Lenovo's new products at CES 2011

Lenovo announces new products almost all year round, but according to tradition, a significant part of new products is announced at the January Consumer Electronics Show. It happened this year as well: Lenovo introduced the updated ThinkPad and ThinkPad Edge notebooks, almost completely updated the IdeaPad range of custom notebooks, and showed off some interesting desktop computers. In addition, several promising developments were presented at CES, including the LePad tablet on the Android platform, for which a special docking station was developed (together with a tablet that turns into a Windows-based laptop) and a portable keyboard.

In this material - a detailed story about the new personal computers Lenovo, approximate prices and dates for the start of sales in Russia. And I will start with an updated version of the laptop, which last year was perhaps the most interesting to readers of the Lenovo blog in Habré. This is a ThinkPad X120e - an entry-level, ultra-compact notebook that will replace the ThinkPad X100e.


Still the smallest ThinkPad
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The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e was introduced at CES at the very beginning of 2010. Let me remind you that in this model, the AMD platform was used for the first time in the ThinkPad series. The design has also changed: the appearance of the X100e is still modest and solid, as is the true ThinkPad, but still different from the classic notebooks of the series. Over the past year, the X100e has established itself as an inexpensive and reliable laptop for everyday work tasks. At the end of last year, a special version of the ThinkPad X100e with a built-in 3G modem and a “modem” tariff appeared at the cellular operator Megafon.



There was also enough criticism: for a relatively short battery life, for low productivity and quite strong heating. During the year, these problems were gradually solved. A BIOS update provided a more efficient operation of the processor and cooling system. And the additional performance was provided by dual core AMD Turion processors, which appeared in the X100e in the middle of last year.



What's new in ThinkPad X120e? First of all, this is the new AMD Fusion platform, which provides improved performance and long battery life. The X120e will use a single-core AMD Fusion E-240 processor (1.5 GHz) or a dual-core AMD Fusion E-350 (1.6 GHz) with an integrated graphics core Radeon HD6310. According to Lenovo, the integrated graphics in the X120e provides a 65 percent performance boost compared with its predecessor. The test results of the reference system with AMD E-350 can be found in this material on AnandTech . Thanks to a thinner 40-nanometer process technology (the X100e used AMD Athlon Neo and Turion processors with a 65-nanometer process technology), the processors of the new series are more energy-efficient. Hence, the increased battery life of the X120e - up to 6.6 hours with a 6-cell battery.



The appearance has practically not changed, and this, for me, is for the better: the design of the ThinkPad X100e is very good. The X120e will still be equipped with matte screens, and in addition to all black colors it will be available in red or white. Another small, but very useful innovation is the HDMI interface, to the absence of which X100e users complained.
Price ThinkPad X120e compared with its predecessor has not increased: from $ 400 in the United States. Our laptop will be on sale this spring. In the meantime, you can watch a small promotional video:



Specifications Lenovo ThinkPad X120e:
Processor : Up to AMD E-350 1.6 GHz
RAM : up to 4 GB DDR3
Hard disk : up to 320 GB 7200RPM
Screen : 11.6 inches 1366x768 matte
Graphics Card : AMD Radeon HD 6310
Optical drive : no
Wireless connectivity : WiFi 802.11bgn, Bluetooth, Qualcomm Gobi 2000 3G
Connectors : VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, combo headphone and microphone jack, 3xUSB 2.0, SDHC card reader
Dimensions : 282x189x15, 6-29,5 mm
Weight : 1.3 kg with 3 cell battery, 1.5 kg with 6 cell
Retail price : from $ 400 in the USA

ThinkPad Edge E220s and E420s



The thin and light ThinkPad Edge E220s (12.5 inches, 1.6 kg) and E420s (14 inches, 1.87 kg) demonstrate the further development of the ThinkPad Edge line, first introduced last year, also at CES. Both laptops are based on new-generation Intel processors (E220s use ultra low power processors). In the updated design of the ThinkPad Edge are two of the most notable innovations. The display is closed with solid glass, and the plastic border of the screen and the case is replaced with chrome metal. The cost of laptops in the US is between $ 899 and $ 749, respectively, and sales start in April.

