The ultrabook subversion of 2011 has turn a torrent in 2012, that means a thing: descend prices. If you were sport for a pretty gaunt Windows laptop with great battery life at a in accord with cost, you couldn't have picked a improved time. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is a best example: it's an refurbish of sorts to the IdeaPad U300s , a of the initial Windows ultrabooks you reviewed final drop that carried a MacBook Air -like $1,195 cost tag. This time, the cost is a small $799 -- but, with a few compromises done along the way.
The IdeaPad U310 is a not similar machine: it's got a significantly heavier and thicker framework and a typical alluring platter-type automatic hard disk instead of a solid-state drive (SSD). However, its inner specs are really good, with a third-gen 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and all the ports you'd need (Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI). It's still an ultrabook by definition, but not actually as smooth a product.
It's a pretty similar package to what the identically labelled Sony Vaio T offers, nonetheless the Vaio T is lighter and has a improved battery life. It's moreover similar to what the new Dell Inspiron 14z offers, nonetheless the Inspiron 14z moreover has dedicated AMD graphics.
So, where does that leave the IdeaPad U310? It's not a bad treat for what's beneath the hood, but the U310 doesn't feel as startling as final year's U300s. Nor is it. It's really the not as big cousin of the IdeaPad U400 : a MacBook-like Lenovo laptop with a great keyboard, a plain set of features, and a gratifying pattern that could make an glorious back-to-school computer. Students should look in to the IdeaPad U310, mainly if it's on sale. You might wish to comparison-shop the flourishing landscape of affordable ultrabook-alikes at the time of buy and see if you can do better, but the bottom line is this: be happy. Ultrabooks have incomparable hard drives (without SSD), and are cheaper than ever. That's a great thing.
At 0.7 in. thick and 3.68 pounds, the IdeaPad U310 is gaunt and light, but not actually as gaunt and light as other 13-inch ultrabooks. It's someplace between "normal" 13-inch laptop and ultrabook, and feels more similar to the former. It's heavier than the Sony Vaio T ultrabook, and lighter than the new Dell Inspiron 14z.
Unlike the sleek, black IdeaPad U300s, the U310 is both blanched and candy-colored. Its incomparable cousin that it looks the many similar to is the IdeaPad U400 , a appurtenance that was closer in size and function to a 13-inch MacBook Pro . The U310 is more backpack- and small-bag-friendly, but moreover ditches the slot-loading DVD drive in the process.
You'd improved obtain used to hearing, "Hey, you've got a new white MacBook!" since you're going to listen to it a lot at coffee shops. The IdeaPad U310 is MacBook-like, and there's no way around it. Sure, the externa; wraparound Aqua Blue aluminum on the lid and underside (also existing in Graphite Gray and Cherry Blossom Pink) is distinctive, but open the lid and the white surfaces, black lifted keyboard, and considerable hold desk pad -- even the bezel around the shade and set of keys -- practically roar "MacBookalike." The anodized, colored-aluminum extraneous sandwiches the somewhat creamy cosmetic interior when closed, giving the laptop a two-tone look and a booklike profile.
It's a cozy laptop to use, too: the palm rest is spacious, the multitouch clickpad gigantic, and the set of keys scarcely as glorious as many Lenovo keyboards.
Why nearly? Because the keyboard's not backlit, and the keys themselves have an ever-so-slightly lower-quality feel compared with the high club of ThinkPads. It's still good, but I found keys not induction every once in a blue moon, and the mainstay of keys on the correct side creates the Backspace key really hard to fix up by touch. To make counts worse, the set of keys exhibited a few be at home on the examination model. At smallest the function keys are topsy-turvy (the media-control buttons for volume and shade liughtness work without the Fn key held down).
The really considerable hold desk pad is the same size as that on a MacBook, but not as good. Pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling are reduction now manageable and more disposed to jumpiness. Chalk that up reduction to Lenovo than to Windows 7.
The audiovisual experience on the IdeaPad U310 is likewise competent but not outstanding. A shiny 13.3-inch shade has an wholly normal 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but is disposed to shade glare. The shade isn't all that splendid at its top setting, and off-axis observation angles are poor. It's fine for a bill computer. The stereo speakers are louder than you'd expect from an ultrabook, but sounded vale and prosaic when personification back song or film trailers.
On the other hand, the enclosed 720p Webcam looked pointy around the preinstalled Cybervision YouCam software.
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