14 DAY TRIAL // VIA has announced its first notebook computer system that will be only be available in China through PC vendor Tsinghua TongFang Co Ltd. Branded as the S1 imini, the notebook will be powered, as you might have guessed already, by one of the company's central processing units. Thanks to its technical specifications, the notebook could compete with various netbook systems currently available on the market, like the ASUS Eee PC, the MSI Wind or the Lenovo S10.
“VIA is very pleased to be working with Tsinghua TongFang to bring new, personalized ultra mobile products like the S1 imini to Chinese end-users,” said Vice President of Corporate Marketing for VIA Technologies, Inc., Richard Brown. “Customers care more about performance-per-watt, ease of use and portability these days, and VIA's ultra mobile platforms are the perfect balance of low power and high performance.” Mr. Brown added.
The notebook is powered by a VIA C7-M processor, which runs at 1.6GHz and comes combined with the company's VX700 chipset. It sports a 10.2-inch display capable of outputting a maximum resolution of 1024 by 600, with the help of the integrated VIA UniChrome Pro II IGP with 3D/2D graphics. It also provides 1GB of DDR2 667 RAM, and a hard disk with a maximum storage of 80GB. It will also come with HD audio, 1.3 camera, LAN, 802.11 b/g and a 4-in-1 card reader. The S1 imini will be offered with a 6-cell or a 3-cell battery, in several color options, including white, blue, pink, gold or black.
Unlike other netbooks on the market, the S1 imini Mini-Note will feature a Microsoft Windows Vista Home operating system, with a unique Linux dual interface. Interested users will be able to acquire it for a price tag of RMB 3,998, which is approximately US$583. Unfortunately, the company has not made public a possible release date for the European or the US market.
The Vice President and General Manager of TongFang's Computer Group, Mr. Li Jianhang, said, “Mini-notes are in vogue, with an appeal that goes beyond being a ‘second computer.’ They have become a personality statement. The ability to integrate daily work and entertainment options with appearance and style takes the S1 out of the limitations of just functional computing. The imini Series is breaking new ground, bringing style and design customization to the Chinese consumer.”
You can watch the notebook in action in the video below: