Well that didn’t take long! Lenovo now has the U150 product page showing availability in the U.S. — if you don’t mind a two-plus week wait – and Netbooked already has a review of this thin-and-light device. One could say they cheated as they have a Japanese model, but why quibble when you can get a first-hand look at this new 11.6″ notebook?

The extensive review covers a lower end model with 1.3 GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 CPU paired with the Intel X4500 integrated graphics. Specs will vary by region, but here’s what $699 buys you in the U.S.:

• 1.3 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor SU4100
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel Integrated Graphics X4500
• 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz
• 11.6 ” HD WXGA LED 1366×768
• 250GB 5400 hard drive
• 6 cell battery rated for 57 Whr
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi

So you’re paying around 40% more that you would for a slightly smaller netbook, but you’re getting better performance and five hours of runtime in a 3.26 pound package. Tacking on a Core 2 Duo and another gigabyte of memory will set you back another $150, which puts you in traditional notebook pricing tier. So unlike the $399 Acer Aspire 1410 — which is compared in this review– the Lenovo U15o doesn’t stand a chance to make netbooks obsolete. Regardless, if this package sounds appealing, you’ll want to read the Netbooked review. It’s full of videos as well as benchmarks and observations. Looks like the U150 is a nice machine, but too “in between” for my tastes.

Image Credit: LAPTOP Magazine

I’ve mentioned the Intel CULV, or Consumer Ultra Low Voltage, platform several times this year. That’s the product that will help bridge the gap between underpowered netbooks and powerful, but less portable, notebooks. Mark Spoonauer offers up an insightful observation over the LAPTOP Magazine blog on this space. He notes that a $399 Acer Aspire 1410 configuration compares more than favorably against some of the top-rated netbooks in the same price range. In fact, two out of the three netbooks — Toshiba’s NB205 and HP’s Mini 311 — cost more and offer less on a spec and feature basis. Only the Asus Eee PC 1008HA cost less than the full-figured Acer in this comparison, and not by much

So here you have a more powerful notebook at roughly a netbook price. The Aspire 1410 and its 1.2 GHz Intel SU2300 beats the pants off the netbooks when it comes to benchmarking performance. It also comes with 2 GB of RAM, an 11.6″ display capable of 1366 x 768 resolution and weighs 3.2 pounds, which is about the same weight as my Toshiba netbook. Extra power generally comes at a hit to battery life, but the Aspire 1410 tested to run for over six hours. Oh and the version of Windows 7 it comes with is Home Premium, not Starter Edition.

At the end of the day, Mark makes a compelling argument for this sector to start displacing netbooks. The product gains performance, offers more screen real estate yet is still easy to tote around and offers solid battery life. While we’re expecting the Intel PineTrail Atom devices within the next month or two, I think Mark’s final point is accurate: “[i]f you can nab a fully capable ultraportable for less than 400 bucks, I think traditional netbook prices will have to sink even further if the category is going to stick around.” I suspect the category will stick around because tens of millions have proven they want and can use a device in the 10″ display range. And some won’t want to give up the 8 or 9 hour battery life they see on a netbook — as good as the Aspire’s runtime is, some netbooks can still run for 40% longer, if not more. Thoughts?

Image Credit: zol.com.cn

Is the venerable ThinkPad name getting slapped on a large netbook/ultra-light notebook? All signs appear to be yes, although many of them are speculation and rumor. Most of these thoughts are coming from ThinkPadToday which states that Jan. 5, 2010 is the date we’ll see the ThinkPad X100e with these potential specs:

• 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon Neo or 1.4 GHz Intel CULV
• 12.1-inch display at 1280 x 800
• 3 GB of RAM
• Integrated mobile broadband options
• Corresponding Ultrabase

With Lenovo’s current IdeaPad line, I’d expect such a device to cost north of $600, if it does indeed appear. I’d chalk this one up to complete rumor except, there have been a fair number of photos floating around. With the legendary ThinkPad keyboards, I’m sure many would like to see this rumor come true.

