Lenovo’s ThinkPad SL510 is just one of many new lappies hitting the market with Windows 7 in tow, but unlike most of the consumer-oriented machines, this pup is aimed squarely at that fellow over there looking mighty uncomfortable in the suit. Their test version, which included a 2.53GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD and a $1,024 price tag, was found to be a real champion in terms of performance. The machine itself starts at just $520, and while the upgrades here definitely had an impact, they were also pleased with the multitouch trackpad, overall typing experience and bundled business tools. The only knocks? The "bulky, staid design" and low screen resolution, but something tells us a few of you won’t see the former as a negative. Hit the read link for the full skinny.

At this point, we’re not really sure which date has been discussed more in the history of humanity — the Mayan doomsday prediction or Microsoft’s October 22, 2009 launch of Windows 7. Lenovo’s S12 was originally supposed to be the first ION-sporting netbook on the scene, but the Chinese company opted to hold back the NVIDIA infusion till Windows 7 showed up, and has been shipping a version of the 12-inch IdeaPad with only standard netbook specs so far. Well, come this Thursday it’s out with the old and in with the HD video-decoding new in Japan, where the ION-powered S12 will be unleashed with 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, a 1280 x 800 glossy display, multicard reader and a HDMI port for company. Priced somewhere near ¥68,800 (about $757), the new machines (available only in white) are likely to dip below $600 when they make their inevitable journey Stateside.

[Via Netbooked]

Do you love Lenovo laptops, but at a distance? We thought so. That’s why we’re happy to report that a variation of the company’s SL400 and SL500 laptops have been announced for non-US markets. The devices, creatively dubbed the SL410 and SL510, will be offered with a choice of a Core 2 Duo T5870, T6670, P7570 or Celeron 900, T3000, or T3100 CPUs, a 16:9, 14- or 15.6-inch LED display, GMA 4500MH, 4500MHD or AMD M92-S2 XT GPUs, a range of hard drives up to 500GB, 1GB to 4GB of RAM, and both contain multitouch trackpads. The laptops are said to be retailing starting at 5600 Yuan (or around $820) for the SL410 — we haven’t heard a price on the SL510 yet. No word on when these models will be headed stateside, but we’re certainly going to do our best to find out

Can’t say we’ve ever seen this beaut from Lenovo before. Unassumingly tucked away along a number of already-released laptops at the Intel booth, the 11.6-inch IdeaPad U150 is a lightweight with some interesting textures tattooed on its exterior. There wasn’t a lot of details at the booth beyond its name, but from what’s been unearthed via an xmit online product listing, it’s got a Core 2 Duo SU4100 with integrated GMA X4500 graphics, meaning we’re falling away from netbooks and into CULV territory. Performance-wise, we couldn’t get into it far enough to check the full specs and run some tests, but as you can see in the video after the break, the boot time is not-quite-noteworthy 30 seconds long. Small, light, and more umph than Atom? Sounds like a winning combination, if the price is right. No official word on that, but xmit lists approximately $770 as the cost to own.

[Product page via Liliputing and Netbooked]