My new Lenovo S10

Tis the season to be giving, tra-la-la-la-la..........but before I can give, I need to buy something. So there I was yesterday at our favourite IT mall looking for a netbook which is the current craze as my wife has indicated that she wants to surf the net and work on her own e-mails as I was always slow to respond on her behalf. This will be a perfect gift for her and actually I can also borrow the netbook from her when the need arises!

I have googled all the current popular crop of netbooks - Acer Aspire One, Asus EEE PC 1000, HP mini 1000, MSI Wind U100, Samsung NC10, the Lenovo S10 and read all the major reviews. The best comments seems to be for the Samsung NC10 but alas, this model is not for release here until next year. So the next best thing is the Lenovo S10.


One of the negative point about this netbook is the low battery life of about 2 hours for the 3-cell version currently in the market so I was pleasantly surprised when I was offered a 6-cell version for almost the same price at Win Chance. Though this added some weight to the package, it gives about 4-5 hours of usage which is double that of the normal battery so I surrendered my credit card and took the plunge.


I have also been following the Lenovo S series forum so here I will address what most users were concerned about and not the other stuff that can be found elsewhere. My unit has 1G Ram, 160 HDD and yes, Bluetooth is included. The 6-cell battery is what has been shown elsewhere before and it is twice the size of the 3-cell (and cannot be anything less as 6=2 x 3, got it?); imagine two cylinders joined on the side like siamese twins. When installed, it hangs down from the back and is not obtrusive. In fact it provides added stability since it also has two rubber feet and lifts the back a bit higher. See photo below. Yes it comes in black and matches the black body of the S10 (the colour that I opted for; it looks more professional and less toyish.)



This also act as a stop that prevents the screen from opening too low behind and it stops about 135 degrees which is far enough for normal usage. See photo below.

Also something unusual; the battery came fully charged and I was able to get about 4-5 hours of normal usage. This took about 3 hours to fully charge after it was exhausted. The AC adapter was also of handy size, like a normal cell-phone (not the slim type). It also comes in black so everthing is colour coordinated nicely. See photo below.

My S10 comes with 2 years extended warranty (1 + 1) that you need to register online and also comes with a free slip case. This feels spongey and smells rubbery and the tag says it is made from neoprene. Sure fits the S10 like a gloove especially with the 6-cell battery. It is grey on the outside and pink on the inside or is it the other way round? So you change to the colour of your choice by turning it inside out (or outside in). See photo below.

Norton Internet Security 2008 is preinstalled as a free 90 days trial. You can also get McAfee Security Suite free for 6 months if you visit the Lenovo local site. Not sure if you can start after the Norton has expired; you'll then get a total of 9 months free trial.

That's all folks for this post. I'll be happy to answer any queries or comments on the S10 here or in the Forum.

Ronald Kwok

http://cbpirate.com/s/cbp/ronaldkwok