The Chinese company Lenovo cannot be called a newcomer to the laptop computer market. It is worth remembering that for a long time it designed and produced ThinkPad series laptops for IBM, and then completely bought out this division of the “blue giant” when the corporation decided to part with this business. Lenovo's first netbook shows excellent fighting qualities at a reasonable price. And don’t let “Made in China” confuse or mislead you - the whole world has long moved from observing “Made in” to “Made by” (made by whom).
The Lenovo ideapad S10 is available in two versions. They differ in memory capacity - 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive and 1 GB of RAM with a 160 GB hard drive. Buyers can choose the case in white, black, red, blue and pink. There is also a modification of the S9 with a 9-inch screen. Models with “cheerful” colors cost a little more, but our market is currently supplied with older models in black and blue casings at a price of about $500 (about 3800-4000 hryvnia, based on today’s dollar exchange rate). Today, that's $50 more expensive than the 9-inch Acer Aspire One with a similarly sized hard drive, and $50 cheaper than the MSI Wind. Which, in general, leaves room for further market saturation and price reductions (in the US, the ideapad S10 can be purchased for $400 in the older configuration). Perhaps Samsung NC10 will add competition, but it has not yet reached our market, although the company planned to start sales in Ukraine a month ago. Let us remember that the promised price was $400. The appearance of new Lenovo netbooks in our country can be tracked in the Hotline catalog
Specifications Lenovo ideapad S10
Equipment This time we received not a test, but a production sample with all the necessary accessories in the box. Therefore, let's pay attention to the package. There is no case included, there is only a distribution kit with Windows XP SP3 and two disks. One contains drivers for Windows XP, OneKey Recovery 6.0 and Lenovo System Repair utilities; on the other - Adobe Reader 8.1 (there is a Russian version) and Norton Internet Security 2008. The box also contains brief instructions on how to get started and a more detailed booklet on the operation and maintenance of Lenovo S9 and S10 netbooks. Unlike the vast majority of instructions for products of Chinese companies that I have seen, these documents have no traces of machine translation or any inaccuracies or typos - everything was done with an A plus. Which once again confirms the truth of the statement about “Made in China”.
Appearance We had in our hands a black Lenovo ideapad S10 of the older version. The plastic of the case is of high quality, practically not easily soiled (this is especially noticeable on the inside, around the keyboard - there are no marks left on it at all, unlike the lid, on which you can see barely noticeable stains if desired). The lid hinges are made without the chic inherent in the Samsung NC10; they are decorated with chrome-plated ends and look reliable.
At the end of the right hinge there is a slot for attaching a Kensington lock.
The lid moves smoothly, without sound or creaking, accepting any tilt. The power button is also chromed - it is located in the center of the panel under the screen and the touchpad keys. Next to it are LEDs for Caps Lock, Num Lock and hard drive activity. On the right there are two buttons - one (surprise, surprise!) launches the OneKey Recovery utility, which allows you to make a backup copy of your data and a boot disk with the archive system. We can only hope that this is not a vital necessity, but an unobtrusive reminder to the user of the need to back up data that everyone neglects. Although a netbook is an auxiliary device for travel and entertainment, so if important data is stored on it, it will not be for long. The second turns on/off wireless communication modules - Bluetooth and Wi-Fi - a really convenient thing.
The microphone is installed near the lower left corner of the keyboard - this is good, but not critical for communication. You can't expect any special improvements from this. The speakers are installed at the end closer to the user and hidden behind the ventilation grille. At the end there are three more LEDs: power, battery operating mode and data transmission via a wireless channel (blinks during operation, like the hard drive access LED).
There are two USB ports, this is not a record - I had to “load” 3 ports with work, but this is not a critical indicator, although at least one of me is occupied by a mouse module, and the second by a flash drive. The card reader reads SD and Memory Stick cards in all their modifications (tested with a 16 GB SD card and a 4 GB MS Duo). The PCI Express connector is also worth paying attention to; everything else is standard. including Kensington lock. It is worth saying that the placement of the Ethernet connector is not very convenient - the best place for it is at the back, not on the side (in the office this is completely inconvenient, the netbook is surrounded by wires - power supply on the left, network cable on the right), which does not contribute to convenient organization of work.
Please note that access to replacing components (memory, hard drive) is easy to obtain by unscrewing two screws. For those who are ready to give up the guarantee, of course.
Display The screen of the ideapad S10 is matte, contrasty with a good margin of brightness. Viewing angles are standard for a device of this class, and do not stand out in any way - they are less comfortable than those of “large” laptops (a drop in brightness is observed at significantly larger viewing angles), but the image remains readable, without going “negative”. Unfortunately, it is not possible to test the behavior of the screen in bright sunshine in conditions where there has not been a single day of clear weather in Kyiv for the second month. I hope that one of our colleagues will be able to do such an analysis, or that buyers will comment in the comments. Keyboard and touchpad
As practice shows, issues related to the convenience of the keyboard and touchpad are among the most discussed (right after the display and battery life). So I'll start with the good stuff - the touchpad. It is truly excellent, on par with the best implementations in netbooks. During the entire period of work (I deliberately did not use the mouse), the surface of the touch panel did not “decorate” even a single spot. In general, it’s worth saying that I’m a very careless user who is extremely careless with my (and sometimes other people’s) devices; on a five-point scale of frugality I can safely be given a one. But the body of this netbook has withstood all the tests that befell it - there are no traces of “human activity” on it, despite the fact that at least colleagues from other publications used it before me. The touchpad supports vertical and horizontal scrolling, as well as multi-touch (it is used for scaling documents and works disgustingly, in contrast to scrolling, which showed quite satisfactory results).
