Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, XP Home, black) first look

The IdeaPad S12 does, however, have a 12-inch screen and full keyboard, giving this Netbook more of a laptop feel. (Of course, it comes with a premium Netbook price tag: $499.) Just don't expect more than a larger version of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Netbook. The S12 is an excellent compromise for a notebook, but thin-and-light ultralow-voltage-processor laptops, such as the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T and MSI X-340give a lot more bang, albeit for more bucks.

The IdeaPad S12 comes in two processor flavors: one with a Via Nano ULV (a newer processor than the Atom, but less powerful than Core 2 Duo and Solo CULV processors) and one with an Intel Atom N270. Our configuration was an Atom, but it should be noted that the Nano is even cheaper (and in our own tests with Nano processors, they can perform quite well). The S12 also comes in black or white; ours was black.

From a design standpoint, the S12 looks like a larger brother of the recently-revamped Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Netbook. Compact and well-proportioned, the outer matte-black plastic case is topped with a glossy plastic lid patterned in a subtle series of varying polka dots. It's a smudge collector, but attractive. Inside, smooth matte-black plastic surrounds the keyboard, while the 12-inch glossy screen is surrounded in likewise glossy plastic. It looks professional and stylishly austere, not unlike a ThinkPad. The full keyboard feels great, and the touchpad is an improvement on the S10-2 in terms of size. It feels like a "real" laptop.

Above the keyboard are a few dedicated buttons for volume control and muting, along with a QuickStart button that launches a Splashtop instant-on OS. The browser, music player, and photo viewer in this OS are serviceable and load faster than booting up XP, but the fastest way to "boot" is still keeping the S12 in standby and reawakening as needed. Facial recognition security software that operates off the Webcam and a OneKey backup/data recovery hot button are also included.

The 12.1-inch glossy LCD has a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size. The effect of having a larger screen, especially in the vertical dimension, is critical for ease of use when Web browsing and working on office documents. The added screen real estate really made a difference on our productivity, as opposed to the 10.2-inch IdeaPad S10-2. While the added screen and keyboard size obviously increases the unit's bulk, it's a tradeoff that really makes the Netbook far more usable. It's up to you whether portability or productivity matters more, but it's a distinction that's a key defining point between the two models' philosophies.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• 1GB RAM
• 160GB HDD
• XP Home
• black) first look

[TheMetalarm]

i hate windows xp

[kbhasikevin]

more vids stolen from cnet...

[mbarkhau]

3:08 "it's hard to do much worse" O_o

Is that supposed to be a recommendation?

[xMandalorex]

no mate just no

[GHxx1]

What's so awesome about that? It's actually a downside if you plan to use dual channel memory you dumb noob...sigh

[xMandalorex]

The Lenovo's ideapadd have 512MB ram built in the motherboard lol awesome

[JMS06723]

can you buy an optical drive for a netbook since it doesnt come with one

[stevenc131]

It's sleek (for a larger netbook), has a 12" screen, a full size keyboard and is well constructed. The touchpad and two separate mouse bottons are pretty close in size to those on a full size laptop.

It has 3 USB ports, and two of them are on the same side, which is important for those external CD/DVD drives that use 2 USB cables.

It runs XP, and if you have wifi issues with 'validating identity' you may need to turn off IEEE 802.1x Authentication.

All in all a very nice netbook.

[GunnersOwnAll]

omgg okay.. so far this is the my best notepad choice... HP's HDD and Ram is shit.. and the other brands are too small.. okayy = )

[snapforlife]

can you only search the web on it