Engadget has reviewed the brand new Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t. The features are quite impressive as it’s a combo netbook/tablet PC for a reasonable $649.

However the overall review was not very flattering:

As both a netbook and a tablet the S10-3t leaves a bit more to be desired. Sure, we’re disappointed that the N470 processor doesn’t provide improved performance, but what’s even more aggravating is that $649 buys you a tiny trackpad, sluggish touchscreen software and terrible viewing angles. Maybe you can live with those shortcomings, but we’re personally holding out for a better netbook / tablet combo to come along.

oh well, maybe Lenovo will get it right on the next one.  You can read the full reviews here.

Things are starting to heat up a bit as the Apple iPad is set to be released. PC makers like HP are all prepping their vision of the tablet PC by leaking photos and offering bloggers to test drive their new gadgets. Articles are popping up either predicting success or failure of the iPad while pointing out why a particular device will win over the iPad.

One such article came out a few weeks ago.  Well known technology analyst, Robert Enderle wrote how Apple got it all wrong when compared to Dell’s soon-to-be released Mini 5.

What should Apple have done, according to Robert Enderle? Apple should have made a slightly larger iPhone than a mega sized iPod.  The Dell does exactly that, making the Mini 5  an ultraportable device with a good size screen that would make a nice compliment for someone with a smartphone, a laptop and Amazon’s Kindle:

The Dell Mini 5 loads Google apps which should also scale relatively easily from a 3.5” screen to a 5” screen. You can put the Dell Mini in a belt pouch (big one), battery life seems to be similar to a screen phone and likely not yet optimized, and it is vastly better than an iPhone (thanks to its larger screen) for browsing, watching video, gaming (assuming you can find good games) and typing. 

It is also substantially better for us old farts who don’t like to wear glasses. At 5” the screen is 90% larger which is really what makes a lot of things better. It multi-tasks, has two cameras (one a 5 mega pixel with twin LED lights and digital zoom – the other for video conferencing), and both a removable battery and expandable memory.  

But it is the fact that you can toss your phone and replace it with this device that makes it work otherwise you have to carry another largely redundant device with yet another dataplan.

It should be interesting how it turns out. There is a place for both of these devices. The iPad has brought a lot of attention to tablet PC’s this year. It may finally be the time that tablet PC’s will become more mainstream as Bill Gates had predicted almost ten years ago, but instead of devices just running a desktop version of Windows, we’ve also going to have devices running at least Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone OS or Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS. It’s going to be a good year!

Friday  Engadget got exclusive pictures and video on Microsoft rumored Courier device, which is Microsoft’s vision of a tablet device to rival Apple’s upcoming iPad.

It’s expected that the Courier will be a pen-based device running a version of Windows Mobile 7 OS. It will have a built in camera and headphone jack. The courier will be the everything device that every one  hoped the iPad should have been and will be a very big hit with everyday Microsoft Windows fans and business people alike.

The rumor is that the Courier will be released sometime toward the end of 2010. We predict that the timing will be perfect since it will be after Apple’s expected disastrous launch of the iPad. People will be screaming for something more advanced and in tune with the times, and Microsoft Courier will be right there to fulfill their needs. It will be the biggest selling device in 2010, starting the revolution of portable touch screen devices.

In case you haven’t heard, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will go on sale April 3!  U.S. customers can pre-order either the Wi-Fi version or the Wi-Fi/3G version on March 12.  The Wi-Fi/3G version is expected to go on sale in “late April,” whatever that is.

As for  Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, you can expect both versions available in “late April.”

We are very tempted to get one. . .but we will wait.

There’s an article on Liliputing.com about trademark issues with the Smartbook. What’s a Smartbook, you may ask?

On one hand, Smartbook is the name of a German hardware company, on the other, it’s what some companies are calling netbooks that have built in 3G mobile broadband connectivity via the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. Examples include the Lenovo Skylight and the Compaq Airlife 100.