Lenovo IdeaPad S12

Unfortunately, there's nothing game changing about Lenovo IdeaPad S12's looks. While the design made up of glossy plastics and embedded circular patterns is tastefully done, it's been done before by the likes of the HP Mini 110 and Mini 1000. Its hues white and black aren't as varied as the colorful offerings of the Dell Mini 12, although it's not as plain looking as the Samsung NC20.

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is now officially the heaviest netbook on the block, tipping the scales at 3.5 pounds (the dv2-1030us weighs 3.8 pounds, but HP refuses to call it a netbook). The extended 52 Wh battery is a major reason why it's heavier than your average netbook the rest has to do with its dimensions, as the S12 measures 11.5 by 9.2 by 1.2 inches (HWD). The NC20 is a bit smaller (11.5 by 8.5 by 1.2 inches), while the Dell Mini 12 (11.8 by 9 by 0.75 inches) is the thinnest among this 12 inch group.

Picky netbook users will be drawn to its 12 inch widescreen, questioning whether it's a netbook. The size of the screen and its 1.280 by 800 resolution don't suffer the same limitations as a 10 inch screen with a 1,024 by 600 resolution (scrolling, for instance, is minimized with long web pages and Adobe's Photoshop CS series has a 1.024 by 768 resolution requirement). It's not unusual, though, as all of its 12 inch peers possess the same screen characteristics.

The typing experience, however, does stand out. Its full size keyboard eclipses the 92% ones of the Dell Mini 12 and the HP dv2. It's on a par with the NC20's full size keyboard, with the slight edge going to the former's noise free mouse buttons. A bigger than normal netbook frame has its advantages, especially with cramming in features. The S12's three USB ports, Ethernet, VGA, an integrated Webcam, and a 4 in 1 memory card reader are standard netbook parts.

What makes it stand out among its 12 inch counterparts is the ExpressCard 34 slot. This slot, which can enable luxuries such as 3G wireless, extra USB ports, FireWire, and Serial port, can be a handy commodity for road warriors. The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (Red) and HP Mini 2140 are the only other netbooks that carry this slot, but they're miniature frames causes them to lose a third USB port.