BUSINESS ERA

At the beginning what was there known to be the mark that defined a netbook was the 7” screen, but nowadays this feature has evolved into a 10” screen one, becoming the current industry standard. The new release of Lenovo’s netbook series, IdeaPad S12 takes the further steps in the next generation of netbooks. The new model’s design fits in the same features with its predecessors, though the presentation seems to be more appealing in that it is larger in size. Having a 11.5 x 9.0 “ footprint and tapering from 1.4 to 1.0” and 6 cell battery, the S12 measures in size almost the one of Acer Aspire One AO751h. Its weight of 3.4 pounds makes it easier to carry while being on the road.


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The keyboard (10.6” x 4.3”) is larger compared to similar sized netbooks, with several of the keys, to include also the left and right Shift keys, presented in larger size than those belonging to Samsung NC20. The touchpad (2.6” x 1.5”) is a little bit smaller than NC20 and larger than the one of Aspire One AO751h offering two mouse buttons instead of a single bar.


The 12.1” display has a 1280 x 800 resolution with good contrast, though the viewing angles aren’t that good. The audio system has the stereo speakers with an impressive quality of the sound rendering a clear bass line and displaying a helpful equalizer when it came to fix the settings in order to create a more enjoyable audition experience. The Quick Star OS based on Linux proved to load quickly indeed enabling an easy usage. These apps comprise Web browser, photo viewer, IM client, music player and flash games portal.


The ports are displayed as it follows: on the left side there are 2 USB ports, a Wi-Fi on/off switch and a 4-in-1 memory card slot, whereas the right side presents a third USB port, VGA, Ethernet, an ExpressCard/34 slot, headphones and microphone ports. It is also present a 1.3 megapixel webcam which colors are somehow washed out while stepping further from it.


As to the performance the S12 is equipped with 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor scoring 1,389 in PCMark05, almost the same with the average for the netbooks. Its hard drive of 5,400 rpm, 160GB copied a 4.97GB folder at a rate of 17.9 MBps, meaning around 2MBps faster than the netbook average. The graphics is rendered by an Intel GMA 950 chip that scored 707 in 3Dmark03 and 71 in 3Dmark06, these lining up in the same average range. The IdeaPad S12 presents a 802.11b/g wireless radio able to transfer data at a rate of 18.6 and 17.2 Mbps from 15 and 50 feet as well. The system is powered by 6 cell battery that lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes, and it is good considering that the battery is powering a system of 12” screen. As a conclusion Lenovo IdeaPad S12 presents nice ergonomics, performance and endurance at a smaller price than its competitors and it is at the same time a highly portable device.

Source:laptopsarena.com