Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2
Windows 7 on a netbook - worth the wait?
Review Lenovo’s new IdeaPad S10-2 is an update of the S10e. The hardware is conventional netbook fare with a dual-core Atom processor and a 10.1in screen all dressed up in a smart chassis that makes it look like a baby ThinkPad. There have been a number of updates for this model, such as an increase in the frontside bus speed for the Atom processor to 800MHz and DDR 2 Ram that runs at 667MHz rather than 533MHz.
Lenovo's IdeaPad S10-2 takes on Windows 7 Starter Edition
Previous models of IdeaPad came with a 160GB hard drive while our S10-2 has 250GB of storage, and if you poke around you’ll spot another couple of minor changes to the hardware. The LED-backlit screen used to have a strange resolution of 1024 x 576 while the S10-2 has 1024 x 600 pixels, which is a more conventional figure.
The other change we spotted lies on the expansion side of things. The original S10 had two USB 2.0 ports and an ExpressCard 34 slot, while our S10-2 has three USB 2.0 ports and no ExpressCard slot. In the event that you fancy upgrading the 802.11b/g wireless to 802.11n and prefer a neat ExpressCard to a sticky out USB dongle then you may consider this is a backwards step.
The major update for this S10-2 model is the selection of Windows 7 as the operating system. This is a bold move as most laptop manufacturers agreed that Windows Vista was a heavy burden for any netbook to bear, so they instead opted to instal Windows XP.
Lenovo is clearly hoping that Windows 7 will prove to be netbook-friendly, but it has not been plain sailing. Windows Vista and Windows 7 work best on a large, high definition display as the slick graphics, icons, task bar and tool bars take up a considerable amount of space and a fair amount of processing power. In the case of the S10-2, the 1024 x 600 screen resolution is simply too restrictive.
Worth the weight? The new OS is heavy going on this hardware
It’s clear that Lenovo is well aware that the combination of 1.66GHz Atom N280 and i945GSE chipset isn’t much cop, as it has chosen to instal Windows 7 Starter Edition. This means you're limited to running apps in 32-bit mode and can forget about the joys of Aero, Windows Media Centre or XP Mode for legacy applications.
COMMENTS
The new ThinkPad is a... Samsung
An earlier coward was right to say that Lenovo have wasted their ThinkPad inheritance.
If you yearn for ThinkPad look and feel - and serious quality to boot - look at the Samsung N510. No "is it carbon?" here, just corporate black.
Stuff in the extra 1Gb RAM and you've got a nice clear 11 inch LED screen, solid hardware, good graphics performance and long haul battery life.
And for all Win7 refuseniks out there, grab one with XP while stocks last.
Bad day at the office?
The reviewer seems to have ignored the huge body of evidence out there that netbooks run Windows 7 Home Premium/Ultimate/Professional very well indeed. I can't vouch for Home Basic but can they have botched it so badly? I run Win 7 Ultimate on a 2Gb Dell Mini 9 and Win 7 Professional on a 1Gb Dell Mini 10 and am very pleased with them.
Negative negative
I have a Lenovo s10e and I cannot recognise the negative review and responses.
I run triple boot Win XP, Win 7 Ultimate and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Clearly Ubuntu loads and runs the fastest and would be even faster as a plain Ubuntu, but Win 7 beats Win XP by a significant margin, even with all the bells and whistles turned on. Splashtop wireless connectivity presents me with no problems whatsoever.
Considering the specification, I am very satisfied. Of course it doesn't compete with the latest dual, triple and quad core computers but it is no slouch either. A memory upgrade probably helped.
Battery life is a bit disappointing, but I do not understand the criticism of the screen angle.
I love the format.
Works for me
Did you actually *test* Win7 on this netbook, or are you just assuming it'll be rubbish?
I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate (RC1) on my Samsung NC10, and it's behaving perfectly. Runs like a dream with the exception of Windows Media Center (which does run, but is painfully slow).
I've got all the Aero fripperies turned on, and on the 1024x600 screen it's gorgeous. I admit the taskbar is a bit hefty but when I've installed my touchscreen (www.fidohub.com) I think the size will be perfect.
Windows 7 works fine for me
Loaded Windows 7 Home Edition to my Samsung NC10 and as far as I can tell, it runs just as fast as it does under XP. I've made it a due boot system which makes it pretty easy to compare performance. Also loaded the Office 2010 Beta and that runs just fine too. Maybe I'm just lucky...
Michael