Despite the "intriguing" introduction, the keyboard on this netbook is good. The keys have excellent travel and (perhaps it seemed to me that my eye is not a diamond) the gap between them is larger than usual. Apparently you can get used to it, but I encountered several difficulties. Firstly, the Ctrl and Fn keys are positioned differently than on my main laptop, and this significantly slows down the pace of work. If you are going to buy the ideapad S10 as a second laptop computer for traveling and “going out,” then I beg you, pay attention to the location of Ctrl on your main computer. If it's not in the bottom left corner, everything is fine. Otherwise, you most likely will not be able to get used to the new arrangement of keys - relearning is not a one-day process. But motor skills will have to be regularly “relearned back”). Secondly, the right shift used for typing punctuation is too small - I kept hitting the up arrow (here I hit it again and again) trying to blindly insert a comma. This, I tell you, is no good if you are used to typing a lot of text and working blindly. Thirdly, the Home and End keys are located so inconveniently that you can’t use them at all (or it will take a very long time to get used to). It is worth saying that the developers acted smartly by making the Z and E keys small instead of B and Yu, like MSI Wind,. since they have to be used less often in Russian. Well, my personal “bell” is the inconvenient location of the Pause key (it is accessible only by Fn, which halves the benefit of using the Punto Switcher keyboard switch, to which I have a long-standing affection).
Traditional list of hotkeys available in combination with the Fn button:
- Fn+Esc enable/disable webcam
- Fn+F1 going to sleep mode
- Fn+F2 turning off the display
- Fn+F3 switching between displays when connecting an external
- Fn+F5 control of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - it is worth saying that this is not the same as turning on both modules with a button under the screen - in this case, you can separately disable one module, and not both at once
- Fn+F6 disabling the touchpad
- Fn+F7 Num lock
- Fn+F8 Scroll Lock
- Fn+F9 Break
- Fn+F10 Pause
- Fn+F11 F12 (cool, isn't it?)
- Fn+PgUp Home (beyond my understanding)
- Fn + PgDn End (similar)
- Fn+Ins SysRq (does anyone know what this is, by the way? enlighten the poor guy)
- Fn+Del PrtSc
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Frankly, the work of these modules in Windows XP has already been so mature that it may not be worth dwelling on their work in the future. I can only say a few things that I encountered in this model. Firstly, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules were disabled at the operating system level and did not turn on by pressing a key. I’ll make a reservation right away - I didn’t receive a new netbook, one of my colleagues had already used it, so this is a special case, since the radio modules could have been disabled by the user (the reason may be the car). After turning it on, everything worked perfectly - Wi-Fi was connected, Bluetooth worked, including A2DP - through the netbook's speakers you could make phone calls and listen to music recorded on the phone. At the same time, however, the phone's speakers reproduced music noticeably better and cleaner. And the sound on the netbook disappeared, although all the systems (both on the phone and on the computer) said that streaming music from the phone was being streamed and even played on the netbook. Only she wasn’t there. Here, however, it may also be not the computer that is to blame, but the phone (let’s be fair), especially since the phone is already more than a year old (and, as I already said, I use the equipment mercilessly). Webcam
There really isn't much to say about the webcam. Standard VGA resolution, video is recorded using Windows Movie Maker with a resolution of 640x480 and 25 frames per second. There were no failures in the work, no complaints at all. And where do they actually come from? In addition to the fact that the picture she broadcasts is weak, corresponding to her nominative capabilities. On the other hand, for our buyer a low price is much more important than a higher resolution and webcam capabilities. So in this case, Lenovo saved where it really can save. Utilities
One keystroke calls OneKey Recovery. You can back up your data or create a bootable disk. By the way, by default the BIOS has settings in which it first polls a USB flash drive for a boot disk, then an external USB-HDD, then an external USB drive. And only then the built-in hard drive. It’s strange, but if a regular flash drive is stuck into the USB, then loading is impossible until you remove it. As an option, I simply changed the boot priority in the BIOS, putting the built-in hard drive first.
Norton Internet Security is included in the package. It allows you to organize all your sensitive data and store/manage it in one place.
The proprietary offline power management utility traditionally looks nicer than the one built into Windows. Bottom line Lenovo ideapad S10 enters the already established netbook market and is distinguished by a well-balanced price and excellent build. Its appearance (like any other netbook with similar capabilities and price) will lead to our favorite consequence - a further reduction in prices for devices in this class. Its advantages include excellent plastic, a completely non-staining case, and a PCI Express connector (this may be critical for some). The disadvantages are the poor placement of the Ethernet connector and some of the keys, which not everyone can put up with. And yes - it gets a little warm around the touchpad and the bottom of the keyboard. Not significant, but noticeable. I hope that now those of you who were critical of the phrase “Made in China” will reconsider your opinion. Not everything made in China is bad. This Chinese netbook meets the best global industry standards and at the same time costs less (hopefully not for long) than its Taiwanese counterparts.