Sony’s latest mobile computing entry truly straddles the blurring line between netbook and notebook. The computer is light and über-thin — just 1.5 pounds with a standard battery and thin enough to barely contain a full-sized VGA output jack. Lest you think I’m exaggerating, here’s a shot showing the right side with VGA and Ethernet jacks.

So it’s light and skinny like most netbooks and it’s powered by an Intel Atom. But the display is a high resolution 11.6-inch unit capable of 1366 x 768. And this isn’t your father’s Atom platform — Sony is using the Z550 running at 2.0GHz paired with the Intel GMA500 / US15W Chipset for graphics. That graphics combo isn’t going to offer the capability of Nvidia’s ION package, but it’s better than the netbook standard. Whether you call it a netbook or a notebook, you can also call it pricey. The base model will set you back $1,299 if you hit the Sony Style site right now to get on the wait list.

Sony does offer a solid package here — not $1,299 worth in my opinion, at least not when looking solely at the specifications. But there is quite a bit to like when reviewing what’s available in the VAIO X:

• Extended battery that offers 12 to 14 hours and a standard batter for 2.5 to 3.5 hours — both are included
• Up to a 128GB SSD
• 2GB of RAM
• Card reader for SD and MemoryStick PRO
• Electro-static touchpad
• 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, integrated 3G through Verizon Wireless, and a GPS receiver
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
• Integrated webcam with face-tracking and microphone

Again, I’m not sold at this price but it’s typical for the Sony VAIO line. My initial thought when we heard rumors of this device was that it would use an Intel CULV chip for the price. Of course, Sony could refresh the line in three to six months and do just that or even go with Intel’s PineTrail platform. In the end though, $1,299 is a tough sell for a super thin netbook / notebook with these specs. At least for me it is. How about you?

VIA, the little engine that could, is still chugging along. Last night I spoke with Tim Brown from VIA by way of Taiwan, and we discussed the news that the company announced today. VIA is targeting the space between netbooks and notebooks with a new platform called Surfboard. It’s meant for devices with displays ranging from 10.2 inches to 12.1 inches, which pits it squarely against Intel Atom and CULV chips , as well as the base AMD VISION product. Although it remains to be seen if it becomes a household name, VIA is calling devices in this space “NetNotes.”

Name adoption aside, what really matters is what the platform offers, what consumers can do with it, and who will use it in a product line. In terms of offerings, Tim tells me that Surfboard handily beats the Atom in several respects: 1080p video playback, 64-bit support, and out of order process execution. It’s worth noting that the graphics solution only supports DirectX 9, like the Atom, while AMD’s latest platform does support DX10. The extra computing and graphical boost from VIA competes well on power efficiency, too — the Surfboard platform, not just the VIA chipset, has a maximum TDP of 10.3 Watts. Lenovo has already adopted a VIA solution in one of its IdeaPad S12 configurations. This thin-and-light 12-inch computer uses the VIA Nano U2250 1.3GHz and can run for over 4.5 hours on the 52Whr battery. While that doesn’t compare with the over eight hours I can see on my  Intel Atom N280 Toshiba NB205 — it uses a 63Whr power pack — the VIA solution could appeal to consumers who want to trade a little battery life for more performance. I’m hoping to get a chance to test the trade-off theory with an S12 review unit in the near future.

VIA’s Global Marketing Bazaar is a stepping stone for the new product — the company soon plans to show nearly three dozen new reference designs and products in the Asian area, with hopes of OEMs rebadging or redesigning. One example turnkey NetNote we talked about offers nearly everything I’d like to see in such a device using the Surfboard platform: traditional SATA hard drive up to 320GB or a PATA ZIF SSD module, two USB ports, webcam, VGA out, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 4-in-1 card reader and optional integrated 3G radio via a mini-PCIe card. Tim tells me that HDMI is also supported by the new platform, although I’m not sold that people want to hook up notebook computers to their high-definition television for video playback.

