Lenovo IdeaPad S12 gets ION powerup on October 22 in Japan

At this point, we're not really sure which date has been discussed more in the history of humanity -- the Mayan doomsday prediction or Microsoft's October 22, 2009 launch of Windows 7. Lenovo's S12 was originally supposed to be the first ION-sporting netbook on the scene, but the Chinese company opted to hold back the NVIDIA infusion till Windows 7 showed up, and has been shipping a version of the 12-inch IdeaPad with only standard netbook specs so far. Well, come this Thursday it's out with the old and in with the HD video-decoding new in Japan, where the ION-powered S12 will be unleashed with 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, a 1280 x 800 glossy display, multicard reader and a HDMI port for company. Priced somewhere near ¥68,800 (about $757), the new machines (available only in white) are likely to dip below $600 when they make their inevitable journey Stateside.

[Via Netbooked]

[glenskey Posted Oct 19th 2009 4:43AM]

oooooh, enticing..

[Teslanaut Posted Oct 19th 2009 4:46AM]

Why are netbooks still using VGA ports? Why not DVI or mini-DVI or mini-Displayport or HDMI?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 4:51AM]

But friend, it does indeed have an HDMI output.

[spiky32kobe Posted Oct 19th 2009 4:59AM]

Some1 didn't read the article :) lol

[Teslanaut Posted Oct 19th 2009 5:02AM]

My comment doesn't just apply to this but netbooks in general. Most still have a VGA port and nothing else. Only about 2 or 3 weeks ago have they started coming out with HDMI ports, like this one. My question was; why didn't they use something other than the very very old VGA? Like DVI, etc.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 5:17AM]

VGA is all the GMA950 will allow in output.

[kkl1014 Posted Oct 19th 2009 5:18AM]

It's convenient to hook things up to. Many places use old projectors with only VGA and other analog inputs. Examples would be businesses and schools. Places that invested early on with older technology and don't see the need to upgrade yet. Same reason why almost all business notebooks have VGA.

[Inzain Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:50AM]

@Damo: Except that this netbook doesn't have GMA950.

[bionictulip Posted Oct 19th 2009 12:36PM]

@Zane: ...which is why this netbook also offers HDMI. [I'm typing slowly to avoid additional confusion.]

[Shinigami Posted Oct 19th 2009 8:53PM]

Because netbooks with VGA out have hardware limitations, that won't allow them to show anything better than VGA? So putting a useless DVI out is pointless?

By the way the price of this toy was supposed to be $450, not around $600...

[spiky32kobe Posted Oct 19th 2009 4:58AM]

This little netbook is pretty awesome considering the price(well of the original). I got the first generation for my gf a year or so ago and its still kicking :) I've only used it a couple of times but its pretty convenient to carry around such a small netbook :) It felt better than the other netbooks i was checking out. Im honestly considering this or the sony netbook as a secondary labtop but i wanna see the reviews first :)

[Streetfights Posted Oct 19th 2009 5:19AM]

How do manufacturers justify charging twice the price for a little bump in graphics and HDD capacity? This is stupid

[Conceyted Posted Oct 19th 2009 8:28AM]

I am with you on this. The Nivida Ion has been hyped for so long (they decided to coincide its release to netbooks with the release of Win7) that netbook manufacturers believe they can charge an arm and a leg for their Ion systems. Well, I have news for them. Any netbook hitting a price mark over $550 nearly puts consumers in the Ultra-Portable realm. And at 12", adding another inch and spending another $100-$300 gets you a full blown Core2Duo with the same, and in most cases better, graphics. It is just me or is this a no brainer?

I really wanted an Ion netbook, but I have always been one of those who said they wouldn't be overspending to get one. Netbooks are just borderline fast enough for what I need with the Ion in them, and unfortunately the 200-300 more dollars spent to get a Core2Duo Ultra-Portable is more than justified for me.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:00AM]

It needs a nipple.

[Inzain Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:51AM]

It's not a Thinkbook.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 9:08AM]

That's why it needs one.

[Nzo Posted Oct 19th 2009 9:19AM]

GIVE US NIPPLES! ON ALL NETBOOKS! NAO!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:27AM]

how come 68,800RMB be only $757USD? exchange rate 1:91? haha

[Inzain Posted Oct 19th 2009 6:52AM]

We're talking about Yen, not Yuan.

China != Japan.

[mysticalzero Posted Oct 19th 2009 7:02AM]

Nothing wrong with that. It's in japanese yen. Read carefully.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 10:37AM]

I was interested in this like 6 months ago!

[Peytral Posted Oct 19th 2009 1:00PM]

what's battery life like? if it's around 6 hours i'm sold!!

[ZeroAtlas Posted Oct 19th 2009 1:19PM]

Anyone know if its full ION or the lame ION LE. no point in this, at this price for the LE version. I wants my Crysis lol.

[Shinigami Posted Oct 19th 2009 8:57PM]

LE doesn't support Dx10 and Vista (7) so my bet is its "full" version.
No other hardware changes in "lame" version, so I'll stick with $200 smaller price (uh... $30 for Ion LE and $170 for Win7?).

[demon Posted Oct 19th 2009 7:23PM]

Sounds a lot like the HP Mini 311, other than the disk and memory upgrades. I'm perfectly happy with the Mini 311, now that I have mine and I've figured it all out. Oh well, whether y

[demon Posted Oct 19th 2009 7:24PM]

Gah. Hit the button too soon. Anyway, whether you buy the HP or the Lenovo, it should be a good netbook option.

[kallekenkel Posted Oct 20th 2009 4:05AM]

Spooted for €469,- in German online store.
Shipping November 5th w/ W7 .
http://www.cyberport.de/item/2/0/0/152044/lenovo-ideapad-s12-ion-m19ktge-schwarz-windows-7.html

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 7:48PM]

I have an S10e and have been pretty pleased with it. If I upgrade, it will be because of Win7 and I will look closely at the keyboard. The small right Shift key on the S10e is problematic - I keep hitting the up arrow key by accident instead of the right Shift key. I didn't realize this shortcoming until after I had bought the S10e. With my next upgrade, I will certainly make sure it doesn't have this same shortcoming.

This Ion-powered netbook sounds pretty interesting.