When Lenovo unveiled the IdeaPad S10-2 yesterday, some eagle-eyed readers noticed an update that had slipped my mind. Lenovo retooled the keyboard so that it features a nice big shift key on the right side of the keyboard that you won’t mix up with any of the arrow keys. Now the folks at Laptop Magazine have had a chance to spend some time with the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2, and they say that the new keyboard, lighter weight, and lower price tag make the netbook a worthy successor to the original IdeaPad S10.
Lenovo did drop the ExpressCard slot that was included with the IdeaPad S10. But users can opt for an integrated 3G modem for an extra $50. The netbook starts at just $349.99 (without the 3G modem), and is both thinner and lighter than its predecessor.
You can find more hands-on photos and a first look video at Laptop Magazine’s web site.
Good to see the manufacturers listening to their customers and fixing the keyboards.
If they’d had this keyboad last year, I would have snapped it up then. With their late entry, I thought they should have had time to get it right to start with.
It would be good if there were an extra mini-PCIe slot for the 3G, but I expect they use a wifi-3G combo card. But it’s good that the wifi card can be accessed through the same panel as the memory: http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient&hl=en&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww.blogeee.net%2f2009%2f05%2f04%2flenovo-prepare-un-s10-2-dote-dun-modem-3g%2f
Blogeee goes on to laud the bigger touchpad but complains that it is still not “paved.” 🙂
I wish Lenovo had left the appearance alone. I think it was the best looking netbook around. Wonder what the new textured pattern looks like in black.
I think I preferred the styling on the original. This one looks much like every other netbook out there. And I notice that while the right shift key is fixed, the left control key is a little out of place.
The left control key is typically where it would be on a Lenovo – it took me some getting used to after a life of Dells. It’s a pain, but that’s where it is on all of their notebooks.
I also preferred the old styling. The only reason I didn’t go for the old S10 was the keyboard. So now the keyboard’s fixed but it look like a toy. Great 🙂
I guess I’m back to hoping that the Thinkpad netbook they were soliciting ideas for actually materializes at some point. Hopefully they’d keep that one far away from the shiny.
Surely the shiny fad will eventually die. Let’s just hope it’s not replaced by something worse. Maybe they could include at least one plain, matte black model and call it “retro” or something.