Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t Convertible Tablet Netbook Review – Page 3

Benchmark: HDTune 2.55

Is the relatively sluggish performance all in my head? To put it to the test, I ran through our usual suite of benchmarks on the Lenovo S10-3t. To start, we put the 250GB hard drive in the Lenovo S10-3t through HDTune 2.55. The data transfer rate ranged from 34.9MB/sec to 54.7MB/sec with most of the test staying about the 50MB/sec range. The access time was clocked in a 19.3ms with a burst rate of 29.7MB/sec. This is generally faster than the 80GB drive on the old MSI Wind, but it’s pretty much on par with more contemporary netbooks. That’s to say, it’s not fast.

While one could ponder putting in a solid state drive ala the new MacBook Air, it would also price this machine right out of netbook territory.

Benchmark: PCMark05 and 3DMark06

As I encountered with several other netbooks that I have tested over the years, the Lenovo S10-3t was not able to complete the full suite of benchmarks from PCMark05. However, it is quite notable that the CPU score is not up to snuff. The N450 only got a CPU score of 1398. The older N280 on the Eee PC 1005HA, on the other hand, was able to get a CPU score of 1559.

Pineview is supposed to be an improvement, but the performance just isn’t there.

On the 3DMark front, the results weren’t any more impressive. As before, I had to remove the Batch Size Tests in order to get a score; if I do not, the netbook freezes and leaves me with a blank screen. After removing those tests, 3DMark computed an overall score of 153 3DMarks.

This is slightly better than some of the other netbooks I have reviewed in the past, but you do have to realize that this is still very much a netbook and will perform as such. I was able to play HD video on it, but I wouldn’t recommend playing much more than Peggle on here.

Battery Life Test

To test the battery life, I ran a 720p HD video on a continuous loop in Windows Media Player. The Wi-Fi radio was left on but the connection was dormant. Both screen brightness and volume level were cranked up to the maximum too. The HD AVI video file was just under an hour in length.

Based on these cirumstances, the included four-cell battery was able to hold up for just under two-and-a-half hours before the computer hibernated on its own. This is with the power setting configured to hibernate when battery level is at 5% or less. This isn’t the best, but playing HD video is a heavier load. Under more casual use, you can probably expect about four hours.

Closing Thoughts

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t leaves a lot to be desired and I don’t think this kind of form factor is going to be relevant moving forward. The performance just isn’t up to snuff and I’d be more inclined to buy a 15-inch notebook with a “real” processor than a netbook like this given the price point.

On the tablet front, again, you’re better off with a real tablet with a more tablet-appropriate operating system. It’ll also be much faster and more responsive on dedicated hardware. The NaturalTouch interface tries to give a better tablet experience, but it comes up short. What we’re left with is a product that is neither here nor there. It’s a very expensive way to play minesweeper that’s for sure and that’s the only thing we thought it was good at in terms of touch screen performance.

The IdeaPad S10-3t, as configured, has an MSRP of about $629US, but you can find it for sale at various retailers in the $500US range. Personally, I’d be more inclined to consider the Lenovo Skylight smartbook we saw at CES 2010 than this particular offering. We know you can do better Lenovo.

Pros