Lenovo Bows Ultrabooks With Advanced Cooling, Faster Startup Times

With a strong vested interest in supporting two PC categories, Lenovo executives downplayed the suggestion that tablets would cannibalize the ultraportable PC market, it said during a webcast. During the webcast, the company released additional details of an Android tablet previewed earlier this summer (CED July 21 p 1) -- including an aggressive $199 price tag -- and launched a trio of slim and light PCs based on Intel’s Ultrabook platform.

Lenovo doesn’t believe tablets will “eat into existing business, and we don’t anticipate it,” said Nick Reynolds, executive director of global marketing. The company sees tablets as a companion entertainment device to the “preferred” content creation device, the laptop, he said. The 7-inch A1 Android-based tablet joins the 10-inch IdeaPad K1 ($449) that began shipping in July. Based on Android 2.3, the A1 tablet is built on an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, has a 1024 x 600 display, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity and includes front and back cameras, Lenovo said. Features include a magnesium alloy roll cage design, borrowed from Lenovo laptops, and offline GPS, which allows direct satellite access via NavDroyd in areas where users can’t connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, Reynolds said. With the app capability, Reynolds called the A1 “a cross between an offline GPS device and a tablet.” A shipping date for the A1 hasn’t been announced but a company spokeswoman said it would be “soon."

Regarding a possible upgrade of the A1 to a dual-core processor, Reynolds said the company is looking at “having [Google’s] Gingerbread taking care of the bulk of the market of 7-inch tablets,” he said. The so-called “Ice Cream Sandwich” upgrade for Android’s mobile operating system will be “the focus of next-gen product, expected to launch in Q1 or Q2 2012, Reynolds said.

Leading the Ultrabook line is the 13-inch IdeaPad U300S, a 2.95-pound, 0.59-inch-thick PC ($1,200) that Lenovo said is the thinnest on the market. It’s built on Intel’s 2nd generation Core i7 processor, offers 8 hours battery life and a rapid charging feature that powers the unit to 50 percent capacity in 30 minutes. Included are a 1.3-megapixel webcam and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. Intel’s Advanced Cooling Technology, or “breathable keyboard,” allows air to flow in through the keyboard and out of the sides and rear hinge, eliminating the need for vents on the bottom of the notebook and making it more comfortable for laptop use, the company said. Since the PC runs cooler than standard models, the company was able to pack components closer together to allow for a more powerful battery, according to Reynolds. Two lower-end Lenovo Ultrabooks, built on 2nd Gen core processors, meet Intel’s goal of sub-$1,000 price points for the new platform: the 13-inch U300 ($800), “a little thicker” than the U300S, and the U400 ($850) with a 14-inch screen and slot-loading DVD drive and Radeon graphics card. All three Ultrabooks incorporate SRS Premium Surround Sound and Intel’s WiDi technology that allows for wireless video transfers from laptop to TV, Lenovo said.

The design of the Ultrabook series moves away from the wedge-shaped design of the MacAir and other contemporary thin and light notebooks, using a book-shaped design that’s uniform in thickness, said Michael Littler, of Lenovo’s consumer marketing product group. “We didn’t design a notebook to trick the mind into thinking it’s thinner than it really is,” he said. Cases are made of single sheets of anodized aluminum for strength, durability and lightness, he said. The touchpad is made of glass, making it smoother and easier to use, he said. Boot-up time on the U300S with Lenovo’s RapidDrive SSD technology is 10 seconds on the 256-gigabyte version. The U300 and U400 have start-up times of 17 seconds with optional SSD drives. Hard disk drives are standard and battery life is 7 hours, Lenovo said.

Shipping dates are mid-October for a “limited number” of U300S models in the U.S., with broader distribution in late October, Littler said. The U400 will ship in the U.S. and international markets in November followed by the U300 at the end of the year, Littler said.