The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t Reviewed By Engadget

[Andy Dixon]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/10/lenovo-ideapad-s10-3t-review/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/10/...-s10-3t-review/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Who says you have to pick between a netbook and the coming onslaught of standalone tablet devices? Okay maybe some (eh hem Apple), but Lenovo's trying to have it both ways with the IdeaPad U1 and the S10-3t. In clamshell mode the S10-3t looks like any old 10-inch netbook, but swivel around its capacitive mulitouch display and it turns into that slate device you've been dreaming of. That's not all: the S10-3t is one of the first netbooks (or netveritbles) that has the new Intel 1.83GHz Atom N470 processor. But can the S10-3t straddle both worlds and do it well? And perhaps more importantly, is it worth the premium $649 price tag? That's the question we've been asking ourselves for the last few days, so hit the break for some answers in our full review."</em></p><p><img height="379" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1268335775.usr11334.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" width="573" /></p><p>This netbook from Lenovo is a netbook with a touchscreen that can swivel to convert in to a slate, or netvertibles as they seem to be called.&nbsp; It has the new 1.8Ghz Atom processor from Intel, 320Gb hard drive,&nbsp;2Gb of memory and the GMA3150 graphics, so in theory it should be a faster and snappier machine than the current netbooks.&nbsp; Unfortunately Engadget don't seem to think so, which is a shame, because I looked at the specs and thought this had the potential to be the netbook everyone would want.</p>

[Jesse B Andersen]

Their systems are not optimized and the "reviewers" have played with the device for very little time. Therefore the system is not shown at it's full potential.

Most of the systems on the reviews including the Engadget one have this:
Windows 7 Starter (no extra touch features as in home premium, pro, or ultimate)
Filled with background processes (70 to 80 processes, which take 40% to 50% CPU, and over 700MB Ram used this is at Idle)

Once you install a fresh copy of Windows 7 processes go to about 40 to 50 which does about 1% to 5% CPU and about 400MB RAM usage.

There is also a Lenovo Energy Management program which slows down the system on purpose (to yield more battery life). You can modify this.

You can view my tips on optimizing the system here:
http://www.lenovos103t.com/p/tips.html

My videos of the S10-3T in use:
http://www.youtube.com/jessebandersen

[Jason Dunn]

It's a shame that these companies don't realize that crappy performance makes their whole product look bad. :rolleyes:

[Andy Dixon]

I don't know what the review unit was like, if it was a final release model, or if it's an incomplete review unit, but if you're going hand them out to be reviewed you'd think they would want to make a good impression. Ensure it does the basic things the reviewers are going to test, such as 720p HD etc.

You will get some reviewers who will no doubt try to optimise things and get the best out of a device, but others will review 'as is' and give their thoughts on their experience out of the box without tweaking.

[Jason Dunn]

...but others will review 'as is' and give their thoughts on their experience out of the box without tweaking.

I think it's important to review things this way - because unless you're reviewing a power-user only product, most people aren't going to do heavy optimizations to improve product performance. They'll use it as-is, so I think it's important to review it as-is.

[Macguy59]

You will get some reviewers who will no doubt try to optimise things and get the best out of a device, but others will review 'as is' and give their thoughts on their experience out of the box without tweaking.

As it should be. Why do you think otherwise ?

[Andy Dixon]

As it should be. Why do you think otherwise ?

I was responding to a post that was above mine that suggested that the engadget reviewers, and other reviewers, didn't set the netbook up properly or optimise it. The post must have been removed, so I guess my post looks a little out of context now. :rolleyes:

[Macguy59]

I was responding to a post that was above mine that suggested that the engadget reviewers, and other reviewers, didn't set the netbook up properly or optimise it. The post must have been removed, so I guess my post looks a little out of context now. :rolleyes:

Ah. Carry on :)

[Jason Dunn]

I was responding to a post that was above mine...

That post is held in moderation because it's that user's first post and needs to be approved, so only us admins can see it - so no one knows what you're talking about except us. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Their systems are not optimized and the "reviewers" have played with the device for very little time...Once you install a fresh copy of Windows 7 processes go to about 40 to 50 which does about 1% to 5% CPU and about 400MB RAM usage.

Perhaps, but don't you think it's a little ridiculous to have to re-install Windows 7 in order to get it to perform well? 99.999% of people who buy this product aren't going to re-install Windows...Lenovo needed to get it right from the moment the user presses the power button. They didn't, so Engadget has a good point.