The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 is a big improvement on the S10-2 and has a fantastic keyboard

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3, to give the netbook its full name, is the most recent of the S10 lineup and follows the disappointing S10-2. We roundup the reviews for the S10-3 pointing out its good and bad points before giving our own verdict.

Before we get into the Lenovo S10-3′s reviews, let us remind ourselves of the Lenovo’s specification:

Lenovo S10-3 Specification

Intel Atom 1.6Ghz N450 processor
1Gb RAM
250Gb hard drive
10.1 inch WSVGA screen
1024 x 600 pixel resolution
3 x USB ports
Wifi – 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
1.3 megapixel webcam
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition
8 cell battery – 7 hours battery life
Weight – 1.5Kg

Go to the full specification for the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3.

A specification only tells you so much about a netbook so what do the reviewers think? Let’s start with the good points.

Lenovo S10-3 Good Points

Keyboard - of the 7 reviewers, 6 of them specifically mentioned in their appraisal of the Lenovo S10-3 that the keyboard was ‘top-notch’, ‘excellent’ or ‘doesn’t disappoint’. Only Notebookcheck didn’t specifically list the keyboard as a plus point but did say that the keyboard was well laid out with big keys.

So it is safe to say that the keyboard is one of the stand out features of the S10-3 and is very comfortable to type on, for a 10 inch netbook.

Bundled Software – the utilities that are bundled with the Lenovo S10-3 went down well with several reviewers, namely Laptopmag, PC Advisor and PC World. PC Advisor noticed that the software was aimed mostly at business users with facial recognition security utility called VeriFace plus some disaster recovery software called OneKey Recovery.

Design - if an attractive netbook is what you are looking for then the Lenovo is one, which is ratified by Notebookcheck, Computer Shopper and PC Mag.

Loud Speakers – for a netbook the Lenovo S10-3′s speakers are quite loud, a fact noticed by both Laptopmag and Computer Shopper.

Operation System – only Laptopmag seemed to really appreciate the instant-on operating system

Quiet and cool - Notebookcheck were the only reviewer to specifically mention that the Lenovo runs fairly quiet and cool.

Lightweight - PC Mag believed the S10-3 to have a very light chassis, even with the 6 cell battery. However, the weight of the Lenovo is 1.5Kg, which we here at Fantastic Netbooks consider to be pretty heavy for a 10 inch netbook. A lightweight netbook would be around 1.1Kg.

Other good points were that CNet believed the S10-3 to have a ‘Compact Body’ whilst Notebookcheck highlighted the ‘Stable Case’.

Lenovo S10-3 Divided Opinion

Battery Life – a big of disagreement on the battery life with Notebookcheck believing that the S10-3 had a long battery life whilst Computer Shopper said it was mediocre and Laptopmag stated it was shorter than the competition’s. We think the best measure of any netbook’s battery life is our Longest Battery Life rankings where the S10-3 comes in a creditable 17th out of 65 netbooks.

Inexpensive - some more disagreement, PC Mag thinking the S10-3 is inexpensive whilst PC World believed it to be pricey.

Performance - another point of consternation, Computer Shopper thought it was acceptable performance for the price although we’re not really sure what Computer Shopper thought of the price as they didn’t really decided whether it was expensive or not. Other than that PC Advisor, Notebookcheck and PC World all thought the performance was sluggish and I’m guessing didn’t think it was acceptable for the price. In other words, the S10-3 is possibly a bit slow considering you are paying more than most of the competition.

Lenovo S10-3 Bad Points

Touchpad - it was broadly agreed that the touchpad was a little cramped and awkward to use. This is possibly been compromised because of the larger and more comfortable keyboard and was highlighted by Laptopmag, CNet, Computer Shopper and PC Mag.

Hard Drive – unfortunately we don’t understand why smaller hard drives are a problem plus don’t really consider 250Gb to be a ‘small hard drive’. Perhaps we’re still living in the days when 40Gb was considered a lot but both Laptopmag and PC Mag mentioned that they thought the hard drive was small. It is possible that the US spec. machine reviewed only had a 160Gb hard drive.

Video Playback – of particular mention by both PC Advisor and Computer Shopper was the fact that trying to play video was problematic.

Palm Rest – CNet felt it was necessary to mention that the palm rest was particularly cramped.

Keyboard - we have been a little bit naughty in that we didn’t include Notebookcheck’s comment about a ‘yielding keyboard’ in the keyboard roundup above. So we’re mentioning it here, way down where nobody scrolls.

Screen - Notebookcheck also highlighted that the display is not AR coated, whatever that means. We believe that Notebookcheck are unhappy at the reflections created by the S10-3′s screen and wish it had some sort of coating to prevent them.

