Lenovo announces beefed up Classmate+ netbook

 

Gallery

By Stuart Andrews at BETT 2012

Posted on 12 Jan 2012 at 16:02

Lenovo celebrated the start of BETT with the announcement of a second generation of its Classmate+ netbook.

Lenovo says the new model is even more rugged than the old one, with an enhanced water-resistant keyboard, reinforced steel hinge and strengthened DC socket.

It will be available in both traditional laptop and convertible tablet form factors, and the rotating hinge in the Classmate+ convertible has been designed to last tens of thousands of operations. Both models feature a new 10.1in, 1,024 x 600 anti-glare screen, with a capacitive touchscreen on the convertible model.

The new Classmate+ has a dual-core Cedar Trail-M N2600 processor with 2GB of RAM and a choice of 32GB SSD or 320GB mechanical hard drives, while a six-cell battery promises a working life of a claimed ten hours.

Standard connections are limited to three USB 2 ports and a D-SUB output, with HDMI available as an option. A 2-megapixel webcam will also be available.

Based on the Intel Learning Series platform, the Classmate+ will also run Intel’s software suite. This includes ebook reader, webcam and digital writing tools, plus a range of classroom applications, and connects to Intel’s classroom management tools.

The new Classmate+ models should be available from the end of January, although UK pricing has yet to be confirmed.