Lenovo S10-3s reviewed – good and light, but with some problems

The Lenovo S10-3s was a mini laptop i had high expectations from. In fact, i was quite sure it could make it to the Best 10 inch netbooks short-list. And I say “was” because recent reviews published online by various people who managed to get some time with it proved it to be quite problematic and in many areas worse than its predecessor, the Lenovo S10-3.

Peter at netbooked.net is one of those people posting a review of this netbook. It has the Japanese version, but it’s the same as the versions meant for US and Europe, except for the keyboard which comes with some extra keys.

In terms of specs and features, the tested mini laptop offered:

• glossy 10.1 inch display (1024 x 600 px standard or 1280 x 720 px as an option)
• Intel N470 1.83 GHz processor + Intel NM10 chipset + Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• 1 GB of RAM and 250 GB hard-drive
• Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth, optional 3G
• chiclet keyboard, butonless multi-touch trackpad
• card-reader, 1.3 MPx webcam
• Windows 7 Starter
• 6 Cell battery (48 Wh)

These make the Lenovo S10-3s one of the best netbooks in terms of features, boosting the new N470 processor, big battery, HD display or 3G as options. However, not the specs are the ones able to make a device good, but the overall experience in daily usage. And here’s where this Lenovo fails quite a lot:

• first, it’s glossy, so a fingerprint magnet. Also, display is glossy too, thus using it outside is a no-no.
• you only get the battery on the back, no easy access bays for HDD and not even for memory. Thus, upgrades can only be performed while voiding warranty.
• get’s quite hot and because of that, it’s noisy (the fan is almost all of time working). And these while the N470 processor is only faster on paper, not in real life usage (like I was also saying in this post on Atom N450 vs N470)
• battery life is quite poor for a 10 incher (around 5 hours)
• trackpad is cramped and kind of weird, as it has no buttons and is click-able by itself, like i saw on some other netbooks lately. Not the best solution, that’s for sure.

Lenovo S10-3s - has its strong points, but disappoints overall

That doesn’t mean that the So10-3s doesn’t have it’s strong points. It comes with almost everything you’ll need on such a small computer and the display is bright and brings good viewing angles. Also, sound quality is top notch and the chiclet keyboard is one of the best in its class (was kept from the previous model).

For more details, i would advice you to read Peter’s review of the Lenovo S10-3s in here.

All in all, this Lenovo disappoints. It was announced as a device more powerful than the S10-3, while being slimmer, lighter and more portable. But that’s not the case at all. It is not slimmer, although it might seem so because of the rounded edges. It’s also not lighter, as it weighs around 2.65 pounds, while the S10-3 only weighted around 2.5 . And it’s not more powerful either.

So, as a conclusion, the Lenovo S10-3s is not a netbook i would get right now. It’s not bad, not at all, but you can surely make better choices. Like the S10-3 which sells for $345 in the US, or the Asus 1005PE or Toshiba NB305, which are right now the elites in the 10 inch affordable netbooks segment.

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Tags: 10" netbook, Lenovo mini notebook, Lenovo netbooks

Last updated: September 30, 2011 | Published: May 5th, 2010 | Add the first comment!