There are a few things that set netbooks apart from traditional laptops. They’re smaller, cheaper, and generally have less processing power than most modern computers. But while the conventional wisdom is that you wouldn’t want to run CPU-intensive applications like Photoshop on a netbook, the truth is that you really can.

Musician Arman Bohn has been using a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 since last year. And he used the 10 inch netbook with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor to create a significant portion of his animated music video for the song “No Escape!”

Arman tells me he drew the backgrounds on a netbook in Photoshop and then added them to After Effects for animation. He did much of this work while sitting in cafes. The final rendering as done on a more powerful desktop PC with a 24 inch monitor that could actually display the video at its ful 1920 x 1080 resolution.

You can check out the video after the break.

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Lenovo released a BIOS update (version 90) for Ideapad S9 and S10 netbooks earlier this month. But here’s a word of caution: Don’t upgrade to the latest BIOS unless you’re willing to risk leaving your computer in an unbootable state. Because that’s exactly what happened to a number of users in the Lenovo Forums. While some people were able to get their systems working again by unplugging the battery and holding down the power button for a while, some users report that the only solution was to contact Lenovo and make arrangements to send their netbooks in for repairs or replacement.

FYI, the BIOS is supposed to resolve a couple of issues affecting power, fan speed, and the battery indicator. It also adds a password-on-bot functionality to the BIOS CMOS settings. And some users report that they were able to upgrade to the latest BIOS with no problems. But unless you’re having major issues with the problems addressed by this BIOS, you might want to wait for Lenovo to release a newer version before updating.

thanks Jose!

IdeaPad S10

Lenovo is launching two new models in the Ideapad Sxx series. The IdeaPad S10-2 is a 10 inch netbook like the original S10, but with an integrated 3G modem. As rumored, Lenovo is also introducing a new 12 inch model called the IdeaPad S12, which will also have built in 3G support.

Both netbooks laptops will ship with the Splashtop quick start interface that will give users access to a web browser, instant messenger, and a handful of other apps without waiting for Windows to boot. According to a press release from Splashtop makers DeviceVM, the quick boot operating system should work with 3G connections just as well as with WiFi or Ethernet connections.

You can find the complete press release after the break.

Update: I just got word from the folks at DeviceVM that the official announcement has been delayed and that the model numbers of the Lenovo laptops mentioned have not been finalized yet.

TigerDirect is holding a contest for the next few days. Basically you enter your name and email address, and possibly agree to receive some promotional emails from the online retailer, and you get a chance to win a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook.

The Lenovo Ideapad S10 has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, and runs WIndows XP. It comes in black, white, and pink, but it’s not quite clear which color(s) TigerDirect is giving away).

The contest has actually been going on for a few weeks, but it ends this weekend, so there’s just a little time left to get your entries in.

If you don’t win, stay tuned. Liliputing is turning 1 year old in April and I’ve got a few contests of my own lined up.

via Portable Monkey

Lenovo IdeaPad S10

Computer makers seem to be trying to find a middle ground between pint sized netbooks (1o inches or smaller) and full sized laptops (usually 14 inches or larger). Notebooks with 11 and 12 inch screens have existed for a while, but they typically carried high price tags. But today Dell and Samsung are offering 12 inch notebooks with low power, low cost processors that help keep the price down.

Now it looks like Lenovo is getting in on the action. DigiTimes reports that the company is planning an IdeaPad S20 notebook which will apparently bear a more than passing resemblance to the Lenovo Ideapad S10 netbook.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S20 will reportedly have a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU and GN40 chipset, and would ship with Windows XP… at least until Windows 7 is ready. DigiTimes suggests the computer could retail for $20,000 Taiwanese, or about $586 US. But it’s worth noting that these computers are usually cheaper in the US, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the price is closer to $400 or $500 in the US.

via NetbookTech

The Lenovo Ideapad S10e is designed for educational markets, but it also adds a few features that the original IdeaPad S10 lacked. For one thing, it comes with the Splashtop “quick start” software preloaded. This provides quick access to Firefox, Skype, and a few other apps. I got a chance to play with a few IdeaPad’s running Splashtop and rival quick start software HyperSpace at CES, and while it’s a neat idea, I find it really doesn’t take that much longer to boot Windows and launch any program you like.

Laptop Magazine has a detailed review of the IdeaPad S10e, and they were pretty happy with the quick start feature, which took 11 seconds to load, plus another 10 to launch Firefox. The lack of support for Firefox add-ons is a bit annoying, but like I said, you can always just ignore quick start and load Windows. The Splashtop interface doesn’t cost extra.

