Lenovo Holds Off On Ion Until Windows 7… And So Does Samsung

Gizmodo reports that Lenovo won’t be bringing out the IdeaPad S12 with Nvidia’s Ion until Windows 7 ($77.49) is available to consumers in October. Lenovo had wanted the S12 to be the first Ion netbook, but apparently feels that the “experience of Windows 7 on the S12 would make it more compelling than the Vista version it was originally planning to sell.”

With this later release date, will Lenovo have to give up the dream of shipping the first Ion netbook? Maybe not. A Samsung representative told us that they also plan to delay the release of their Ion-powered netbook, the N510, until they can ship with Windows 7. Maybe their thinking is similar to Lenovo’s — why not give consumers the best possible experience from the start instead of making them upgrade for the pleasure?

This also begs the question of whether people should hold off on buying any new laptops until October. Vista notebooks sold between now and then are eligible for a free upgrade, but not everyone is comfortable with that process. It’s easier to buy a system with the OS you want.

In any case, we’ll have to wait until October to test how Ion affects the netbook category. The question still remains: who will be first?