David Flynn05 August 2008, 12:39 PM
Another of the Big Brands joins the netbook rally, with Lenovo’s 10.2 inch IdeaPad S10 due here at the end of next month.
Another week, another mini-note... that’s the way it seems to us lately, but no-one will complain about Lenovo taking a seat at the netbook table, especially not when the IdeaPad S10 brings even more choice to the mini-note mix.
Due for release in late September for $699, the S10 sports a sharp 10.2 inch screen with LED backlighting, along with an ExpressCard slot and a ‘multitouch’ mode on the touchpad which we’re told allows users “to more quickly navigate through documents and applications by using a pinch or spiral motion with their fingers.”
Lenovo has also baked into the S10 its ‘OneKey Rescue System’ software, which is based on the commercial notebook Rescue & Recovery Suite and will help users recover data (or reset the S10 to its factory default state) in the event of a crash or near-fatal security infection.
The rest of the recipe is fairly standard: an Atom processor (the 1.6GHz N270 chip), 1GB or RAM and an 80GB hard drive, Windows XP, a webcam, memory card reader, WiFi and Bluetooth. Dimensions are 2.54cm on the profile and 1kg on the scales.
The S10 is expected to ship with a three cell battery that’s rated for three hours, with the option of a six-cell battery that should be good for six hours on the trot. However, we’ve been told that the base specs are still a bit fluid, so let’s give Lenovo a few weeks to crunch the numbers and see what how the S10 shapes up closer to launch date.
Some overseas markets will also have the option of a 16GB solid state drive, although Lenovo has yet to decide if this will be on the local menu. But it’s unlikely that Australian netbook buyers will see the options for Linux, a 160GB hard drive or the smaller 8.9 inch IdeaPad S9, all of which Lenovo will offer in selected overseas markets (we also won’t get the deep blue or ice white models, but that’s probably less of a concern).
The two traits we’re looking forward to most in the S10 are the Express Card slot and the keyboard. The former will let you slip in an ExpressCard mobile broadband modem so you can keep the two USB ports free. As for the latter: Lenovo says the S10’s keyboard is 85% of the size of a conventional laptop’s keyboard, and ThinkPads are renowned for the superb quality of their keyboards. The latest model IdeaPads have brought this down into the consumer space, so we’ll be keen to see if the S10 continues to carry the torch (or the flag, or whatever it is you carry).