The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is a netbook / media laptop hybrid, built with Nvidia's Ion platform and a 12.1-inch, LED-backlit screen so you can watch 1080p quality video. The computer comes with a full size keyboard too, but other features tend more toward the netbook range, such as the 1.6 GHz Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, and hard drive sizes ranging from a base of 160 GB up to 320 GB. You can add a six-cell battery for extra life, connect to the internet with either Ethernet or WiFi, and use your Bluetooth devices with the S12's Bluetooth 2.0 technology. Lenovo has also given the netbook VGA and HDMI outputs for transferring the video to larger screens. Prices start at $499.

In late June 2009 Lenovo announced the availability of another configuration of the S12 with a VIA Nano option in lieu of the original Intel Atom / GMA 950 chipset. The VIA Nano version of the unit should provide a bit more horsepower for some applications but also draw a bit more power, likely decreasing the effective battery life. Luckily it also decreases the price of the S12 by $50, so if you prefer the VIA Nano platform you can pick up that version of the S12 starting at $449.

At the end of October 2009, Lenovo released an NVIDIA Ion version of the laptop that runs Windows 7. That model costs $599 and has 256 MB of dedicated video memory. Head over to the Product Details page for a video of the NVIDIA Ion version in action playing back 1080p video.