Just what I have been waiting to buy. Couple this with Win 7 and 2GB memory and im sold!

Sure it's nice, but at the price, performance, and size, you might as well get a notebook.

I like the idea of the ion as being a ultra-portable htpc with minor gaming and browsing capabilities. (Though in all reality, a $200 xbox would do the same for less).

this looks like the perfect netbook. i've been looking for one i can bring with me to school that isn't heavy, has long battery life, and isn't thick like a regular laptop. a 10" version would be more practical tho. but hey i don't need to buy it until september so i have the chance to see what else comes out by then.

"Graphics: Intel integrated GMA 950, Nvidia ION"

Why they still need, the INTEL GMA 950 if nVidia Chipset can do all the tasks much better, i imagine that having both chipset will mean higuer consumption! and higuer heat output.

¿Could someone answer me this? Thanks!

WHAT! no dual core atom??

WTF!

FAIL!

That's an ultra compact notebook. THIS IS NOT A NETBOOK! Come on now! The whole point of a netbook is the small form factor. This like taking an ATX board and calling it a mini-ITX. Stupid.

Of course it's from lenovo, so expect to wait an extra 6 months for the actual delivery. I've tried to buy from them twice. Each time I waited 6 months, only to have to return the box for incorrect parts. It's a shame they can't get there shipping dates under control, as the products themselves look great.

eduardor2k, you have a choice between the two chipsets. You don't get both.

Yeah but can it run vista?

Clearly you haven't heard about the NC20 or the mini 12. Other manufactures are also getting on the 12 inch netbooks. Yes they are still netbooks and 12 inches isn't small. Heck they are moving away from 9 inches anyway.

This is actually pretty nice cause the 1280x800 screen is much better than 1024x600. The gma 950 sucks not that the atom is amazing but still not a decent chipest. Ion helps out alot but I think the price is a little high. 50 bucks cheaper would be nice.

It will barely run vist but 7 will run pretty well.

Thanks 'fuser' for answering

I think its because its cheaper to buy (in the atom case) the entire chipset with the cpu than the cpu alone

Why not just buy a Lenovo x60 or 61? TONs more computing power!

Will there be a Linux version? If not, I'll wait.

im still waiting for AMD or VIA to walk in and open this mofo of a platform with 4gb, decent video etc - theres money to be made

Install it your self?




Short answer yes




Im sure someone will be doing hardcore multitasking on an ultraportable laptop with a 10'' screen




I can see most suppliers buying the cheaper Intel solution because of the lack of care for that better video performance - i see it all too often sadly.

I think not; There are sufficient other models out there that have the atom + GMA950.

the boost in resolution is pretty nice! They need a 12" to get the 1280x800 working. You could cram that resolution in a 10" screen, but then things are going to become extremely small.
I personally prefer 9" models over 10-12" models, they're generally more battery effient too, due to less light needed for the screen.
If I need a bigger screen I might as well go with a regular notebook.

I think that the 12" is about the smallest one could cram an ION platform in. The 'IGP' board isn't really integrated. It's a motherboard the size of a notebook's harddrive. Amazing they got it to fit in a 12" device!

Hope technology catches up and a sub 32nm processor + IGP and 32nm fabricated chipsets on the mobo will be fabricated soon! That way everything the ION is today could fit in a 9" device, but with 10hours of battery!

Quote
"I'm sure someone will be doing hardcore multitasking on an ultra portable laptop with a 10'' screen"

Intel has been promising dual core atoms for the mobile market for a while.....yet nobody has bothered.

the ion itx mini PC that nvidia let tom's review was a dual core atom, and then later they let others review the same box but it was a single core.


it's as if they are trying to see how much they can hack it down.

besides....how much more would it cost the manufacturer to put a dual core instead of a single core??? 20 bucks???

heck....you can get a dual core itx motherboard for 69 bucks if you look hard enough.....so i don't understand what the problem is here.

cant they offer the dual core at least as an option?

the Cheapest netbooks with a 160gig drive (like my daughters ACER aspire one) are 299 and they aren't bad at all.....make it a dual core and add an nvidia chipset.....maybe a 10 inch 720p screen like dells I bet they could sell it for around 399.99 before the end of the year!

Damn intel and their netbook maximum specs.

I tried windows 7 on my daughters netbook and even though it was decent.....it could be GREAT with a dual core.

Too expensive. Not enough added functionality to compensate for that. What is the battery life? Too big to be portable. Why not get a full-fledged HP tablet (base configuration) for a few dollars more? And that would have a removable CD drive, loads of upgrade possibilities, and a touch-screen.
Fail.

Tested an Ion Platform Atom based Acer Revo ES, 720p is smooth n crisp, but for 1080p mkv format, it was choppy making it unwatchable. But for MOV format, it run kinda smoother but it seems drop a few frames, not that smooth. Din't run testing on it, just a brief testing. BTW, I was using KMPlayer to play d all d file.

The S12 maybe the first ION based netbook, but the S12 that hits the store shelf first isn't. Read the fine print on the Lenovo announcement and you see "Models with the NVIDIA ION graphics will be available later this summer". I say this as some etailers are already taking pre-orders and it's for a GMA945 flavor which isn't mentioned in the press release for the S12.

@danimal: blame microsoft, not intel... maximum specs are set by microsoft, because well, they can... they license it all, they control what can go in and what can go out, and they are the chokepoint of portable technology...

@UANib: the x60 and x61 are full fledged laptops/notebooks and you can see why when comparing the specs... you can't just "get" an x60 or x61 because well, theres a 1200 price gap... for the 500 price point compared to an x60/1, its still a huge bargain for what you get

I'm on an 11.6" display with 1366x768 on my netbook. Text looks fine to me. For 12", they probably went with the 1280x800 to reduce graphics memory used and workload for the GPU.




I'd concur... early-adopter machines bite the most. Ion will look more and more interesting as time goes on, though, and even if these don't sell, later configurations that manage to hit the $400 or less sweet spot will make my interest for my needs...