Review of Lenovo Ideapad S10e

When Lenovo introduced its two new models, the IdeaPad S9 and IdeaPad S10, they also introduced the ‘e’ versions of these models that were intended for students and teachers. What we are reviewing today is the ‘e’ version of the Lenovo Ideapad S10.

Design
What is common with the Lenovo products in this category is that they have a pretty good design. This one, however, is slightly different or rather a step down the Lenovo design ladder. While it sports a matte black chassis that isn’t any big deal, that chassis won’t have your fingerprints or any other oily touch left on it. Measuring at 250mm x 28mm x 183mm, we were surprised to find at how light it is by weighting at 1.1kg. We must say that it is lighter than the Asus Eee PC 1000HE.

Keyboard
By having a small chassis on the Ideapad S10e, the keyboard had to be smaller so as to accommodate itself with the 10-inch display so what does the keyboard looks like on this netbook? It definitely has smaller keys and feels slightly tight under our hands. We’ll say it is even cramped than the keyboard on the Asus Eee PC 1000HE. At the same time, with a smaller keyboard comes a smaller trackpad and selector buttons which are both hard to use.

Connections
Unlike other netbooks that feature three USB ports, the Ideapad S10e tends to be different by featuring just two USB ports. It also has an Ethernet port, microphone port, headphone port, an ExpressCard/34 slot and an SD memory card reader. There are wireless capabilities including an optional Bluetooth and 802.11b/g wireless but no integrated 3G can be found here.

Hardware
Lenovo uses very common hardware features for the Ideapad S10e. Nothing to boasts about here as there’s nothing that other netbooks don’t have. It has the Intel Atom N270 CPU and the Intel 945GSE chipset with 1GB RAM. We were happy enough to discover the 10-inch screen but by using it, we found out that it’s practically so glossy that we couldn’t use it in heavy lightning places such as in direct sunlight. We are not happy with the screen’s resolution either. Instead of the normal 1,024×600 pixels, this one runs at 1,024×576 pixels and the difference is, at times, felt.

Operating System
The Ideapad S10e comes with Windows XP and it also has the pre-Windows Linux GUI otherwise known as the ‘Lenovo Quick Start’. With that feature, we just had to hit the power button and then wait to be presented with its shortcut icons of the Web browser, music player, photo gallery, instant messenger and Skype chat. In this way, we can get access to all those shortcuts without even entering Windows. This is a cool feature that we very much care about and look for in all the Lenovo netbooks.

Performance
Performance-wise, the Ideapad S10e is just like the other netbooks by being slightly uncomfortable playing high-definition videos and heavy task though the easier tasks are done by the battling of an eye. So it works for normal tasks but don’t expect the same result for other than that.

Power
Power comes in the form of a small 2,800mAh power cell which was not what we expected but what else can be expected for a device this small. It’s a disappointment as the battery only managed to score a medium 2 hours plus and in the same test, Asus Eee PC1000HE scored more than 6 hours.

Conclusion
Based on our first-hand experience with this netbook, it’s hard to imagine it being a big seller as it’s a ‘déjà-vu’ in many ways. With the uncomfortable keyboard and not-so-good battery, the Lenovo Ideapad S10e is not considered a winner to us as there are other netbooks that are way worth it.