DailyTech - Lenovo Unveils New Notebooks and Desktops

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Gadgets Lenovo Unveils New Notebooks and Desktops
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - October 27, 2009 1:33 PM

18 comment(s) - last by ImSpartacus.. on Oct 29 at 8:06 AM

Lenovo B500 (Source: Lenovo)

Lenovo updates notebook and desktop line with new AIOs, desktops, and ultraportables

Lenovo has unveiled a new line of computers that all run the new Windows 7 OS. The machines slot into Lenovo's line of IdeaPad laptops and IdeaCenter desktop systems. The new line includes the U150, U550, and Y550P IdeaPads; and the B500, K300, and H230 IdeaCenter machines.

The IdeaPad Y550P is a multimedia notebook with a 15.6-inch screen and Dolby Home Theater sound. The machine features Intel Core i7 CPUs and NVIDIA discrete graphics. The notebook will sell for $1,149. The IdeaPad U150 is a slim notebook 13.5mm thick and weighing 2.97 pounds. The machine comes with a red or black cover and has an 11.6-inch HD resolution screen. Processors include the Intel Core 2 Duo and the notebook supports up to 8GB of RAM. The U150 will start at $650.

The IdeaPad U550 is an ultraportable with a 24mm thick profile and a 15.6-inch screen. The machine uses Core 2 Duo processors and has switchable graphics letting uses change between integrated and discrete depending on what they need. The U550 will start at $650.

The first of the new desktop machines is the IdeaCenter B500 all-in-one. The machine has up to 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and a 23-inch full HD resolution screen. Integrated JBL speakers provide quality sound and the machine has a wealth of other features. The B500 starts at an MSRP of $649. The IdeaCenter K300 is a desktop machine that runs the Core 2 Quad CPU and has RAID configured hard drive options. The K300 starts at a price of $499.

Lenovo also updated the U350 and S10-2. The U350 laptop sells for $649 and has a new range of colors and textures for users to choose from. The S10-2 netbook sells for $349 and has new colors and designs as well. Specifications for the machines are unchanged.

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What's with the postage stamp screen sizes on i7s?

By lecanard on 10/27/2009 3:56:47 PM , Rating: 2

Unfortunately it has not occurred to any of the hardware vendors that the people who would want an i7 laptop would also want a good screen to go with it. Yet all I see are 15 inch ones, except for Dell's 17 inch with a 900P resolution. I've never even heard of that resolution and I'm pretty sure they made it up to annoy me. I don't want to shell out for the AVADirect laptop, so in the meantime I my $1500 stays in my pocket and awaits the first vendor who realizes that people in the i7 market aren't looking for a netbook and put real screen on one.

RE: What's with the postage stamp screen sizes on i7s?

By TomZ on 10/27/2009 4:22:04 PM , Rating: 2

HP offers laptops with Core i7 and 1920x1080 screens.

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RE: What's with the postage stamp screen sizes on i7s?

By Taft12 on 10/27/2009 4:22:23 PM , Rating: 2

Hallelujah! Dell used to have some pretty awesome screen resolution options but they seem to have mostly gone away. Any 1920x1080 screens on laptops out there?

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RE: What's with the postage stamp screen sizes on i7s?

By GTVic on 10/27/2009 4:22:58 PM , Rating: 2

I agree, I was looking at the HP Envy but the 15" version has an inferior screen to the 13" version, no SSD option, etc.

I believe I will wait now until the 32nm i7 mobiles come out next year with 2010 gen SSDs and hopefully improved display technology (LED back-light, etc) with a minimum of 1080 pixels vertically and preferably 1200.

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HD? Full HD?

By lightfoot on 10/27/2009 3:24:54 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
11.6-inch HD resolution screen.

quote:
a 23-inch full HD resolution screen.

When did HD become an official screen resolution?

Is "full HD" a technical term? Technically 720p is a full HD resolution, but it is not 1080p.

It sounds like marketing speak for "at least 720p" which isn't all that impressive.

RE: HD? Full HD?

By Visual on 10/28/2009 8:50:48 AM , Rating: 2

"Full HD" is a common way to refer to 1920x1080 resolution, I guess coming from the "Full HD 1080" (people like to abbreviate and skip the last part I guess) stickers on TVs in the last couple of years.

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Where's the nipple?

By Suomynona on 10/27/2009 3:56:12 PM , Rating: 2

Why doesn't Lenovo put Trackpoints on their consumer laptops? I would buy a new Lenovo if they did that, but instead I'm reduced to buying used Thinkpads.

