Via's ultraslim Nano-based thin-and-light

Darius Chang | Jun 03, 2009

(Image credit: SlashGear)

The new range of 13.3-inch Intel CULV laptops from MSI, Lenovo and Asus are incredibly slim yet pretty affordable. However, to maintain their sleek profile, the units had to forego an internal optical drive and go with an integrated graphics chipset.

At the Computex Taipei tradeshow, Chinese OEM manufacturer Tongfong showcased its latest S30A ultraportable based on the Via Nano chipset. Running off a Via 1.3GHz processor and 2GB RAM, this 13.3-inch laptop is a mere 33mm thick and weighs only 1.4kg. But what gives this machine an edge over other ultraportables in the market is that the S30A sports an discrete S3 Graphics Chrome 435 ULP graphics processor capable of 1080p video output as well as a built-in optical drive. A similarly slim unit like the Toshiba R600 can cost over S$3,000 (US$2,160.60), while the S30A is exepcted to go for half that price.

(Image credit: SlashGear)

What's even more unusual is that the DVD writer sits in a modular bay which allows the optical drive to be replaced with a secondary battery for even longer uptimes. Other features include a 2.5-inch harddisk, 802.11b/g, 10/100 Ethernet port, memory card reader, ExpressCard slot, HDMI, VGA and two USB ports. Not bad for such a sleek machine. The only caveat is that the Nano processor is just a single core, while Intel CULV chips are available in dual-core flavors. You can check out a video of this unit below.