Lenovo S12 Rocks

Posted by | 07/12/2009 | 10 Comments

In addition to evaluating the Lenovo S10-2, I’m also evaluating a Lenovo S12. Like Xavier, I’m hesitant to call the S12 a netbook as it is essentially a 12″ notebook that runs the Intel Atom N270 processor. However, it is just as portable and a wonderful mobile device. The timing is good as I’m also presenting some inexpensive netbook and portable notebook choices to a customer on Wednesday.

What I really like about the S12 is the larger keyboard and higher resolution. There is nothing like typing on a full size keyboard on a light weight system. In addition, the power cord for the S12 is really long, which is  a huge plus when trying to find that rare power outlet in a coffee shop or hotel room.

My first impressions are that the S12 strikes the perfect balance between affordability, mobility, and functionality. With the 1280 x 800 resolution, larger keyboard, slighly larger screen, decent netbook type performance, long battery life, and $499 price tag, I’m not sure why anyone would choose anything different. It seems to be the perfect blend of ingredients (minus a digitizer, of course), to fit inexpensive mobile computing on the go.

Our family is headed out of town for a few days to Estes Park, Colorado and we’ll be taking the S12 with to play with. I’ll also be bringing my Windows 7 equipped Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC with me to get some work done after settling in at night (I do a lot of ink notetaking you know). We’ll be sharing an online connection using my Verizon equipped MiFi.

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Category: Hardware, Mobile

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As the Founding Editor for GottaBeMobile.com, Rob oversaw the growth and overall direction for content, advertising, and management of the site. Keep up with Rob at RobBushway.com Send email to Rob
  • Amitai Rosenberg

    Cool. How’s it’s performance?
    Does it feel too big compared to other netbooks?

  • Rob

    Perf is right on par with a 1.6 atom, only 47 processes on boot. Actually prefer this size over smaller netbooks. Strikes a great balance

  • charles

    I’m assuming it runs Vista? Can it handle Win7?

  • http://www.notebooks.com Xavier

    Charles, the S12 ships with Windows XP. It can definitely handle Windows 7. I haven’t installed Win 7 on the S12 I’m checking out, but I have installed in on similarly spec’d netbooks

  • http://roadrunnerguide.com mark

    can the intel chipset handle 720p video? i know the ion can handle 1080p

  • newcomp

    Nice report, Rob!

    Got a question: is the keyboard TRULY full-size on the S12? I had a Dell Mini-12 which had the same size display and its keyboard was NOT full-size. I cannot tell from the width on the left and right hand side of the keyboard – a full-size keyboard should be a tad over 11″ across.

    Please let us know – I returned my Dell Mini-12: keyboard was not full-size but definitely usable. The un-usable part was its Atom Z-series CPU.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.gottabemobile.com Rob Bushway

    newcomp – I will try to get some comparison shots in the next day or so for you.

  • sam

    hell no….

  • Rob Bushway

    it feels about as full size as my 12″ Latitude XT – very, very comfortable to type on, large keys.

  • Rob Bushway

    correction – the keys feel even bigger than my 12″ latitude xt

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