Since a lot of people I’ve been talking to are in the market for either a netbook or ultra-portable, I’d like to discuss my thoughts on the new Lenovo S10 I just purchased. If you’re a nerd like me and want a full technical review, visit NotebookReview.com’s Article.

The model I got was the 1.6ghz Intel Atom processor, with 512mb RAM (which I will touch on later) and the 80gb 5400rpm HDD. First off, it’s extremely lightweight even when factoring in the AC adapter. I’ll put it this way — the S10 is so small and light that it feels awkward carrying it with two hands. The particular plastic that the case is constructed of isn’t cheap feeling at all and certainly supports a load of textbooks. Having said that, don’t go propping your S10 under the coffee table to stop it from rocking. ;) I have been told that the although the white version of my S10 is composed of the same plastic, it does look cheaper (like a toy) than the black. I defaulted to the black anyway.

Upon opening up the netbook, you notice that once again the case is rigid and build to last. No creaking, no hesitation, just a smoothly opening screen. At maximum brightness the screen, only 10.1″ across, seems brighter than the sun when compared to my Macbook Pro screen on full brightness. Even through it’s keyboard is smaller than a traditional full sized keyboard, the S10’s QWERTY setup is easy to adjust to. The same goes for the touchpad, although I would have like if Lenovo located the click buttons on the sides in an attempt to make the pad itself larger. Additionally, it has a one-touch backup button which can be used to back up the entire system to a partitioned area of your HDD. This button also serves as a diagnostic function when the unit is off, launching it into the Lenovo recovery and repair mode. Something I haven’t seen on any other netbook.

As for the RAM, it comes standard with 512mb. This may make you laugh, but rest assured it’s more than enough to do what you need to do on a standard netbook. However, if you’re feeling greedy you could upgrade it to a maximum of 1gb. Personally, I’m going to stick with the 512mb for now.

Lastly, if utilizing appropriate power-saving techniques you could squeeze 3+ hours out of this netbook, with WiFi operating. That’s pretty impressive for a non solid-state drive netbook.

For my purpose of web/software testing and miscellaneous tasks (IM, stalking on Facebook, being stalked on Facebook), this netbook is perfect. Not only is it light and ultra-portable, it also has other goodies like 2 USB ports, ethernet adapter, an extra storage card slot, and an ExpressCard slot. All in all, I’m impressed with this netbook and would certainly purchase another Lenovo if I had to.

Edit: Forgot to mention, Lenovo customer service SUCKS. Fair warning. I had to call India 3 times to get a manager on the phone, in the US.