POSTED BY

Rob Beschizza

AT 10:42 AM
Tuesday April 21, 2009

Computers • Reviews

netbooks • s10

Review: Just shy of 5 hours with Lenovo's IdeaPad S10

yayforthes10.jpg
Lenovo's S10 is an excellent netbook that adds a useful extra to the usual mix: an ExpressCard expansion slot. Otherwise built around the standard loadout of 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU, a gig of RAM, 10.2" 600-line display and Windows XP, it comes with a 3- or 6-cell battery and is $350 at Amazon. There's also a 4-in-1 card reader and a 160 GB hard drive. It is 9.8" long, 7.2" deep, and weights 2.6 lbs with the 3-cell.

Particularly good is the keyboard, despite the right-shift key being to the right of the up arrow, and the quality of its squared-off construction. It's attractive, if a little large compared to some competitors, and comes in unusual but conservative colors like indigo and burgundy. As reviews, it was bloatware-free and worked as well as anything we've tested in the category. It reportedly runs OSX well, making it a good choice for people who can't wait for Apple's expected netbook.

Though recent netbooks have better specs, it's easy to recommend the S10. With prices hitting the floor and the S10's quality in every respect that matters (except for that damned shift key), it's a good choice that embodies and upgrades an old agage: you'll never get fired for buying Lenovo.

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7 Comments

Anonymous Anonymous

#1 – 11:51 AM April 21, 2009

What? No nipple-mouse?? *Le sigh, le sigh...*

Anonymous Anonymous

#2 – 12:29 PM April 21, 2009

I agree #1. The first company to come out with a netbook that uses a trackpoint (or a trackball, I guess) instead of a trackpad in the $300-$400 pricerange will have my money in a heartbeat

Dealator

#3 – 4:49 PM April 21, 2009

Such a great little computer, and a really solid build for the price. Considering you can pick one up for $400 + cash back, it's a helluva lot of computer for the buck

wanderer

#4 – 8:23 AM April 22, 2009

Those of you wanting nipple mouses:

Thinkpad X31s and X32s are now available used for between $200 and $250. Speed wise, these are a little faster than an Atom, and offer bigger keyboards, and still have 4:3 screens, which are a better use of laptop real estate. If you get an X32, you can get it with a Dothan processor, which is going to be quite a bit faster than an Atom.

Nope, it won't run OS/X, unless you run it in a VMWare session.. Try THAT on an Atom..

Anonymous Anonymous

#5 – 8:51 AM April 22, 2009

You can easily remap the Right Shift and Up Arrow keys.

Anonymous Anonymous

#6 – 8:50 PM April 22, 2009

5 hours is not enough. i bought one from new egg two months ago. after three trips, including one to italy, i sold it on ebay. yep - it is fantastic for email, video chat and reading. the wifi card is strong and i ran several projector slide shows for my classes from it. but, beware! tweaking, never mind creating, a .ppt is nearly impossible. you cannot crop pictures with out cramping two hands on the key board and touch pad. and typing was a nightmare. i kept missing the Enter and shift keys, and couldnt jab the qw,as,zx keys without looking. five hours flights were grueling. it's like looking at a little toy, and almost embarrassing to use. battery life - atrocious. i got 1.5 hours just reading pdfs. 45 minutes if i was making a 5mg ppt in open office. i had to vampire everywhere and worry, worry, worry that my juice would be gone. sorry, but, after a month you'll want to chuck it out the window...

Anonymous Anonymous

#7 – 4:08 AM April 26, 2009

Indeed, 5+ hrs is possible with 6-cell. See the trick I did. At least, I got 2.5 to 3+ hrs with 3-cell battery.

http://www.hkepc.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=1204256&highlight=lenovo%2Bs9

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