| Netbooks |
Lenovo IdeaPad S10
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The ultra-portable laptop market has never been more lively than it has in the last year. Since the introduction of the "netbook" class of low budget notebooks the preceding we've seen at least a dozen different mini laptops priced well under $500.
With so many manufacturers hurrying to manufacture their own "netbooks" it was only a matter of time before Lenovo came to the table with their own value-priced IdeaPad S10.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is a 10-inch netbook with a $439 starting price and several impressive features that help place it a step beyond the competition. Does the S10 bear what it takes to survive in a market that is becoming increasingly more crowded? Let's take an in-depth look. |
The Lenovo S10 has the following specifications:
- 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
- 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
- Windows XP Home Edition (SP3)
- 10.2" WSVGA AntiGlare TFT with integrated camera 1024x600
- 160GB 5400rpm hard drive
- Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
- Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless and Bluetooth
- 4-in-1 Media card reader and ExpressCard slot
- 3-Cell Li-ion battery
- Size: 9.8" x 7.2" x 1.2" (including feet)
- Weight: 2.64 lbs (with 3-cell battery)
- Starting price: $439 (with 512MB RAM and 80GB hard drive)
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Build and Design
The design of the IdeaPad S10 is unsurprisingly alike to other netbooks we've been seeing, but Lenovo has managed to incorporate a few pleasant surprises in this one. The outside is covered in white "pearl-like" plastics with a slight glossy finish. The interior keyboard and palmrest surfaces are covered with matte white plastics with reasonable durability and no more than a minor bit of bend around the palmrests while you press strongly on the surface.
What first appears to be a giant brawny crux for the 10-inch screen is really the 3-cell battery with a small crux on either end of the tiny laptop. Overall, the look is quite fine, but the white plastics sort of gives this netbook a somewhat "toy like" facade. I must mention that the S10 is a very competent ultraportable laptop.
The build quality of the IdeaPad S10 is exceptionally solid for a netbook of this size and mass. The construction is mostly plastic but all of the plastics feel strong enough to deal with being handled roughly while inside a bookbag.
In terms of upgradeability, the S10 is much easier to upgrade than many netbooks available at this time. Some of the netbooks we've seen to date require intricate disassembly in order for you to gain access to the hard drive, system RAM, or wireless cards. Something that's even worse is how other netbooks have slots for upgrades but no connections on the motherboard so it is not possible to upgrade them. This is not the story with the S10. |
Keyboard and Touchpad
Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on the market include shoddily built keyboards that reveal sizeable flex/bounce while typing pressure is applied. Thankfully, the majority of netbooks maintain remarkably solid keyboards due to the fact that the frame is so small there isn't much open space inside the notebook for the keyboard to bend or bounce.
The keyboard on the IdeaPad S10 is less cramped than what we've seen on the majority 7-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks, but the S10 keyboard is still very compact. Most touch typists will probably need some time to figure out proper finger placement on the keyboard in order to get around making typos. Again, this is nothing new-found for netbooks, which usually require you to use a "hunt and peck" style of typing more readily than traditional touch typing methods. Bottom line, this keyboard isn't designed to be used as a primary/main computer. For users who are in view of having the S10 as their "main computer" in their house or workplace, a full-size external keyboard and external mouse are advised.
The touchpad design, while less significant than a traditional laptop touchpad, is surprisingly good for a budget netbook. The touchpad in our evaluation unit was a Synaptics touchpad with outstanding sensitivity, responsiveness, and smooth tracking. The touchpad buttons are located in the correct place and have nice, deep, well-cushioned presses with a satisfying "click" when pushed. A fine addition to the touchpad was support for Synaptics multi-touch gestures which allow you to perform tasks such as zoom in or zoom out simply by "pinching" or "spreading" the touchpad with your fingertips.
Screen Quality
The matte 10.2" WSVGA (1024x600) AntiGlare TFT display on the S10 is nice and vibrant with rich colors and good contrast. The white levels are very apparent and the matte exterior prevents glare and reflections which help make the screen easier to read outdoors under intense sunlight.
Horizontal viewing angles are enjoyable, so you and a friend won't be inflicted with trouble watching a movie on the 8.9-inch screen at the same time. Vertical viewing angles are acceptable, but colors do tend to turn darker and somewhat inverted once viewed from underneath
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Ports and Features
Port selection was pretty impressive on the S10 compared to other netbooks, with the standout features being an ExpressCard slot for added expansion and built-in Bluetooth for using an external mouse and keyboard with no need to give up one or more of the two USB ports.
In fact, if there isn't much to complain about here other than the fact that the S10 has only two USB ports. However, if we had to pick between a third USB port or an ExpressCard slot and Bluetooth we will gladly give up the third USB port.
