Lenovo's $449 IdeaPad S12 now official: first netbook with NVIDIA's Ion chipset

To me, there is 2 types of netbooks out there: the ones that can play full 1080p and the ones that can't. I don't see the reasoning behind buying $450 netbook to surf internet, when you can get one for $300 and it'll do it just as well. Right now, there's only N10 and Dospara Cresion out there that can play full 1080p 24fps (and the latter isn't sold anywhere, but Japan). My N10 cost me $680 total.

 

texanman: And what is full speed of that via nano processor? Is it 1.3Ghz, or more? I'm sorry but I'm really confused about processor speed...

Thanks a lot for that page and passcode. I'm wondering if they ship into Czech Republic too .

4st3risk: there are people, who don't actually care about HD video and I'm one of them. I don't have any HD video, that I would want to watch and if I had, I wouldn't watch HD video on netbook (especially when Asus N10 has poor 1024x600), but on my C2Q desktop... My television can play max. 720p HD (not fullHD television) and last time, when I watched video on TV, was about 2-3 years ago (when I had old TV without HD res.)

So fact, that Asus N10 can play HD video isn't important to me at all. Important for me is big screen (but not so big, coz I don't want to heavy notebook), nice ressolution (wich 1024x600 is NOT) and good compromise between horsepower and battery life. Netbook for 300USD has only good battery life (if we'r talking about Eee), nothing else... Poor res. and poor processor. If u just want to play HD videos, I would recomend 17" laptop, wich is also capable full HD and even has ressolution for fullHD videos

I don't see why are people so obssesed by playing HD videos on their netbooks... It's just riddiculous...

 

The full speed of the nano cpu is 1.6, it just clocks to 1.3 or lower to save power


and bdw The nano is the only netbook platform that can play 1080p at full screen

also it is the only netbook that can use 3gb of ram and support a x64 os

 

thank you for your help, texanman. Ok, so Via based Lenovo S12 will be my next netbook . I'm really excited about it.

 

Ya and just to let you know you can run windows 7 and it works 100%

Remember to use the lenovo.com/cpp link and get it for 369+tax

 

Who said people watch HD movies on their netbooks?.. (hint: HDMI out)

What is really ridiculous, it's people spending half a grand for a PC just to browse internetz.

 

Any netbook with CUDA enabled GPU can play 1080p 24fps full screen or triple screen. Right now it's Asus N10 and Dospara Prime Cresion. Thank you.

 

ya the asus n10 can but its extremely watered down do to the gpu not being on a real pcie bus, also currently the nano is the only one, the ion platform isnt even coming out till at least next year, the only thing coming out this year is the ion LE which is a low LOW LOW spec 9300,

get your facts straight before you go ranting

 

4st3risk: Just to be perfectly clear - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMbvmdUt42c

[sarcasm]
So if u care only about HD video, u threw up 700 bucks for netbook with 10 inch screen and intel Atom. Well u can sell your Asus N10 and buy Lenovo S12, for 369 bucks, wich can handle 1080p HD video with 24FPS. You get extra 12 inch screen and stronger procesor. If is that only thing u care about netbooks, I belive S12 is just for u
[/sarcasm]

 

I Installed Virtual box and decided to see if vm was fully enabled. IT IS! I have am running ubuntu and osx in 2 separate machines and no lag what so ever..... take that atom!

 

I bit the bullet and placed an order for the S12 with VIA Nano CPU. Thanks for the lenovo.com/cpp info - I ordered mine for $369. Oddly enough, the lowest price I was able to get (until now) was $379 through my university's academic discount, so the extra $10 discount makes it all the more sweeter. I also had my eye on the upcoming Acer Aspire 1410, but it isn't available yet.

Any ideas on cases or sleeves for the S12 with the six-cell battery? I wonder how the Kensington SP12 is... seems like it might be a good fit.

Website: http://us.kensington.com/html/16569.html
PDF Datasheet: http://files.acco.com/KENSINGTON/K62569US/K62569US-usconsumer.pdf

Cheers.

 

the 13.3 in sleeve that lenovo sells is what I am useing works well for me that is, you can get it cheap using the cpp link

 

S12 with ION on hold pending Windows 7 debut. I thought this was the original plan?

 

I would by 3 of these if only it had -

• a C2D ULV CPU instead of an Atom
• 2GB DDR3-1066 RAM instead of DDR2-667
• Intel wireless-N

Give me the first one and i'll compromise with the rest. Oh, and i'm also waiting for Win7 and ION (with HDMI, of course).