Many of our readers have had experience with VIA solutions in the past. Some of the first UMPCs ran on the C7-M CPU, and there are a few netbooks out there currently running on the VIA Nano. Do you think VIA has a chance to “hang 10″ with the new Surfboard, or will VIA stay a smaller player in the chipset market?

So if you had to guess how many possible AMD stickers there are for computers, how many would you say? Do you think there are more than 50? How about 100? Nope, you’re not even close — you can currently find 221 different AMD stickers on various hardware components. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry because it’s all about to get much easier thanks to AMD’s new VISION platform. VISION will reduce those 221 stickers down to three, making it easier for consumers to understand what a particular computer is suited for certain activities.

Last week, I spoke with Bob Grim, the Director of Product Marketing at AMD, to get details of the new VISION branding and platform.

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Sony is showing off some new stuff at the IFA in Berlin, and Engadget has reported the announcement of the thin Sony VAIO X netbook. The VAIO X is only half an inch thick and from the photos looks to be very sexy for a notebook. Not much has been shared about the specs, although when pressed, Sony admitted the prototype has an Intel Atom processor. This would make it a very expensive netbook-class device, but Sony indicated they were not locked down on the Atom processor yet. Let’s hope they throw some CULV love in there to go with the 2 GB of RAM, or something else exciting.  The VAIO X only weighs 1.5 pounds due to the use of carbon fiber in the case.  Sony is also touting all day battery life with the 31Whr power pack that “will set the new standard for stamina.” It looks really nice, but please, Sony, no Atom. Mmmm kay?

Image courtesy Engadget

The end of the week is rushing straight at us, which can only mean one thing — time to share that week with you, dear readers. It’s column #53, and since this is a weekly column that means it has entered its second year! That is so exciting I can’t tell you! It was a fittingly busy week, with Kevin out for a much-deserved vacation, so I was holding down the fort alone. It was like it was when I first started jkOnTheRun, except with a lot better gear surrounding me. Come on in and let me tell you what has been happening at Mobile Tech Manor this week.

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Consumers aren’t the only ones gearing up for the Oct. 22 release of  Microsoft Windows 7. Hardware vendors are also priming the pump. Three more touchscreen vendors just received the official Windows 7 Logo certification for their display panels, DigiTimes says. Wintek is the latest recipient for the logo, with its 12.1″ capacitive panel. Cando is also certified with a 12.1″ display, but adds a compatible 10.1″ model option. EETI offers a trio of Windows 7 certified panels sized at 10.4″, 11.6″ and 15″.

With traditional netbooks generally in the 13.3″ to 17″ inch size, it sounds like most of these touchscreen panels are destined for either netbooks or ultra-light and thin notebooks. I’d be interested to see a light, usable Tablet PC with the new Intel CULV processor. One of those 12.1″ touchpanels would be an ideal size, but unfortunately, they’re both capacitive.

Netbooks may have stolen the show for small and light devices, but don’t count out thin notebooks running on Intel’s Consumer Ultra Low Voltage platform. Lenovo continues to  jump into this market with a new IdeaPad notebook  now available for pre-order. SlashGear caught the U450p model,  available with either the SU2700 (1.3GHz, 800MHz FSB) or SU3500 (1.4GHz, 800MHz FSB) CPU paired with the Intel Integrated Graphics X4500.

This notebook appears to fit between a small, low powered netbook and a heavy but full-featured notebook, and weighs in at 4.62 pounds. It offers a 1366 x 768 resolution on the 14″ display. Given the screen size and starting price of $799, I think the dimensions are reasonable: 13.3″ x 9.3″ x 0.9 – 1.1″. 3GB of RAM is standard, but the U450p can handle up to 8GB of memory. The 5400 RPM hard drive can range in capacity from 250GB to 500GB and the notebook does include an integrated optical drive.

Lenovo says the 6-cell battery should last for six hours, so you won’t go all day without either the AC adapter or a second battery. Three USB ports, a memory card reader, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, VGA out and a Gigabit Ethernet round out the device, but you can see the full specifications in this this PDF datasheet from Lenovo. At this time, the Lenovo website indicates at least 4-week delivery time for the U450p.