The review text was written on a Lenovo ideapad S10 netbook.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 appeared on the market a little later than other Pine Trail netbooks, and at the same time its price at the time of the announcement was above the average for devices of this class. How did Lenovo decide to win over users? Apparently, the developers of the IdeaPad S10-3 decided to “beat” their competitors with an original design solution, which potential users of this netbook should value at a higher price than ordinary offerings from this segment. We will tell you further about what else is remarkable about the device.
Appearance and design features
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 has already gone through three “revisions,” and compared to the original version, it is the latest modification that can be called the most innovative. And not only because the S10-3, unlike the first and second reincarnations, is made on the Pine Trail platform. This device is strikingly different from its predecessors with a new elegant design. It is felt that when creating this netbook, the developers sought to make it the most noticeable among the homogeneous mass of other Atom devices.
For the IdeaPad S10-3, Lenovo designers have developed a thin and fairly light case. When closed, the thickness of the netbook, taking into account the height of the legs, is 27.8 mm, and if we take only the thickness of the case into account, then even less - 25.4 mm. In addition to the small thickness, fans of netbooks will clearly be pleased with the modest weight of the model, which without battery is 1185 g.
To get away from the “pop” fashion for gloss, the designers carved the glossy outer part of the lid with a textured pattern reminiscent of the surface of a chessboard with small cells. Compared to regular gloss, this solution looks much more interesting. In addition, it is more practical as it does not show fingerprints.
The only purely glossy surface on the S10-3 is the frame around the display, the material of which was probably chosen to match the coating of the screen itself. The working surface under the keyboard is made of matte plastic, painted to resemble roughly processed metal. Individual elements that make a decorative contribution to the exterior of the netbook are the touch panel and keyboard, but we’ll talk about them a little later.
The appearance of the netbook is somewhat diversified by additional buttons located on the display frame. Traditionally, the laptop on/off button is usually placed on the work panel above the keyboard. But Lenovo decided to break away from tradition and placed it on the left margin of the frame. Above this button there is a lone indicator informing the user that CapsLock mode is enabled.
To the right of the display on the frame there are two more hard keys: QS and Recovery Key. Using the first, when the netbook is turned off, you can launch a lightweight OS that will allow you to use the browser and some applications for Internet communication without loading the main operating system. If the netbook is turned on, then by pressing the QS button you can launch any application assigned to it. The Recovery Key button, as its name implies, calls up the system recovery utility.
Built-in stereo speakers (1.5 W each) are located on the front end of the case. Like the speakers in most netbooks, the S10's built-in stereo system isn't much use. Its volume is quite high, but it only works with high frequencies.
Input Devices
The keyboard in the S10-3 is simply magnificent, there's no other way to put it. The island-type keys, separated from each other by a short distance, have small depressions in the center for the fingertips. The keys are pressed very softly, but despite this, the moment of operation is felt very well. The substrate is rigid around the perimeter and bends slightly in the center.
The keyboard is well suited for long-term typing: your hands don’t get tired and your fingers don’t get tangled in the keys. The large distance between the centers of the keys allows even a person with large hands to work comfortably with the keyboard. There are no complaints about the layout: everything is within traditional limits. The only remark could be attributed to the design of the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets: many would obviously be more comfortable if they were printed in different colors, and not just different fonts.
The touchpad in the IdeaPad S10-3 is very similar to the Apple MacBook touchpad, which does not have additional buttons at the bottom, but is itself one large button. In a netbook, the touchpad is also veiled under one large button, but it is not pressed at any point. To roughly break it down, pressing the left half is the same as triggering the left mouse button, and the right half is the same as triggering the right mouse button. Only in the center and at the top the touchpad cannot be pressed.
Along the right side of the touchpad is an unlabeled vertical scrolling area. The IdeaPad S10-3's touchpad also supports multi-touch, but the feature is disabled by default. Working with the touchpad is quite convenient - no less convenient than using a traditional touchpad. Although, of course, Lenovo is still very far from Apple technologies.
Display
The S10-3 we tested has a 10.1-inch matrix manufactured by Chunghwa Picture Tubes. Its resolution is standard for netbooks and is 1024x600 pixels. When you turn on the device for the first time, you immediately feel that the backlight brightness is very high and leads to burnout of the colors on the screen, which is why they are perceived as pale and dull. The highest brightness is achieved in the center of the display: at this point it is 239 cd/m2. This value is quite enough to freely work with a netbook on the street. However, in direct sunlight, even this brightness is not enough to avoid glare on the glossy coating of the matrix.
The backlight uniformity is quite high and for this matrix it is 87%. But the contrast ratio is quite small, only 176:1. Such a low contrast is due to the fact that due to the too powerful backlight, the brightness of the black glow is very high.
The viewing angles are traditional for devices of this class: a narrow vertical angle (information on the screen remains readable without distortion within 20 degrees from the normal to the screen plane) and a wider horizontal angle (within 40 degrees from the normal).
Interfaces and expansion ports
Lenovo developers scattered the ports in the S10-3 along the right and left ends of the case, leaving the other sides out of work for certain reasons (the entire rear end is given over to the battery, and the front is too flattened towards the bottom).
On the left side there is a USB port, an analog D-Sub video output, a card reader that supports SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD formats, and a connector for connecting a power supply. It is very correct that the manufacturer decided to place the video output closer to the back of the case, where the cable coming from it will not interfere with other connected devices. The card reader, on the contrary, is located closer to the front end so that when working with memory cards you don’t have to reach far.
