Note that the USB male looks a little wide, but the side is flexible plastic and will fit very securely into a standard USB outlet on your PC.

The comparable Asus that I tested felt cheap, the Dell that a freind has was nice quality, but did not have all the perks that the Lenovo has.

The 14 points that sold me on this purchase:

1)The 10.2 inch screen is crystal clear and makes for better viewing pleasure. It is a matte screen which I like better than the glossy screen when using in direct sunlight.

2) The power setting programs, which extends battery power, is well thought out and screen is quite bright even at the low power setting.

3) The expansion port that will allow me to add an air card to the computer. (I notice now that Asus and HP have this built into their netbooks, but are provider specific).

4) The 6 cell battery pack lets me work continuly between 5 to 7 hours depending on the intensity of the applications I am running.

5) The keypad is the quality of a regular laptop – in other words it does not feel cheap and is responsive to my typing. The keyboard is only 90% of a regular keyboard and my fat fingers can handle it just fine.

6) The Lenovo quick start program gives an instant on and ready to connect to the internet in a matter of seconds. It bypasses the xp boot process.

7) A dedicated one touch backup button.

A dedicated wireless on and off button.

9) A sturdy lightweight chasis. This computer looks and feels like a quality laptop.

10) The touchpad works flawlessly. The left and right mouse pad buttons arequality and work flawlessly as well. The other models I tested had finicky mousepads and their buttons were either hard to push, in an awkward place, and very cheaply made.

11) Windows XP runs very quickly on this 1gb memory machine. It made me realize how much of a hog Vista is on my desktop computer.even with 3gb of memory. XP still feels like it runs faster and responds better. That’s my personal oppinion.

12) It can be upgraded very easily to 2gb of memory.

13) Upgraded easily to bluetooth.

14) Ubuntu installs flawlessly for a dual boot machine.

What I don’t like:

1) The super small right shift key that I cannot get used to. This seems to be a design issue with most other netbookks as well.

2) No bluetooth in the US model. I bought the module on eBay for $14 including shipping and it works like a charm. There are videos on youtube how to install this.

3) No option to purchase with Ubuntu preloaded, but this will easily install if you feel comfortable installing it.

4) No backup disks – I made a complete copy of the hard drive to a pen drive then burned to a DVD. There is a built in one button backup, but I am not sure if this will reinstall the complete system in case of hard drive failure.

5) The built in camera software runs slow on this amount of memory.

I know these machines are made primarily for web surfing, but I use it to do graphic intensive work as well. I use it at both work in the courtroom and on the road for genealogy research. It’s ideal for my usage.

Overall, I am very pleased and impressed with the quality of this machine and am glad I made the purchase.

I purchased as a refurbished unit from the Lenovo website for $330.00. It came with a very nice Think Pad carry case.

Amazon.com Product Description

Small on the outside. Big on the inside.

The IdeaPad™ S10-2 Netbook is just over an inch thin and only 2.65 pounds, but comes packed with features like VeriFace™ Facial Recognition Technology, OneKey™ Rescue System and stereo speakers with Dolby® Headphone™ technology. But the coolest feature of all is the QuickStart button that lets you access your music, pictures, games and the web, even before the Windows loads. So flip open this ultra-small netbook and discover a powerhouse of unique features. Best of all, it’s from Lenovo, makers of the award-winning ThinkPad.

IdeaPad™ S10-2 Netbook Key Features

• Thin and light: Just over an inch thick and only 2.65 pounds.
• 10.1-inch widescreen, glossy display with LED backlight.
• Battery life: Up to 6 hours with 6 cell battery
  

• Get online in seconds with Quick Start ‘instant on’ function
• OneKey™ Rescue System for easy data recovery & backup
• VeriFace™ Facial Recognition for convenient login
• Stereo speakers with Dolby® Headphone technology
• Multi-touch Touchpad
• 89% Full Size Keyboard
• Integrated web cam for quick and easy video messaging.
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 card reader
• VGA outlet for external monitor

Tiny technology

Powered by an Intel® Atom™ Processor to offer lower power consumption and reliable performance at an affordable price. The epitome of efficiency. Powerful Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator easily handles your image processing needs whether you’re managing family photos or creating impressive presentations.

Display

The IdeaPad S10-2’s energy efficient 10.1-inch LED backlit WXGA screen is roomy enough for movie watching, web surfing or even getting a little homework done.

Mult-touch pad

The S10-2 features a multi-touch pad that allows you to enlarge, reduce and edit images by drawing with your fingers. And, its nearly full-sized keyboard adds to its ease of use.

Stay connected

Experience more and get more out of life with easy portability and flexible connectivity options. The S10-2 makes it easy to get connected and stay connected on the road, at home and everywhere in between.

Eco-smart and Energy Star® compliant

The S10-2 has many earth-friendly attributes such as a mercury-free design, energy management software, and is Energy Star® compliant, meaning this netbook attests to their superior energy efficiency. This lowers operating costs, but it also means less overall energy use and reduced heat emissions.

A key reason I bought a second S10 when I needed (OK, wanted) another netbook: I’ve dropped the first about a dozen times, knocking it off the armrest of an easy chair onto carpet, about 2.5 feet down, and the Lenovo has kept working all this time. (OK, I should be more careful with it, but its hardiness has actually enabled me.)

I bought the previous version of the Lenovo S10 as a stopgap; my full-size laptop caught a virus while I was away from home for weeks and I didn’t have time to clean it up. I ended up using the S10 a lot, and discovered that it did all the vanilla stuff I do most of the time. Then it caught a virus while I was away from home, and I was able to use the OneKey feature to wipe out everything back to factory settings. That worked great (as long as you’ve backed up your stuff before a virus).

The latest S10-2 has longer battery life, and is sleeker and more polished. Nice job on the update, Lenovo. (The S10-2 comes in pink, green, gray and black, which I chose.) I sure didn’t buy the first S10 for its boxy, utilitarian looks, so the redesign was a pleasant surprise.