I mean, this is like the perfect chassis design imo. They upped the screen size but kept the components the same? Why? As far as i'm concerned this is just a netbook sized up then.
If they can fit in an 8W(?) VIA option, a 10W ULV wouldn't be that big a leap. Heck, even a 5.5W Solo would beat the VIA. Acer and MSI seem to be able to do it so why not Lenovo?

Am I the only one who wants to see a ULV+ION configured notebook?

 

Sounds like the Lenovo U350 meets most (thought not all) of your requirements, although it's a bit more expensive than the S12.

---

 

ya if you get the case from the lenovo.com/cpp site it gets shipped OVER NIGHT fOR FREE WOOT

 

Today, I got my Lenovo S12 with Via. I haven't tested it for anything yet, coz my girlfriend is here etc., but it looks really nice... Screen looks nice, keyboard is awesome (except CTRL and FN key -what the hell ?), system is quite slow, but I belive it is caused by Lenovo sw instalation...

Edit: I decided that I will reinstall OS... Does it have Vista drivers?

 

it does have drivers, I would say use windows 7...it is more optimized for netbooks and ran a WHOLE lot faster then the xp install.... also I would get a 2gb stick off of newegg for 20ish bucks....I got a 2gb stick of gskill ram and this thing just took off in vmware, Just make sure the memory is 5-5-5-15

my dad has all the drivers for vista OR windows 7 x32 here on his site http://markeby.net/lenovo/lenovo.html

 

Thank you, it is W7/Vista drivers. I will try either Vista and W7... Curently I have XP, coz I don't have so big flash drive And for now only 1GB ram (I ordered 2GB already, I just hope that S12 will work with 800Mhz ram - I know that it will be slow as 667 anyway, but I got a great deal on 800Mhz). What about W7 and graph. chip? I know, that this chip is really poor, can it handle W7, or even Vista aero?

 

It can handle areo great! I run autocad inventor on it so while I am at lunch I can work on models. It can handle games such as quake 3 and any thing based off of half-life one at 40+ fps also I got it to play counter-strike source at 24-32 fps in windows 7 with some tweaking of cfg files, but i havent tried counter-strike source since i added the 2 gb of memory


since you only have 1 gb i would not use vista as it will eat the whole machine alive!!! Use w7, when I was running with 1 gb i had about half a dozen tabs open and I saw no lag in firefox while i was listening to music

 

So I was about to order an S12 with the nano and the ship date is more than 4 weeks.

I can get one with the atom in less than 5 days.


I buy that the nano is the better processor, but is there a huge difference in performance between the two processors? Is it worth the wait?

I'm certain I will upgrade to 2 GB ram.

I'm pretty sure I want XP, so I'm not particularly interested in waiting for the Ion chipset.

 

I talked to one of the customer service people. New ones will start coming out again maybe mid-september.

The Nano is apparently worth the wait if only because it can take an upgrade to 3 GB ram instead of just 2 GB on the atom-based units.

 

Hehe, got NFS: underground quite working on my S12 (but with 4 cars on screen it's slow). Didn't expect that . Now I belive that S12 can handle Aero without problem . Well I'll wait for 2GB ram and after installing it into unit, I try W7 and Vista .

Ystava: Dunno if it's worth for waiting (2GB or 3GB is barelly noticeable in XP), Via nano is stronger in one thread apps than Atom... If application is written for 2 or more threads, it's about same performance. Atom have less TDP, so u get better battery life, but with nano u get 6 cell battery. I'm quite happy with my Via nano unit . My previous netbook was HP 2133 and it's huge different .

 

im going to retry counter strike source tonight with my 3gb and ill let you guys know....on a atom netbook the max fps anyone has gotten was 18 (at least after spending 30mins on google) when i was running just one 1gb i had 23min which is good enough for me at least to be played on normal css servers...

Ystava: I would wait for the via ones to be back in stock, the atom ones cost more and offer less performance, the only thing your really gaining is the fact that you get one whole other hour of battery life...humm play css....or one more hour...play css...or one more hour.. ill take counterstrike anyday!

i think you can get a quote from lenovo that way if it goes up in price you can still get the same price....

P.S use the cpp link and get the via one for 369!

the reason it might be sold out might also be that people are buying them instead of the atom s12!

 

I decided to wait for the Nano. My current machine is a Dell 600m with a power supply kind-of crapping out (intermittent problem right now). At first I got caught up in the performance trap that's east to get into when computer shopping, but I'm pretty sure most of the netbooks outperform my 600m (1.5 Ghz Centrino, 1/2 Meg Ram, 80 Meg HD).

