By Lim Yee Hung, a freelancer writer

LENOVO has strived to make the Ideapad S10-2 more stylish.

The newest version of the S10 line has rounded edges and a more modern design. Build quality is solid, with the inside surface and bottom made of matte, scratch-resistant plastic.

The touchpad has multi-touch support so you can, for instance, zoom in on an area using two-finger pinching. The cramped keyboard on the previous S10 has been enlarged and the layout improved.

I particularly like the upsized right Shift key - tiny in the previous version - as I use it frequently.

There is a quick-start button above the keyboard. Press this and it starts up the Linux-based Splashtop operating system in a matter of seconds and lets you do basic tasks such as surfing the Web.

Personally, I prefer to press the normal power button and wait the few extra seconds needed for Windows XP to start up as I want the full functionality of Windows.

The S10-2 performs basic functions well. Normal tasks such as Web surfing, typing documents and playing music were a breeze.

With respect to connectivity, it comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LAN and 3G. Lenovo even managed to squeeze three USB ports into it.

Battery life is respectable as well. I squeezed out about three hours of usage from the three-cell battery that came with the review unit.

It is, however, the extras that make the S10-2 stand out from the competition. In addition to the quick-start function, the Veriface facial recognition software, which took me about a minute to set up, worked without a hitch during testing.

The webcam scanned my face and I was automatically logged into the system without having to key in a password.

Other extras include Lenovo's OneKey Rescue System, which allows you to perform system restores and recover data.

The only quibble is that Lenovo has removed the ExpressCard slot that had been on the older S10, in order to make way for the third USB port.

Final say

The Lenovo S10-2 is affordable and has extras to differentiate itself from the competition.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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