Lenovo S10


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Thread: Lenovo S10

  1. #1
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    Lenovo S10

    Stopped in to Circuit City today and (impulsively?) bought a Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

    I've been looking for something to waste my money on/replace the Dell I bought that I ended up not liking and turning over to my wife, so it wasn't extremely impulsive, just a little impulsive.

    Anyway, it was 10% of the normal price, which brought it down to $370. Not a great deal at that price since online it is like $350 or so, but the one I got has twice as much RAM and hard drive space as online numbers, plus no shipping.

    Specs:
    Intel Atom N270 1.6ghz CPU (Intel has returned to multi-threading)
    10.2 inch screen
    1GIG RAM
    160Gig SATA II Hard drive
    Wired/Wireless NIC cards
    3 Cell Lithium-Ion
    2.64lbs
    No CDROM (not a big deal as I have a Lenovo USB CDROM drive anyway)

    The size: possibly the perfect size...small, light weight without being tiny. 10.2 inch 1024x600 screen and not an impossibly tiny keyboard (though obviously not full sized). It is about the size of a larger hard cover book.

    The OS: Comes with Windows XP and it ran very well...applications opened fast, web surfing was responsive and I could open several apps at once without much hit to performance.

    After 27 different questions about my loyalty to Bill Gates, I decided it was time to upgrade.

    Concerned that the new hardware may have issues with older versions of Linux, I jumped right into an as-yet-to-be released version of Ubuntu (9.04).

    Booted right up, answered a couple questions and installed like a champ...saw the disk, the RAM, the wireless card, everything...during the install.

    Upon reboot into Linux though, nothing...it just wouldn't boot. "No OS found".

    I thought my partitioning might be screwing me up, so I let the installer pick, but to no avail.

    I booted off live CD's, but when I mounted and chroot'd into my install, the install didn't even see my /dev/sda.

    At one point I finally got to a grub > boot, but still wouldn't boot to the OS.

    I tried a Debian 4.0 install, but that didn't see either the wired or wireless nics.

    Similar to the Ubuntu, Fedora 10 installed, but would never boot.

    So I tried a Ubuntu 8.10 install and everything was fine! Installed with my partitions (/boot, /, /home and swap) and all is well in the world.

    Wired, wireless, SATA, screen resolution....everything works straight from the install.

    I'm still testing and upgrading but over all this is a great netbook and takes to Ubuntu Linux straight away, and for less than $400 a great addition to my daily commute.

  2. #2
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    Crazy it wouldn't see certain installations, but a new toy is definitely sweet! My desktop just recently got hosed (BIOS rom checksum error). I tried everything such as replacing the CMOS battery, clearing the jumper, flashing the ROM again...nada. So I bought a new Gigabyte motherboard, 4gb of DDR2 1066 RAM, and an Athlon X2 6000. The new system is pretty screaming.

    Only one note I would like to make: it turns out that my RAM is dependent on the CPU. Apparently my CPU forces the RAM to run at 800 MHz instead of 1066. So next time you build a system be careful to pay attention to that! Apparently if I had a Phenom then it would run at 1066. Weird.

    Enjoy your new system though! I'm enjoying mine!
    "The author of that poem is either Homer or, if not Homer, somebody else of the same name."

  3. #3
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    Welcome to the world of netbooks. I am writing this on an Acer Aspire One. The keyboard is pretty darn good. I looked at the 10"screen, but decided on the 8.9" since the resolution is the same (20-10 vision, not bad for an old fart, lol) and just love the form factor.

    I have heard lots of good things about Ubuntu Remix, but I am a KDE guy and have Mandriva on this computer. The new KDE (a few quirks to be ironed out) looks great and I have adapted to plasma widgets. If you are looking to play around, you might want to take Mandriva for a test drive too on a live CD.

    Oh yeah, enjoy wasting a lot of time playing, I have yet to "hit the wall" on what this little guy can't do and have to revert back to my desktop. BTW, time you enjoy wasting is never wasted time.

    hlrguy
    Were you a Windows expert the VERY first time you looked at a computer with Windows, or did it take a little time.....
    My Linux Blog
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    Mandriva One on a "Vista Home Barely" T3640 E-Machine runs great.

  4. #4
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    Oh yeah, from your other thread, Mandriva defaults to the normal KDE start menu. Fedora has the new version default but a simple right click on it, you can select the "Classic" launch option.

    hlrguy
    Were you a Windows expert the VERY first time you looked at a computer with Windows, or did it take a little time.....
    My Linux Blog
    Linux Native Replacements for Windows Programs
    Mandriva One on a "Vista Home Barely" T3640 E-Machine runs great.