Nice specs

By Cookoy on 10/27/2009 6:03:32 PM , Rating: 2

ultraportable with 15.6" screen? must have some specs mixed up. i like the 8gb ram provision.

tablet convertible please

By Visual on 10/28/2009 8:42:01 AM , Rating: 2

I like the idea of an ultraportable with switchable graphics and a comfortably large screen, but I will not buy until they make it a tablet convertible, with multi-touch/pen-enabled combo screen and a resolution of at least 1680x1050 so it can fit websites in portrait mode.

Hell, a 15 inch screen is big enough even for FullHD, why are they sticking with this 768 lines crap? And BTW, how can they call it an ultraportable at that size? I would probably prefer a couple inches smaller screen for portability and reduced weight.

i7 in a laptop...

By 3DoubleD on 10/27/09, Rating: -1

RE: i7 in a laptop...

By IlllI on 10/27/2009 3:11:03 PM , Rating: 2

wow talk about some fud

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By rs1 on 10/27/2009 3:25:14 PM , Rating: 2

Agreed. If a 45 nm Core 2 chip isn't going to "burn a hole through the chassis", then neither is a 45 nm i7 chip.

He is correct, however, in that all of the 550 models currently listed on the Lenovo website are only available with Core 2 chips. There doesn't seem to be an i7 option available just yet.

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By 3DoubleD on 10/27/2009 5:32:35 PM , Rating: 2

I would like to point you to Anand's latest article on the i7 860 http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?... . Scroll down to the chart that lists the number of transistors for the i7 and Q8xxx (which isn't even a mobile chip by the way and you wouldn't want it in your notebook because it would produce too much heat and use too much power). Do you see how i7 has 275 MILLION transistors more than a Q8xxx on the same 45 nm process. That's going to result in a lot more heat when those transistors are being used. I acknowledge that the i7 has some amazing power saving features (I know, I own one), but even in a well ventilated case with an amazing heatsink, these things get really really hot (60-70C+). Stick one of these into a notebook chassis with little to no airflow and a crap heat sink. You would fry the chip before you finished installing windows. You can't put a 95 - 140W TDP chip into a laptop, which is why you have to wait for 32 nm versions that are designed for laptops to arrive.

This wasn't a "prescott is way too hot" type of remark, it was completely logical and obvious. You can't put a high performance desktop cpu into a laptop, and if you do, you've made a 20 lb desktop replacement POS that costs 5x more and performs 50% worse.

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By 3DoubleD on 10/27/2009 5:40:45 PM , Rating: 1

Well what do you know, HP actually has i7 laptops (see TomZ's link). The i7s are castrated to 1.6 Ghz though and the laptops are shitty desktop replacements that weigh half a ton. For the same price you could just buy an amazing desktop that would perform the same tasks (in this case gaming) without being crippled by a 1 GHz clock reduction. Again, if you want an i7 in your laptop just wait a few months for 32 nm and an architecture that was meant for laptops.

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By rs1 on 10/27/2009 9:04:08 PM , Rating: 2

The i7 860 is a desktop chip. Nobody is talking about putting a desktop i7 chip inside of a laptop. I point you to the list of Intel "Core" processors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core

...note that the laptop model of the i7 is based on Clarksfield, and *not* Bloomfield or Lynnfield as reviewed in the article you linked. Clarksfield is Intel's 45 nm mobile Core i7 chip, and it has a TDP of 45W at the low end, and 55W at the high end. This is comparable to the top-end Penryn (45 nm Mobile Core 2 Duo/Quad) chips.

The only i7 chips with a TDP in the 95-140W range are the Bloomfield and Lynnfield chips, and those are not the models that will be appearing in any upcoming 45 nm Core i7 laptops. If those chips were going to end up in latops, then we would have seen i7 based laptops coming out awhile ago. We didn't see that, because (most) laptop makers were waiting on Clarksfield.

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By ImSpartacus on 10/27/2009 9:44:04 PM , Rating: 1

You're a fool. They aren't using 95-140W parts in laptops, they are using 45W parts.

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By 3DoubleD on 10/28/2009 1:10:13 AM , Rating: 2

Check it out

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=36...

130W TDP i7 in a laptop. Check out the conclusions as well. Whether its Carkfield or not, pretty stupid to put in a laptop until 32 nm.

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=36...

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RE: i7 in a laptop...

By ImSpartacus on 10/29/2009 8:06:30 AM , Rating: 2

That was some Clevo frankenlaptop. They crammed a 975 in there. That is 3.33GHz. It's a desktop processor.

It is not a laptop processor.

Dude, I agree that the current i7 models are hot and underclocked, but they are laptop models and they will not burn any holes in your laptop.

And by the way, Clevo has been shoving desktop processors in laptops for a few years now. Usually they don't go all out like this, but this isn't new for them.

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