Lenovo Ideapad S10 Netbook Full Evaluation

Below the trackpad on the front of the bezel, Lenovo has a nicely designed metal mesh which serves multiple purposes. Not only does this look nice, but it holds the system's LED units for power, battery, and disk activity, all of which are nice subtle blue LED variants. The mesh also acts as a vent, helping to keep the insides of the system slightly cooler - in addition to housing the system's speaker.

Ideapad S10 - Front

Ideapad S10 - Rear

The left side of the unit houses another (larger) vent to exhaust a greater amount of CPU created heat. The left side also includes a power jack, a 15-pin VGA monitor output, a Secure Digital memory card reader, and a single USB 2.0 port. Slightly above the SD/USB ports is a small hole, which acts as the system's embedded microphone, which works in conjunction with the camera on the top of the bezel.

Right - Express Port, Audio Plugs, USB 2.0 Port, Ethernet Port

Left - Cooling Vents, Power, HD-15 VGA Output, Memory Card Reader, USB 2.0 Port

To the right, we have a small little latch which opens up to reveal an Expresscard 34 expansion slot, a very rare thing to see on a netbook. This expansion slot opens up the Ideapad S10 to handle additional functionality such as Firewire, eSATA, 802.11N, or WiMax with appropriate Expresscard adapter. You also have basic analog audio in/out ports, another USB 2.0 port, and a 10/100 Ethernet port powered by a Broadcom chip internally.

As denoted by the S10 name, this netbook houses a 10" widescreen LCD panel which runs at a native resolution of 1024 x 600 (WSVGA) resolution. This screen resolution matches what other competing 10" netbooks are offering, although Lenovo does get bonus points as their LCD panel is LED backlit. LED backlighting offers advantages in terms of battery life, color vibrancy and accuracy, and allows for tremendously flexible viewing angles. For its size, it's a great looking LCD screen, although of course, we'd like to see a higher resolution option available.