Lenovo Skylight Smartbook Spotted In Wild: Poor YouTube Performance

Lenovo are still yet to give a definitive launch date for the Lenovo Skylight smartbook, but at least one pre-production model has managed to find its way out into the wild.  Over at DK.sg they've been playing with the Snapdragon-based ultraportable, and the judgement is mixed.  Design, portability and keyboard all receive praise, as does the Flash support, but actual YouTube performance turns out to be a disappointment.

Interestingly, that doesn't look to be a limitation of Qualcomm's 1GHz chipset – it apparently takes nine concurrent apps running before the smartbook begins to slow down.  It's possible to pull out the 4GB USB flash drive that's the Skylight's primary storage while the machine is running with no ill effects, which makes for easier cross-machine transfers.

Of course, since this is still a prototype – and Lenovo have time before their "spring 2010" launch window ends – the likelihood is that the whole software experience will be tightened up before the Skylight arrives on shelves.  It's expected to be priced at $499, though an AT&T data agreement for the integrated 3G should subsidize that somewhat.

[via Netbook Choice]