HP, Lenovo Roll Out SMB Notebooks At CES

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Lenovo and Acer Offer SmartBooks... And A Hybrid!

Lenovo's most unusual debut is the IdeaPad U1 hybrid, combination of a 3.8-pound Windows 7 laptop and a detachable 1.6-pound slate touchscreen tablet powered by Skylight Linux. Lenovo's Hybrid Switch technology lets the two PCs can seamlessly toggle between the two processors when the units are separated. The unit is due June 1 for $1,000. While certainly unique, the U1's SMB applications remain unclear.

Pop out the screen to create a standalone tablet computer!

On the more traditional side, Lenovo is rolling out the ThinkPad Edge for SMBs. Unlike all other ThinkPads, the edge comes in red as well as matte and glossy black. Available in sizes with 13.3-inch, 14.1-inch and 15-inch screens, the ThinkPad edge also offers choice of Intel Ultra-low-voltage or AMD Turion X2 and Athlon X2 processors boasting up to 7.8 hours of battery life, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth and WiMAX options, GPS, spill-resistant keyboard, hi-res camera, a media card reader and Lenovo's ThinkVantage Technologies software. Prices start at $549 and climb as you add faster processors, larger hard drives (up to 320 GB), more RAM (up to 4 GB), bigger batteries (up to 6-cell) and other options.

The 13.3-inch version of Lenovo's ThinkPad Edge weighs 3.6 pounds -- and it comes in colors!

Other Lenovo introductions at CES include the ThinkPad X100e under 3-pound, 11.6-inch ultraportable (starting at $449) and a refreshed line-up of "classic" ThinkPads, including the T410s, T410, and T510. Then there's the new W510, which will offer the Intel Core i7 chips and up to 18-hours of battery life using a 9-cell battery. Prices for that bad boy start at $1,600 (not including the i7) and other options include a 500 GB hard drive, up to 16 GB of RAM.

Finally, Lenovo is rolling out the slick and curvy, Linux-powered Skylight "SmartBook." Weighing less than 2 pounds, it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and uses flash storage instead of a hard drive. Prices start at $500.

The Lenovo Skylight netbook runs on Linux and doesn't have a real hard drive. But it's very light!

Don't Miss: Lenovo Lightens ThinkPad Line

SmartBooks could be poised to become the next trend, with Freescale Semiconductor offering its own SmartBook reference design prototype at CES.

If that's not enough, we're also seeing new netbooks from Acer America. The new Aspire One AO532h netbooks use Intel Atom N450 chips, include 802.11n Wi-Fi, a multi-gesture touchpad, and last up to 10 hours with a high-density 6-cell battery. Typical configurations start around $300.

Don't Miss:
How HP Plans To Rule The SMB World SMB Strategies Of The PC Stars Lenovo Debuts ThinkCentre All-In-One PC -- For Business! CES 2009: 8 Products For Your Business

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