Hotly Sleek
Although more manufacturers are jumping into the netbook area due to the increase in consumer demand, the hardware found in netbooks has remained generally similar due to what's current and available out there (for instance, Intel's Atom is the present unanimous choice). Therefore, the focus has started shifting to the overall build and design aspects of the netbook.
The size of the keyboard, number of ports, LED panels are but some of the features that manufacturers are touting in their products in order to differentiate from the competition. Of course, some vendors have opted to retain a vaguely similar look and feel to the ASUS Eee PC series that started it all, but Lenovo's S10 is definitely not one of these.
If you've read our preview the last time, you'll probably remember what the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 looked like, but if you didn't, don't panic, we're still providing plenty of pictures for your viewing pleasure. Specification tables after the pictures, but don't expect much variation in terms of the hardware from other netbooks besides the inclusion of an ExpressCard slot.
Question: Is the Lenovo sleek and hot looking? Answer: Yes to both.
The front panel plays hosts to the speakers and the indicator lights.
The right side of the unit features an ExpressCard/34 slot, the headphone jacks, a USB 2.0 port and a RJ-45 LAN port. Located on the hinge is a Kensington Lock slot.
Located on the left side of the S10 is a power jack, a D-SUB analog video out, a 4-in-1 card reader and a USB 2.0 port.
Keyboard Woes
Nothing's really changed since our last look at the S10; our preview unit was pretty much exactly like the retail unit. This means it pretty much keeps the same sleek form factor that we've seen and liked. The only thing we wished that was changed is probably the layout of the keyboard, which while adequately sized, leaves much to be desired when it comes to typing.
For instance, the shift key is way too small and out of the way, so you'll find yourself hitting the up arrow instead most of the time. The tab and number keys are also oddly placed, so those used to a normal keyboard will get frustrated trying to hit either the tab key or the numerical 1 key. Given that we've seen a few decent keyboard layouts from Acer and MSI (though HP's keyboard still ranks up there as one of the best), we're puzzled why Lenovo didn't make the keyboard more usable, given the otherwise gorgeous design of the S10.
All ready for inspection is our beautiful review set of Lenovo's S10.
A pretty webcam to start it all off...
Keeping things simple with just these three buttons on the netbook: (from left to right) the power button, wireless toggle and Lenovo's Recovery button.
Sadly for the S10, we aren't too pleased with the keyboard of the unit. It's sized at just 85% of a normal notebook keyboard (while other netbooks have slightly bigger keyboards) and also has an odd layout that makes typing on the S10's keyboard somewhat harder to get used to.
The S10 has a multi-touch trackpad that's similar to the newer ASUS Eee PC series, and allows you to do pinch movements to zoom in and out for webpages and pictures. This trackpad may be small, but it packs a punch!
The microphone still remains at lower left corner of the keyboard, so don't rest your palm (and block the mic) while typing!
An Internal Affair
As with almost every netbook out there, Lenovo's S10 is powered by the same Intel Atom N270 processor and comes with 1GB RAM. The S10 also takes advantage of Microsoft's recent decision to double the 80GB HDD limit for netbooks to use their Microsoft XP OS, and as such, the unit comes with 160GB of HDD goodness. Sadly though, the remaining internals are pretty much standard fare and you won't find discrete graphics hidden inside like a DVD bonus feature. We did notice that the unit got slightly warm during our handling of the S10, but the heat was definitely within the range of what we were comfortable with.
The back of the S10 reveals just one panel for upgrades.
Flipping the S10 around revealed a nice and clean rear panel with an easily removable cover for convenient access to upgrades, which aren't really a lot, as you'll find out in our next picture. Sadly, the S10 only has one SO-DIMM slot available, and as it already has 512MB (533MHz) onboard, only means that your RAM upgrading options are pretty much limited. We did test to see if we could chuck in a pretty standard 2GB DDR2-667 memory module into the unit, and found that it worked fine - the S10 basically switched over to the 2GB stick and ignored the slower onboard RAM.
