Lenovo 3000 C100

The Lenovo 3000 C100 offers component options that range from bargain bin to mid-range: Celeron or Pentium M processors (no Core Duo here); 5,400rpm hard drives from 40GB to 100GB; 256MB to 1GB of swift 533MHz RAM; and optical drives, including CD-ROMs and DVD burners. In addition to a ThinkPad keyboard, the C100's silver-and-black case incorporates pretty much every feature a business user will need, including four-pin FireWire and four USB 2.0 ports, a 3-in-1 flash card reader, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections, and optional Bluetooth. The system is backed by the same service and support as ThinkPads, and it will feature the new Lenovo Care suite of utilities (based on the company's ThinkVantage technologies) that streamline maintenance tasks, provide automatic updates and offer one-button system recovery.

The C100's entry-level £420 (ex. VAT) price tag is certainly appealing, but that's for a fairly limp configuration consisting of a 1.5GHz Celeron processor, 256MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. A more mid-range configuration (1.73GHz Pentium M, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive and a DVD burner) will cost £640 (ex. VAT) -- about the same as competitive systems from Dell and HP. Also, the system's 15in. standard-aspect XGA display strikes us as rather dated -- we'd prefer higher-resolution or wide-screen displays.

The mainstream notebook category is crowded with budget offerings, but Lenovo may stand out based on the ThinkPad's reputation for service and support. However, we're curious whether this low-cost line will poach existing ThinkPad customers, or if it will bring a new group of customers -- who previously couldn't afford ThinkPads -- into the fold. We're also eager to see how this low-cost system's performance and battery life stand up on our mobile benchmarks. Our review unit is on its way, so keep an eye on this space for the full story on the Lenovo 3000 C100.