So I'll just have to sit tight and wait.

 

Thanks for the tip on that cpp link. My dad is actually retired IBM, and I'm a stockholder, so I 99% sure I actually qualify legitimately.

When I consider how often I'm running only on the battery, I'm not overly worried about total battery run time. I can always buy a spare later.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to upgrade to 3GB Ram right off the bat. Anyone have a link to the correct simm?

 

Ok well i have been trying different flavors of linux and apparently the drivers work for any distro but the issue is that lenovo has locked the lcd id and so when the xserver boots up the screen goes CRAZY! this is lenovos fault on the lcd not the nanos fault

 

I'm using 2gb 667 from gskill gskill memory and it works for me fine, My dad is useing 2gb ocz 667, i would say the first thing you do if you get it is to install xp pro or install 7 much faster then the oem install

 

Actually, for 2GB of ram, Lenovo originally could not take it. Just later lenovo developed a new bios update, that allows 2GB of ram for that one free slot. Bios update is here It is quite possible, that if u buy your device, it will already have this new bios, but my didn't, so if it won't working, u will know why .

 

Btw any1, who have Via nano based Lenovo (or for example HP 2133 with Via C7-M) can run this security software -http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/padlock/strongbox.jsp It basically creates new drive, large as u want and if some1 want to acces that drive, he must type password... It's pretty handy .

 

What is the justification for upgrading to XP Professional? I don't have a copy lying around. I do have a preloaded XP-Pro running on my current machine. I found instructions for making a make a recovery disk and load it onto my S12... or do I need to spring the $70-90.... which I'd hate to do if there's no real reason.

 

2GB ram into my Lenovo was just added . Now I have 2,75GB for system . I didn't noticed any performance boost, but I guess in W7 or Vista I will notice .

 

well xp home doesn't allow you to do quite a few things but to make it short

theres no VM support and no workgroup support which are 2 things I use on a daily bases.... what i ment if your going to stick with xp at least get pro installed if you have a copy. as i said just go with windows 7


well you will notice a speed increase majorly when you try to multitask or have 30 firefox tabs open.....

 

Thx... I think I'll just try it for a while. Money is tight at the moment. I have XP pro on this computer so I will probably notice if something is missing.

We'll see how she flies.

 

Hey all,

For those of you with VIA Nano S12 models and the original Win XP installation, what do you use for anti-virus software? Mine came pre-loaded with Norton's security suite, but I uninstalled it and then installed McAfee VirusScan Enterprise Edition v8.5i, which I get free from work. This was pretty much the first thing I did after going through the intial Windows XP setup/config process when I turned on my S12 for the first time.

I'm not sure if McAfee VirusScan Enterprise is causing this, or if my expectations regarding netbooks are too lofty, but I'm noticing a rather annoying sluggishness that occurs fairly frequently. Using the touchpad, I can navigate the mouse cursor around the screen just fine, but the touchpad and corresponding buttons sometimes take 3-5 seconds to respond... whereas they respond immediately at other times.

I've also noticed a slight sluggishness when logged onto my work web-based e-mail system, which is Zimbra (owned by Yahoo). When I try to drag the vertical divider between the folder list and the index/message pane, the action is rather sluggish and abrupt.

Last but not least, I was under the impression that regular YouTube and Hulu videos would play perfectly smoothly, but at times I've noticed dropped frames (maybe every 30 seconds or so), and sometimes the audio lags behind by a half-second.

I'm hoping that McAfee is causing this... I've just uninstalled it and will install Avast's free anti-virus software. I've read good things about it, e.g. it uses relatively minimal system resources and leaves a small footprint. If that still doesn't do the trick, I might consider sending back my S12. (Note - I have not added more RAM at this point. Also, the Lenovo energy manager was always set to either Balance or Performance mode.)

Anyhow, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it... I'd be curious to know what y'all are using for anti-virus on these machines. BTW I've uninstalled/disabled other apps, such as Windows Messenger, ID Vault (?), etc. Only the Realtek, S3, Synaptics, and Lenovo energy manager utility icons are present in the system tray.

 

One more thing, I was really surprised to see how quickly and easily the trackpad picks up skin oil and grease. After 30 minutes of use, the touchpad surface is significantly less smooth... it starts to become slightly gummy, which gradually alters the touchpad usage experience. Has anyone else noticed this? Aside from using a slightly moist cloth, what is the best/easiest way to get rid of this residue while on-the-go?

