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Never one to let a trend pass it by — even a year or so after it's hit prime time — Lenovo is finally getting into the low-cost netbook game with the IdeaPad S10. And again Lenovo proves that by sitting back and learning from the mistakes of others it can put together a solid product that ranks among the best in its class.

The IdeaPad S10 impresses at every turn: It's pint-size, light (2.7 pounds) and bereft of big power, featuring the now-standard 1.6-GHz Atom CPU and 1 GB of RAM. But dig deeper and you'll find a series of impressive upgrades over the competition: The most visible is a 10.2-inch LCD versus the 8.9-inch screen that's become the norm on mini-notes. Another modest upgrade puts a 160-GB hard drive at your disposal, the largest among all netbooks we've seen. And you get Windows XP, not yet another Linux of the Month flavor. Others (like HP) have tried to take netbooks up market, ending up with machines that cost at least $700. Lenovo's last big surprise in store for you is its price: A mere $470, which is on par with many 8.9-inch netbooks and far, far cheaper than most 10.2-inch models.

WIRED: Amazing combination of price and performance. Sophisticated, decidedly non-toy-like styling. Touch-typing is as easy as it gets in this category.

TIRED: White laptop, white power brick, black power cable: Epic design fail! Some trouble getting USB hard drives recognized. Sub-two-hour battery life and slightly dim screen are letdowns on an otherwise near-perfect device.

$470, ThinkPad

Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad S10 review.

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