IdeaPad

Lenovo announces Netbook with Splashtop instant-on technology

Lenovo will soon release a second version of its IdeaPad S10 Netbook, which it will sell to schools. The IdeaPad S10e will be sold through Lenovo's Government & Education channel and is scheduled to start shipping on November 25. When it does, it will be the first Netbook to feature instant-on software that will let you access various apps without first booting to Windows.

The S10e will feature DeviceVM's Splashtop app, which Asus offers on some of its laptops (but, curiously, not on any of its Eee PC Netbooks). Lenovo dubs Splashtop QuickStart for its Netbook and will … Read more

Hands-on with the Lenovo S10 Netbook

Those who follow the ever-growing Netbook market have been waiting for one fairly conspicuous straggler to arrive. Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 Netbook was originally announced way back on August 4, but has only just started shipping.

We eagerly checked the incoming-mail pile this morning, and were very excited to find a brand new Lenovo S10 waiting for us. Our review unit had an Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a standard 5,400rpm 160GB hard drive, as opposed to the smaller SSD hard drives found in many other Netbooks (including Dell's recent Inspiron Mini 9). The 10.2-inch display has a resolution of 1,024x600, which is standard for 9- and 10-inch Netbooks.

Checking out the Lenovo Web site this morning, only one version of the IdeaPad S10 was available. That model had 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive, with a price of $439 (and a shipping estimate of 2-3 weeks), but the system should be available with other RAM and hard drive options soon. … Read more

No more Linux for consumer-level Lenovos

According to a story at Desktop Linux, Lenovo has quietly stopped offering the Linux OS as a preinstall option for its ThinkPads, IdeaPads, ThinkCenters, and IdeaCenters on its Web site.

In January 2008, Lenovo finally began offering ThinkPads with Linux preinstalled. Now, if you want to purchases any of those systems from Lenovo's Web site, you have no choice but to pay the "Microsoft Tax" and get it with Vista installed. This can be seen as quite a blow to the loyal ThinkPad Linux community, where ThinkPads are the laptops of choice for Linux users.

Ray Gorman, … Read more

Lenovo has Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77583AU for $551.65, after $20 savings and $97.35 eCoupon.

Lenovo has Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77583AU for $551.65, after $20 savings and $97.35 eCoupon. >> Regular price is $669 >> Sale price is $551.65 >> Savings $117.35 (17.54%) >> Offer ends 9/15/2008 >> Click here for deal

Photos: Intel forum in review--from Atom to Tolapai

Update with Dunnington and Core i7 photos, text.

The latest and greatest silicon and derivative products is what the Intel Developer Forum is all about. Moorestown, Tolapai, and Canmore are just a few of the chips detailed at IDF this week, while UrbanMax, new netbooks, and the first laptops based on the quad-core mobile processor were among showcased products.

Intel Chairman Barrett brought out Carnegie Mellon University's Johnny Chung Lee, who demonstrated how cheap, off-the-shelf technology--in this case a makeshift whiteboard--can go a long way. "To be interesting today, technology has to be the fastest, the best, the brightest, the lightest, but here you can see if you sacrifice a little bit of capability and performance for dramatic savings in cost, you can have a pretty dramatic impact," Chung said.

One of the more novel devices demonstrated was the 10-inch Intel UrbanMax a computer that can switch between a laptop and tablet. This by itself isn't groundbreaking because tablet PCs from Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba already do this. The novelty is the size and design: it is smaller than an ultraportable--like the Toshiba Portege--yet is designed like an oversize mobile Internet device such as Compal JAX 10. When configured as a tablet, the keyboard is hidden but can morph into a laptop by sliding out the keyboard, which tilts the screen.

An Intel official demonstrating the device said that "UrbanMax is an innovation platform from Intel. This is a product-ready concept." UrbanMax uses "Montevina" Centrino 2 small form-factor (SSF) silicon. SSF chip packaging is used in the MacBook Air and results in lower voltage and smaller size than typical Intel low-power mobile processors.

It is interesting to note that major PC makers have adopted Intel concept designs in the past. Last year, Intel offered a ultra-thin laptop concept design that was eventually adopted by HP for its Voodoo Envy 133 notebook. … Read more

Hands-on: Lenovo Netbook (prototype)

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

Lenovo announces first Netbook

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

Lenovo adds color to IdeaPads

In addition to freshening up its ThinkPad offerings, Lenovo used Monday's Centrino 2 launch to add four colorful models to its consumer IdeaPad line. Two of the new systems--the 13.3-inch IdeaPad U330 and the 14.1-inch IdeaPad Y430--are all-new form factors; the remaining two--the 15.4-inch IdeaPad Y530 and 17.1-inch IdeaPad Y730--are new iterations of previous IdeaPad models.

Building on the success of the gorgeous IdeaPad U110, the new IdeaPad U330 offers a slightly larger screen in a package that still weighs a reasonable 4 pounds and measures less than an inch thick. Unlike its smaller sibling, … Read more

Lenovo takes wraps off IdeaCentre consumer desktop

Lenovo's never had a consumer desktop for the U.S. before, and you can tell by the spelling choice of the product name--IdeaCentre--that the U.S. isn't the primary market for this PC. (The company has made consumer desktops for its home market in China for several years, however.)

Nevertheless, the Chinese company is finally making good on its promise back in early January of delivering the consumer desktop PC. It was initially announced along with its much more compelling notebook cousin, the IdeaPad line, at the Consumer Electronics Show, but the company was light on details.

So … Read more