  5. #5
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    mm yah

    my mainboard on my desktop unit is lenovo and debian finds the audio with no problem but the intel lan onboard, is not there according to debain, so I feel you on that..

  6. #6
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    Saw a review on the S10 and it was quite favourable. I tried typing on an 8.9" screen netbook in a shop and the keyboard was just a bit too small. The critical difference in the 10.2" screen models isn't so much the larger screen as it is the larger keyboard.

  7. #7
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    I just found this too

    http://moblin.org/

    I haven't actually used the S10 all that much, but for the times that I have I really like it...not hesitation in recommending it to others.

    Good size, and great performance (even with XP)

  8. #8
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    Just an update:

    I bought my Lenovo s10 4231 at Circuit City during the first week of their closing. I think it was 10% off or something, however it wasn't a super deal, I just saw it and picked it up for about $380.

    It came with 1gig of RAM (built in 512meg plus 1 512meg stick), 120 gig hard drive and Windows XP.

    Since then I have added a 2 gig stick for around $25 from newegg.com. Although it technically has 2.5gigs in it, the (stupid?) BIOS will only recognize up to 2 gigs. It's also odd that linux actually can see both RAM modules, thought it isn't using them both (yet!).

    Oh, and for the record, my configuration is magically (I've done nothing to get this in this config) using 256mg for video ram:
    # grep -ir 'VideoRAM' /var/log/Xorg.0.log
    (==) intel(0): VideoRam: 262144 KB

    I have also purchased a bluetooth module from ebay (the hellowifi folks in China), though it hasn't shipped yet, for $25.00.

    If you don't want to open up your s10 to add the bluetooth, I highly recommend that if you want a wireless USB mouse, you look at the Logitech "nano" receiver models. These come with a tiny USB receiver that barely stick out of the port so it reduces potential breakage from whacking the longer ones.

    I am also toying with getting a 6 cell battery. Obviously, it is twice as big and twice as heavy as the 3 cell, which lasts me about 3 hours at the moment. Maybe I'll just get another 3 cell battery for those longer trips.

    As I said it came with XP which ran fine...it was responsive and crisp when opening app's. However, I'm a linux user so I put Ubuntu 8x on it, but have since upgraded to Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty.

    Mine also came with BIOS v32, which is now way out of date. The current (possibly broken) version is 67. This can be found in the BIOS (mine now shows as 47CN67WW).

    There were many complaints about excessive fan speed/noise in BIOS versions in the high 50's, but I never experienced those reported problems.

    Recently, Lenovo also released their "Quick Start" environment, which is their attempt at an "instant on" technology. You need at least version 52 of the BIOS for this to work.

    You also need Windows XP.

    You download the installer and run it while in XP and it basically puts a small linux based image on your C:\ which takes up about 1gig of space.

    My install has two folders: QSTART.000 and QSTART.SYS, however I'm not sure they are both required since my initial install failed so one of those folders might be erroneous.

    Once complete, when you boot your s10 up, after the "Lenovo" splash screen you'll get a Quick Start menu with things like Web, chat, skype, etc...plus the option to power off or exit Quick Start and continue booting XP.

    The first time into the Quick Start area, you'll be prompted to access licensing and you'll have a Configuration button for wireless setup, volume, etc.

    At first, my USB mouse wasn't working in the Quick Start area, but it has since fixed itself and even the wireless and camera work.


    I've run a few speed tests for what it's worth.

    From an off machine to viewing this webpage:
    quick start 45 seconds
    windwos 1 minute 20 seconds
    linux 1 minute 20 seconds

    There are a few extra clicks to get to Windows or Linux, so take of a few seconds for that, too.

    While the quick start does seem to cut "boot time" nearly in half, it isn't quite yet an "instant on". Perhaps with an ssd drive those time would all be halved, making the Quick Start boot->web browsing just under 30 second.


    My new configuration is a Quick Start option, then a boot menu of either XP or Ubuntu.

    While I don't use XP much, it is handy to have around just in case another BIOS update comes out!

    I will also say that I installed VMWare Workstation on Ubuntu and was successfully running an XP guest which performed quite well so if you need XP and don't want to dual boot, you could virtualize an XP install.

    So far I really love this laptop. While I might not use the Quick Start option much, it is nice to see Lenovo back-porting it to "older" platforms that didn't originally offer it.

    Thanks for reading!

  9. #9
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    I've had this one before. I use a Lenovo/IBM T42 (just got my T42p today!!!) and the problem is the hard drive.

