Consumer Priority Service Review of the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s
Now entering the Ultrabook competition: the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. Here’s a notebook that refreshingly takes a new route when it comes to design. Instead of mimicking the MacBook Air, Lenovo maintains a relatively thick (which is still ultra thin) body at 0.6 inches wide. The unit comes in a hip Graphite Gray as well as a funkier choice of Clementine Orange. The inside sports a minimalist fashion with a gray deck, bezel, and touchpad – and a keyboard that unfortunately does not feature a backlight.
While the 13-inch display boasts a vivid, crystal clear image at a resolution of 1366 X 768p, viewing angles are limited and users will only really be able to relish the crisp picture when directly face-to-face with the screen. But don’t let that discourage you from watching your favorite movies on the IdeaPad – because you wouldn’t want to miss out on its awesome audio attributed to SRS Premium Surround Sound Technology.
You’ll find the IdeaPad boasts an average boot-up time of about 34 seconds, and decent processing power with a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i7-2677M processor, 4GB of RAM, and an ADATA JM616 256GB SSD that’s pretty speedy. What you won’t find, however, is an SD card reader. Other important specs include: a long battery life with up to 30 days standby time, Lenovo’s RapidCharge technology which will charge its battery to 50% in just 30 minutes, a breathable keyboard featuring Intel Advanced Cooling Technology for enhanced airflow, keeping the notebook from burning your lap, HD graphics, a USB 3.0 port, HDMI output and a 1.3M (720p HD) webcam.
In the race against other UltraBooks, the Lenovo IdeaPad doesn’t exactly secure first place, but its chic design, fast boot-up time, cool running capability and superior webcam makes it a pretty decent alternative to the more expensive MacBook Air – especially for users who need their Windows.