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Sprint offers old-school netbook on fading WiMAX network

Summary: Sprint is offering a subsidized netbook with old technology, to work on its WiMAX network that will be phased out in favor of current LTE. The subsidy requires a 2-year commitment to the old tech.

James Kendrick

By for Mobile News |

In a bizarre move that only proves how Sprint is struggling to keep up with the big boys, it is offering old notebook technology on its fading WiMAX network. The IdeaPad S205s is a relic netbook in today's Ultrabook world, with outdated technology. That's fitting as it works on Sprint's 4G (WiMAX) network that the carrier is desperately trying to replace with current LTE technology.

The Sprint netbook will set buyers back $199 with a 2-year contract on Sprint's WiMAX network. That price is after a mail-in rebate, so new customers will have to pony up $299 to get this hot piece of netbook technology. How hot is this netbook?

Specs:

  • Intel® Pentium Dual Core U5600 Processor (1.33GHZ, 3MB cache)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium – 32-bit
  • 2GB DDR3 Memory
  • 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 HD LED widescreen display
  • 250GB Hard Drive
  • Wi-Fi® 802.11a/b/g/n
  • 0.3-megapixel Webcam with integrated microphone
  • Ports: 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 eSATA, HDMI output port, VGA, 1 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
  • 6 x1 card reader (SD/SD pro/MMC/MS/MS pro/xD)
  • 6 cell – 4400 mAh for an estimated 5 hour battery life (depending on usage)
  • (WxDxH): 11.4 x 7.6 x 1.0-1.5 inches (290mm x 193mm x 26.3-37.6mm)
  • 3.26 pounds (1478.7 grams) with the 6-cell battery

While cost-conscious Sprint customers may be willing to jump on this netbook the specs show it to be old technology. Sprint will begin rolling out its LTE data network next year, destined to replace the aging WiMAX network. Buyers of the IdeaPad will be stuck with the old WiMAX connectivity for two years, and will have to watch the LTE rollout from a distance.

Sprint Press Release

Topics: Mobility, Hardware, Networking, Telcos, Wi-Fi

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9 comments
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  • Good lick!

    Good lick! We need the dirt exposed. The more corporate practices are put under the spotlight the better. I have often wondered if carriers computers assign unlimited data customers to far-away towers (as opposed to near ones) so they would use less band width.
    Reggie S
    Reply Vote

  • WiMAX

    Sprint's WiMAX network is the same as Clearwire's WiMAX network. I'm not sure what Clearwire's long-term plans are for WiMAX, but just because Sprint is moving to LTE doesn't mean WiMAX doesn't have a two year future. I for one will hold on to my HTC Evo4G as long as I continue to live in an area with good WiMAX coverage.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

  • What a ridiculous position

    Maybe if there was just a little less of the lets-toss-it-in-garbage attitude every time the next marginally better thing comes around (in good coverage areas there is nothing wrong with WIMAX), then maybe we'd hear less from the environmentalists.

    1) The network is built, so might as well use it.
    2) There is probably a warehouse full of those laptops.... should we just crush them and bury the debris in some pit in Arizona?
    croberts
    Reply Vote

  • You GOT to be kidding? Right???

    $649.99 for a NetBook? Are you people NUTS or what??? For that price you could but a NEW Laptop with MORE power and features...

    By the way I have some property down in Florida I'm selling CHEAP - IF anyone's interested???
    j_schutts@...
    Reply Vote

    • where are you getting the 649.99 number?

      it's not in the article, the netbook is $199 after a $100 rebate.
      kevinrs1
      Reply Vote

  • Reall James?

    You claim Sprint is the one struggling? Which carrier actually delivers true 4Gand not a souped up 3G marketed as 4G LTE?

    Please be specific for me as to how Sprint is lagging technologically.
    fldbryan@...
    Reply Vote

  • All is Relative

    Imagine that one is in an area with good WiMax coverage, and is currently using an old beaten up desktop from 2002 running Windows XP....why wouldn't such a person, and there are many more of these people than you realize.
    Doctor Demento
    Reply Vote

  • where is it said wimax being phased out?

    As others have said, wimax is from clearwire. The network will not be shut down in the next 2 years due to being replaced by LTE. The main issue with WiMax for me isn't it's age, but just that I'm out of it's coverage area. For someone in coverage, getting a netbook for basic web and email (which is all they were ever made for) for $200, with the same contract as you would need to sign for a 4g card can make sense. Comparing it to an ultrabook is an apples and oranges comparison, might as well compare it to a gaming laptop, or a desktop. It's about internet access, with a full keyboard so you can type longer emails and short documents, made portable, at low cost. In college, and traveling, I've sometimes lugged around a full sized laptop, while the screen size is nice, the weight isn't.
    kevinrs1
    Reply Vote

  • Sprint Wimax?!

    Sprint just stopped selling their former flagship phone, the EVO 3D (Wimax 4G), after less than a year on the market. This is after pushing several other expensive Wimax 4G models, both subsequently and prior. Since the introduction of their first ???4G??? phone, the Evo 4G, they have charged a $10 monthly ???smart-phone fee??? which didn???t exist for for previous 3G smart-phones. They took care not to call it a ???4G??? fee, because Wimax 4G was largely a pipedream.

    Don't even get me started on their heavy marketing of the 4G Wimax phones and never delivering on the promise of 4G data speeds. I live near Detroit. I would consider this a major market. Detroit never got the Wimax 4G network, and neither did most other Sprint customers.

    I think that Sprint should offer heavy discounts for current Wimax 4G phone owners who would like to upgrade to LTE phones! And they had better actually build out the network this time! They dangled the Wimax 4G carrot for years and never delivered in many major markets. Shameful really, and damned near fraudulent.
    rumblefish_454
    Reply Vote
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