    Mine was dying and a quick replacement in Dubai with a short, shart dd command later, I was back up and running.

    Presumably, the boot sector is the most accessed part of a hard drive and therefore wears out first. This was clearly the case with my old laptop since a change of hard drives sorted it no problem. Also, I could boot the laptop if I booted offboard with either SuperGRUB or a USB stick with the kernel and necessary stuff on it.

    James
    -----------------------------
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    -----------------------------

    perl -e 'use Math::Complex;$|=1;for$r(0..24){for$c (0..79){$C=cplx(($c/20.0)-3.0,-($r/12.0)+1.0);$Z= cplx(0,0);for($i=0;($i<80)&&(abs($Z)<2.0);$i++){$Z =$Z*$Z+$C;}print$i>=80?"*":" ";}print"\n";}'

  10. #10
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    I am also toying with getting a 6 cell battery. Obviously, it is twice as big and twice as heavy as the 3 cell, which lasts me about 3 hours at the moment. Maybe I'll just get another 3 cell battery for those longer trips.
    It's DEFINITELY worth it. I used to have a T40 which had a 6-cell battery when I originally got it (as a hand-me-down from another employee). It started out with the 6-cell lasting for almost 3 hours but after about a year of having it, it would barely last an hour. So my manager approved a new battery for me and I ordered the 9-cell...HUGE difference. Brand new it lasted about 5 hours (ran XP at the time). After several years of usage it will still last a good 3-4 hours depending on what I'm doing and that is while running Notes, Sametime, a Windows VM, a browser, and anything else I'm doing. It runs Ubuntu 8.04 at the moment so it isn't a true apples-to-apples comparison but I doubt it is still capable of getting 5 hours of use if it ran XP. Supposedly Linux is notorious for bad power consumption on laptops but I don't seem to have that problem.

    I'm eligible for a new laptop since my current T42 has been in use for over 4 years but apparently even as an IBM employee I can't get a new laptop right now. Stupid economy!

    Seriously though -- I would highly recommend getting the 6-cell battery.
    "The author of that poem is either Homer or, if not Homer, somebody else of the same name."

  11. #11
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    Think I might regret it.

    A friend visiting me from overseas brought me a small Asus notebook PC as present. A week later I gave it away to the son of a friend because I already have a full size laptop. I was curious of how this little notebook would cope with Linux.

    This thread makes me even more curious!
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  12. #12
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    I've put the Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my S10 last night. I haven't had too much time to play with it, but it there was no hardware problems (haven't tried the inbuilt webcam yet) but the thing I like about it is the interface. It's very different but works very well so far, there's a screencast here. I'm going to write up a review over the weekend once I've put it through it's paces.

    Just checked, the camera works with Cheese
    Last edited by deathadder; 05-21-2009 at 04:33 AM.
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  13. #13
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    I just picked up an SL500 because my web server laptop died and I retired my old T43 to that duty. So far I've been really happy with it. Probably in no small part because it has an NVidia card in it as opposed to the old, not well supported ATI card in the T43. Only problem I've had with it is that the wireless occasionally drops and frequently I have to restart NetworkManager after suspending to RAM (as far as I can tell NetworkManager is the only thing that tops KDE 4 in the 'pushed into "stable" distributions too early' category).

    I got the nine cell battery this time around and so far it has been totally worth it. The first night I had it I used it almost all night on the battery without having to plug in at all. I imagine the LED backlit screen helps with that too (I think the S10's have that too, right?).

  14. #14
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    updating this thread since I really can't say enough good things about my s10!

    I've since added the bluetooth module, turned the xPCI slot into a "drawer" just to hold an sd card, purchased a Pharos bluetooth GPS module and have now upgraded to Ubuntu Lucid.

    Say what you will about Ubuntu, but it. just. works.

    I've also switched to XFCE4 and compiz, which allows me to remove all toolbars and icons.

    My desktop is 100% dedicated to application windows.

    I've moved things like battery meter, clock, weather info, calendar and misc whatevers into the widget layer (like OSx).

    Gnome-do is the bee's knee's. Hit the "Window" key and space bar and type anything...application, file name, folder, etc etc...and gnome-do launches it.

    And with compiz, "Expo" let's me change work spaces or applications with the mouse or keyboard.

    All this on a 10.2 inch screen with a 1.6ghz CPU and 2gigs of RAM! And all for under $400.

    Anyway, just thought I'd tell someone else about this cool little netbook. I've bored my wife to tears already!

  15. #15
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    Nice!
    That old T-20 I got awhile back is showing its age... perhaps the wife could use something like this
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