BTW sorry if I'm sounding rather finicky... it's just that I've never noticed these things with other laptops/netbooks that I've used over the years.

 

well all netbooks are missing flash acceleration so if your trying to play youtube in full screen it will lag some (not as much as a atom)

as for a anti-virus im using Norton endpoint (got from work ftw!) I haven't had any issues with the track pad so that might be your unit..... humm McAfee might be causing the lag becuase even on hulu i have never gotten audio lag....humm.... try quitting out of McAfee and try youtube again.

you can also go to via's driver site @ viaarena.com and install a newer video driver if there is one, the video chipset is the vx800

edit:

My laptop also fets a little dirty too but its never dirty on on the trackpad....you might be right by being a little ocd

More edits:

let me take some videos of mine and place them on youtube..that way you can maybe see what might be going wrong...

even more edits:

check your powersettings in energycut and make sure your not in quiet mode or anything...that also might be another cause

 

But I wasn't viewing YouTube or Hulu in full-screen or HD mode at all... I'm just talking about the regular/standard viewing mode. BTW I tried using IE8 and Firefox 3.5... same deal.

I'll look on VIA's website for updated video drivers, thanks for the tip.

 

that seems really weird...your antivirus might be slowing things down becuase I use this laptop to view youtube clips on the way to school via cell phone tether and the only time i get lag is when youtube is buffering the clips

 

I uninstalled McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i, rebooted, then I installed Avast 4.8 Home Edition. Whether the on-access scan feature was enabled or disabled, I'd still get the periodic 3-5 second pauses in the trackpad action, whether I'm tapping or scrolling. Strange, very strange.

I'm on a wired connection... not a terribly fast one at 2.5 megabits per second, but my three-year-old Acer desktop PC (Athlon64 3800+ single core, 1 MB DDR RAM) has no problems playing regular YouTube and Hulu videos (I'm not referring to full-screen or hi-def), so it's definitely not a bandwidth issue. There's some occasional choppiness and stuttering, that's probably the best way for me to describe it. Again, maybe that's just the way it's supposed to be? I don't know.

Anyhow, maybe I'll call Lenovo support and see what they have to say... there very well could be an issue with my particular S12.

 

maybe...it might...weird anyways

I took some footage( on a crappy camera ) of some of the video playback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNBjz7Zc4I

its going to look even more crappy cuz it is still being processed

 

Why don't u try it without antivirus? Also, try reinstall your Windows. I don't mean to Lenovo instalation (from backup), I mean your own installation (like clear install of Windows). I noticed not so perfect youtube playback with Via nano, when it's really hot (63°C), but with cold processor it's no problem (hell, even my old Via C7M could take youtube SD videos). But even on lenovo Windows installation and with that norton, I got perfect responces from touchpad...

 

McAfee, IMO, is the worst product on the market. Norton is a close second. Enterprise probably isn't as bad, but both tend to be resource hogs, while other products do a better job and take less resources.

If you want free, I'd use Avast! Antivirus, which I've had great success with. If you wish to purchase a commercial product, ESET NOD32 is pretty good.

 

Avast really slowing computer down... I'm not using any antivirus SW and I'm quite happy .

 

nortan endpoint is the Enterprise stuff and it DOES not lag your system its a bare min. it also costs 1k for licensing

 

I have Symantec Endpoint Protection at work. It really depends on the computer you wish to install it on, and whether you enable TruScan (heuristic scanning engine), Network Threat Protection, or whether you just use the traditional virus scan only.

 

I have all the scanning options enable do to the fact I am using my s12 as a school/business machine on the go, anyways I have gotten the battery life to be around 5 hours just browsing the webs and a few edits in word


just to let people know: any halflife 1 engine game works perfectly

 

My new S12 is on it's way 3 weeks early. I went with the nano processor. I hope I like it.

The idea of a clean OS install is intimidating me a bit. How do you do this without an installation CD?

 

well depends on the os... you usually do it with a flash drive. If it is xp then look online for guides on how to put xp on the eepc. If you want windows 7 it is just as easy as copying the iso to your usb stick and a few edits. Since you got the nano one I would recommended getting a 2gb stick for it. you will see a huge multitasking performance gain from it

 

I'm getting it with XP loaded. I plan on upping the RAM to 3gig.

When I make a recovery CD using the guides, does it reload all of the bloatware, or is it a cleaner install?