Thanks to devices such as the ASUS Transformer Pad and its successors, which transform a tablet to a notebook by means of a dock, the concept of netbooks is somewhat seems somewhat outdated. Lenovo sees opportunity and has introduced the X131e, the successor to its X130e netbook.
The X130e used AMD's Fusion E-350/450 processors, based on the outdated Zacate platform. The X131e will run on a Brazos 2.0 APU, which should bring several new features, including a decreased power consumption. The E1-1200 (1.4 GHz) or E2-1800 (1.7 GHz) dual-core CPU will be combined with respectively a Radeon HD 7310 or HD 7340 video chip, the latter of which has a higher clock frequency and a Turbo Boost mode. Like the older models, the X131e can also be based on an Intel processor, in this case a Sandy Bridge ULV Core i3 combined with a relatively fast HD 3000 GPU.
The design of the new netbook will be quite similar to its predecessor; the screen also remains unchanged. The 11.6-inch display still has a 1366x768 pixel resolution. It's expected that Lenovo will equip the device with 8 GB of memory and that two USB 3.0 ports will be present. Two external monitors can be attached through the VGA and HDMI video outputs. Storage options include either a 320/500 GB hard disk or a 128 GB SSD.
The laptop should launch in September, but prices have not yet been mentioned. It's expected that the X131e will be priced around $500 (£319), similar to its predecessors.
