Lenovo S10 vs. ASUS Eee PC 900HA

Reading the usual blogs, I noticed that the release information for the 900HA has been floating around. I was looking at the S10 as my primary choice for a netbook, but then I saw that the 900HA was released. According to reviews, the s10 is supposed to be very well-built and less toy-like. I was wondering if anyone else has any thoughts on the comparison - the price tags differ by about $90. The ASUS is $349 whereas the S10 is $439. Any suggestions/opinions?

 

I would say go with the EEE 1000H. Its keyboard is larger, better battery life out of the box,...Some are said to have flex, but that is easily fixed just like the whole **** - Up Arrow fiasco.

 

I'm going to get the 900HA. I like the way it looks - it is exactly what I wanted when I saw the 900; the same body and style of the 900, but with a bigger harddrive and an atom processor. I've seen the 900 and how small it is, but I'm just hoping to get used to the small keyboard after a little bit of use. Plus, the battery life isn't a deal-breaker for me, and the price (if it stays that way) is very nice.

I don't know if this was helpful, just my opinion.

 

the only value in a netbook is if it is significantly smaller than a cheap 12" laptop, thereby justifying the terrible performance.

the S10 is nearly half the volume of the 1000h.

buy the S10.

 

How is the S10 nearly half the volume? One has a 6 cell, one with a 3. They both have the same 10.2" screen, one more matte, one glossy. One keyboard is 95%, one is 89%, negligible in size, but definitely noticeable for those who can touch type. If you meant to say weight and not volume, you would be nearly correct, but that brings us to battery, 5-7 hours versus 2-3...

For all prospective buyers you can go to Best Buy, if available, to preview the Asus 900 as well as the Wind 10". I would suggest against the Wind as the later models have serious construction/hardware issues.

 

I'm using the stated volumes of both machines.

Asus Eee PC 1000HD:
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=229
267/191/38 mm = 1.937886 litres volume

Lenovo IdeaPad S10:
http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=243
249/183/25 mm = 1.139175 litres volume

i think my original statement: "the S10 is nearly half the volume of the 1000h." is quite justified.

to put this in perspective, the MSI PR211 notebook with a 12" screen, dual-core CPU and HD3200 DirectX10 GPU is a grand total of 2.1 litres in volume, less when you consider i've ignored the taper. better still it will cost only ~£550 which isn't exactly Vaio or Macbook territory.

you may disagree with me on what you think 'makes' a netbook, but its hard to ignore the fact that the Eeepc 1000 is a poor cheerleader for the portable crowd.

however, the really stupid version is the Eeepc N10 which i believe is even bigger than the MSI 12" laptop, while costing nearly as much, and still being on half as powerful.

p.s. i'm not saying the 1000 is a poor machine, it is well made and relatively inexpensive, but i do think it is a poor netbook. I am willing to overlook the terrible performance of the lenovo because it is so genuinely small, something that cannot be said about the asus.

 

I just order the 900ha. It has the perfect form factor of the original 900, but all the latest netbook trends such as atom and real hdd. I know it isn't SSD but it can be easily updated to a real 2.5 inch SSD (which is what I will do when they come down in price)

The price is nice, especially if you use the live.com cashback, and it has the same thing every other **** netbook on the planet has in it.. I will try to give some impressions when I get it on monday. If fedex actually gets it here on time.

 

900HA for 350 is a great deal, especially with live.com cashback.

The S10 is still on the 3-cell which doesn't provide great battery life.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have seen a 900ha in person and it sure is tiny - that keyboard will take some getting used to. I saw the S10 in the 160gb flavor on circuit city's website. No word on the 6-cell battery, which is what I would like.

I like the 1000h, but the bezel bothers me (though it helps with the keyboard). I'd just as soon use all of the space of the bezel for a bigger screen and better keyboard. I've seen a 900 (squarer style vs the 901) and a 1000 side-by-side at Best Buy.

I'm still debating. I have been trying to see a size comparison of the two (the 900 form factor vs. the s10 form factor), and finding any coverage on youtube has been a pain. I'd love to see an s10 in person to test it out. Part of me feels as if 10" isn't a true netbook - it's really getting into the ultraportable notebook scene versus small netbook form factors.

P.S. Thanks for the clue on live.com cashback....

 

newegg has the 900HA for 230

 

Where? I only see $330

 

Bought to say, that was a deal.

 

The S10 on the CPP site of Lenovo is like $360 or less...

 

Yeah, saw that. I have a CPP type deal where the 160gb is 404. Still waiting on that battery though. I've read around to expect end of December. Guess that gives me time to put away some extra cash. I'm still looking at the 900ha, but the webcam and 4-cell are turn offs.