The moment we step into the conference room, we were greeted by the sight of the latest Intel Centrino 2 notebooks from the various vendors. We even managed to talk to some of the managers. And of course I had to "bring" them back in my camera.
First up, Lenovo. T400 and T500 on the show. Both comes with majority of the new features from the new chipset such as switchable graphics. Solid State Drive is a surprise for me. While there is a major change in the heart of the notebook, the exterior remains the rock solid feel.
We also managed to talk to Mr Derrick Koh (Lenovo's Communications Manager) who gave us a brief idea on the latest models out of the China notebook maker in the local market. Apparently, T400 and T500 aren't the only ones. Expect a series overhaul before the next IT show.
NEC S3500 is of course the brother of the S3300 that sold so well at the last PC Show. I asked the manager and he said NEC wanted to make an impact as its brand name is somewhat not as strong in Singapore despite being the number vendor in Japan.
There is an interesting fact about S3500; 4-cell battery. While it kept the weight down, it also reduces the battery to an average 2 hour 30 minutes according to Mr Tan, the regional manager for NEC. Not that most notebooks with 6-cell's are able to beat the 2.5 hours mark.
I was quite surprised to see Axioo there. Its a pity though as I did not see anyone responsible for the set there. Not a brochure around either. But still it does not take anything away from the fact the local brand did come up with this rather youthful notebook.
Benq has been starting to make their mark too. S33 Joybook is a pretty standard notebook that looks trendy enough to attract the tertiary students. Its a 13.3" so 2kg is just about the weight.
ASUS, Acer, Toshiba and Fujitsu to come in the final installment.
