We were expecting this product for a while now, and it’s finally here. Lenovo has just announced the IdeaPad S12, the first Ion-based netbook. Although it’s not the first product from the notebook family which features NVIDIA Ion graphics, the Lenovo S12 is the first “netbook” which comes packed with the Ion chipset. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is a 12-incher netbook with support for HD with 1080p video decoding, h.264, and also Blu-ray playback.

Another big advantage for the Lenovo S12 is that it costs only $500. Well, this means that Apple was wrong as Lenovo has proved you can make good products to cost less than $500! For those who aren’t familiar with it, the NVIDIA Ion platform consists of an Intel Atom processor and a NVIDIA 9400m graphics card. This means that after Acer’s Revo nettop with gaming capabilities, we also have the first netbook which will provide gaming experience.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 features a 12.1-inch WXGA display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, Intel Atom N270 processor, Intel integrated GMA 950 graphics, but with optional NVIDIA Ion chipset, 1GB of DDR2, 160GB HDD, 10/100m Ethernet, Intel WiFi Link 5150 1X2 AGN, Intel WiFi Link 5100 1X2 AGN, Non-Intel wireless b/g, Non-Intel wireless b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0, Broadcom 578M, VGA port, HDMI port, 4-in-1 media card reader, 3 x USB 2.0 port, and an ExpressCard slot.

Lenovo S12 measures 292 x 216 x 22-28.9 mm, is based on Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3, and it runs on a three cell battery which can be upgraded to a six cell. The former features a 3 hour battery life, while the former features 6 hours of battery life. The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 will be available as of July for a price of $449 with basic Intel specs, and it will cost $500 ($499.99) with NVIDIA’s options.