The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with NVIDIA’s ION chipset may be on hold until this fall. But you can already pre-order the S12 with either an Intel Atom or VIA Nano CPU. The company added the Nano option to its web site yesterday.

The Nano version will sell for $50 less than the Intel Atom powered version, at $449. It ships with a 1.3GHz VIA Nano ULV 2250 CPU, Integrated VIA Chrome9 HC3 graphics, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. Like the Atom version, it runs Windows XP Home Edition, has a 12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, and 6 cell battery.

The Lenovo Idepad S12 is available for order now, but isn’t expected to ship for at least a month or so.

via Netbook News

Netbooks and smartbooks with Intel and ARM based processors are getting a lot of attention at Computex 2009. But Sascha from NetbookNews.de took a tour of VIA’s showroom where he found dozens of mini-laptops, nettops, and even MIDs using VIA’s Nano and C7-M processors. While many of these devices will never show up in the US, VIA has been working with a lot of ODM PC makers in China and other developing nations.

While the C7-M processor is around 5 years old at this point, VIA recently released a new VX855 chipset which enables HD video playback on devices C7-M and Nano with processors. In one part of his video, Sascha points out a reference system with a C7-M chip and this processor playing 1080p video while using less than 20% of the available CPU cycles.

Check out the whole video for a whirlwind tour of VIA’s CES showings after the break.

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VIA may have lost the battle for netbook dominance to Intel, but the chip maker is showing off some recent successes at Computex in Taipei. While the vast majority of 10 inch and smaller netbooks available today use Intel’s Atom processor, the VIA Nano processor appears to be making some headway with slightly large machines like the Samsung NC20 and Lenovo IdeaPad S12. And the company is making an even bigger splash with Chinese laptop makers putting out thin and light laptops with 12 and 13 inch dislays.

We’re talking about machines from companies with names like FlyBook, Tong Fang, and Great Wall.

All of the Nano powered laptops shown at Computex are running Windows 7. You can check out a brief video of the laptops in action at Laptop Magazine’s web site.

Here are a few stories I came across this weekend about the companies that make our beloved mini-laptops.

Asus to layoff up to 500 employees

Earlier this year Asus announced plans to layoff several hundred workers as part of an effort to save money and restructure the business. While those layoffs were delayed a bit, DigiTimes reports that by the end of July, as many as 500 Asus employees will be gone.

Netbooks help Quanta stay competitive

Business Week has an interview with Quanta Computers chairman Barry Lam about the company’s growth in the age of netbooks. Quanta partnered with Nicholas Negroponte on the first OLPC XO Laptop, and has been working with Acer and other computer makers on consumer oriented netbooks. Quanta’s earnings rose by 10% in 2008.

Computex rumors

Sascha from Netbook News.de is in Taiwan in advance of the Computex trade show, and he’s picked up a few intriguing rumors about devices that could be on display. That includes an Asus Eee PC prototype built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU instead of the Intel Atom processor, an NVIDIA ION demonstration using a VIA Nano CPU instead of Intel Atom, and Disney-branded netbook. These are just rumors, so take them all with a grain of salt. Or a few tablespoons. Your choice.

If you were a little underwhelmed by Lenovo’s last mini-notebook launch (the IdeaPad S10-2 which was a minor update to the original S10), the IdeaPad S12 should take your blues away. While this little puppy is a bit on the large side for a netbook, thanks to its 12 inch display, it has one killer feature: This is the first laptop to ship with an NVIDIA ION option.

NVIDIA’s ION platform combines a low power Intel Atom CPU with an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor to provide significantly better graphics performance than you’ll get from most Atom-based computers with integrated Intel graphics. You’ll take a small hit on energy consumption and battery life if you opt for the ION chipset, but you’ll also get a computer with enough oomph to play Call of Duty 4.

Up until now, the only ION-based products that had been announced were nettops, or tiny desktop computers. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is the first laptop to use the platform, although I doubt it will be the last. The S12 is also available with the plain old Intel 945GSE chipset with integrated 950 GMA graphics. This model should cost about $50 less and get better battery life.