Not very configurable – PC Mag felt that the S10-3 is not very configurable. We’re not really sure that they mean but if you want a really configurable netbook then don’t buy this one.

Lenovo S10-3 Overall Score

Overall Score – 70.9% (compiled from 7 top industry reviews)

This currently places the Lenovo S10-3 at an overall position of 53rd in our netbook rankings from a total of 66 netbooks.

Lenovo S10-3 Reviewer Comments and Verdicts:

1. Laptopmag - Lenovo did a lot of things right with the S10-3. Its design and keyboard are much improved over the previous generation, the speakers are positively booming (for a netbook), and its instant-on environment is easily the most attractive among netbooks. However, like the Dell Inspiron Mini 10, we’re not enamored with the touchpad and integrated buttons. So far, the only company that has gotten this right is Apple, although they have a lot more real estate to work with. Also, for $369, we would expect the S10-3 to have a larger hard drive, not to mention longer battery life. If storage is not a concern to you, then the $299 ASUS Eee PC 1001P is a better bargain; otherwise, the Toshiba mini NB305-N410 offers a larger hard drive and greater endurance for just $30 more.

2. PCMag - The Lenovo ThinkPad S10-3 is one of the few 10-inch netbooks that can pull-off a full size keyboard, but it sacrificed the touchpad in the process.

3. CNet - The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 is a marked improvement from its predecessor, the S10-2, and is one of the most compact yet comfortable Netbooks we’ve seen. However, it costs more than Netbooks with similar features.

4. Notebookcheck - If you are looking for a well built netbook with a long battery life, you should consider the Ideapad S10-3 despite its higher price. It’s not the ultimately perfect netbook, as the N220 has already earned itself this title. Samsung’s mini doesn’t have any weakness in the keyboard and also comes with a bright, AR-coated TFT. The smallest “problem” is the high-gloss lid.

5. PC World – Superior input ergonomics will sell this comparatively overpriced netbook.

6. PC Advisor – The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 10in netbook is much more than the sum of its parts. Type and point with one before you grab something else.

7. Computer Shopper – Good looks, a standout keyboard, and a competitive price make this netbook worth a look, despite its troublesome touch pad.

Lenovo S10-3 Reviews Used to Compile This Report:

1. Laptopmag - posted their review on 19th February 2010 and gave the S10-3 3 stars out of 5.
2. PCMag - posted their review on 3rd March 2010 and gave the S10-3 3 stars out of 5.
3. CNet - posted their review on 18th March 2010 and gave the S10-3 7.2 out of 10.
4. Notebookcheck - posted their review on 26th March and gave the S10-3 88%.
5. PC World – posted their review on 29th March and gave the S10-3 3 stars out of 5.
6. PC Advisor – posted their review on 30th March and gave the S10-3 4 stars out of 5.
7. Computer Shopper – posted their review in March 2010 and gave the S10-3 8.1 out of 10.

Related posts:

1. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 Specification
2. Lenovo IdeaPad S10e vs S10-2 vs S10-3 vs S10-3t
3. Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Specification

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 is a big improvement on the S10-2 and has a fantastic keyboard

The Lenovo S10-3 is the successor and a big improvement to the disappointing Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2, which was not well received and currently languishes at the bottom of our netbook rankings table.

As with most netbooks released in 2010, the Lenovo S10-3 includes the Intel Atom N450 processor, Windows 7 Starter Edition and a larger 250Gb hard drive. The 10.1 inch screen offers the standard netbook resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, wireless comes in the form of 802.11b/g/n and there is bluetooth 2.1 (missing from many netbooks).

Battery life for the S10-3 is also fairly good at around 7 hours for everyday use and we have seen reviews where they got nearly 8.5 hours out of the battery so practically all day computing.

What you also get that the specifications don’t tell you is a fantastic keyboard and brilliant multitouch combination touchpad and rocker mouse buttons. Both Laptopmag and PC Advisor mention the great keyboard in their reviews of the S10-3 with Laptopmag going as far to say that it is the best of any netbook.

This raises the Lenovo S10-3 up to 50th position (out of 61) in our netbook rankings with 70.9% from 7 reviews. This ranking is still low but much improved on the S10-2, which could only garner 56.7% when it was released and so still props up our overall rankings table.

Battery life is better for the S10-3, 7 hours typical use puts the netbook 16th out of 60 netbooks, just ahead of the Samsung N220 and Samsung N140.

Here is the full Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 specification.

Related posts:

1. Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Specification
2. Lenovo IdeaPad S10e vs S10-2 vs S10-3 vs S10-3t
3. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 Quick Review Roundup

The Acer Aspire One 532H is a solid update to the popular 531H netbook model and is now ranked in our updated netbook rankings

A recent update to our netbook rankings section has seen the number of netbooks rated jump over 50 to a total of 56 individual netbook models including brand new netbooks such as the Acer Aspire One 532H and Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3.