Beneath the cover lies a hard disk drive and a SO-DIMM slot. Note that the netbook already has 512MB RAM on board, so if you put in a 2GB RAM into the slot, the onboard RAM won't be available.
Battery Life and Portability Index
Netbooks in general tend to have a very long battery life, though there are some exceptions (especially when a unit is bundled with a 3-cell battery like this Lenovo). To test the Lenovo S10, we've basically done our standard looping video test on the unit. Based on what we know, the battery life is rated at around 3 hours, so we didn't expect it to last any longer than that with our test. Results showed that the S10 did pretty decently at around the 2 hour 6 minutes mark.
The 3-Cell 11.1V battery that powers the netbook. A 6-cell option will be available in the near future.
Using the results of our battery test, we then calculated the score for our portability index test, which gave the S10 a very modest score of 1.419, putting it comparable to all the other 3-cell netbooks that we've reviewed so far (while still lagging far behind compared to the other 6-cell netbooks). It's definitely portable, but don't be relying too much on the battery if there aren't any power sockets available...
Performance Benchmarking
Don't expect to see any big numbers or huge differences in this category folks. With pretty much the same hardware as the other netbooks, you won't find any large differences except for the HDD size.
Specifications/ Notebook | Lenovo IdeaPad S10 | Gigabyte M912 | ASUS Eee PC 901 | MSI Wind NB U100 | ASUS Eee PC 900 |
Processor | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) with 512KB L2 cache | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) with 512KB L2 cache | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) with 512KB L2 cache | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) with 512KB L2 cache | Intel Celeron M 353 (900Mzh) with 512KB L2 cache |
Chipset | Intel 945GME | Intel 945GSE | Intel 945GSE | Intel 945GSE | Intel 910GML |
FSB | 533MHz | 533MHz | 533MHz | 533MHz | 400MHz |
Memory | 1 x 512 MB DDR2 (onboard) 1 x 512 MB DDR2 | 1 x 1GB DDR2 | 1 x 1GB DDR2 | 1 x 1GB DDR2 | 1 x 1GB DDR2 |
Video | Intel GMA950 | Intel GMA950 | Intel GMA950 | Intel GMA950 | Intel GMA 900 |
System Benchmarking
There aren't any weird variation in the results as you can see from our figures below. Generally speaking, all three performance indicators were pretty standard across the board with just minor differences, so no surprises there. We'll probably see more interesting and contrasting results soon when VIA Nano and the newer dual-core Atom based netbooks start showing up in the markets.
Chic Surfing
With its sleek form factor, the S10 is a refreshing change in looks compared to the other netbooks that we've reviewed so far. While HP's Mini-Note still obviously remains in our hearts as the prettiest netbook to date, the S10 does have its own charm and flair. With the exception of the keyboard, there's no doubt Lenovo poured in buckets of love for the unit. With most netbooks generally sharing the same hardware, the design aspect has begun to play an important factor in the choice of a unit for most consumers. Thankfully, as we've mentioned, the S10 delivers on this front.
What the S10 doesn't deliver is minimal, but definitely noticeable all the same. We're none too happy with the 85%-sized keyboard, which given the similar dimensions of the S10's chassis to other netbooks, could have been bigger and better. Battery life too was another grouse that we have with this unit, as the 3-cell unit lasted us just over 2 hours, which tends to be a big no no in our books. Netbooks aren't really performance workhorses compared to notebooks, and having a much longer battery life for doing what it does best happens to be one of its more attractive points when you're considering a netbook. A 6-cell option will be available some time in the future, so it's something to think about for those wanting something more.
The Lenovo S10 is a well designed netbook that has both ups and downs - especially with regard to the keyboard and battery life of the unit, which leaves us slightly disappointed.
So if your question after reading our review was whether you should get this S$739 netbook, then the answer is not a resounding yes but a soft-spoken one, and with the abovementioned caveats. Lenovo's first attempt at a netbook is definitely a decent one, so we'll be keeping an eye out to see how S10 holds up in this quickly saturating consumer market. On a side note, we're also holding our breaths for the next netbook model from Lenovo with a better keyboard and battery life.
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