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Lenovo is to respond to the success of its rival Asus’ Eee PC with a new range of low-cost notebooks.
The IdeaPad S9 and S10 will be marketed for consumers and small businesses and, based on performance, sits somewhere between the notebook and mobile phone.
The IdeaPad’s are equipped with the Intel Atom processor and features a choice between a 160 GB traditional hard drive or a 4GB solid state hard drive. The S9 carries an 8.9 inch screen and 512 MB of RAM while the S10 has a 10.2 inch screen and features 1GB of RAM.
In keeping with their primary role as netbooks and social networking devices, both versions will use Wi-Fi with optional Bluetooth connectivity and will also have an Express Card slot, to allow high speed mobile broadband. An inbuilt web-cam will also be available.
Although the IdeaPad lacks some of the cutting edge features of the Eee PC, it would appear that Lenovo intend to compete with their rivals on price. The machines, which will be available in the UK in early October, will cost £279 for the S9 and £319 for the S10.
“IdeaPad netbooks are the latest in a string of recently announced Lenovo products, designed specifically for consumers worldwide and developed through our heritage of technological innovation and exceptional engineering,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president of Lenovo’s Consumer Business Group. “As rapidly as the technology changes, today’s consumers are looking for mobile products that feature the best of basic computing functions in an extremely compact and affordable form, and Lenovo designed the IdeaPad netbooks for that purpose.”