Divided into overall rankings, lightest netbook rankings and netbooks with the longest battery life – having over 50 netbooks rated and ranked means it has now become a lot easier to see which are considered to be the best netbooks.

Our netbook rankings are the clearest way to see which netbook is best. We take into account the leading industry reviews from top magazines and review sites around the world including Laptopmag, PC Advisor, PC Pro, Computer Shopper and CNet, amongst others. We add up the scores gained and divide by the number of reviewers to gain our overall rating for each netbook.

This time around we have added a succession of 2010 netbooks and one in particular has had an immediate impact, gaining the highest score seen for some time. The full list of netbooks added include the following:

Continue reading: Over 50 netbooks now in our netbooks rankings

Related posts:

1. Netbook Rankings Updated – Contains Over 75 Models
2. 40 Netbooks Ranked
3. Netbook Rankings updated with new models

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T multitouch tablet has an N450 pine-trail Atom processor

The Lenovo IdeaPad 10 inch comparison – we’re comparing Lenovo’s IdeaPad range of 10 inch netbooks including the previous S10e model, the current S10-2 netbook and the about to be released S10-3 netbook and its sibling, the S10-3T tablet, which is very similar in specification but with a multitouch screen turning it into a tablet.

The S10e was a popular netbook and, whilst the S10-2 has not fared so well with reviewers, currently propping up our overall netbook rankings table, we are expecting bigger and brighter things from the new models – the S10-3 and S10-3T netbook multitouch tablet.

These brand new netbooks have similar specs and are suitably equipped with Intel’s pine-trail Atom processor and Windows 7. The big difference is in the screen, the S10-3T has a multitouch screen turning the netbook into a tablet. The S10-3 also seems a solid netbook with a decent review from Laptopmag so far.

The Lenovo S10e and S10-2 netbooks can be found in our netbook rankings and the other models will join in shortly once enough reviews are released for the new models.

Let’s get on with the comparison, how do these great Lenovo netbooks compare?

Related posts:

1. Lenovo S10e Specification
2. Lenovo S9e vs Lenovo S10e comparison
3. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 Specification

We’ve added another 5 new netbooks to our netbook rankings to give us a total of the 45 best netbooks plus we have given the section a bit of a tidy up in anticipation of some new netbooks rankings coming along soon.

After not updating the netbook rankings since September we thought it was about time the tables were updated plus we’ve revamped the section slightly in readiness for the addition of one or two new netbook rankings, which will make their appearance in the next few weeks.

This means that we now have separate pages for the Overall Score Rankings, the Lightest Netbooks and the netbooks with the Longest Battery Life and each table has been updated to include the full set of 45 netbooks.

The following new netbook models have been added this time around to build our chart up to 45 netbooks in total:

• HP Mini 311 – read our review roundup of this netbook
• Lenovo S12 Ion
• Asus Eee PC 1201N
• MSI Wind U135
• Asus Eee PC 1005PE

Only 2 of these netbooks made it into the top 20. Are netbook reviews getting harsher than they used to be? Click through to the netbook rankings overall score chart to find out where they placed. One of the new additions is also way down near the bottom so keep your eye out for that one.

What this means is that there are several golden oldies still at the top of the rankings and you can pick some of these up for an absolute steal in our Netbook Deals section.

There will be more coming soon so keep your eyes peeled.

Are these netbook rankings tables helpful to you? What improvements or changes would you like to see?

Find the latest netbooks at the lowest prices at our Netbook Shop.

Related posts:

1. 40 Netbooks Ranked
2. Top 30 Netbooks Ranked
3. We Rank The Top 35 Netbooks

HP Mini 311c uses NVidia's Ion graphics chip

Here we have a comparison of 3 of the top netbooks using NVidia’s Ion graphics chip, which gives netbooks greater capabilities in the video and games departments amongst other things. The 3 netbooks are the HP Mini 311c, Samsung N510 and Lenovo S12 Ion.

Each of these netbooks have larger screens with two of them sporting 11.6 inch screens with decent 1,366 x 768 resolutions whilst one has a 12.1 inch screen coupled with a 1,280 x 800 resolution.

This takes them into ultra-portables territory with prices of the 3 netbooks pushing towards the £400 barrier although the HP certainly appears to offer better value than the other two.

We have lined up 3 of the best and most recently released netbooks with enhanced graphics capabilities. Do they measure up to your expectations? Check out the comparison below to find out.

Each of these netbooks will be added to our netbook rankings shortly.