Oh, and if that isn’t enough choice for you, Lenovo also plans to offer a third option in some markets: A VIA Nano processor. But that option won’t be available in the US, at least not at launch.

So to recap, this mini-laptop will be available with either a VIA Nano CPU, an Intel Atom processor with integrated graphics, or an NVIDIA Ion platform that combines an Atom chip with an NVIDIA GPU.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of the specs:

• Display: 12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixels
• OS: Windows XP
• CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
• Graphics: Intel GMA 950 or NVIDIA ION
• RAM: 1GB
• Storage: 160GB, 250Gb, or 320GB HDD
• Connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi options, Bluetooth, Etherent
• I/O: Expresscard slot, 3 USB ports, 4-in-1 card reader, VGA, HDMI
• Battery: 3 or 6 cell batteries for 3 to 6 hours of battery life
• Weight: 3.1 to 3.4 pounds depending on battery
• Dimensions: 11.5″ x 8.5″ x 1.1″
• Price: $449 with integrated graphics, $499 with NVIDIA ION

The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is expected to begin shipping in July, although it will be on display at Computex in Taipei in June. Until then, you can get your S12 fix by checking out a few hands-on articles from Laptop Magazine and GottaBeMobile.

Dr. Mobile first introduced the world to the VIA Nano-powered FreeStyle Mini at CES in January. Now the company is preparing to launch a new model with an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 screen and a VIA Nano 1.3GHz CPU and VX800 chipset. The Dr. Mobile FreeStyle 1300n may have a bigger screen than its predecessor, but it measure less than an inch thick and weighs just about 2.9 pounds.

Here are a few more highlights:

• Operating System: Windows XP or Windows Vista Home Basic
• RAM: Up to 4GB (2GB x 2)
• Storage: 2.5″ HDD/SSD
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g, Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0, optional WiMAX or HSDPA/HSUPA/EVDO/CDMA modem
• I/O: 3 USB ports, VGA, SDHC card reader
• Battery: 3600~3800mAh
• Dimensions: 11.3″ x 7.8″ x 1″
• Weight: 2.87 pounds

The laptop should be available in June.

You can check out a video overview of the Freestyle 1300n from VIA’s How To Be Mobile site after the break.

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Image credit: CNet

Intel and VIA have been duking it out in the netbook processor space for over a year now. Some of the first consumer oriented netbooks had Intel Celeron or VIA C7-M chips. And while VIA has a new Nano CPU line to offer netbook and laptop makers, Intel’s Atom processor is king… for now. The Atom chip is used in dozens of netbooks from most major computer companies including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, and Toshiba. 

Now, VIA claims the Nano offers better performance than the Atom chip. But one of the first Nano systems out the door (the Samsung NC20 12 inch notebook) doesn’t seem to offer any noticable performance boost over the average Atom powered netbook.

But what about AMD? The company has pretty much avoided the netbook market altogether. But recently AMD launched a new platform that the company says will help fill the gap between netbooks and more powerful computers. The AMD Neo chip, we were told, would outperform the Atom and would be able to provide better graphics performance on light weight, relatively low cost ultraportable computers like the HP Pavilion dv2 which is selling for about $750.

But it turns out that the AMD Neo isn’t really all that impressive either, at least not according to a handful of tests that the folks at CNet ran. They pitted the Neo, Nano, and Atom chips against one another in a brief battle. In three contests (multitasking, encoding audio in iTunes, and editing images in Jablum), there were three different winners. The Atom was the best at multitasking, while the Nano and Neo were faster in some single application tests. I think the chart on CNet is messed up because it doesn’t seem to reflect the text of the article. But from the way AMD had been talking, I would have expected the Neo to blow away the Atom and Nano processors. And it doesn’t. 

