Before I start this First Look blog article, just want to point out that the term “Netbook” is actually a registered trademark by Psion. Which means manufacturers will need to seek Psion’s permission first before they can use the term Netbook. OK, time to find a new term for this class of devices.

I’m glad to finally get my hands on the Lenovo S10 although it’s been out in the market for quite some time already. Everyone is fighting for the review unit. And so far, it’s been mostly positive comments.

Like most netbook (Oops, I’m not supposed to say the word “netbook”), the Lenovo S10 comes with a 10.2 inch monitor, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 1 gb RAM. It comes in 5 different colours, Black, White, Red, Blue and Pink. So far, I’ve only seen the black and white around. Personally, I prefer black colour although the review unit is white. (OK, that is just my personal preference. Zhenzhen love the white colour.)

The Lenovo S10 weighs just 1.25kg. Not the lightest in its class, but still a very light weight and portable device. (18.3cm x 25cm x 2.75cm) The keyboard is slightly smaller than I expected. I keep pressing the wrong key initially. Took me a while to get used to the 85% keyboard size. But once you get used to it, everything is ok. The touchpad is small too, but which netbook doesn’t have a small touchpad? Besides, the Lenovo S10 has multi-touch features on the touchpad.

The Lenovo S10 also has quite a number of connectivity options. It has 2 USB ports, a Ethernet port, a VGA port, SD and MS card reader and Express Card slot. Yes, all that fit nicely into a 10.2 inch netbook. Amazing.

The thing I like most about the Lenovo S10 is the solid feel. Although it’s made of plastic and doesn’t has roll cage like the Thinkpad series, the Lenovo S10 gives you a very solid and durable feel. And there is a one touch recovery button which is usually only found on laptop. It’s great that Lenovo decided to add this feature to their netbook. (Dude, you can’t say the word “Netbook”)

There are still a lot of features out there that I haven’t explored. It’s amazing that Lenovo can squeeze so many features into this tiny little netbook. Oh, and they managed to keep the price down at a low $699 despite having so much features. I’ll take my time to explore the features on the Lenovo S10 and write a full review soon.

Thanks to Derrick from Lenovo for sending me the Lenovo S10 to review.

PS: It’s impossible to do this review without saying the word “Netbook”.

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3. Lenovo Thinkpad X300 first look
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