On the right side there is an RJ-45 network connector, two more USB 2.0 ports and a pair of 3.5 mm audio jacks. And in this part, there is a sense of rationality in the arrangement of interfaces: the connector to which the cable is connected for a long time (RJ-45) is located closer to the rear end, and those that are used frequently are moved closer to the front.
The S10-3 we tested had an Ericsson F3607gw HSPA module installed. This broadband access module for HSPA/GPRS/EDGE networks allows you to remotely control your computer. Even when the netbook itself is turned off, the module will maintain a connection to the Internet and, if necessary, can switch the computer to any state. For example, if the device is stolen or lost, the user can block access to it and the data on the hard drive. This remote control feature must be supported by your broadband internet service provider.
Battery life
Lenovo positions its IdeaPad S10-3 as a netbook with a fairly long battery life, especially for the battery installed in it - 7 hours. The battery capacity this device comes with is 48 Wh. So if the model can really work for 7 hours, it will be very good.
Let's start with the record-breaking battery life testing results. In the Battery Eater reader test, with wireless communications turned off and backlight brightness at minimum, the battery life was 9 hours 3 minutes. It is worth noting that with the minimum brightness that the adjustment allows you to set, you can work quite comfortably indoors.
However, reading mode is practically unattainable in everyday life, so let's move on to more realistic simulations. In classic mode, at maximum brightness and with wireless connections turned on, the S10-3 was able to last 4 hours 47 minutes. As for real operating conditions, it is precisely in these conditions that the netbook “extends” its legitimate 7 hours of operation without a fixed network. One charge of the standard battery is enough for 7 hours and 17 minutes to surf the network via Wi-Fi at 50% screen brightness (you don’t need more in indoor conditions) and at the same time listen to music through the built-in speakers.
In general, these autonomy indicators can be called very good. Of course, it was possible to install a more capacious battery in the S10-3, but in this case the weight of the device would have noticeably increased and the dimensions would have changed somewhat. So a standard 48 Wh battery is the best solution in this case.
To optimize energy consumption, the S10-3 includes the Lenovo Energy Management utility. The essence of its work is no different from proprietary utilities of other laptop manufacturers: there are five power profiles that allow you to optimize energy consumption for specific operating conditions.
The power supply that comes with the device is very small and almost weightless (about 150 g). The cable that goes from the network to the power supply will weigh more. So carrying this tiny unit with you will not be difficult. It's nice that manufacturers began to pay attention to such a small thing as the power supply. About a year and a half ago, you could find a netbook with a power supply that was comparable in weight to the computer itself.
Heat and noise
The IdeaPad S10-3 is one of the quietest netbooks. In idle mode the cooler is absolutely silent. If it were not for the light breeze from the ventilation window, it would be impossible to guess that the fan was working at all.
The noise from the cooler becomes audible only under sudden, heavy or prolonged load on the system. In the first case, the fan speed increases sharply, but then, after a few seconds, decreases to a level where the cooler becomes barely audible. Under prolonged load, a faint hum from the “propeller” cooling the system is constantly heard, but in an office environment it is unlikely to be noticeable.
In terms of thermal emission, the laptop also looks very decent. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the S10-3 is an absolutely cold device, but nevertheless it does not heat up as much as some of its brothers. At idle, the only warm area on the work surface is under the left wrist. Here the temperature reaches 30-32 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, the lower part of the body heats up more noticeably: in its center the temperature reaches 36-38 degrees, and near the blower exit - 35 degrees Celsius. When the system is loaded, the case temperature rises, but not too significantly, by about 2-4 degrees.
Content:A typical example is ViewSonic and Suzuki... Today, a 10-inch netbook from Lenovo under the symbol S10 will act as a test subject.
He. But only
The Chinese company Lenovo, which quite successfully bought up IBM's computer business at the dawn of the 2000s, like many other large companies, saw an extremely promising market in netbooks. These devices are inexpensive, functional, and support wireless communication. What more could the average user want? And to ensure that customers’ requests were satisfied to the maximum, the Chinese offered a choice of three models at once - with a diagonal of 9, 10 and 12 inches. Only the middle model, the Lenovo S10, survived six months of assembly line life...
Events in the IdeaPad S-series line developed progressively. At first, Lenovo abandoned the younger model. It didn’t work for a number of reasons, but mainly because the screen was too small: the 8.9-inch device is easy to carry, but looking out for tiny Windows interface elements on a small display without hurting your eyes is impossible. However, this is typical for small models and other manufacturers.
And just a month ago, Lenovo decided to remove the older model from the assembly line. The reason, as always, is complex: firstly, the performance of the “almost laptop” did not correspond to its adult size, and secondly, the model turned out to be expensive. Both resulted in a lack of demand...
So in the near future (at least six months), the position of the Chinese company in the net segment will be defended exclusively by our today’s hero – Lenovo S10.
Design, layout, delivery set
Despite the relative newness of the Lenovo S10, in its appearance you can still find features of more representative devices from the IBM heritage. For example, what the baby has in common with its full-size brothers in the brand is rough matte plastic (it leaves imprints quite well), a rectangular touchpad with two buttons, and a literally lined keyboard with strict rows of keys and a precisely measured distance between them.
But the layout of the device sometimes brings surprises. On the outside, everything is as usual: a silver logo is on the cover, above the screen is a camera, LEDs are under the left hand (they are equally visible both when the device is open and closed), on the front edge on the left and right are speakers covered with a perforated metal mesh .
