Lenovo IdeaPad S12 ION Review

[Chris]

Pros:Nvidia ION provides great multimedia experience, Solid build quality, 320 GB hard drive, 3 GB RAM, Veriface login systemCons:Price Amazon.com WidgetsBottom Line:The Lenovo Ideapad S12 ION is the most powerful netbook I've reviewed this year and if you aren't on a strict budget you can stop reading this review right now and go buy [...]

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[ThisIsNot]

$649 for an Atom N270 netbook? Wow, that is overpriced. Uh oh, I don't want to offend the Lenovo fans so I guess I will stop there. It looks like a solid product but that price is just too high. Sorry but netbooks should have a maximum of a $450 price. I can get a 13"-15" notebook that lasts for 6 hours on a single charge for $650.

Nice review though. It looks like a great product but there are some shortcomings; mainly the price. I saw that you gave Flash 10.1 a test run. How does that perform on the ION platform?

According to Chris, the reviewed Lenovo with ION has a stronger build from better materials without flex. It has a larger 320GB HDD with 3GB RAM. The battery drives it for 4 hours non-stop. Oh, wow, it has a full sized keyboard, best ever used. Digital HDMI port too. The highest netbook performance tested. W7 Home Premium. That's all before you get to the graphics performance of the ION. What's a similarly equipped netbook?

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives. Apple, Lenovo and Asus are the top reliability providers depending on which quarter you check according to Rescuecom Standards. The fewer service calls a run of computers has, the better for cost analysis. Less down time translates into more productivity.

Cheaper gets you material not as good, less performance, smaller HDD and you need to add RAM, cramped keyboard, analog VGA and XP. And, more service calls overall. That's like ordering a cheese sandwich at the WalMart grill. Of course if all you have is $5 or prefer simple calories then the cheese sandwich is pretty good. Something for everybody.

The Lenovo with SSD sounds like a pretty good travel companion size for seat back trays on planes and trains. Four hours of battery, two meals, standing in line for the toilets and a nap will get you through an international flight. Of course, I'm still using my smaller, dependable $200 Asus 901 but not for graphics. ION whups me there. Something for everybody. (Oops, I already said that.)

[ThisIsNot]

HP's Mini 311 is a similarly equipped model and it costs $575 when equipped with the exact same specs (not to mention that its battery will push the unit to 6 hours of real world operation). I still think that is too much but it is $75 less than Lenovo's solution. It even has an option for an 80GB SSD drive. It is ridiculously expensive but it is there.

The quality of netbooks (in general) has increased over the years. My HP Mini 110 is made of the same material that Lenovo uses for their business (ie expensive) notebooks. Zero keyboard flex, LED LCD panel also with zero flex, etc. These high grade materials have drastically come down in cost. Gone are the days of having to spend $500+ for a netbook that won't flex. The brand of a computer also has little to do with the amount of customers service calls someone will make. I have heard horror stories regarding Asus, Acer, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, IBM (back in the day), Dell, Samsung, Sony, and every other brand that is out there. Uh oh, I didn't get a Lenovo so I guess that means I will have to call tech service at least once a week just to keep my HP netbook operational. Nope. Lenovo, just like any other brands, has produced lemon computers and consumers that aren't happy. You spent $200 on a netbook. I guess you must be on the phone every single day with tech support.

Lastly, VGA is still an accepted standard with most (if not all) HDTVs on the market having at least one VGA port. Sure, it is a little bulkier than HDMI but the format has been mastered. This means that it produces video quality that is on par with HDMI. HDMI is convenient as it offers a video and audio connection all in one but it isn't necessary. Go to a conference or presentation room and you will likely be using VGA as their projectors don't have an HDMI input. Nothing wrong with having VGA only.

Originally Posted by ThisIsNot

HP's Mini 311 is a similarly equipped model and it costs $575 when equipped with the exact same specs

Not to quibble over price but I priced it at $599. The difference might be closer depending on whether media is included by Lenovo or greater depending on market area. California has the California Electronic Waste Recycling Act fee. I was checking the price to buy one after I read your review of your HP. I believe you have the 10in model. However, quibbling over performance and quality is okay. HP offered a higher resolution screen over the Lenovo. The price was still less than the Lenovo but it was Chris who said Lenovo was the best reviewed, not me. Take that up with Chris if you think HP is on the same level. That might be an interesting thread. The problem for me buying the HP/Lenovo was getting the time for HP/Lenovo building and shipping to match the time I knew where I would be to receive it.

The brand of a computer also has little to do with the amount of customers service calls someone will make.

Well, that's somewhat right but that misdirects what I said. There is no predicting service calls that will be made by brand or price, especially for one unit. However, there is counting actual brand service calls for all units over a quarter of time that have been made and the three I mentioned are the top ones for the least calls according to Rescuecom Standards, not my opinion. We can check on HP and Lenovo again at the end of this quarter.

[ThisIsNot]

Originally Posted by netbooking

Not to quibble over price but I priced it at $599.

