We raved about the MSI Wind, now Lenovo comes along and spoils our shopping plans with a 1Kg mini-notebook for the same price. Take a look at the specs.
The Lenovo S10 will arrive in September and will retail for $699, which is the same price quoted to us for MSI's impressive Wind, which we raved about recently.
Highlights for the 10.2inch unit include a keyboard 85% the size of a regular size keyboard, ExpressCard slot (useful for a 3G modem), and Intel's Atom CPU (which is proving to cope with Windows XP on most mini-notes).
There's two USB, versus 3 for the Asus Eee PC 901, and there's a 4-in-1 multicard reader.
Storage options are more flexible than the Wind, with a 16GB solid state option, or an 80GB hard drive (though you get up to 120GB with the Acer Aspire One).
The biggest bugbears on ultraportables - screen size, keyboard size, and battery life - are being ironed out with this new crop of products, which leaves price the major factor. The $699 starting price for the S10 leaves Acer's Aspire One ($599 for Linux version), and Asus's Eee PC 901 ($649) in the cheaper slot if your wallet is a factor.
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| Look, a decent sized keyboard - this is Lenovo, after all |
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| The white S10 - no word yet on fingerprint smudge-ability |