Lenovo’s IdeaPad U310 does have the premium quality that you would expect in an Ultrabook. It looks sturdy, yet light-dazzles yet with a subtlety. On the outside, the Ultrabook means all business-the grey colour top and bottom stating the intent clearly. The interior of the notebook uses matte eggshell white plastic that extends around the sides of the notebook. Its cool and distinct. A lone chrome power button sits in the top left corner just above the black matte keyboard. Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors continue to impress, powering the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 to solid scores.
Equipped with a 1.7-GHz Intel i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 5,400-rpm hard drive with a 32GB SSD and an Intel GMA HD Graphics 4000 GPU, the U310 easily streamed video from Vimeo while we played a few rounds of “Snowboard with several open tabs in Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Even the benchmarking tests confirmed that the IdeaPad is a good performer, by outdoing the Sony VAIO T13 and Dell Inspiron 14z. Although you won’t be playing some of the more graphically demanding titles such as Max Payne 3 with an Intel GMA HD 4000 Graphics GPU, you’ll definitely be able to watch HD video and play most of the MMORPGs out there.
Enlarge Lenovo packages the IdeaPad U310 with a small suite of apps and utilities. The Energy Management utility was one of our favourites. We liked how it resembled a car’s odometer as well as how easy it was to switch between settings. During the Laptop Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), the U310 lasted 5 hours and 19 minutes. That’s below the 6:51 ultraportable average, but in line with other Ultrabooks we’ve recently tested.
Design
The subtle sheen of the tiny metallic flakes danced with every flicker of light. A slightly raised diamond-cut chrome Lenovo insignia sits in the top right corner, creating a beautiful contrast.
Design
The subtle sheen of the tiny metallic flakes danced with every flicker of light. A slightly raised diamond-cut chrome Lenovo insignia sits in the top right corner, creating a beautiful contrast.
Display
Enlarge The U310’s I3.3-inch HD 1366 x 768p display delivered sharp text, making reading the latest headlines from NYTimes.com and others easy to read. Unfortunately, the U310 doesn’t have the brightest display. Measuring only 148 lux, it was easily outshone by the 239 lux ultraportable category average as well as the VAIO T13 and XPS 13, which measured 163 and 254 lux, respectively.
Connectivity
EnlargeThe right side of the U310 houses a USB 2.0 port, a combination headphone/ microphone jack and a jack for the AC adapter. An SD Card slot sits on the left front lip of the notebook. A pair of USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet and a button for Lenovo’s One Key Recovery service is located on the notebook’s left side.
Verdict
Those in search of an eye-catching portable Ultrabook at an affordable price should put the 50K (approx.) Lenovo Idea Pad U310 on their short list. The notebook delivers fast Ivy Bridge performance and sound ergonomics inside a design that doesn’t look anything like a MacBook Air clone. However, the battery life could be better, and the display isnt the brightest. If you are looking for more graphical oomph, then you can go for the Dell Inspiron 14z, which is slightly more expensive.
Enlarge The U310’s I3.3-inch HD 1366 x 768p display delivered sharp text, making reading the latest headlines from NYTimes.com and others easy to read. Unfortunately, the U310 doesn’t have the brightest display. Measuring only 148 lux, it was easily outshone by the 239 lux ultraportable category average as well as the VAIO T13 and XPS 13, which measured 163 and 254 lux, respectively.
Connectivity
EnlargeThe right side of the U310 houses a USB 2.0 port, a combination headphone/ microphone jack and a jack for the AC adapter. An SD Card slot sits on the left front lip of the notebook. A pair of USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet and a button for Lenovo’s One Key Recovery service is located on the notebook’s left side.
Verdict
Those in search of an eye-catching portable Ultrabook at an affordable price should put the 50K (approx.) Lenovo Idea Pad U310 on their short list. The notebook delivers fast Ivy Bridge performance and sound ergonomics inside a design that doesn’t look anything like a MacBook Air clone. However, the battery life could be better, and the display isnt the brightest. If you are looking for more graphical oomph, then you can go for the Dell Inspiron 14z, which is slightly more expensive.
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Spec: CPU 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U Operating System MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) RAM 4GB Hard Drive Size 500GB Display Size 13.3 Native Resolution 1366x768 Optical Drive None Graphics Card Intel GMA HD 4000 Graphics Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth none |