Review: Lenovo IdeaPad S11 (S10-2) Netbook

I received a testing unit of Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 (which was “S11”) netbook and brought it along with me to a holiday trip. The following is the review of Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2:

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 is slim and light. I can easily hold it on my left palm and type with my right hand.

If you think all netbook is light weight, try Asus EeePC 1000H. It is much heavier than IdeaPad S10-2!

Read on to see the size different between the two netbooks.

Most netbook has cut the size of right “Shift” key to squeeze more space but it cause you to press wrong key frequently.

The battery life is ok, around 3 hours on web surfing. Enough for quick access of your documents or Internet on-the-go. Not suitable for you to online at Starbucks from 9-5 without charging.

Table of Contents

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Specs

Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66HHz)
Windows XP Home
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
160GB SATA hard disk
Integrated 1.3 Megapixels camera
Integrated stereo speakers with Dolby Headphone technology
802.1lb/g WiFi, LAN, Bluetooth
3x USB2.0 ports
4 in 1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS pro)
10.1″ (1024 x 600) LED backlight display
Weight: 1.25KG

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H

You can see the size different between Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 and Asus EeePC 1000H from the following pictures (Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 at the top):

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (front)

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (side)

Size difference: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 vs. Asus EeePC 1000H (back)

No surprise about the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 design though. I like the almost-full-size keyboard of S10-2, especially the full size “Shift” key on the right.

OneKey Rescue System

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 comes with a OneKey Rescue System, which make it unique among other netbooks.

There is a “Rescue” key next to Power button to startup the computer straight into the rescue system without Windows.

OneKey Rescue System allows you to easily restore backup, scan for virus, or fix corrupted operating system files, even when you cannot log in Microsoft Windows.

You can also create backup of your system using the OneKey Recovery. The backup restore is fast, and I recorded a speed of 1GB/minute! Full “Factory default” restore took only 6 minutes!

However, in order to allows One Key Rescue System to work, your hard disk has an extra partition for backup by default, which take up 30GB of hard disk space.

Tech geek might not like to idea of extra partition. They want all the available space of a hard disk and they know how to rescue their system.

However, for general home users, the rescue system would be a godsent.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Photo Gallery

My two cents

I would recommend Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 to someone who needs a netbook but do not know how to protect their computer (read: often infected by viruses, accidentally delete data, etc).

Do you own a netbook? What do you consider before purchase a netbook?

More Information:

listing at Amazon.com
listing at Amazon.com
listing at Amazon.com