Our friends over at Lenovo have sent us the IdeaPad U310 for us to review. This is one of their latest Ultrabook’s and is the successor to the IdeaPad U300S. Lenovo has made a stylish and quite affordable Ultrabook, too things that are very important to a consumer. So, while it won’t have the best specifications on the market, it works well and is a Ultrabook. It does have an Intel Core i5 Processor, 4GB of RAM, and much more. But should this be your next laptop? We will answer that in the full review which begins now!
Design
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 definitely has some pop to it, from 3 really unique color choices to a stylish design, it does impress. Most Ultrabook’s get thinner as your move along, like many of Lenovo’s other Ultrabook’s this has a book design too it. Meaning that it stays thin throughout the entire design. While this is not the thinnest Ultrabook on the market, it is not the thickest at 0.7 inches. It is a little heavier than most other Ultrabook’s at 3.75 pounds, but it is still comfortable to hold in your hand. We are testing out the Aqua Blue variant and it looks absolutely gorgeous, however you can also get it in Graphite Grey or Cherry Blossom. Being that it is available in many different colors, it will have a large appeal. The top case and bottom case have the Aqua Blue color, while the sides are a glossy white plastic, as well as the inside of the laptop. This does show that it is not the most expensive device on the market, but I still think it complements the design very well. The special side design, is being called a loop design, and it does serve a purpose. It makes it easier to open the laptop and it does prove this. I found it easier to open, than many other laptops on the market. Now, let’s go over some of the other design elements. On the top cover you will find a silver Lenovo logo, that is slightly raised from the Aqua Blue cover. On the bottom you will find the four rubber legs, a long vent, and some serial number information. And of course this all on a nice Aqua Blue bottom case. On the left hand side you have a “One-Touch Recovery” button, another vent, an ethernet port, HDMI port, and 2 USB ports. On the left hand side of the front you get a SC card reader. Keep in mind that this was missing on the U300S, so it is nice to see it is included in the successor. Along the middle of the front you have 2 LED notifications lights, those are for battery and to tell you if it is on or off. On the right hand side you have the headphone jack, another USB port, and a charging port. On the inside of the device you have an IdeaPad logo in the bottom right hand corner. A really nice aluminum power button that glows white when the computer is one. This is a really nice touch and complement the design of the U310. Overall, the design of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is definitely stylish!
Keyboard, Trackpad, Display, Sound
Lenovo has been improving their keyboards and trackpads for sometime, and they have achieved greatness with the keyboard. They have the AccuType Keyboard, which is a very simple and clean keyboard. Not too many keys and not too little, it gives you the right amount to get the job done. However, they did not include a backlight keyboard with the U310, but I hope they add this for the successor. The keys are slightly curved, so they are a little bigger. Making your typing more accurate, which is always helpful. They are also easier to clean than other keyboards because there is a larger space between the keys and they are raised keys. The U310 IdeaPad packs a Glass Trackpad that is very smart. For instance let’s say while you are typing and you palm rests on the trackpad, it knows that it is your palm. This way you won’t by accident click on something or navigate away from what you are doing. You can also pinch-to-zoom, scroll, and rotate with simple gestures. They also have added optimization for Windows 8, so when you update it will be ready to go. If you swipe 4-fingers to the right, you can pull up a neat note-taking application. You get a 13.3-inch TFT display, it has a resolution of 1366 X 768. You most likely won’t be using the U310 Ultrabook for gaming purposes. While the screen isn’t great, it also isn’t the worst. The viewing angles aren’t the best and it doesn’t get that bright. But, since I have a feeling that the U310 will be popular among college students, I don’t think this will be an issue. As it will mainly be used for email, writing papers, and web searches. In our review model we got a Intel HD 4000 graphics card, which gets the job done. Sound on Ultrabook’s have not always been the best, the Asus Zenbook UX31 was pretty good. And Lenovo’s sound quality is usually great, unfortunately the sound does not get very loud on the U310. They have added Dolby Home Theater V4, to help make the sounds better on the 2.0 stereo speakers. It sometimes work, but for the most part it is a little low. Luckily, you have a headphone jack which is always good.
Performance And Software
Lenovo gave us the U310 with a Intel Core i5 Processor with 4G of RAM. However, you can put up to an Intel Core i7 Processor with 4GB of RAM. However, the unit is still quite fast. Start up time was around 25 seconds at the quickest, but at time it can last longer. Waking up from sleep takes around a quick 3 seconds, so the unit does perform very well. Browsing the web, streaming Netflix, playing around with the built-in webcam all happened very smoothly and quickly. Lenovo really knows how to make full use of hardware inside of the Ultrabook. We have a 500GB hard-drive inside, with a SSD as well. You can put either a 320GB or 500GB hard-drive inside, and if you like you can put a 32GB SSD Cache drive. This will help to speed up the operating system. In terms of included software you get Magic Share, YouCam 3.0, Veriface 4.0, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office 2010, LoJack Data Recovery, One-Touch Recovery, Windows Live Essentials 2011, Lenovo User Guide, McAfee Emerald 11.0, and more. Overall, it was nice to see that there was not too much bloatware and pre-installed on the Ultrabook. Lenovo is usually light on pre-installed software so it was nice to see they are keeping with they do. The IdeaPad U310 works very well.
Bottom Line
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is a great laptop and a good Ultrabook. It is certainly not the best Ultrabook on the market, but it doesn’t have to be. Lenovo gave it an awesome and stylish design, and the Aqua Blue version is gorgeous. It’s build feels very sturdy and tough. It has an awesome AccuType Keyboard and innovative glass trackpad. It would have been nice to see a BackLight keyboard, hopefully they will add this in the successor. Our review unit of the U310 retails for $799. I would recommend the U310 too anyone looking for a nice Ultrabook, but who doesn’t want to break the bank. I could definitely see students in college loving the IdeaPad U310 from Lenovo. For More Information About The Lenovo IdeaPad U310, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Lenovo for providing us with a copy of the “Lenovo IdeaPad U310”.
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