Lenovo S12 Netbook

Tech blogs have recently fingered the Lenovo S12 as Lenovo's soon-to-be-released netbook offering. Its distinguishing features are the 12" screen, NVIDIA ION chipset for enhanced graphics, and a relatively low price point.

Notebook vs. Netbook
Debate has broken out in a number of forums and other peanut galleries about Lenovo's categorization of this device as a "netbook". Some claim that since it's greater than 10 inches in screen size, it is really an ultraportable notebook, but not a netbook.

I honestly don't care. A computer is as a computer does. To me it makes no difference what you call it. I think it fits my niche and my need perfectly, so I really have no interest in this naming debate.

Now that I have that out of the way...

My View On This Product
I have seized on this news because I think this product is really what I have been waiting for, and it fills a niche in which I've been sitting for some time now. My need is that I want to replace my six year old Apple iBook. My primary machine is a desktop, and I only use the notebooks when mobile, which is not that often. I've been lusting after the MacBook, Lenovo X301 Elite, Asus W series and Sony Z series. Beautiful machines, often maxing out above $3000. And I can't justify that price for something that's not going to be my primary machine.

This is why the S12 machine is perfect. It starts at about $450 USD (without the ION chipset) and it's still just in that nice ultraportable range without being too small to be usable. I will be closely watching the reviews when this actually can be purchased next month. (The version with the ION chipset is coming at some later date.)

The Hackintosh Factor
I will be overjoyed if this piece supports the Hackintosh OS. The existing Lenovo S10 Netbook supports Hackintosh except for the Ethernet chipset. (Wireless is supported.) In my experience, I've seen that OS X is really the superior OS in terms of technical advancement and usability versus Windows in almost every aspect. Putting Hackintosh on one of these would be like getting a cheap MacBook without investing in the Apple Tax. Optimal in almost every way.

Conclusion
So ultimately I am just excited about finding a product that seems to be highly optimal for my needs at a very good price. I'll be patiently reloading the Lenovo site each day to see when this guy can be ordered.