Video announcement:



Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 and Lenovo Rapid Boot - fast work technologies

Last year, Lenovo introduced the Lenovo Enhanced Experience program. This program was the result of cooperation between Lenovo and Microsoft: the joint work of specialists of the two companies was aimed at the fastest and stable operation of the Windows 7 operating system on Lenovo laptops and desktops. Pre-configuring the Windows distribution based on the characteristics of Lenovo computers ensured minimal system boot and shutdown times, as well as increased stability.

Introduced at CES 2011, the Enhanced Experience 2.0 program provides an additional boost in speed. According to Lenovo, a computer with EE 2.0 loads an average of 20 seconds faster than similar models of competing manufacturers. The greatest interest among the innovations in the framework of EE 2.0 technology is RapidDrive. This development was announced last year, but only now it should appear in Lenovo laptops, and in most models.

Laptops with RapidDrive will be equipped with both a regular hard drive and an additional solid-state drive with a capacity of 32 or 64 gigabytes. The software of such a laptop will automatically move the most frequently used data (for example, the operating system and installed programs) to a fast SSD, ensuring performance gains, but also without depriving the user of the storage capacity for the data. The main thing is that the process of moving data for the user will be transparent. As a result, on a laptop with RapidDrive, Windows 7 should load in just 10 seconds!

So far, it is known that RapidDrive will be optionally installed on ThinkPad Edge and IdeaPad Y-series notebooks. And there will be on sale both laptops with an additional SSD, and the usual modifications only with a hard disk.

Lenovo IdeaPad - updated design and new platform

There are a lot of changes in the line of custom Lenovo IdeaPad and budget Lenovo G-series laptops. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 and Y570 models (gaming), V370, V470 and V570 (for home and small office), Z470 and Z570 (stylish), as well as Lenovo G470 and G570 and similar B-series models (the best price-quality ratio) received new Intel Core processors, optional RapidDrive system and new generation video cards. Among the Russian users, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y series is the most popular, so I’ll provide a detailed configuration for it:

Specifications Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 and Y570:
Processor : up to Intel Core i7-2620M 2.0-2.7 GHz
RAM : up to 8 GB DDR3
Hard disk : up to 1 TB 7200RPM, optional optional SSD 32/64 GB
Screen : 14 (Y470) or 15.6 (Y570) inches 1366x768
Video card : Up to NVIDIA GeForce 555M with 1 gigabyte RAM
Optical drive : DVD-RW or Blu-ray
Wireless : WiFi 802.11bgn, Bluetooth
Connectors : VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone and microphone connectors, 3xUSB 2.0, 1xUSB / eSata / SDHC card reader
Dimensions : 345x239x20-32.8 mm (Y470) and 385x255x22-35.7 mm (Y570)
Weight : 2.2 kg and 2.7 kg
Retail price : from 25 000 rubles, the beginning of sales in Russia - May 2011

Lenovo IdeaPad Z-series notebooks at the same time received a more rigorous design with clear body contours, and brighter colors. All 15-inch IdeaPad notebooks have updated the keyboard, which now includes a digital unit.



In the G series, a new model has been added - the Lenovo G770. For the first time in the last couple of years, a mobile computer with a 17-inch screen has appeared in the Lenovo range of custom laptops.



Lenovo IdeaPad S-series netbooks have also been updated. The 10-inch IdeaPad S100 will replace the S10-3 netbook. A 12-inch S205 will replace the S12, but now the model of this class will not use NVIDIA ION, but AMD graphics along with the dual-core Fusion processor.