Innovations inside consist of a microphone placed under the left edge of the working panel (usually it is located next to the camera) and additional control buttons and indicators located almost as a single block under the display. Both solutions, despite their unusual nature, are quite convenient: the microphone reliably picks up the voice, and access to buttons and indicators is not difficult.
It’s foolish to expect a rich set from Lenovo; the netbook doesn’t have it. The thin box contained the device itself, a battery, a charger, a couple of thick instructions, and several disks (with the OS and drivers/utilities). Actually, that's all.
Interfaces
Due to the fact that the entire back of the device is occupied by the battery, all interface connectors are located on the sides.
On the left, right at hand, there is a USB port and a card reader, then there is a VGA and a connector for the mains charger.
On the right side of the netbook there is an ExpressCard/34 slot, 3.5 mm audio interfaces, another USB and an Ethernet port.
The Kensington lock connector is located on the right hinge connecting the lid and base.
In general, everything is quite standard, but two USBs are not enough these days.
Input organs
The seemingly comfortable keyboard of the Lenovo S10 actually had to be tamed. Or rather, she tamed the need to look at the process of working with text in a new way. Firstly, the left Shift and Ctrl are not located under each other, but are separated by the Fn key.
Therefore, those who are accustomed to switching the layout using the Shift+Ctrl combination will initially type abracadabra instead of the desired phrase in another language. Again, if you sit down at any laptop or regular computer keyboard, you will again have to adjust to the normal layout.
The second drawback is the top arrow key, wedged between the “dot” and the right Shift. You want to put a comma, but instead you move one line higher and put a dot.
Otherwise, the keyboard did not cause any complaints: the keys are large enough for a netbook, their travel is distinct and soft, and the backing does not flex. The Cyrillic font may be a little small, but this is not a hindrance to active typing for a person already familiar with the layout.
The touchpad itself is good: it is widescreen and has two buttons with a clear click. But due to the small width of the touch panel, vertical scrolling is inconvenient.
The Lenovo S10 is based on more than the traditional Intel Atom platform. In particular, the Intel 945GSE chipset and the Intel Atom N270 processor. We have already written about this combination in the test, and. Therefore, we will only list the main technical characteristics of the chips.
Intel Atom N270: 45 nm process technology, socket size – 22 x 22 mm, number of transistors – 47 million, minimum frequency – 800 MHz, maximum frequency – 1.6 GHz, L2 cache size – 512 KB, supported system bus frequency – 533 MHz , power consumption – 2.5 W.
Intel 945 GSE: chip size – 27 x 27 mm, number of DDR slots – 1 (maximum memory capacity – 2 GB), built-in video – Intel GMA950, support for up to 8 USB, as well as PCI Express and SATA, power consumption – 9.3 Tue
The memory subsystem is based on a 160 GB Western Digital WD1600BEVT hard drive. This model, belonging to the Scorpio Blue family, is very often used by other netbook manufacturers. Its characteristics are as follows: spindle speed – 5400 rpm, buffer volume – 8 MB, form factor – 2.5 inches.
The only Lenovo S10 RAM module with a capacity of 1 GB is manufactured by SHARETRONIC.
The peculiarity of this Chinese company lies in the huge range of products it produces - from netbooks to flash drives! By the way, the SHARETRONIC L30-C netbook has many similarities with the Lenovo S10...
Lenovo has entrusted all wired and wireless communications in the netbook to Broadcom chips. In particular, they are used to implement a wired Ethernet network (Broadcom NetLink BCM5906M) and both wireless options - Wi-Fi 802.11 g and Bluetooth 2.1. The multi-format card reader and sound controller are based on Realtek solutions.
The Lenovo S10 has two operating systems: the well-known Asus Splashtop netbook and the full-fledged Windows XP SP3. There is only one power button. You press it and a screen appears for 5 seconds inviting you to log into Linux. If the user has not touched the cursor (touchpad) during this time, then Windows will continue to load. If you touch it, you can very quickly find yourself in one of the following programs: Skype, Internet browser, photo viewer, media player. Online games and chat will be much less in demand. A proprietary feature of Linux - high sensitivity of the touchpad - is present in Splashtop, so it is recommended to configure it immediately. Fortunately, the developers have provided the ability to adjust the most important parameters: sound, keyboard layout, etc.
As for Windows, we can only talk about proprietary utilities, because the system itself has long been studied by everyone inside and out.
Lenovo didn't skimp on utilities. The most interesting are three: Energy Management, OneKey Recovery (launched by a separate button next to the power key) and VeriFace Recognition III. Their essence is easy to grasp even from the name.
It is surprising that despite the presence of a proprietary system recovery CD in the kit, Lenovo duplicated the Windows distribution on a hidden partition of drive D. It turns out that you can safely lose 20 GB from the nominal (and not very large) volume of the hard drive...
The L'enovo IdeaPad S10 is an attractive netbook that was released last year, but it recently added a new 6-cell battery and Quick Start operating system, as well as facial recognition software, all for $450.
