Lenovo takes off IBM mask
Lenovo smartly hung onto the ThinkCentre and ThinkPad desktop and notebook brands when it bought IBM, but the China-based company didn't buy IBM's computer business eight months ago just to maintain the status quo. Where the ThinkCentre and ThinkPad brands have a hold on the corporate market, Lenovo's new 3000-series notebooks and desktops aim to infiltrate the small-business segment with budget configurations and price tags. You won't find fancy dual-core CPUs, wide-screen LCDs or other high-end features in these systems.
Editors' note :
At the press launch held in Singapore today, Lenovo announced that its initial lineup of products will include the C100 notebook and the two desktop (J100 and J105) PCs (see the table below for local pricing and specifications). These units will be rolled out across ASEAN over the next few weeks. The company also revealed two upcoming models at the launch. The N100, which comes in both 14.1-inch and 15.4-inch displays, is expected in late March, while the ultraportable 12-inch widescreen V100 model will be out in the second quarter of 2006.
Howie Lau, country general manager of Lenovo Singapore, speaking at the press event, said the company will be keeping a close eye on various key competitors such as HP and Dell. In the long run, Lenovo hopes to emulate the success its China success in other markets, according to Andrew Sotiropoulos, vice president and general manager of Lenovo in Asia Pacific. He estimated that Lenovo currently has a 34 to 35 percent PC market share in China.
As part of the whole product launch in Singapore, Lenovo has announced that it will introduce eight concept stores in Funan Centre and six in Sim Lim Square over the next few weeks.
One of the key features of the Lenovo is the built-in Lenovo Care utility. According to company representatives, the user-friendly tool offers a simple yet accessible platform for users to perform various PC maintenance tasks, such as scanning for virus, connecting to other peripherals, scheduling backups and restoring the computer in the event of failure. The Lenovo Care utility connects users to the company for critical system updates, too.
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The C100 notebook ranges from US$599 (S$973.14) to US$999 (S$1,622.98), which will get you a 15-inch standard-aspect screen in a 2.81kg system that ranges from old Celeron M to Pentium M CPUs and a modest array of other features. The J100 and J105 desktops (Intel- and AMD-based, respectively) come in fixed configurations, cost from US$349 (S$566.99) to US$799 (S$1,298.06) (without monitor) and have CPUs ranging from AMD Sempron and Intel Celeron D to low-end AMD Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 chips. All systems come with a set of security and reliability tools in a package called Lenovo Cares. They're also all designed to evoke the image of their ThinkCentre and ThinkPad forebears but with a decidely less corporate edge to them.
We have some questions about the value proposition Lenovo is putting forth with these systems, and we're especially anxious to get our hands on them and start benchmarking. Stay tuned for the full reviews. In the meantime, you'll find our more detailed first impressions linked to below.
| Models |
Specs |
Category |
Price |
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Pentium M 1.73GHz;
512MB RAM;
80GB HDD;
15-inch LCD;
integrated graphics;
DVD/CDRW combo drive; Windows XP |
Notebook |
From S$1,509 (US$1,111) |
|
Pentium 4 3.0GHz; 512MB RAM; 80GB HDD; 64MB SiS Mirage Graphic Engine; DVD/CDRW combo drive; Windows XP; 17-inch LCD display |
Desktop |
From S$1,339 (US$985.84) |
|
Athlon 64 2.2GHz ; 512MB RAM; 80GB HDD; 64MB SiS Mirage Graphic Engine; DVD/CDRW combo drive; Windows XP; 17-inch LCD display |
Desktop |
From S$1,269 (US$934.30) |
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