Something of which was not originally specified. I was looking at the price that Chris quotes for the Lenovo. Also Chris said that this is the highest performing netbook that he has reviewed. That is in comparison with other netbooks that he has actually used and reviewed. Chris hasn't reviewed the HP Mini 311 or any modern HP model for that matter. I don't have an issue with that and I am not trying to dispute Chris's claims (that was not the point of my post). I was just quoting a netbook from HP that came with the same specs that turned out to be $75 cheaper. You asked for a comparably equipped netbook and I gave you one.

Originally Posted by netbooking

Well, that's somewhat right but that misdirects what I said.

No it doesn't:

Originally Posted by netbooking

Cheaper gets you material not as good, less performance, smaller HDD and you need to add RAM, cramped keyboard, analog VGA and XP. And, more service calls overall.

Asus is definitely not as expensive as Lenovo yet you said that going with a cheaper netbook (ie less expensive) would net you more service calls.

[Chris]

I made a mistake in the video I just realized. The unit I tested is the highest end S12 ION they make and right now it's $649. I too agree that the only real downside is the price.

It comes back to that core principle of what defines a netbook. I think of it as an inexpensive machine capable of handling most computing tasks.

Once you pass the $500 barrier it starts to change somewhat and that's why I suggested to wait to buy until a killer sale that drops the price down a bunch.

Yes that's true I haven't reviewed the HP Mini 311. I've briefly checked one out but not enough time to give it a really in depth review. Surprisingly HP uses a PR firm that apparently receives so few units they can't even send one out to me. I've spoken to multiple people there too!

[ThisIsNot]

I wouldn't worry about reviewing the HP Mini 311 unless you get a flood of requests. That wasn't what my comments were about though. I was just looking at the specs of each netbook while comparing their prices.

The issue with these high priced netbooks (I consider the HP Mini 311 to be high priced) is that they are all packing the ION platform. It is still relatively new so early adopters have to pay that high initial price. ION platform prices will eventually fall and become a mundane thing for netbooks. Until then, manufacturers will insist on selling their ION equipped netbooks for $500 or more. Kind of a shame as that price point puts netbooks in the same (price) market as notebooks. Manufacturers have been trying to push notebook sales ever since netbooks started to become a threat (though I have never understood this). Blu-ray equipped notebooks are coming in at about $650 while dual-core AMD notebooks (with ATI HD graphics solutions) coming in at about $550. Granted, these units will only last about 4-5 hours on a single charge but that still isn't bad.

[ericinboston]

Well, I've read this thread and the Ferrari one...lots of opinions on price and quality, etc.

Here are my points related to these 2 machines priced at $599-$649:

1)Too expensive. Period. Netbooks are supposed to be an alternative to a Notebook...and the alternative is by giving up some features (cd/dvd drive, high powered CPU, large and/or fast hard drive, etc. which in turn also provide a smaller and lighter unit) for a big price break. The Lenovo and Ferrari, in my opinion, are too expensive as netbook-promoted machines.

2)Parts is parts (especially identical manufacturers/models). When computers ship with the same Intel processors and amounts of ram and speeds of drives, and graphics chips, etc. it's all parts. So you can't really state that a Lenovo is "better" than an Acer or Sesame Street brand if the parts are the same or very very similar.

3)Quality. Quality is a tough topic. It means different things to different people...especially computers. In my view, if 2 machines have very similar parts (see point 2), then the quality I am looking for is how the machine's shell is designed...are the ports in wacky positions?...does the machine slide off the table too easily?...does the screen have poor brightness? does the machine's keyboard feel cheap and flimsy? does the manufacturer, in general, have a poor track record for ASSEMBLING the parts and hence offering a quality "computer"? Those are some examples.

4)As has been discussed numerous times on this board, the netbook market is always evolving like every other computer market. What is "standard" in 2007 will certainly not be in 2010...that goes for standard cpu power, battery life, operating system, screen size, etc. But I still feel strongly that this netbook MARKET is/was created as an INEXPENSIVE alternative to a laptop. We can really only live in the now.


Now, if I am looking at 2 netbooks that cost $599 and up...and I notice in my homework that every other netbook available is $300-$450, I wonder why I am paying a 44% and higher premium. If the parts are the same and the warranties are the same, etc. it comes down to simple branding and what the vendor is trying to charge to make a buck (and how many bucks). In the case of the Ferrari netbook, I bet Asus is paying a licensing fee to put the Ferrari logo and colors on the computer. As for Lenovo, I am guessing they feel they can charge more because of their laptop reputation with the Thinkpads (which always rate extremely high in the business world). There are probably other reasons...including simple greed. And remember, Business 101 says that you can never increase your prices...thus price it high...if it doesn't sell, you can always lower it. My guess is the 2 models mentioned will not sell well (especially in a recession) and prices will drop $50-$100.

This topic can go on forever...but I think most of us agree that netbooks over $450 need a serious second look. Stack them up side by side in a store as well as online with specification matrices. As a consumer, find out why A costs so much more than B. If it's simply a name, and you are fine with paying a premium on names, that's your option. If you it's for something super sexy, that's your option, too. Similar to if you go looking at "sub compact" cars and notice one is really really expensive (the BMW Mini Cooper)...even though it's a sub-compact, you are paying the premium for other reasons/features. It's not a perfect example, and I don't have perfect examples.



-Eric