Probably the only problem I had with our netbook was the battery life. The keyboard, screen, storage, expandability, aesthetics, and speed were just fine. Luckily, unlike some fruit named manufacturers, Lenovo allows you to swap out the battery easily. So, out with the 3 cell and in with a 6 cell battery. 9 cells are available, but they add just too much bulk, and I really don’t need 8 to 10 hours of battery life. That’s a long time to stare at a 10” TFT screen. The results:

Old battery life, with WiFi on, less than 2 hours.

New battery life, with WiFi on, more than 4 hours.

Old battery life, WiFi off, 2 hours, 15 minutes.

New battery life, WiFi off, Over 5 hours.

It only adds 150 grams to the mass of the netbook and it raises up the back about a quarter of an inch. You end up with a little better typing angle, so that’s a plus in my book. It also still fits in the neoprene sleeve that I use to carry the netbook. With a rather reasonable investment, it turned a pretty good netbook into a great netbook.

What I love about the S10 is that it does not look or act like a netbook. It looks like a notebook, it feels like a notebook, especially with Ubuntu on here. Since Lenovo came out with netbooks after nearly everyone else, they learned from the mistakes of others and produced a refined, easy to use product that does not look or feel cheap or compromised and it is a rare netbook with an express card expansion slot.

As a side note, now I am on my second day without recharging the battery. I used it about two hours yesterday, and today it is still showing 3 hours remaining. I think I will keep using it until I get down to less than 5%.