Features & Specifications
The Lenovo S10-2 I am testing today has an Intel Atom N270 processor running at 1.6GHz, Windows XP Home, 1GB of RAM, 10.1-inch LCD with a resolution of 1024 x 600, a 160GB HDD, Wi-Fi, and a 6-cell battery. Graphics for the little machine are via Intel GMA 950. The S10-2 comes in several models, which are all the same except for differences in color.

Benchmarks
To test the Lenovo S10-2 I will be using my iTunes encoding test, my movie encoding test, and Battery Eater Pro. The first test of the machine was with Battery Eater Pro. This benchmark puts considerable strain on the battery inside the netbook and gives a runtime. The Lenovo S10-2 battery lasted 247 minutes with the power management software set on maximum performance and the screen brightness at 90%. The S10-2 simply crushed the Aspire One D250 in our battery benchmark besting the 134 minutes the Aspire One posted in power saving mode.

The next test up for the Lenovo S10-2 was iTunes encoding. I used iTunes to turn the MP3 format Stone Temple Pilots Core CD into AAC format. It took the Lenovo S10-2 9 minutes and 1 second to encode the entire album. For comparison, it took the Acer Aspire One 48 seconds longer to encode the same album.

The final benchmark was the movie encoding test with Windows Media Encoder. I turned the HD Wonder of Flight video into a DVD quality video with CD quality audio. It took the Lenovo S10-2 18 minutes and 14 seconds to encode the video. The Aspire One took 17 minutes and 40 seconds to encode the video using the same format.

In Use
After the benchmarks were complete, it was time to move on to the hands on usage portion of the review. The Lenovo S10-2 has a good keyboard that offers a well-sized and properly placed right shift key. All of the netbooks I have reviewed recently have had very similar keyboards. Not so long ago the keyboard was one of the areas where netbooks faltered, but good design for keyboards is becoming the norm today.

The keyboard also offers decent typing feel and good tactile feedback. Like any other 10-inch netbook, the keyboard is cramped and takes getting used to. Lenovo packs the netbook with a slew of software that I could do without honestly. I loathe Norton's Internet security package with its constant interruptions and a demo version of MS Office is bundled on the machine. Media fans will find that the Lenovo S10-2 has a good screen that works well for streaming video content from YouTube or Hulu with good color reproduction and good video quality.

The screen is very glossy making glare an issue. Onboard sound has decent volume levels without much in the way of bass, which is to be expected. The S10-2 has enough volume to be able to comfortably listen to music and movies. The Lenovo S10-2 has an MSRP of $439 but is on sale directly from Lenovo for $349 at this time.