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Netbooks seem to be all the rage these days, and nothing makes us happier than receiving shiny new ones on our desks week after week. Having said that, we’ve gone through our fair share of hits and misses over the months, and have come to a simple conclusion - just because a machine weighs circa 1kg and is powered by an Atom processor, it doesn’t guarantee that the end result will be a winner.
A good netbook is more than that - apart from being portable, it should have a respectable battery life, it should be able to get you online anytime and anywhere, and it should be comfortable to use due to it’s relatively smaller than usual size.
Thankfully, we had the pleasure of reviewing a netbook from Lenovo that met all those criteria, and then some. It was a brand new device that came fresh from their engineering unit, and from the moment we laid our eyes (and grubby paws) on it, we knew it was going to be a hell of a ride.
Story continues after the jump.
Since this machine was an engineering unit, we sorta expected it to be all flimsy and taped together. We also expected a lot of bugs, and the odd technical glitch or two. But lo and behold, after a full month of constant usage, and a light dose of abuse thrown in for good measure, the engineering unit held its worth and performed almost to the standards we’d expect from a full production model.
Ambiguously labeled with a “#11” sticker, the machine bore strong resemblance to the Lenovo S10. We couldn’t decide if the resemblance was due to the S10 being Lenovo’s only netbook offering to date, or if #11 was actually a moniker for the upcoming S11, but that didn’t matter all too much.
What did matter though, was the sexy white textured bezel, with a key emphasis on the texture. Plain colored netbooks/notebooks are a thing of yesterday, and the textured surface provided a subtle hint of design without making the machine look too gaudy.
Made of sturdy plastic, the #11 felt pretty solid all around. The LCD hinge remained smooth through out the course of use, and didn’t show any sign of creaking as some plastic hinges tend to do. The other movable fitting on the bezel, the WIFI on/off switch, is also made of the same white plastic material and feels securely placed. Conveniently located on the right side of the body, you’ll get direct access to turning it on and off without having to navigate through Windows.
Measuring just under 3cm thick, #11 features the same light weight and compact size that you’d expect from a regular netbook. For comparison sake, we also snapped a picture of it next to a BlackBerry Bold to illustrate the thickness.
With the LCD flipped up, you’ll get access to a spacious keyboard. Obviously it’s not 100% sized, probably between 85% to 90% scaled down, but the size difference is hardly noticeable after typing a couple of emails. The fact that the keys are curved, unlike the flat and spaced out keys on chiclet styled keyboards, also adds points to the typing experience.
Just above the keyboard, there’s a button that’s labeled QS, which is an abbreviation for the term Quick Start. We hit it multiple times during the course of review, but nothing actually happened. Thinking that it was just another kink of the engineering unit, we’re a little red faced now upon discovering that it’s actually supposed to be hit when the machine is off.
Apparently, hitting the QS button when the machine is turned off will give you access to a quick boot sort of menu that’ll allow you quick access to things like an IM client, a browser and a media player.
#11 also came with a host of other Lenovo specific software, and one which we found particularly interesting is called Lenovo VeriFace. If the name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it featured in one of the advertisements on TV.
Scanning faces through the built-in 1.3MP webcam, VeriFace allows you to login without having to key in your password. Unfortunately though, the software is hardly as accurate as what’s shown in the ad - I had problems logging in half of the time, and I don’t even have any facial hair (well, apart from my eyebrows)!
But minor quirks aside, #11 performed stunningly with all the everyday applications that you’d traditionally use on a netbook. Google Chrome ran just as it should, Microsoft Word churned out page upon page of quality text, and VLC played every video we threw at it without showing any sign of lag. Things did get a little frisky when we loaded up Adobe Photoshop, but then again, we’d be more worried if it ran perfectly fine.
The battery life on #11 was pretty commendable too. Sure, there are netbooks on the market that boast 8 - 9 hours of battery life, but the trade off is having to carry around a slightly heavier battery. The battery on #11 was able to provide about 4 hours of light use, but when we say light, we don’t mean ebook reader light. We mean 4 hours of MSN, Twitter, MS Word and Google Chrome on a wired LAN connection. Factor in WIFI and we’re probably looking at 3 - 3.5 hours of battery life.
In terms of accessibility, #11 came with the standard array of ports. A lone USB 2.0 port, a VGA port, the audio jacks, and the LAN port were all located on the left side, while on the right side we found the WIFI on/off switch, two more USB 2.0 ports, a Kensington security slot, and a port for your power adaptor.
It was a sad day when we had to return #11 to it’s rightful owners, but we can honestly say that we had a great experience with it. Unfortunately, since #11 is an engineering unit, there probably isn’t a confirmed spec sheet ready for publishing. #11 does however serve as a good reference of what we can expect from Lenovo’s netbook series in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled!
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