6-cell battery for Lenovo S10

Judging from the posts in the Lenovo S10 Forum, there are plenty of interests shown on the 6-cell battery so I'll give more details and photos on this item in this post.

Here are shots of the 6-cell battery itself. This is the original Lenovo 6-cell battery that came with my S10. First is the overall view and next is the side view that shows it is like two cylinders joined on the side. Note the rail on the straight part of the battery.

The next two photos show the S10 without the battery, one a side view and the other the back view.

The next photo is a close-up on the back of the S10 that shows the "guide rail" for the battery. There is a similar one on the other side. Besides being a guide for inserting the battery in the correct angle, it also helps to relief the stress on the battery connection as part of the weight of the S10 will be resting on the battery itself once it is installed.

The next photo shows the S10 with the battery installed. Note that the battery comes with two rubber feet and this takes over the function of the two back rubber feet on the S10 itself (which is used if the 3-cell battery is installed) to provide support since the battery now lifts up the back of the unit.



This also gives the keyboard a certain slant (sloping towards the user which is good for the wrist if you type a lot) and it also increases the space between the bottom of the unit and the resting surface and improves the air circulation and aids heat dissipation. On actual usage, the unit doesn't wobble and feels very steady indeed. These are very good reasons to opt for the 6-cell battery, not to mention the extended battery life. The additional weight is minimal; my S10 weighs in at 1.3kg with the battery installed.

I noticed in some photos of 3rd party battery, there are no rubber feet and the weight will be on the front 2 rubber feet and the battery body itself and it also reduces the air circulation. Not sure if it has the rail that fits the guide rails mentioned earlier.

So much for the battery. Here are some other comments on the S10. I'm happy that it is very easy to upgrade the memory as well as the HDD if you wish to do so. Just remove 2 screws and lift out the back panel cover. See photo below. I heard it is pretty messy to do the same in some other netbooks.

There are a few cons as nothing is perfect. The click buttons on the touch-pad is very stiff and needs great effort to click. Thinking positively, it means you will never click in error.


The SD card sticks out and the slot is not spring loaded (like in most other devices but not sure about other similar netbooks) so you're not certain if you have fully inserted the card. On the positive side, you can see if you have removed your card or not. See photo below.
Finally, most other netbooks have 3 USB ports while the S10 has only 2. Granted the S10 comes with Bluetooth and an Express card slot which others may not have but such devices are expensive and nothing like the el cheapo USB stuff that is available. In fact there is a perfect space for adding another USB port just next to the LAN port. With this in place, the S10 will thump the competition, hands down.

Did somebody say S11?

Ronald Kwok

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

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