Lenovo S10 Specifications:
| CPU: | 1.6GHz |
| RAM: | 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Operating system: | XP Home Edition (SP3) and Quick Start |
| Display: | 10.2" WSVGA AntiGlare TFT with built-in webcam and 1024x600 pixel resolution |
| HDD: | 5400rpm 160GB |
| Video card: | built-in |
| Wireless connection: | Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi |
| Interfaces: | 4-in-1 multimedia card reader and ExpressCard slot |
| Battery: | 6-segment lithium-ion |
| Dimensions: | 9.8" x 7.7" x 1.2" |
| Weight: | 0.59 kg (with 6-segment battery) |
Design and build
The design of the IdeaPad S10 has not undergone any changes since its release, but the color gamut has expanded significantly compared to the options that were offered when the S10 was released last year. We tested a ruby red model with a glossy lid. The internal surface of the laptop and the battery are made of white matte plastic of good quality, quite reliable and durable, but when you press on the area under the keyboard, where the user’s hands are usually located, you can observe some deflection of the plastic.
The new 6-cell battery, located on the back of the laptop, looks like a giant hinge for attaching a 10" display. This battery slightly increases the size of the netbook, but the dual-tone color scheme makes this ultraportable notebook look a little like a toy, compared to many other netbook models with strict design.
The IdeaPad S10's build quality is very good for a netbook of its size and weight. The design is mostly made of plastic, but it is quite durable and fits comfortably on your hands, in a small briefcase or even a woman's handbag.
The S10 is much easier to upgrade than most netbooks currently on the market. To do this, you need to remove one small panel, and you get access to the hard drive, RAM or Wi-Fi module. Upgrading RAM can be a really necessary move, because some netbooks, due to limited memory, run the old Windows XP operating system. If you want to install 2GB RAM in the S10, you must do it yourself.
Display
The matte 10.2" WSVGA TFT display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels and Anti-Glare coating performed well. It has vibrant, rich colors with good contrast. The white level is very clear, and the matte surface prevents glare and reflection, making the screen brighter readable in good weather outdoors or under bright office lighting.
The horizontal viewing angle is quite wide and two people will be comfortable watching a movie on this small but colorful 10.2" display. The vertical viewing angle is acceptable, but the colors darken and invert as the viewing angle decreases.
Keyboard and touchpad
Inexpensive full-size laptops currently on the market are equipped with poorly mounted keyboards that have significant flex when pressing the keys, especially in its central part. In turn, most netbooks have a more rigid keyboard, due to the small size of the case itself, and, consequently, the small empty space under the keyboard, where deflections are usually observed.
The keyboard on the IdeaPad S10 is larger than on older 7" models, but compared to modern netbooks, whose keyboards are almost the same size as regular laptop keyboards, the S10's small keyboard still shows the age of this model. Your fingers will have to get used to the non-standard button sizes, and over time you will be able to avoid typing errors. Otherwise, the keyboard was quite nice and comfortable. If you have a full-size laptop or desktop PC, the S10 will be a great ultraportable addition. But if you use it as the main device at home or in the office, you will need to stock up external keyboard and mouse.
The touchpad format is significantly smaller than a traditional panel, but very good for a budget netbook. The model we tested had a Synaptics touchpad with excellent sensitivity, good response, and smooth scrolling. The touchpad buttons have a familiar location and good travel, a smooth click, as well as a characteristic click when fully pressed. A nice addition to the touchpad is Synaptics' support for multi-touch mode, which allows you to resize the window by zooming in or out, rotating the image, etc., using all five fingers.
Interfaces
Last year, the S10 could be called one of the most outstanding netbooks in terms of the number of different interfaces, but now, as more and more new models appear on the market, the set of ports on the S10 looks somewhat modest. But still, the Lenovo S10 has an ExpressCard slot, and not every model can boast of this. But Bluetooth, which was an additional option, was completely removed from the S10, which seems a very strange decision, since Bluetooth is one of the most important devices for ultraportable laptops.The disadvantages include the presence of only two USB ports in the S10. However, if you have to choose between a third USB port or an ExpressCard slot, you might be more willing to sacrifice the third USB port.
Front: indicator lights and speakers
Rear: battery
Left: ventilation grille, power supply connector, VGA, 3-in-1 card reader and USB
Right: ExpressCard slot, headphone/microphone, USB, Ethernet, security lock slot
Performance
The IdeaPad S10 still uses the popular Intel Atom N270 processor model. Although the new Atom processors have slightly higher performance, a new modification could be added. However, the S10 provides good performance for its class and is ideal for everyday tasks such as checking email, working with office applications, and most importantly, surfing the Internet. Windows starts up in less than 30 seconds, and browsing the web, word processing and even working with photos takes little time and is very fast.The S10 is not suitable for Futuremark's 3DMark06 comprehensive gaming benchmark. Sure, netbooks aren't designed for regular PC gaming, but second-generation netbooks are already capable of running the 3DMark06 benchmarking program. In any case, the S10 and similar netbooks are essentially mobile Internet devices and are not designed for heavy workloads.
