Lenovo IdeaPad S10

To prevent the previous post in this series from becoming a one-off, one-hit wonder, I have been tirelessly searching the past two weeks for another Blast from the Past.  The inspiration came to me when I saw that Lenovo began selling their IdeaPad S10 netbook earlier this week.  Looking at the IBM WorkPad z50 lying next to my desk.  I began to realize the similarities.

Even though the IdeaPad is much more of a full-fledged notebook than the WorkPad ever was, they occupy a very similar niche and have similar form factors.  The WorkPad z50 for those unfamiliar was a Windows CE-based Handheld PC.  It had a QWERTY keyboard and the trademark red eraserhead trackpoint from the ThinkPads.  It was meant to be an ultraportable companion for a computer when portability was key and a true ultraportable notebook was too expensive or did not have enough battery life.  In this regards, the IdeaPad S10 is the spiritual successor to the WorkPad z50.  Fast forward 9 years, and true ultraportable laptops still cost an arm and a leg.  Netbooks, like the IdeaPad, offer the portability of a small computer without the cost.  They also have limitations, like the WorkPad, in that they cannot do everything a full-sized computer can.

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Around a year ago, Asus created the soon to be dubbed “netbook” market with its diminutive Eee PC.  The Eee was a surprise hit and spawned many imitators.  Pretty soon, it seemed like everyone and their mother had a subnotebook device in their product pipeline.  Some of those products have been hits, while others have been misses.  With all these new models from the likes of HP, MSI, Acer and soon to be joined by Dell and Lenovo, is there really a market for all these devices?  Or is this just a flash in the pan like so many other attempts at watered-down technology?  (Internet appliances, anyone?)  Read on after the jump.

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