IdeaPad S100


IdeaPad S205

Lenovo IdeaPad U1 and LePad Tablet

At CES last year, Lenovo already presented a device called the IdeaPad U1, which was a hybrid laptop with a removable tablet screen. After some time, it was decided to delay the release of the first device, and to replace the Linux-based “tablet” operating system with Android. As a result, two devices were presented at CES 2011 at once. Android LePad Tablet:



And the IdeaPad U1 docking station, in which the LePad is used as a display:



The tablet will be sold separately (at a price of about $ 520), and bundled with a docking station ($ 1,300). At the same time, the tablet itself is built on a Qualcomm platform with a 1.3-gigaretts processor, and the U1 is a familiar notebook with a low-voltage Intel Core i5 and Windows 7 operating system.



The device specifications are as follows:

Lenovo LePad
Processor : Qualcomm SnapDragon 1.3 GHz
Memory : 1 GB RAM, 16 or 32 gigabytes of flash memory
Screen : 10.1 inches 1280x800 pixels
Wireless : Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G
Connectors : Headphone jack, port for charging and connecting to U1, SIM card slot
Dimensions : 263x188x12.9 mm
Weight : 760 g

Lenovo IdeaPad U1
Processor : Intel Core i5 ULV
RAM : up to 4 GB DDR3
Hard disk : up to 320 GB
Screen : see LePad :)
Wireless : Bluetooth, WiFi (LePad independent modules)
Dimensions : 270x210x33.2 mm
Weight : 1.8 kg



The fact that a Lenovo tablet can serve as a screen for a regular IdeaPad U1 laptop theoretically gives you a ton of new interesting features. You can work with standard Windows programs in the workplace, and take with you only a tablet for a meeting or for lunch — read the meal of “Soviet newspapers”. The tablet is automatically charged when installed in the docking station, and the special software is responsible for the integration of data in the tablet and in the laptop. For example, open tabs can be synced with web sites in the browser. However, it is not necessary to buy a docking station: a keyboard stand will be available for LePad, in case you only need a tablet, but you want to type text quickly and comfortably. And in the absence of a tablet, U1 can be connected to an external monitor or TV via HDMI.



The prices mentioned above ($ 520 per tablet and $ 1300 per set of tablet and docking station) refer to the Chinese market. It is there that the U1 will go on sale this spring. Announcements about the availability in other regions yet. The fact is that in China a Lenovo-based Android smartphone is already being sold, and for it, in collaboration with local telecom operators and developers, Lenovo provides a wide range of services and provides access to additional software. The same is planned to do in other countries: Lenovo does not want to release the device without appropriate support. So we will wait for the appearance of LePad, or its new modification in our country.

A small demo of LePad and U1:



Desktop pc

And finally, I want to show some photos of Lenovo desktops announced at CES. The vast majority of new products are made in the "monoblock" format, which the manufacturer considers particularly promising, and even produces commercial computers in this form factor.



Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 is an updated gaming monoblock with powerful Intel processors, at least a powerful graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 555M with two gigabytes of RAM). Screen - 23 inches, FullHD. Please note that the entire bottom panel is occupied by several speakers, providing a very good sound for the built-in speakers.



The IdeaCentre B320 is the youngest model in the series, which can work as a regular TV: a TV tuner is built into the PC, and switching to a TV mode takes place with the press of a single button.



IdeaCente C205 is a budget model with a 18.5-inch display, built on the basis of the AMD Fusion platform.



The IdeaCentre A320 is the thinnest Lenovo monoblock with a 21.5-inch FullHD display, and the ability to connect an external source (DVD or Blu-Ray player or game console) via HDMI.

That's all for now, I tried to describe all the new models presented by Lenovo at CES. This is the first, but not the last announcement of 2011, Lenovo has prepared many more surprises. Stay in touch :)

UPD. Before the New Year, Lenovo announced a thin and light notebook with a 12.5-inch display - Lenovo IdeaPad U260.



Review of the laptop can be read on the website Hi-Tech.Mail.ru . The model will be available in the spring, the estimated price is about 30 thousand rubles.