PCMark05 shows overall system performance (higher scores = higher performance):
| Laptops | Ball PCMark05 |
| Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (2009) (1.6GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950) | 1,478 PCMarks |
| Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950) | 1,446 PCMarks |
| ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, Intel GMA 950) | 1,535 PCMarks |
| Acer Aspire One (1.60GHz Intel Atom, Intel GMA 950) | 1,555 PCMarks |
| (1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV) | 801 PCMarks |
| Sony VAIO TZ (1.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600) | 2,446 PCMarks |
| (1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400) | 1,152 PCMarks |
| Sony VAIO VGN-G11XN/B (1.33GHz Core Solo U1500) | 1,554 PCMarks |
Sound
The IdeaPad S10's speakers are quite impressive for a netbook. Two small stereo speakers are located on the front side of the netbook, and are characterized by minimal distortion and an acceptable range for this class of laptops.The S10's headphone output is on the right side. During testing, three different types of headphones were used, and each of them fit tightly into the socket. The sound quality obtained using headphones is significantly higher than when listening through the built-in speakers. No extraneous sounds were noticed, except those caused by imperfections in the built-in sound card itself.
Temperature and noise
The laptop, built on an Intel Atom processor, produces a moderate amount of heat during operation. The IdeaPad S10 is very competitive in this regard. When the processor is heavily loaded: browsing the web, working with text documents and downloading e-mail messages, the temperature on the surface of the laptop does not exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, after more than half an hour of continuous operation. This value is absolutely not critical, but it may possibly lead to some discomfort in the legs when using the laptop for a long time.
The hottest spot in this netbook was the area near the hard drive, and the places where the memory sticks are located. Temperature data (in Fahrenheit) at various locations on the laptop's surface was obtained by browsing the web and running two HDTune tests after 30 minutes of use.
The S10 also creates little noise and operates very quietly in normal mode, except for those moments when testing programs were loaded on the netbook. When the CPU is fully loaded, the fan noise becomes noticeable and clearly audible in a quiet room.
Battery
Under normal operating conditions, with the display backlight set to 50 percent and using a wireless network, as well as listening to audio files at 25 percent volume, the new 6-segment battery provides 6 hours and nine minutes of battery life. This is a pretty good figure for a netbook that costs $450. Although the new ASUS Eee PC 1000HE provides almost 9.5 hours of battery life.Widget from SocialMart
Conclusion
The low cost and good battery make the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 a rather attractive purchase, despite the appearance of more and more new netbooks on the market.But you can also find netbooks with similar equipment that cost $399. In fact, several $399 netbook models have three USB ports, Bluetooth, and larger batteries. However, Lenovo is quite a good model and has a significant advantage in the form of an ExpressCard slot. The ExpressCard slot allows you to connect a wide range of additional ports, such as USB, FireWire, eSATA or any others. An ExpressCard slot also allows you to add a broadband modem to the S10, which allows you to use the Internet anywhere this service is available.
And finally, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is an ultraportable laptop that costs under $500, but today the competition in the netbook market is very tough.
pros
- Compact size and light weight, high quality materials and workmanship- Easy to modify internal components such as RAM and HDD
- Large 6-segment battery
- ExpressCard slot
- owner recognition program by face (VeriFace)
Minuses
- Only 2 USB ports- Quick Start OS - good, but not practical
- Lack of Bluetooth
When the world's first ultra-compact laptop ASUS Eee PC appeared, which at one time became the founder of a new niche among mobile devices, which were given the name netbooks, because... their main function is to provide users with convenient and simple surfing on the World Wide Web; a certain “boom” has begun in the market. The product immediately became a “hit”, and this was understood not only by users, but also by many manufacturers, who in turn wanted to grab a part of this market. Therefore, various “alternative” models began to appear, which in some ways are superior and in some ways inferior to the “firstborn”.
So, what do we have today? Any user entering the store can see not only ASUS netbooks on sale, but also devices from such famous companies as Acer and MSI. But more recently, Lenovo joined them with its netbooks - S9 and S10, which belong to the ideapad line. Like most netbooks, they are based on Intel Atom processors, which have sufficient performance and low power consumption.
To expand the target audience, the manufacturer decided to use five color options: black, classic white, dark blue, pink and bright red.
Specifications
To begin with, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the internal components of the tested netbook. Data for the S10 series was collected from the manufacturer's website, and a PC Wizard report was used for a specific model.
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Manufacturer |
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Series S9/S10 |
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CPU |
Intel Atom N270, 1600 MHz (12 x 133) (FSB 533 MHz, 512 KB L2 cache). |
Intel ATOM Processor N270 Single Core (1.60GHz, 533MHz, 512KB Level 2 cache). |
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Mobile Intel Calistoga-GSE i945GSE |
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512 MB (pre-installed) + Ramaxel Tech. RMN1150NB38D6F-667 512 MB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM. |
Single-channel RAM with one pre-installed SDRAM module and one free soDIMM slot. |
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HDD |
WDC WD1600BEVT-22ZCT0 (160 GB, SATA-II) |
SATA hard drive up to 160 GB (rotation speed 5400 rpm). |
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Optical drive |
Not provided. |
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Card reader |
4-in-1 module for working with flash cards, supports SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO. |
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Graphics accelerator |
Intel GMA 950 (64 MB from RAM) |
Integrated graphics card Intel GMA 950. Has the ability to connect an external monitor with a resolution of up to 1600×1280. |
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Chunghwa CLAA102NA0A 10" LCD, WSVGA 1024 x 600. |
8.9", 10.1" or 10.2" WSVGA LCD display with LED backlight. |
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Realtek ALC269 @ Intel 82801GBM ICH7-M - High Definition Audio Controller. |
Built-in HD (High Definition Audio) sound system. |
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Interface connectors |
2 x USB 2.0 |
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Networking capabilities |
Network card (Broadcom NetLink Fast Ethernet). |
Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbit/s network card adapter. |
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Expansion cards |
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Multimedia |
Two speakers. |
Built-in stereo speakers. |
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Safety |
BIOS password. |
Support Windows log on, computer protection. |
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AC/DC power supply |
Universal Power Adapter: |
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Battery |
Li-Ion 11.1 V, 3-cell. |
3-cell or 6-cell Li-ion battery. |
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Dimensions, mm |
250 x 183 x 27.5 |
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operating system |
Windows XP Home Edition SP3 |
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Products webpage |
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Lenovo was able to perfectly equip its netbook, of course not with the latest technology, but the performance should be quite high for its class. Well, in stock it is worth noting a processor of sufficient performance, a minimum required video card and a not too large amount of RAM, but quite sufficient for work, study, watching movies, listening to music, and you can even play some modern games, of course not too demanding. Among the additional features, I would like to draw attention to the built-in camera, high-quality display and capacious hard drive.
