Hook, UK – May 26, 2009: Lenovo today announced three new PCs designed to give consumers cool, fun-to-use and highly reliable technology with the latest capabilities at a surprisingly affordable value. The new IdeaPad U350 laptop balances thin and light design with excellent performance without breaking the bank. The new IdeaPad S12 takes the best in connectivity, style and entertainment features from Lenovo’s existing netbooks, the IdeaPad S10 and S10-2. The Lenovo G550 laptop brings small-to-medium business users the essential computing performance they need with fast memory and processing and powerful graphics in a new stylish, professional design.
“Users are demanding thinner and lighter PCs with enhanced connectivity and extra long battery life to fit their increasingly mobile lifestyles,” said Dion Weisler, vice president, Business Operations, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. “To meet this growing category for ‘thinbooks’, we’re bringing customers products like the new IdeaPad U350 laptop, the IdeaPad S12 netbook and our recently introduced IdeaPad Y650 laptop.”
IdeaPad U350 Laptop
Lenovo is pushing the envelope on design to bring consumers the perfect balance of portability and performance. Encased in a sophisticated polished silver shell, the IdeaPad U350 laptop starts at 1.58 kg and measures less than 25mm thick1. While thin and light to the touch on the outside, Lenovo loaded the PC’s inside full of the latest technologies to maximize entertainment and computing performance. A 16:9 aspect ratio high definition 13.3 inch LED panel and an HDMI connector allow users to fully enjoy watching movies or other multimedia in high definition.
The IdeaPad U350 laptop also packs in several unexpected features, such as Ambient Light Sensor which automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness according to the lighting environment, reducing eye strain while preserving battery life. Also, Dolby Sound Room complements the video experience by providing a high quality surround-sound audio experience. And with VeriFace facial recognition technology, they can make their face their password for easy log in. A camera also comes in handy for video messaging or making Skype calls using the laptop’s WiFi connectivity2.
The laptop’s entertainment features are powered by a backbone of computing technologies, including choices of Intel® Core™2Solo and Pentium ultra low voltage processors, up to 8 GB high speed DDR3 memory and up to 500 GB of hard drive storage. These technologies help users to do more, faster, such as editing video to post on social networking sites and watching streaming video. For high reliability important to individual business users whether on the clock or off, Lenovo borrowed a component of ThinkPad laptop design with the Active Protection System. This helps protect data by temporarily stopping the hard drive if the laptop should fall. The IdeaPad U350 laptop also comes with OneKey™ Rescue System to help recover data in just a few simple steps if it becomes corrupted.
IdeaPad S12 Netbook
Lenovo is today also launching the company’s first 12-inch netbook. Some of its great enhancements include a 12-inch screen and a 100 percent full-size keyboard.
The IdeaPad S12 netbook offers plenty of up and running time with up to six hours of battery life to support the mobile demands of netbook users2. To hold the photos, music and videos users keep onto their netbooks, the IdeaPad S12 netbook offers 160GB hard drive storage3. For peace of mind in case data becomes corrupted, Lenovo’s OneKey™ Rescue System can help recover user data or system settings.
In addition to the netbook’s sleek and sophisticated ring pattern design in black or white, users can make the netbook their one-step entertainment device, starting from the moment they turn on the netbook with Lenovo Quick Start environment to check email, browse the Internet and more without waiting for the full operating system to boot. They can don any set of headphones and enjoy surround sound audio with Dolby Headphone technology. They can also choose among several multimedia formats to upload through the netbook’s 4-in-1 multicard reader. Lenovo’s expanded VeriFace facial recognition technology makes logging in a snap by recognising the user’s face.
Lenovo designed the IdeaPad S12 netbook for consumers looking for a super thin, portable and affordable device that offered a familiar, computing experience similar to full-function laptops. Lenovo enlarged the netbook’s WXGA screen from 10.1 inches to 12.1 inches for better viewing and made the keyboard 100 percent the size of a full-size laptop to make typing easier and less cramped. With multi-touch technology on the touchpad, users can easily navigate through documents. And when it comes to portability, by measuring less than 25mm thick4, the netbook leads the industry for thinness compared to other 12-inch netbooks. The lightweight IdeaPad S12 netbook weighs in at just 1.36kg5.
Lenovo G550 Laptop
Lenovo crafted the Lenovo G550 for professionals who are looking for a PC that can get the job done for work and that also has the style and design that make it ideal for personal computing. The redesigned, thinner and lighter G Series laptop features choices of either a hairline-like silver finish or a smooth and glossy slate-colored finish. Equipped with entertainment essential including a 16:9 aspect ratio panel, DVD burner/player, HDMI port on select models, users can easily display multimedia presentations at the office or watch movies at home. This laptop offers constant connectivity with WiFi, Ethernet and optional Bluetooth. It also comes with VeriFace technology and built-in cameras. The 15.6-inch G550 is equipped with high speed memory, the latest Intel Centrino processor technology and choices of NVIDIA graphics.
Pricing and Availability
The IdeaPad U350 laptop and S12 netbook will be available starting in July. The Lenovo G550 laptop will be available starting in June. Manufacturer suggested retail pricing for models starts at approximately: U350 - £449, S12 - £349, G550 - tbc.
