Lenovo IdeaPad S12, Officially the First NVIDIA Ion Netbook

Following earlier reports today, Lenovo has officially announced the introduction of the world's first netbook system to adopt NVIDIA's Ion platform. Following the release of Acer's highly anticipated AspireRevo nettop, Lenovo has become the second major computer system vendor to adopt NVIDIA Ion platform, which combines a low-power Atom processor from Intel with an NVIDIA chipset featuring integrated graphics. Sporting a 12-inch display and a full-sized keyboard, the IdeaPad S12 is at the border between the netbook and ultraportable notebook segments.

 

“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.”

 

With the release of the IdeaPad S12, netbooks reach a whole new level, while the fine line between netbooks and notebooks gets thinner and thinner. However, the IdeaPad S12 promises to provide users with an ultraportable PC that can also handle HD graphics and provide support for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. Spec-wise, the netbook is equipped with an Intel Atom N270 processor, running at 1.6GHz, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a choice of 160, 250 or 320GB of storage space, an optional 6-cell battery pack, WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, 3 USB 2.0 ports, an ExpressCard slot, a 4-in-1 card reader and the VGA/HDMI outputs.

 

This is pretty much what you'd expect from a netbook, especially since the entire system will run Microsoft's Windows XP OS. However, what you wouldn't expect from a netbook is a 12-inch WXGA (1,280 x 800) display, a full-sized keyboard and the powerful NVIDIA Ion chipset. Fortunately, these “enhancements” don't come at a considerably higher cost, as the IdeaPad S12 is expected to become available next month for a starting price of US$449.