Lenovo Ideapad S10 Netbook Full Evaluation
Overview
Every sign we've seen thus far leads us to believe that netbooks are going to be very popular this holiday shopping season. With good reason, too – they fill a void which has existed since the dawn of mobile computing. Truly cost efficient, rugged, little notebook computers with enough processing power and screen resolution to get basic tasks done – nothing more, nothing less. Given that pocketbooks are hurting in the current economic climate, these new low-cost mobile systems become that much more attractive, besides being a downright exciting product category.
Many of the large-scale PC vendors have already developed, or are developing a netbook product for the end of the year. Dell’s Inspirion Mini 9, along with the Asus Eee PC and MSI’s new Wind netbooks appear to be some of the more popular models. As this year comes to a close, the pace of netbooks hitting the market has certainly accelerated, and we expect that to continue for the next month or so. One of the more exciting netbook models that came to market just recently is Lenovo’s IdeaPad S series.
;) Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 - From the left.. |
;) .. and the right! |
There are a number of reasons why Lenovo’s IdeaPad is one of the more exciting releases to date. First off, they are offering 10” diagonal screens on the IdeaPad S10, which appear to be what most consumers are drifting towards when looking at netbooks. Secondly, Lenovo’s build quality is generally perceived as one of the best in the notebook market, as their rugged ThinkPad series designs are likely to be seen in some form on the IdeaPad models. Thirdly, Lenovo is being aggressive with their pricing, offering the S10 out to market at $399 with an well-rounded feature set and a sleek, simply designed exterior.
The IdeaPad S10 is what we'll be looking at today. Designed for cheap, low-powered light mobile computing, it almost seems to be the polar opposite of Lenovo’s other recently released workstation notebook, the monster Thinkpad W700. These two products are designed for very different markets, but their close release showcases that Lenovo is really covering the entire range of notebook offerings, from low-end to high-end. Let’s see if their new foray into the sub-$500 mobile market is worth all the hype.
In addition, be sure to check out our video spotlight review of the product as well, which can be found here. In the mean time, meet the Lenovo IdeaPad S10...
