Lenovo Storms CES With New Notebooks, Desktop

Lenovo on Monday unveiled several new notebooks and an all-in-one desktop (shown), new gear the PC maker will showcase at CES 2009 in Las Vegas this week.



Here is a sneak peek at what Lenovo has up its sleeve for consumers at CES.

Lenovo will update the IdeaPad S10 Netbook, a notebook the vendor is positioning as an affordable secondary PC for the home or for the first-time PC user. The laptop is perfect for Web surfing, messaging, homework and making Web-based phone calls. New features include new multimedia and networking tools for social networking enthusiasts. The S10 comes preloaded with LenovoSocial, a resource portal that will help them navigate and participate in social networking environments.





Additional new features include Lenovo Quick Start, which gives users the ability to access frequently used applications like the Web, music player, photo viewer, IM tools and Skype; Lenovo's VeriFace facial recognition technology, a tool that recognizes facial features and uses them to log in; multitouch functionality on the trackpad; and Lenovo's OneKey Rescue System.





The updated IdeaPad S10 features a 10.2-inch LED backlight display, is 0.9 inches thick and weighs 2.4 pounds. It also features an Intel Atom processor N270, mobile Intel GSE 945 chipset; 512 or 1 GB of memory, a four-in-one multicard reader, two USB ports, one PCI-Mini Express Card Slot; Windows XP Home edition and a 1.3-megapixel camera. It's available in black, white, red, blue and pink. The IdeaPad S10 line starts at $349.

Lenovo will also unveil new sizes to its IdeaPad Y Series laptops. Designed for high-definition entertainment, the new releases are smaller, thinner and lighter than previous generations to give consumers more choices.





The new series features three 16:9 screen sizes. The Y450 (shown) offers a 14-inch W LED 1366x768 display and is configurable with up to 500 GB of hard drive storage space and up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory.







The Y450 features Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 800 MHz FSB and 2 MB L2 cache, Intel GM45 Chipset, Intel GMA 4500 MHD graphics and 12.7 mm SATA optical. It offers battery life of 4.5 hours with UMA and 3.5 hours with discrete and weighs 4.6 pounds.





The Y450 also features Lenovo Desktop Navigator, Dolby Home Theatre sound, VeriFace 3.5 facial recognition, One Key Theatre, One Key Rescue software, Easy Capture 3.5, Power2Go, Lenovo Ready Comm 4.0, Win DVD, Dolby control center, Napster 4.1.04, Wild Tangent, Norton Internet Security 2008, Lenovo Energy Management Software 3.1, Carbonite, Microsoft/Lenovo Portal, Microsoft Office Ready, Adobe Reader 8.1, Windows Live 1.0, Office Ready 2007 and DDNi.

The Y550 (pictured) offers a 16:9, 15.6-inch HD/Full HD 1366x768 display. The 6-pound laptop offers many of the same features as its smaller counterpart, the Y450, but adds in the latest 5100 a/g/n wireless, Ethernet and optional Bluetooth.



The new Y Series also adds in a two-finger multitouch pad.



The Y450 and Y550 start at $829.99.

The IdeaPad Y650 (shown) is Lenovo's first 16-inch widescreen laptop, which Lenovo also says is the thinnest and lightest in its class, weighing less than many 15-inchers. The Y650 makes use of special materials like carbon fiber, as used in the aerospace and automotive industries, making the Y650 laptop a slender one-inch at its thinnest point with a weight of just 5.6 pounds.



The Y650 adds in Intel WiMax/Wi-Fi Link 5100 a/g/n, 10/100/1000 Ethernet and optional Bluetooth; a 9.5 mm SATA optical for DVD and optional Blu-ray; Dolby Home Theatre sound; Lenovo Desktop Manager; Ambient Light Sensor technology; VeriFace 3.5 facial recognition; and 2 x 2 watt JBL speakers. It offers an integrated 1.3 megapixel USB 2.0 LCD camera; a 6-in-1 multicard reader, 2 USB ports and a host of other features and functions.

The Y650 starts at $1199.

Lenovo also unveiled its first dual-screen mobile workstation with the ThinkPad W700ds. The W700ds, which carries a $3,600 price tag, offers a 17-inch primary screen with a 10.6-inch secondary screen that shoots out the side with just a gentle press and pull. The secondary screen can angle up to 30 degrees, just like a car's side mirror. The extra screen only adds a few millimeters of thickness.

The exact specifications for the ThinkPad W700ds weren't available as of post time.

Lastly, Lenovo is out to prove the desktop isn't dead with the IdeaCentre A600, an all-in-one desktop it will pull the curtain off of at CES.





The sleek desktop offers a 21.5-inch frameless screen, which is 1.06 inches thin. For entertainment enthusiasts, it offers a high-definition 16:9 aspect ratio screen for cinema-like viewing and support for 1920x1080 full HD resolution. The integrated speaker system includes a booming bass sub-woofer and Dolby Home Theatre audio certification. The addition of an optional Blu-ray player completes the package.

Users can use the digital TV tuner for watching and recording television programs and users can include Microsoft Vista Media Center for TV recording and navigation between video, music and TV.

The A600 also boasts an optional 4-in-1 remote control that lets users play games using the "motion drive" feature which controls on-screen objects based on movement -- think of a Nintendo Wii controller on your PC. The remote also doubles as a VoIP handset to make and receive Internet calls, all while acting as a media center/TV remote to operate DVDs, movies and television. Lastly, the remote can be used as an air mouse to operate the cursor on the screen with no wires needed.



Other specs include a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, optional ATI Radeon graphics card with DirectX10 support, up to 4 GB of fast DDR3 memory and up to 1 TB of hard drive space. The IdeaCentre A600 also offers several connectivity options including Wi-Fi, a 6-in-1 media card reader, side-mounted USB and FireWire ports with additional USB ports at the rear of the panel. It also offers VeriFace facial recognition that lets users use their own grinning mug as the logon password.



The IdeaCentre A600, which will be available in April, starts at $999 and starts at $1,299 with the remote.