The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 is Lenovo's second foray into the netbook space. You could probably figure that out from the name alone. While the IdeaPad S10 had some interesting features that you won't find on every netbook, including an ExpressCard, the IdeaPad S10-2 is pretty much standard netbook fare with the usual netbook specs. On the bright side, it does have pretty decent battery life and some interesting software. But the computer also suffers from a small, cramped keyboard and touchpad.
The unit featured in this review has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. It supports 802.11b/g WiFi. The laptop can also be configured with a 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor and Bluetooth.
Design and Display
In a lot of ways the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 looks like a smaller version of the 12.1 inch IdeaPad S12 which I reviewed a few months ago. Both machines feature the same basic keyboard layout and, a touchpad with two distinct buttons, a few quick start buttons above the keyboard, and the usual array ports around the edges.
But the IdeaPad S10-2 is much smaller. Not only does it have a smaller, 10.1 inch display, but it also has a smaller keyboard and touchpad. And it has fewer quick launch buttons above the keyboard (although there's certainly room for a few more).
As you can clearly see from the photos, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 features a glossy display. When the computer is turned off, the screen can easily double as a mirror in brightly lit settings. When it's on, you have a fair bit of control over the screen brightness, and the display is usable in a variety of situations, although I wouldn't really recommend this netbook for outdoor use.
There are still 3 USB ports, a VGA port, Ethernet, headphone, and mic jacks, as well as an SD card reader. But the positions have been shuffled around a bit and the SD card slot is on actually on the front of the device just below the keyboard instead of on the left or right side. This is unusual in netbooks, but not entirely unheard of. There's also a switch on the right side of the computer which you can use to toggle the wireless on and off. Again, that's unusual, but not unique.
The S10-2 loses the angular edges found on the IdeaPad S10, and instead has curved corners.
On the bottom of netbook you'll find a few access panels which you can remove to replace or upgrade the RAM or hard drive. You'll also find the speakers, which are toward the front of the laptop just below the keyboard.
Above the keyboard is the power button and two other keys. One launches Lenovo's OneKey recovery software which you can use to backup and restore your data or restore the computer to its factory default conditions. The other, which is marked QS will launch the QuickStart operating system which lets you get online in just a few seconds without waiting for Windows to load. You can find more about these features in the software section of the review.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The IdeaPad S10-2 has a keyboard which Asus describes as 89% full sized. While that might not sound that bad, it's one of the smallest keyboards I've found on any netbook with a 10 inch display. There's a bit of room around the edges which makes me wonder why Lenovo couldn't have sprung for a 92% or larger keyboard.
Making matters worse, there's a fair bit of space between each key which makes the area that you actually tap with your fingers fairly small. Lenovo also has the Fn key placed at the far left of the bottom row, with the Ctrl key placed to its right. While Lenovo isn't the only company to use this keyboard layout, most other laptops I've
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