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We’re gradually getting more information on Lenovo’s IdeaPad S9, the smaller netbook sibling to the S10 that the company announced earlier this week. While original reports suggested that the S9 - which has an 8.9-inch display compared to the S10’s 10-inch - would be only available in China, Lenovo have now confirmed that both sizes of their Eee-rival will be sold in Europe.
However that flexibility comes at a price. According to UK publication PC Pro, Lenovo has settled on £319 ($620) including VAT for the entry level S10 and £279 ($542) for the S9. That compares poorly to the US pricing of the S10, which will be sold from just $399. Lenovo has stated that “economies of scale” and “reduced complexities in the US as a single country” are responsible for the pricing differences.
Apparently positive feedback in consumer testing is the reason for the S9 spreading outside of China; EMEA customers liked it as much as they did the S10. Both machines will launch in the UK in early October, with final configurations yet to be decided. Xavier at Notebooks.com had a chance to play with a non-functional prototype S9 recently, and shot the following video:
This might sound noobish but theres no diference between a laptop sold in europe is there ? Power cord maybe ?
Not noobish at all, David. Usually the only differences are in the power cord (every laptop power supply I’ve ever seen is multi-voltage for travel use, so the difference is just the plug on the end), the keyboard layout and maybe what software is preinstalled depending on licencing agreements. If there’s a built-in TV tuner then that might need to change, the same with what bands a built-in 3G modem uses.
What causes price spikes is usually each inividual countries taxes and any legislation the notebook has to go through to be allowed onto the market.