Supply
The netbook is delivered in a colorful, one might say “rainbow” box made of cardboard. On the outside of the box are the manufacturer’s logos and the name of the line of mobile devices, to which the S10 netbook belongs. As for the dimensions of the box, they are not too large and not very small - it is a parallelepiped with sides 30x32x7 cm - width, height and thickness, respectively. There is no handle for transportation.
Equipment
After opening the box, in addition to the Lenovo ideapad S10 netbook, we found:
- Battery.
- Power unit.
- Cable for connecting the power supply to a 220 V network.
- User guide.
- User's Guide for OneKey Rescue System 6.0 Utility.
- Instructions for setting up a netbook.
- A reminder about using wireless networks around the world.
- Disk with drivers + disk with programs.
- License for Microsoft Windows software + installation disk.
- Warranty card.
Appearance and ergonomics
The appearance of the netbook resembles a medium-sized smart book. The device is made of black plastic, all sides are aligned as much as possible, the ends have a rounded shape, which ultimately gives a certain elegance and will be perfect for people of absolutely any kind of activity. On the front side near the edge you can see the manufacturer's logo made of polished metal.
Opening the netbook will require some effort, because... The installed mechanism is somewhat tight. This is largely due to the lack of a latch, so tearing off the cover quickly with one hand is a little inconvenient, but over time you can get the hang of it.
The entire front side is occupied by a black metal mesh, under which there are stereo speakers, and closer to the left edge there are three LED indicators.
Indicators notify the user that the netbook is connected to AC power, the battery is charging, and wireless network adapters are turned on.
On the right side there are: a slot for ExpressCard/34, two mini-jack connectors (line-out and microphone connector), a USB 2.0 connector and an RJ-45 network connector. There is also a Kensington lock on the metal insert, which allows you to protect your netbook from intruders.
On the left side we found: an AC adapter connector, a VGA port, a USB 2.0 connector and a card reader that reads information from SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO cards. In addition, there is a ventilation hole through which warm air is exhausted.
The back side is completely occupied by the netbook's battery, so nothing else can fit here.
At the bottom there are three small ventilation holes, designed in the form of meshes. There are also a couple of large stickers with important information and a battery compartment, which, in addition to a spring lock, is also equipped with a manual one.
Matrix, input devices, web camera
The netbook uses a widescreen 10" matrix as a display, allowing it to display an image with a resolution of 1024 x 600. The quality of the output image is commendable; it is clear and rich. The use of a matte coating allows you to get rid of annoying reflections, but at the same time the matrix fades when exposed to from the sun's rays.Among the remaining important points it is worth noting the excellent viewing angles, both horizontally and vertically, as well as a fairly wide range of brightness adjustment.
Above the display there is a built-in web camera with a module resolution of 0.3 megapixels. It has a fixed position, and therefore you will need to change the position of the entire lid of the netbook in order to get into the frame. There is also a microphone here.
The keyboard installed in the Lenovo ideapad S10 netbook is black, just like the entire work area. It has 81 keys and after some practice it is very pleasant to work with, although there are a few minor oversights. They consist in a somewhat inconvenient placement of the right
Above the keyboard there is a decorative black metal mesh, in the center of which there is a block of system keys and indicators. There are only three keys here that allow you to turn on the netbook, turn on the wireless network module, and also launch the OneKey Rescue System quick recovery program. There are also three indicators; they show the status of accessing the hard drive and the status of the two Lock keys (Num and Caps).
The touchpad is very pleasant to work with. It boasts excellent sensitivity, a similar aspect ratio to the display, and the presence of vertical scrolling. The only drawback may seem to be the small size of the panel itself, but not for everyone. As usual, under the touchpad there are two standard keys responsible for LMB and RMB.
Acoustics
As mentioned above, the installed stereo speakers are located under a metal mesh on the front side of the netbook. The reproduced sound is of quite high quality and, in general, pleasant to the ear. It's loud and clear, but there's almost no bass, which is to be expected with speakers this small.
Power supply and battery
The netbook uses power supply 0225A2040 (40 W, 20 V, 2.0 A), manufactured by LI SHIN INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORP. During operation, the heating is practically unnoticeable. The battery L08S3B21(11.1V) is Lenovo's own product. It is based on a 3-cell lithium-ion battery.
Testing
The following competitors were selected for testing from previously tested models:
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We express our gratitude to the company PF Service LLC (Dnepropetrovsk) for providing the netbook for testing.
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