Performance and Benchmarks
This Intel Atom based netbook won't be breaking any speed records, but it performed more than adequately for regular activities. Windows startup took fewer than 30 seconds and internet browsing, word processing, and even photo editing tasks were downright "snappy." While the 3D graphics benchmark figures aren't exactly impressive, it's principal to keep in mind that netbooks are not designed for playing computer games. The S10 and like netbooks are mobile internet portals and productivity tools for getting some quick work done exclusive of needing to lug a giant laptop.
Speakers and Audio
The speakers on the IdeaPad S10 are practically impressive for a budget netbook. While the two tiny stereo speakers located on the front edge of the netbook deliver good volume levels with minimum distortion and acceptable range, it's worth mentioning the somewhat odd placement.
Since the speakers are located on the front edge of the notebook the sound isn't being directed up and toward the user when the S10 is used as a laptop. In fact, our employees usually refers to laptop speakers with this type of placement as "crotch speakers" because the speakers are directing sound to your waist instead of to your ears. Granted that the compact design of the S10 there weren't many other spaces for the speakers to go, but we'd like to see a altered speaker location on next year's model.
The headphone jack on the S10 works well with the three different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack except for the imperfections in the audio source itself. |
Heat and Noise
As we carry on to see in our labs, nearly all of the Intel Atom-based netbooks produce a reasonable amount of heat while running. The IdeaPad S10 remained on par with the competition in this regard. Even under average conditions such as surfing the web, typing documents, or downloading email attachments, exterior temperatures peaked higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit after more than 25 minutes of use. Granted, this level of heat isn't horrible by any means, but it might be a little uncomfortable on your lap after an hour.
The hottest spot on this netbook was the area around the hard drive and RAM are located.
In terms of noise, our evaluation unit of the S10 remained quiet during most of the tough interval ... Except during graphics benchmarks. When the relatively weak integrated graphics were stressed at some point in our review the interior cooling fan kicked into high gear. The fan noise wasn't horrible by any means, but it would be loud adequate to get a teacher's attention in a calm classroom. Again, this only happened when stressing the S10's graphics, so it shouldn't be an problem for casual web browsing.
Battery Life
Under regular use, backlight at 100 percent and using wireless for web browsing and watching several streaming videos at 75 percent volume, the S10 managed to provide three hours and 43 minutes of battery life. This is alike to what we've seen from Atom-based netbooks with 3-cell batteries. However, as we've thought in the past when analyzing other netbooks, these tiny laptops would make excellent mobile companions if they just had an option for a 6-cell or 8-cell battery for all-day use. In any case, lowering the screen brightness and turning off the wireless card should provide enough battery life for prolonged employment with the 3-cell battery.
Performance and Benchmarks
This Intel Atom based netbook won't be breaking any speed records, but it performed more than adequately for average activities. Windows startup took less than 30 seconds and internet browsing, word processing, and even photo editing tasks were downright "snappy." While the 3D graphics benchmark numbers aren't particularly impressive. The S10 and similar netbooks are mobile internet portals and productivity tools for getting some quick tasks done without having to lug a giant laptop, they are not gaming laptops. |
Conclusion
Is the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 the best netbook currently on the market and the best value for your dollar? Well, the answer isn't simple, particularly bearing in mind the way that recent netbooks seem to arrive each week. The S10 does several things well that we wish more manufacturers did with their netbooks.
First, Lenovo was smart enough to realize and ExpressCard slot is valuable if you want to make a netbook useful. The ExpressCard slot gives you the option of incorporating more USB ports, Firewire, eSATA, or any amount of other ports to the S10. More importantly, the ExpressCard slot makes it simple to add a broadband modem to the S10 so that you can stay connected to the internet anywhere with cell phone reception.
Second, the S10 has built-in Bluetooth. Frankly, we're amazed that each netbook doesn't come with built-in Bluetooth since it allows you to link up devices to the netbook without using one of the USB ports.
Last, but certainly not least the S10 combines the surprisingly competent Intel Atom CPU with a standard hard drive. While budget SSDs are nice, a good number of consumers can't get over the limited storage capacity of SSDs and that is why hard drives still have a place in netbooks.
On the other hand, the S10 still suffers from some of the same limitations as other netbooks: Like high temperatures, smaller battery, and a cramped screen and keyboard.
Ultimately, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is a terrific ultra-portable laptop priced below $500. However, if you're willing to put up with a bulkier notebook then it's still possible to attain a computer with more features and performance for almost the same cost.
Pros
- Small and light
- Easy to use
- Very well built and durable
- Easy to upgrade RAM, and hard drive
- Comes with Bluetooth
- ExpressCard slot offers extra expansion options
Cons
- Gets a little hot
- White plastics give this serious computer a "toy-like" facade
- Only two USB ports
- 3-cell battery is nice, 6-cell battery would be better
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