The S10e starts at $379, although you can pay more for configuration with better specs.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook may have a starting price of $349, but you can pick up an IdeaPad S10e from Buy.com for just under $300. The two computers are pretty much the same. They sport a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth.

The netbook comes with a 3 cell battery and Windows XP Home Edition. While it may not have the largest hard drive, the fastest wireless connection, or the highest battery capacity, the price drop makes the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e one of the cheapest netbooks available with a 10 inch display.

Update: As Gordon points out in the comments, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e typically has a 0.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel display. But the Buy.com product listing says this model has a 1024 x 600 pixel screen. It’s possible that the product page is wrong, so if you really want those extra pixels, you may want to contact Buy.com before placing an order.

HyperSpace

Lenovo added a new quick start feature to its IdeaPad S10 netbook line this week. Basically users have the option of booting into a full Windows XP operating system or a stripped down Linux OS that provides you access to just a few frequently used applications like Firefox and Skype. The advantage of using quick start is that… you guessed it, the PC boots faster.

Lenovo is using technology from Splashtop to deliver this quick start feature. But I discovered yesterday that the company had also looked at using similar technology from Phoenix called HyperSpace. Apparently Phoenix didn’t have the product far enough along for Lenovo to load it on the company’s netbooks. 

In a nutshell, both  Splashtop and HyperSpace do the same thing. And here’s the interesting bit – they both work on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 today. Phoenix is launching HyperSpace this week and anyone can download and install the software on supported hardware, and that includes the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. The primary difference between the two systems is that Lenovo is offering Splashtop for free while anyone can download a free 21 day trial of HyperSpace, but you’ll need to pay if you want to keep using the software after the trial expires. 

HyperSpace works in two ways. You can either toggle back and forth between Windows and a HyperSpace environment, or you can choose to boot into one OS or the other. On computers with slower processors like the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, only the latter version is available. The either/or version is available for $39.95 a year, while the verison that lets you switch back and forth costs $59.95 a year, both of which seem kind of steep to me. 

I asked a Lenovo rep if the company would be offering Splashtop as a free or paid download for customers who have already purchased an IdeaPad S10 (right now it’s only going to be available on new units), and he said it’s possible but that no announcement has been made yet.

I did learn  one interesting thing about both HyperSpace and Splashtop yesterday: Neither is truly “instant on” software. As you can see from the videos after the break, it actually takes 10+ seconds to boot into either environment. While that’s pretty good compared to most Windows and Linux boot sequences, my 5 year old PDA turns on and off a lot faster. Of course that’s because when you turn it off, it’s really going to sleep and not shutting all the way off. But I’d love to see this feature on more netbooks not running Windows CE.

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Lenovo is updating its IdeaPad S10 netbook line with three new features: Quick Start, facial recognition, and Lenovo Social, a social networking tool.

Quick Start is Lenovo’s answer to the ExpressGate software that Asus loads onto most of its motherboards (although not most Eee PC netbook models to date). The software gives a computer “instant on” capabilities by booting a stripped down Linux-based operating system with just a few programs allowing you to access a web browser, Skype, and photo and music applications without waiting for a full OS to boot. We’d already heard that Lenovo would be offering the software on its IdeaPad S10E netbook (which I believe is intended primarily for educational markets), but now it looks like the whole line of netbooks will get Quick Start.

The S10 line is also getting a facial recognition application that works as a security feature.

Finally, Lenovo is adding a tool called Lenovo Social, which seems to be a link to a web portal that offers access to Lenovo forums, blogs, and basic information about accessing social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr. Lenovo Social seems to be geared towards people who have never heard of Twitter, and may never have heard of Facebook or Wikipedia either, if any people like that actually still exist.

The new facial recognition and Quick Start features will be available in March. No word on whether you’ll be able to add the software to existing netbooks or if you’ll need to pick up a new Lenovo IdeaPad S10 in March to use the new features.

via jkOnTheRun and Laptop Magazine

… Rose Okeson. 

Rose contributed three articles to the Notebooks.com wiki, (the randomly selected prize-winning entry was on the Sylvania G netbook) and will be receiving a shiny new Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook.

We had some excellent submissions as part of this contest. You can find them all in the contest thread in the Liliputing Forums.

And if you haven’t won a Liliputing contest yet, don’t worry. We’ve got at least one more scheduled to start before the end of the year.