It seems like there’s a new netbook being released every other week, usually with the same basic specs: a 9- or 10-inch screen, an Intel Atom Processor running at 1.6 GHz, a three- or six-cell battery, and either a modest 5,400-rpm hard drive or a low-performance stick of solid state storage. Lenovo’s 10.2-inch IdeaPad S10 offers few unique riffs on this common melody, but its stylish looks and small footprint will win some converts. However, its smaller keyboard and hot temperatures may drive others away.
Design
The typical mini-notebook chassis has come a long way since ASUS started the category with its toy-like Eee PC 701 less than a year ago. The S10, like the recently released Dell Inspiron Mini 9, represents the next phase in mini-notebook design. It looks and feels solid, and it’s rather stylish to boot.
The S10’s good looks are rooted in simplicity rather than bling. The chassis is made from a shiny, but not glossy, plastic that resists fingerprints. The hinges, which also contain a hole for a Kensington lock, have a tasteful matte-steel finish. The flat, rounded edges give the notebook a very thin, symmetrical design. The space-age blue status lights and color-coordinated wire mesh, which covers both the front-mounted speaker bar and the area above the keyboard, project a futuristic minimalism.
Placed next to two competing 10-inch netbooks, the ASUS Eee PC 1000H and the MSI Wind, the S10 appears definitively thinner, though it’s not necessarily lighter. Our review unit featured a three-cell battery and tipped the scales at 2.6 pounds, which was the same weight as the six-cell MSI Wind, but 0.6 pounds lighter than the 3.2-pound Eee PC 1000H.
Keyboard
The S10’s keyboard, listed as 85 percent of full size, is more spacious and comfortable than those found on 9-inch netbooks such as the Eee PC 901, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, and the Acer Aspire one, but it is noticeably smaller and less comfortable than those of the MSI Wind and Eee PC 1000H.
Given the strong tactile feedback on other Lenovo notebooks, we expected highly responsive keys that would spring back at us and help us type faster. Our high hopes were dashed as the keys gave modest feedback and were actually less springy than those on the Wind and the Eee PC 1000H. The small and unresponsive keys hurt our typing only slightly. Using the Tenthumbs.com typing test, we achieved a rate of 75 words per minute on our first try, while our typical score on an average keyboard is 80 words per minute.
While most of the keys are positioned correctly, the right Shift key is placed to the right of the Up arrow, rather than next to the question mark key where it belongs. To be fair, several other netbooks share this same weakness, including the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and all of the Eee PCs.
Touchpad and Buttons
The touchpad measures a small 2.3 x 1.5 inches, but its rough, grip-friendly surface allowed us to make precise movements easily. Using the pad’s multi-touch functionality, we were able to easily zoom in on and out of Web pages in Internet Explorer 7, and on photos in Windows Photo Viewer, just by bringing our fingers together or moving them apart.
Unlike many other netbooks, which either position their buttons on either side of the touchpad or use one long mouse button that clicks right and left, the S10 has two discrete buttons directly below its touchpad. Unlike the Eee PC 1000 series, which features a brick-hard mouse button, these buttons offer the kind of strong yet comfortable tactile feedback we want.
