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Lenovo Thinks Beyond ThinkPad |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Monday, 07 January 2008 |
It's
taken a long time, but it seems Lenovo is ready to leverage it's
acquisition of the IBM personal systems group to expand its consumer
offering in the notebook space. Until now the company has outinued with
IBM's famously successful business notebook range, the ThinkPad. It
first released the Lenovo 3000 series for the business market, but
until now has done little to try to expand this base to make an
aggressive push into the consumer market.
Lenovo
IdeaPad notebooks come in two flavours initially with 15 inch and 17
inch models already released. An ultra-portable 11-inch is slated for
release later this year, but until then the two models available
immediately (Y510 and Y710) are Intel Centrino laptops with Dolby Home Theatre surround sound and dedicated gaming controls.
The new "Idea"
brand will also apply to a range of desktop PCs called IdeaCentre
desktops along the lines of its business branding of ThinkPad notebooks
and ThinkCentre desktops. The
IdeaCentre desktops include consumer-friendly features such as data recovery
with one key, facial recognition and antibacterial keyboards. The IdeaCentre
K200 and Q200 series will be available in Australia.
The laptops also make use of facial recognition technology which will
add a touch of future as will the touch sensitive controls. The
Veriface Face Recognition uses the laptop's embedded camera to scan the users face rather than granting access based on password or fingerprint scanning technology.
David Nicol, Director, Small Business and Consumer, Lenovo Australia and New Zealand said: "We're now
bringing Lenovo's expertise in design and engineering to consumers with our
Idea-branded PCs. We are confident we will grow our consumer business by
blending innovative technologies like facial recognition with stylish designs to
enhance the way people use technology in their personal lives."
Equipped with
Dolby Home Theatre, the laptops are designed to maximise the experience when watching movies,
videos, music and playing games and most of the models have four speakers and a
subwoofer.
Lenovo also says it has taken a little care with the design and
materials, which will be a big step forward when you consider the
ThinkPad is still only available in corporate black. The laptops are
available in blue and, well black. But it's a start and the features
such as a choice of smooth, weave or raised textured top covers and distinctive brushed
Aluminium palm rest, along with the frameless screens make for an
attractive looking notebook. With the IdeaPad
U110 (11-inch ultra-portable) it looks like Lenovo will get even more
adventurous introducing a red casing.
IdeaPad Y710
Lenovo designed the 17-inch widescreen IdeaPad Y710 notebook PC for
people who desire a high level of performance for entertainment.
Distinctively designed with a smooth, dark blue, metallic finish, the
notebook also comes equipped with halo lighting, accenting the top
cover and backlit Lenovo logo.
Select models include a second, hot-swap hard drive to easily store and
transfer data as well as Game Zone functionality. Game Zone includes
enlarged directional buttons for enhanced game play, four customisable
buttons and a secondary display showing system information such as CPU
speed. It also includes a performance control switch with Turbo mode
for maximum power, including CPU overclocking, and Quiet mode for
energy savings. Equipped with Intel Centrino processor technology,
ATI graphics, WLAN connectivity, four speakers and a subwoofer as well
as an optional Blu-ray DVD reader on selected models, the IdeaPad Y710
notebook caters to the entertainment enthusiast.
IdeaPad Y510
Designed for people looking for a
versatile, all-in-one notebook, the 15.4-inch widescreen IdeaPad Y510 notebook
PC has a black, textured, linen-like top cover. In addition to the features
shared by the IdeaPad line, it comes with technologies to enable a variety of
computing tasks - from word processing to photo and video editing. It comes
equipped with Intel® Centrino® processor technology, integrated graphics, WLAN
connectivity, four speakers and a subwoofer, an integrated camera, battery life
indicator and a DVD-RW optical drive.
The Lenovo IdeaPad range is priced from A$1,499 for the IdeaPad
Y510 and will be available locally this month. The Y710 version is more
expensive at A$2,499 and won't be available until March.
www.lenovo.com/ideas
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