Sep 18, 2009 09:26 AM
3197 Views
(Updated Sep 18, 2009 02:56 PM)
The LENOVO TIMES. A bit of History - I have used the ASUS M52N - 512MB, 40 GB & 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium mobile processor, probably top of the range portable models of 2003 .My focus is always on portability to screen size as I travel a lot & use it to make power point presentations to clients & also store a lot of historical data for my work on the move.
I looked over a year to buy a replacement as it became noisy, slow & aged. However, to the credit of the M52N, it is a really sturdy workhorse. Initially, I tried to buy a DELL in India via their website but in 2007, DELL did not accept online payments & you had to give your credit card number over the telephone to someone which seemed really not a good idea even then!!! I abandoned my search till I came across the ASUS eee PC when it started upgrading its hard drive & then the other manufacturers jumped into this space of 1GB & Intel Atom Processors.
The options quickly ramped up from 40 GB to 80 & then 120 & then finally the 160GB S10 arrived. I did a fair amount of research before zeroing in on the model to compare price, features, with various similar laptops before zeroing in on the S10. The features that attracted me to the S10 were size, price, the 2 USB ports, the 160 GB hard drive, the built in web camera, the one key recovery, the audio ports, the convenient microphone on the front, the one key operated wifi & the Bluetooth & color combinations.
The Purchasing Experience - The Lenovo S10 appealed to me as a very compact, value for money proposition . Also, the chance to buy a first laptop in India across the shelf was really irresistible. I bought my S10 at a Tata Croma outlet & there were several other laptops to look at. What was good at Croma was there someone knowledgeable about the S10 which told me that they were serious about selling what they had. Also, important was they gave me a packed piece, asked me to open & test it in front of the shop representative & to end the experience on a sweet note, there was a short verbal quiz & I won a Lenovo pen & T Shirt just like the shop representative wore. So, buying the Lenovo was also a great experience. So, it is not only price but also the shopping experience compared to my experience with trying to buy a DELL as mentioned above.
External Appearances - The S-10 has a young look in its bright (white) front keys & inners & the multi color choice (mine is a blue) exterior compared the darker shades of the M52N. Mind you, now the DELL Ming series are also very attractive. It is very important that the laptop has an overall eye appealing look which is the first thing that you notice when you come to use it in the morning Dull, dark grey & blacks tend to put you off. The whites on the body tend to get soiled quicker which requires some upkeep but isn’t there always a price to pay for everything? And very importantly, size does matter!!! With a small neat feature loaded laptop, I was able to get myself a smart carry case although I must admit there are no custom size (10.2’) carry cases available in my city.
The Inside Story - Compared to the other laptops that are all Vista loaded the S10 with a XP required least mental retraining & adjustment & let me get on with my work as if nothing had changed. In fact what had changed was the speed of computing, the available storage & the sleek feel with the built in camera, the Bluetooth & the wifi. Even though I had the wifi on the M52N there was no Bluetooth. Now my mobile is next to my phone & I can write all SMSes on the keyboard & just send them with the NOKIA PC Suite without having to strain my fingers on the phone buttons. That’s really very convenient. Also, previously, I had to carry a webcam separately & plug into the USB. So, whenever I received a call, I had to quickly plug my camera in to the USB port (other times I did not plug it in to maximize utilization of available USB ports) & cut the call & call back after the camera was connected. This is completely avoided with the S10 now. The screen is a bright 10.2’ & clarity is much better compared to the before. What is difficult in our country or at least in our city is to get a screen guard for the S10 of the right size. The only options available are the larger ones that need a scissor cut & if you are like me, I will say, you end up with rough edges & unappealing looks all around!!!
Software - The preloaded software that comes with the S10 is sufficient to do the basic jobs but I have installed initially the MS Office Student edition & then upgraded to the office professional when I realized that I cannot work without MS Access & MS Outlook as I cannot simply work with Outlook Express due to the way the mail storage files are organized. The student edition was a cheap edition at Rs. 3, 200 /- but the MS Office professional is in the high 20K’s. So, these are all additional costs that one needs to keep in mind when going for the laptop.
Performance - The indexing service that installs with the MS Office professional seems to run perennially & runs the fan perennially which makes it noisy to use which was one of the main reasons why I decided to switch from the M52N to the S10. The speakers & the microphone cope very well & have never had problems. I have thought a few times of loading VISTA on the S10 but was held back by what VISTA could do to the small S10. And now the Windows 7 is coming which can be an interesting experience.
Overall Experience - The S10 is a good compact laptop with plenty of storage space & speed (at least for the initial few months). Portability, features (especially the built in webcam), the 2 USB ports, one key recovery are very appealing. The price when compared to other branded laptops is significantly lower. However, as time progresses, the system seems to slow down dramatically. The fan is another problem area that seems to remain on forever. Another disappointment was the battery life.
The battery has come up for replacement in 10 months. My previous battery lasted me a good 3 years before I replaced it. Overall, as the title says, good for a first time user to know the ropes, experience the S10 so that when you upgrade, you know what works & doesn't work for you!!! Where do we go from here? Recently, I visited Croma again & asked if I could sell the S10 & they offered 5, 000 at the most for it. What it tells me is I need to hold it for some more time before I start looking at upgrades or swapping models. So, I will stick around with it for some more experiences.
My Best Experiences - The S10 has proven to be very noticeable. Last year during a presentation (where I did not initially connect my laptop to the OHP) the other laptops failed for some reason & then I managed to connect mine & had several enquiries on the S10 & lot of wonderstruck looks. Wherever, I go for seminars, conferences, meetings, when I pull out my S10 it helps break the ice with the first 10 minutes of the conversation on the S10, its magical features & the revelation that today IBM is inside LENOVO!!!
