Lenovo has quite a couple of good netbooks in the 10 inch class. After the touch-screen version was tested (I wrote about it in this Lenovo S10-3t review post), it’s not time for the standard version, the Lenovo S10-3. Peter and netbooked.net got his hands on this mini laptop and put together one of his comprehensive reviews.
Here’s what he liked:
- matte case and palm rest; also, the plastic use for these feels quite nice, it’s not any of that poor quality plastic found on most such 10 inch devices
- display is bright and offers pretty good viewing angles; too bad it’s glossy
- keyboard was considered one of the best ever found on netbooks (i for one resent that small space key, but the US/EU will come with a proper sized one – the japanesse version Peter tested adds two extra keys on its right and left)
- touchpad is different and lacks a click button, the entire surface being also a button (more details in the actual review)
- runs quiet
- battery life is around 7-8 hours in real life tests with the 6 cell battery, so pretty good actually
- you can easily upgrade RAM and HDD without having to remove the entire back case
- offers great connectivity: Wi-fi N and Bluetooth, plus 3G as an extra option
Lenovo S10-3 reviewed – all in all a great 10 inch netbook
As for the bad parts, speakers could have been a little louder, but that’s not really something you should care about. The not standard touchpad implementation might be a problem for most, at least until they’ll get used to it. Plus, the mini PCI-E slot on this Lenovo can’t be used with a Broadcom graphics accelerator to increase HD capabilities (it’s locked only for 3G).
All in all, the Lenovo S10-3 is a very good pick in the 10 inch class. One that could even be included in the list of best 10 inch netbooks of the moment. It also comes with a great price, the standard version with N450 processor, 1 GB of memory. 250 GB storage, Windows 7 and 6 cell battery running for only $349 right now on Amazon, a tad cheaper than the Asus 1005PE or the Toshiba NB305.
