Lenovo Ideapad S10-1311UW 10.2-Inch White Netbook Top Quality

I spent a great deal of time looking for a netbook that would support the OS of my choice with minimal work for me - no messing with kexts and DellEFI or any of that. I also wanted as much of the original hardware to work under OS X as possible without having to install alternatives (i.e. wifi card). The S10 is ideal for modifying.

My review will discuss features both dependent and independent of the operating system.

The construction is high-quality compared to some netbooks I've used. The plastic doesn't creak or bend when you open the lid or pick it up. It only weighs 3 lbs., but it feels nicely solid in your hand. I've found the stock hard drive and RAM to be more than adequate, but if I wanted to upgrade, lenovo made the process easy, unlike other manufacturers who make you dig for it. The Atom processor has been described as "pokey," but I've noticed no sluggishness under OS X. With integrated graphics, streaming video like YouTube and Hulu isn't perfect, but it's on par with my 1.5 GHz G4 with 1.25 GB RAM: a little choppy, but watchable. The same could be said for any Atom netbook, and I imagine more RAM would help.

As with all netbooks, the design includes compromises to keep the form factor small and price low:

1) The S10's keyboard uses the standard layout - punctuation marks are all pretty much where you expect them to be - but the right-hand shift key is half-size to make room for the up-arrow, which I end up hitting a lot. With more practice, this wouldn't be an issue, and it's my only real complaint about the key layout. If it would really bug you, get the S10-2, which has a full-sized right-hand shift key.

2) Amazon ships this model with a 3-cell battery, and even on lowest brightness with wifi off, just typing, I haven't been able to squeeze more than 2:45 out of it. Again, the S10-2 might be a better option because it ships with a 6-cell battery (5.5 hours, easily). Either way, if you have a 6-cell battery, it will stick out a bit and prop the computer up at a slight angle.

3) This S10 only comes with two USB ports. For me, that's been plenty, but your mileage may vary. The S10-2 comes with three USB ports, but without the ExpressCard slot.

4) Under Snow Leopard, every component works except Ethernet and internal microphone. If you need it, the Apple USB-to-Ethernet adapter works great. I haven't needed a microphone yet, but if you Skype or iChat w/video, I imagine any USB mic that works with 10.6 will be fine. I prefer the S10 over the S10-2 here because the webcam ONLY works with iChat on the S10-2, not on Skype or Photobooth. The S10-2 also doesn't sleep, which gets VERY irritating after awhile. The S10 has no problems with sleep as long as you change a setting in System Prefs.

Overall, I'm happy with the S10. It has compromises, but they don't bother me, especially for the price. I'll gladly hang on to this until Apple releases something comparable in size. Get more detail about Lenovo Ideapad S10-1311UW 10.2-Inch White Netbook.