Related posts:

1. Samsung N510 Specification
2. HP Mini 311c vs HP Mini 110c vs HP Mini 210
3. Lenovo S9e vs Lenovo S10e comparison

Sony Vaio W-Series netbook

The battle of the big resolutions, we compare 4 netbooks that get a whole lot more out of their screens and have higher resolutions than most others. Step up the Sony Vaio W-Series, the Lenovo IdeaPad S12, the Asus Eee PC 1101HA and the Samsung NC20.

Two of these netbooks have 12.1 inch displays that almost make them notebooks rather than netbooks, one has an 11.6 inch screen and the 4th has a teeny tiny 10.1 inch panel but all pack a larger than average resolution to make the best use of their screen real estate.

A higher screen resolution can make a big difference when working on documents and wanting to open more windows to view them side by side. Most netbooks have the standard 1024 x 600 resolution but there are a breed of usually larger (but not always) sized netbooks that offer a bit more.

We have lined up 4 of the best and most recently released netbooks that all give us what we want in the screen resolution department but do they measure up elsewhere? Check out the comparison below to find out.

Compare the specifications of these netbooks, compare prices and also head over to our netbook rankings to see where each places and if they are worth your money.

Related posts:

1. Sony Vaio W-Series Specification
2. Sony Vaio M-Series vs Sony Vaio W-Series netbooks
3. Comparison between the Samsung NC10, NC20 and N120

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 - one of the netbooks added to our updated netbook rankings

We hit the big four-oh with the top 40 major netbooks ranked in order according to the scores awarded to them in real reviews.

There have been some tough reviews this time around since we last updated the netbook rankings in early August with several of the top netbooks falling up to 15 places.

The following new netbook models have been added this time around to build our chart up to 40 netbooks in total:

• Lenovo IdeaPad S12
• ViewSonic VNB101
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2
• Gateway LT3103u
• MSI Wind U123

The highest new entry of these 5 netbooks is number 23 but which one is it? Click through to the netbook rankings chart to find out. One of the new additions is also propping up the netbook rankings table so keep your eye out for that one.

Along with the new additions, we have updated scores for several of the existing chart entries as new reviews are released. The movers and shakers this time around are as follows:

• HP 5101 – up 7 places
• Acer Aspire One 531 – down a huge 15 places due to some harsh reviews
• Samsung N310 – down 4 places
• Acer Aspire One D250 – down 1 place
• Asus Eee PC 1008HA – down 4 places
• Acer Aspire One 751 – stays in the same position
• Asus Eee PC 1005HA – down 7 places
• Asus Eee PC 1101HA – down 1 place
• Dell Inspiron Mini 10 – stays in the same position
• MSI Wind U115 Hybrid – up 1 place
• HP Mini 110 – stays in the same position
• Samsung N110 – up 3 places
• Toshiba NB205 – up 3 places
• Samsung N120 – up 4 places
• Asus Eee PC T91 – down 9 places due to some harsh reviews

What this means is that there are several golden oldies at the top of the rankings and you can pick some of these up for an absolute steal in our Netbook Deals section or purchase them in our new Netbook Shop.

Related posts:

1. We Rank The Top 35 Netbooks
2. Top 30 Netbooks Ranked
3. Best 45 Netbooks Ranked

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook

The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 shares many of the characteristics of other netbooks except that it has a 12.1″ screen offering a decent 1280 x 800 resolution and a 6 cell Lithium Ion battery

Coupled with the the larger screen is a 100% full size keyboard and an ExpressCard slot for greater expansion. It is not difficult to see why the Lenovo S12 is proving to be a good option for many people.

The full specification for the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook is shown in the table below.

Related posts:

1. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 Specification
2. Lenovo IdeaPad S10e vs S10-2 vs S10-3 vs S10-3t
3. Lenovo S10e Specification

Our netbook rankings tables have been updated to include several newly released models including – Samsung N310, Asus Eee PC 2008HA Seashell and the Acer Aspire 531.

We have also added a few netbooks previously released including the Lenovo S10e, MSI Wind U120, Asus Eee PC 1000H and Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

These netbooks have been added to the Overall Score, Lightest Netbook and Longest Battery life rankings so you can see at a glance which netbook is the best in each category.

Click here to see our updated netbook rankings.

As we add more reviews and more netbooks to this site these netbook league tables will be regularly updated to help us determine the best netbook in each category and the top netbook overall.

And let us know what future netbook rankings you would like to see. Would a league table for best screen or best keyboard be useful to you, how would you measure which one was best? Any feedback is more than welcome and we will respond to any comments you leave.

Find the latest netbooks at the lowest prices at our Netbook Shop.

Related posts:

1. New Netbook Rankings
2. Netbook Rankings Updated – Contains Over 75 Models
3. 40 Netbooks Ranked