Levono S10 Info...

[JDGAFFLIN]

Interesting price point at $439.00 However the 512MB and the 3-cell battery are both a bit week. Actually they are really week.

Discuss:

[Chairman_Now]

It'd seem that from the graphics, that they're not using the same chipset as everyone else - it is actually a very beefy graphics core there, and according to Wikipedia, better than a Gforce 8400GS.

I wonder what the newer chipset will mean regarding battery life - anyone know which chipset they are using? It is also interesting that Poulsbo is still not showing up in this device class.

At any rate, Lenovo's offering may be interesting in that it deviates from the same formula the rest of the netbook makers are following.

jh

[Chairman_Now]

Originally Posted by JDGAFFLIN

Interesting price point at $439.00 However the 512MB and the 3-cell battery are both a bit weak.

Well, if it helps, you can put in their 15% off coupon that they show when you put a model in the cart. You can get the back model for $365 that way.

FCC docs show some kind of SO-DIMM slot underneath, so the memory is potentially upgradeable. To what capacity really depends on the chipset, whether the 512megs are soldered to the motherboard, and if the SO-DIMM slot actually shows up in the shipping model (which is not guaranteed).

Also note: bluetooth is shown in the FCC doc, but not advertised on their site. No bluetooth, no deal for me, even at that price.

Hopefully, it'll drag down the price of the Wind

[Chairman_Now]

OK, I did some research on the Lenovo, both on the FCC site, and at the Lenovo site. Here's what I come up with:

PROS:

+ Memory appears to be expandable to 1 or 1.5 gigs (at least)
+ Express card slot! Perfect for 3G at some point.
+ Bluetooth (linux compatible, too)
+ HD appears to be upgradeable
+ Wifi may be replaceable
+ MIGHT have better battery life and/or graphics performance than anything else that's shipped (appears to use a newer chipset)

CONS:

+ Memory is potentially not as expandable as the Wind
+ Wifi is marginally Linux compatible - may not be a good experience (i.e., reverse engineered drivers or NDISwrapper)
+ 15% restocking fee for returns!

It might be worth pursuing at $365ish.

[JDGAFFLIN]

Nice research, Chairman. Apparently that X4500 Intergrated graphics chipset is supposed to be a nice upgrade aswell, over the typical netbook options.

[tyrian]

Finally someone dumps the ancient power hogging 945 chipset in these netbooks, and for the x4500 no less. No it won't be as energy efficient as poulsbo but at least it's mainstream enough to be well supported by software and is definitely HD capable. Between this, the expresscard, and price I'm almost sold on this, small shift keys be damned. All that's left is to find out how much they can squeeze out of that 3 cell.

[Chairman_Now]

Originally Posted by tyrian

Finally someone dumps the ancient power hogging 945 chipset in these netbooks, and for the x4500 no less.

Consensus seems to be that there's a typo on Lenovo's site, and that they're using the same crap chipset as everyone else.

If nothing else, it'll be useful to be able to return the unit without a restocking fee

[JDGAFFLIN]

Mini Review..

Judging by this little mini-review, I think their website might be correct.

[JDGAFFLIN]