London, Dec 15 (PRINTWORDS NEWS) -
One complaint that is often heard from the netbook owners is about the shoddy graphic performance of these small sized computers. This is because most of the netbook manufacturers use Intel’s GMA chip in their models. It is okay for general media playback but struggles to cope up with resource hungry HD content and gaming is simply not its forte. When Nvidia announced the availability of its ambitious Ion platform, many users were interested and thought that it will provide more horsepower to the netbooks. Lenovo is offering its new Ideapad s12 with Ion chipset. It aims to tackle competing models like Asus EeePC 1201HA and HP Mini 311 with this model. While the configuration of the s12 is tempting with preloaded Windows 7, 3GB of memory and HD playback compatibility, its price is almost on par with mainstream laptops.
The Ion version of S12 resembles the original Ideapad s 12 in terms of appearance. It weighs 3.4 pounds and this is not what one can call lightweight. It is largely due to its rather big 12 inch screen. The 1280×780 resolution offered by the Ideapad s12 is average considering many netbooks with smaller screens offer HD Ready 1366×768 resolution these days. Owing to its size, the netbooks offers a well space keyboard and its touch pad is a joy to use. Not many netbooks in its category offers such touchpad with seamless navigation capability.
As far as connectivity options are concerned, the S12 will not disappoint you. It is quite natural that a netbook with Ion chipset will come with a HDMI port since the users are likely to connect it with larger displays. The Ethernet, VGA and USB ports are quite commonplace in netbooks and the S12 has them all. The netbook offers a roomy 320GB hard drive which is a boon for media buffs. You will find most netbooks sticking to 160GB or 250GB. However, for the users who are willing to pay an amount that can buy a laptop instead of a netbook, the performance is of utmost importance.
Lenovo has got the spec right to ensure that the S12 does not struggle while playing back HD content. Its 3 GB memory and Nvidia certified Ion chip gives it enough juice to play back various types of HD video without any hiccup. You can try playing 1080p video files in WMV or MP4 formats and the netbook will play them all without any frame drop or sluggishness. Compared to this, the HP Mini 311 can handle HD ready 720p video but struggles at higher resolutions. The S12 can also play back video on a secondary display flawlessly. Even in 3D Gaming it races ahead of other Ion netbooks by a significant margin. However, do not think of playing demanding 3D games like Crysis or Call of Juarez on this netbook. These games are meant for gaming laptops and desktops.
While the netbook offers better performance owing to its Ion chip, the Intel Atom CPU is no match for the powerful GPU. The inclusion of 3GB of RAM aids in performing media related tasks but the performance cannot match that of a laptop running on more powerful CPUs. The battery life of the S12 is decent but not much impressive. Go for this model if HD video is your lifeblood. Otherwise you can buy some capable netbooks at almost half its price.
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