity to significantly revamp their laptop lines. For your convenience, the first five major … Read more