Here are shots of the 6-cell battery itself. This is the original Lenovo 6-cell battery that came with my S10. First is the overall view and next is the side view that shows it is like two cylinders joined on the side. Note the rail on the straight part of the battery.
The next two photos show the S10 without the battery, one a side view and the other the back view.
The next photo is a close-up on the back of the S10 that shows the "guide rail" for the battery. There is a similar one on the other side. Besides being a guide for inserting the battery in the correct angle, it also helps to relief the stress on the battery connection as part of the weight of the S10 will be resting on the battery itself once it is installed.
The next photo shows the S10 with the battery installed. Note that the battery comes with two rubber feet and this takes over the function of the two back rubber feet on the S10 itself (which is used if the 3-cell battery is installed) to provide support since the battery now lifts up the back of the unit.
This also gives the keyboard a certain slant (sloping towards the user which is good for the wrist if you type a lot) and it also increases the space between the bottom of the unit and the resting surface and improves the air circulation and aids heat dissipation. On actual usage, the unit doesn't wobble and feels very steady indeed. These are very good reasons to opt for the 6-cell battery, not to mention the extended battery life. The additional weight is minimal; my S10 weighs in at 1.3kg with the battery installed.
I noticed in some photos of 3rd party battery, there are no rubber feet and the weight will be on the front 2 rubber feet and the battery body itself and it also reduces the air circulation. Not sure if it has the rail that fits the guide rails mentioned earlier.
So much for the battery. Here are some other comments on the S10. I'm happy that it is very easy to upgrade the memory as well as the HDD if you wish to do so. Just remove 2 screws and lift out the back panel cover. See photo below. I heard it is pretty messy to do the same in some other netbooks.
There are a few cons as nothing is perfect. The click buttons on the touch-pad is very stiff and needs great effort to click. Thinking positively, it means you will never click in error.
The SD card sticks out and the slot is not spring loaded (like in most other devices but not sure about other similar netbooks) so you're not certain if you have fully inserted the card. On the positive side, you can see if you have removed your card or not. See photo below.
Finally, most other netbooks have 3 USB ports while the S10 has only 2. Granted the S10 comes with Bluetooth and an Express card slot which others may not have but such devices are expensive and nothing like the el cheapo USB stuff that is available. In fact there is a perfect space for adding another USB port just next to the LAN port. With this in place, the S10 will thump the competition, hands down.
Did somebody say S11?
Ronald Kwok
http://cbpirate.com/s/cbp/ronaldkwok
man.. finally!! thanks so much for your post and review on the s10 and also on the 6 cell battery!
ReplyDeletetomorrow i will go to win chance and get myself one of these babies.. after a looonggg time of googling, reading reviews and scouring the net for all the info on s10, its nice to finally get the very comforting info that is needed for finalizing my decision-making process. all thanks to u.
this is by far the most perfect netbook for ppl like us. (a little bit of office work, emails, surfing the net and listening to music).
wanna play games? then get a dell xps.. haha!
Hi baboon (am I rude?),
ReplyDeletethanks for viewing. A few more cons lest you say you've been conned by me. You would have read about these in other reviews. Keyboard, not the best layout but usable. Noisy fan? Depends on your tolerance level. Gets a bit warm on the left side but wouldn't fry an egg. Teeny. tiny speakers. Maybe other netbooks are similar so it's a personal choice. Anyway, OK for the money you pay. Good luck.
baboon i am! lol!
ReplyDeletejust got myself the s10. upgraded the 512mb ram to 1gb, so now the ram is 1.5gb(plus the onboard 512mb). the shop is excellent. the technicians even showed me how to disassemble the back part for upgrading the ram and hdd for future usage.
no worries on the keyboard and fan cos its not an issue for me.. but by far this is THE netbook for now. i would definitely recommend this to everyone.
future plans: ill wait for a one piece 4gb ram and upgrade to 500gb hdd. then install vista. hahaha!!
Hi baboon,
ReplyDeletecongrats on your new baby. BTW, I've open another blog just for the Lenovo S10. Click the link in the New Home announcement at the top of this Blog. My latest post is on converting the drive C: from FAT32 to NTFS, if you have not done so already. Cheers.
Hi can you tell me where in KL I buy a 6 or 9-cell battery? When I bought my S10 all they had was the 3-cell. I'm hoping you live in the Klang Valley.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am very happy with my S10; I upgraded to 2GB right away.
Thx
Randy
Hi Randy,
ReplyDeleteI was lucky when I bought my S10, they just came out with the 6 cell battery and at that time some shops were still selling the S10 with the 3 cell battery. If you want a 6 cell or 9 cell battery, I suppose the best place to try would be Low Yat Plaza in KL or you can call Lenovo Malaysia at 1800 808 575 and enquire. Last resort would be the Pasar Road shops unless you want to order from the Internet. Good luck.