Lenovo IdeaPad S9 & S10: More netbooks to consider

By Rory Reid on 04 August 2008, 7:48pm

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The Asus Eee series had better watch its back. Lenovo's about to jump headfirst into the netbook market with not one, but two new devices: the IdeaPad S9, which packs an 8.9-inch screen, and the IdeaPad S10, which packs a 10.1-inch screen.

Two configurations of the S10 have been announced in the US. Both have displays running at 1,024x600 pixels, both run Windows XP, and both will use 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPUs. One will get 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive for $399 (£200), while the other gets 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive for $449 (£230). The IdeaPad S9 is also expected to be split across two configurations, though details on those are sketchy.

Lenovo's mini laptops will also benefit from a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, and a three-cell battery promising 3 hours of battery life. A six-cell power cell is also available, which is said to last 6 hours, though we take all 'official' battery figures with a pinch of salt.

At this point, the question on everybody's lips should be, "What's the keyboard like?" We'll have to wait and see, but we already know it's unlikely to be as good as those on the Acer Aspire One or HP 2133 Mini-Note. Whereas those netbooks have keyboards 8 per cent smaller than a standard keyboard, these Lenovos have keyboards that are 15 per cent smaller.

All these devices will be available in a variety of colours including red, white, black, blue and pink. We're pestering Lenovo to send us one asap, so keep your eyes on Crave for more info as we get it. -Rory Reid

Update: The IdeaPad netbooks will be available in early October 2008. The S9 is available from £279 and the IdeaPad S10 from £319. You can see more pictures of the S10 by clicking this link.