AT&T recently announced they are expanding their subsidized netbook program and Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10 will be one of the offerings.
Subsidized hardware is nothing new for the cell phone industry and in an attempt to grow device 3G plan sales some companies have been offering subsidized netbooks with 3G hardware. The notable offerings had a netbook for $99 with a 2 year plan, essentially committing you to over $1000 of service in order to save $200.
Apparently $99 was too hard for AT&T to swallow and their subsidized models will run $199. Unfortunately the discount is not instant and you have to do a mail-in rebate (ugh). The rebate doesn’t even comes as cash – it is an “AT&T Promotion Card,” which sounds exactly like a Visa gift card. No cash for you!
Finally, you’ll notice it is the IdeaPad S10 that is offered. The S10, really? Welcome to last year.
Mark Hopkins over at the Lenovo blog Connections recently spent some time with product manager and fellow blogger Brandon Hoe, who as part of his job at Lenovo worked a lot on the netbook products. In this video, Mark and Brandon talk about netbook history, Lenovo’s netbook evolution, and where they see netbooks going. You will also see some hands-on with the “old” S10 and the new S10-2 models, showing some of the changes they made. As Mark notes in his blog post, the video may have gone a little long or could have been broken up into a couple posts, but overall the video is a good look at Lenovo’s view of netbooks and I’d recommend a watch.
I know we’ve been talking about netbooks a lot lately, but it’s not my fault – it’s what everyone else is talking about too. Datamation Systems, producer of fine goods related to (physical) technology management, has announced the availability of a multi-bay battery charger for the latest Lenovo and Dell netbooks.
This handsome device certainly makes no claims of form, but hopefully follows through with the function. The beast can swallow 16 spare batteries, keep them charged, and even re-calibrate them for longer overall life. The models just released support the new Dell Latitude 2100 education netbook and Lenovo’s S9 and S10 netbooks, but they also have chargers for most other systems including the XO OLPC.
You can find out more about these stylish & sexy devices at the company’s cleverly named website: www.computerbatterychargers.com
I have to hand it to Dell, they really stepped outside of the box on this one; at least compared to most PC manufacturers these days. Instead of just re-branding a Mini 9 netbook, they looked at the needs of the education sector and added some well thought out features. Just check out what the Latitude 2100 brings to the table:
Standard netbook technology (Intel Atom, up to 2GB RAM, 3 or 6 cell, etc)
XP, Vista, & Ubuntu OS options
Rubberized case for better handling & durability
Vent-free bottom cover to better resist spills
External LED to let teacher’s know if students are using the wireless card
Remote management capability (Wake-On-LAN, Alert Standard Format, & Systems Management Server)
Mobile Computing Solution is a piece of hardware that will store, charge, & manage up to 24 netbooks with one Ethernet & power cord (i.e. can push system updates)
Starting price of $369
Now are these features anything to get excited about individually? No, not really. But when you see a computer company take the initiative to be innovative, at least in an evolutionary rather than revolutionary sense, it is a very good thing. Hit the link at the end for more details and a video from Dell.
Now I do have one concern: the vent-free design to better avoid spill intrusion. Maybe there is no fan vent, but are there keyboard drain holes? I’d be more worried about spills going onto the netbook, but I like where they’re going at least.
When Lenovo released their S10 netbook, and now the S10-2 refresh, they missed the opportunity to do something truly innovative with their unique brand. Maybe they will take this as a wake up call and remember why ThinkPad had the following it did for so long.
Our good friends over at LogicBuy are giving away two Lenovo IdeaPad S10’s. The only catch? You need to participate on their site! LogicBuy has some cool social promotion tools for voting a deal hot or cold and is generally on top of all the new deals, so if you’ve been looking for a deals site to follow this is your chance.
Either way, make sure you do the deed by May 19th 11pm PST. Hit the link below to enter in the giveaway.
The mates over at NetbookReview down in Australia gathered a heaping of netbooks and put them through their battery run-time paces. A mix of the models had the paltry 3-cell battery, including Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10, and there is a clear differentiator in runtime against those with the 6-cell.
The winner was the MSI Wind U115 Hybrid, thanks to its 8GB SSD primary drive which sipped a small amount of power and didn’t utilize its more power hungry 160GB secondary mechanical drive.
Our semi-beloved IdeaPad S10 only lasted 1 hour 55 minutes, but it’s pretty easy to figure out how the 6-cell would last with this test. The 3-cell’s stats are 2522mAh at 11.1V, which yields an effective capacity of 28 Watt-Hours (rounded). The 6-cell offers 4800mAh at the same 11.1V, good for 53 Whr. This is about an 89% increase in capacity and given the constant power drain as in NetbookReview’s runtime test, the S10 (or any other notebook) would last 89% longer. If you do the math this comes out to about 3 hours 38 minutes, which is not very impressive at all.
Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 has a lower capacity 3-cell and lasted over an hour longer than the S10. Perhaps something was amiss with the IdeaPad S10 used for testing?
Liliputing is reporting that Lenovo will soon announce two new netbook models. The first will be a refresh of the existing IdeaPad S10, tentatively dubbed the S10-2, of which the only new feature is integrated 3G. There will also be a new 12-inch model, supposedly the IdeaPad S12, which will also sport 3G.
Both models will have the Splashtop pre-OS media interface where you can access a web browser, IM, and a few other useful apps. Splashtop will also work with 3G as it does with WiFi and Ethernet, which is pretty sweet. Hopefully we’ll hear an announcement soon!
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 has received a few upgrades since it first debuted and the fellas at NotebookReview got a close look at it. Their model now sports a 160GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, multi-touch touchpad, QuickStart OS, and VeriFace security all for $449.
The S10 has always been a strong competitor in the netbook market and finally receiving a high capacity battery & hard drive are a blessing, but the battery run-time wasn’t quite up to competitors’ standards and the S10 is facing stronger competition these days. Hit the link below for all the details.
11.6-inch Lenovo IdeaPad U150 LED-backlit Laptop (690969U) with Pre-loaded Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS for $949 - $150 off instantly - $200 stackable coupon (expires March 12 or after first 100 uses) = $599 plus FREE shipping. That's the lowest price we've seen. The newest U-series ultra-portable from Lenovo is 0.75" thin and under 3lbs. To get this deal:
1. Click here to start at Lenovo store 2. Select Lenovo IdeaPad U150 - 690969U - Black(Sky Star), Customize & buy 3. Click Summary Review, Add to Cart 4. Apply coupon code USPU1693 upon checkout (leave no space at the start/end)
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Datamation Systems, producer of fine goods related to (physical) technology management, has announced the availability of a multi-bay battery charger for the latest Lenovo and Dell netbooks.
11.6-inch Lenovo IdeaPad U150 LED-backlit Laptop (690969U) with Pre-loaded Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS for $949 - $150 off instantly - 
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