The S100 was announced a while back (think January), but it was consecutively pushed back and now gets a new sporting chance at Computex.
The unit displayed runs on a cheap, entry level Intel Pine Trail Atom N435 processor and has MeeGo (probably the recently launched 1.2 version) as an OS. There’s also 1 GB of RAM, a small HDD or SSD (not quite sure), a 10 inch glossy display with a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution and a plastic finish fairly suited for an ultra cheap, entry level netbook.
The battery on this one has 3 cells, but a 6 cell version will most likely be available. One of the highlights of the S100 is the chiclet keyboard, which is present on other Lenovo machines and has great keys, smooth response and makes almost no sound. The touch pad is a little less enjoyable, as it doesn’t have a mouse button. As for ports, there are a couple of USB ports, a VGA slot, audio jack, a card reader interestingly positioned in front, under the status LEDs, and an Ethernet port.
Connectivity will probably be restricted to WiFi in order to keep the price down. There’s no info about a release date for the S100, but it will be probably be available around the same time as the Asus Eee PC X101, which is the other MeeGo running, ultra low power and low cost 10 inch netbook to look out for in the next interval. The X101 is rumored to have a base price of about $199, so we should expect Lenovo to do the same with their offering.
The S100 has a glossy display and a good, chiclet keyboard
It will be interesting to see if Lenovo will consider it worthwhile to launch this ultra cheap netbook on major markets, like US and Europe, or go for developing areas, where the netbook might be part of educational projects from local governments. Also, Lenovo might offer the same machine with a different OS, probably Windows 7 Starter, but this won’t happen probably any time soon. Stay tuned for a quick hands on video with the Lenovo IdeaPad S100, featuring Sasha fron netbooknews.com and a couple of guys in the background. Enjoy.
I brought my lenovo S100 then after 3 days the sound of my laptop has gone. I tried to re-installed and complete recovery the unit and everything were successfully installed but still no sounds. I also tried to installed other OS like Windows Prof. and Ultimate but still no changes (No SOunds). WHat’s wrong with this unit? Maybe it’s a Hardware Failure. I thought Lenovo products are all good, but now as I have experienced maybe it’s time to change my brand.