Where the Neo platform does shine is in graphics performance. The HP Pavilion dv2 can handle some video games that would make most netbooks balk. And it handles HD video just fine… but that’s because the AMD Neo CPU is meant to be paired with an ATI GPU, not integrated graphics like you find in the low power Intel Atom platform. The Pavilion dv2 battery also drains in about 2.5 hours, which is nowhere near the 5+ hours you can get from many Intel Atom powered netbooks with 6 cell batteries.

Newegg.com

Online retailer Newegg is taking orders for the Samsung NC20 laptop.  The NC20 is a bit large to be considered a netbook. It has a 12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display and a full sized keyboard. But it weighs just 3.3 pounds and bears a more than passing resemblance to the smaller, lighter Samsung NC10 netbook.

Aside from the size difference, one of the main things setting the NC20 apart from the NC10 and other netbooks is the processor. Samsung resisted the urge to place yet another Intel Atom processor in this laptop, and instead chose to use a 1.3GHz VIA Nano U2250 processor with integrated VIA Chrome9 graphics.

From the reports I’ve read you probably won’t notice a huge difference in performance between this particular CPU and an Intel Atom chip. But that’s already an improvement over VIA’s older C7-M mobile processors that were showing up in netbooks last year. They were significantly pokier than the Intel Celeron and Atom chips used by netbook makers. And VIA does have a few more powerful Nano processors in its arsenal, so future notebooks and netbooks using the Nano platform might be able to outperform your typical Intel Atom powered netbook in some areas.

Newegg is charging $549.99 for the Samsung NC20 with 1Gb of RAM, a 160Gb hard drive, and Windows XP Home.

via Laptop Magazine

A Hong Kong company is promoting a new mini-laptop with a 1.3GHz VIA Nano CPU, the new VIA VX855 chipset, a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel display, and a choice of a hard drive or SSD. Nothing too new there. But here’s the kicker: The product page is filled with images making it look like this is an Apple product. And it’s quite clearly not.

First, there appears to be an Apple logo on the lid of the computer. And the images show an Apple logo over an OS X-like wallpaper on the computer display. But the netbook is not available with OS X preloaded. It ships with Windows XP Home or Ubuntu 8.04 Linux. Of course, it’s quite probably that you could load OS X yourself much the way you can with other netbooks. But that VIA processor will probably complicate things a bit. Most hackintosh computers use Intel processors, much like the current line of Apple laptop and desktop computers. But at least a few people have managed to get OS X running on machines with VIA’s earlier x86 processors.

Anyway, if this company were based in the US, I’d say they were still in store for a legal smackdown from Apple. Since they’re based in Hong Kong, who knows? But I wouldn’t expect to pick up this MacBook Mini clone in the US or Europe anytime soon.

Update: A VIA rep says he’s never heard anything about this company — and that this product seems a bit fishy considering it’s supposed to use the 855 chipset which was just announced.

via Netbook News.de

The Samsung NC20 is a bit larger to be considered a netbook, thanks to its 12 inch display. But this big brother to the popular Samsung NC10 netbook is one of the first laptops around to use the new VIA Nano processor. And it’s still pretty small by full sized laptop standards, so I was pretty excited to discover that Samsung plans to begin offering the NC20 in the US starting on March 16h.

Laptop Magazine reports that at launch, the laptop will be available exclusively from online retailer Newegg. It’s not clear how much the computer will cost in the US, but in the UK it’s selling for the equivalent of less than $500 US, so I’m guessing the price could be as low as $400 or $450 when it hits the states. Computers usually cost less on this side of the Atlantic. Update: It’s actually selling for the equivalent of about $533 in the UK, which could mean we’ll see it as low as $450 in the US, but probably not as low as $400 anytime soon.

The folks at Laptop also got their hands on a review unit and snapped a few photos if you’re interested in that kind of thing. The laptop weighs 3.4 pounds, and is substantially wider than the Samsung NC10 netbook. But it also has a roomy 1280 x 800 pixel display, and a 1.3GHz VIA Nano U2250 CPU which offers better performance for tasks like displaying HD video than you’ll find on the average Intel Atom-powered netbook.