Ultrabook Lenovo Ideapad U310: technical specifications, photos and reviews. Ultrabook Lenovo Ideapad U310: technical specifications, photos and reviews Behavior under load: Lenovo Ideapad U410
The Chinese company Lenovo is increasingly conquering the market of computers and mobile devices. It must be said that the Chinese have some very interesting products in their arsenal. What is the Lenovo IdeaPad U300 ultrabook worth? He really hit home in his time. Its sales were so successful that the company decided to release a logical continuation of this model. This is how the LenovoIdeapad U310 was born. The time has come to sort out all its advantages and disadvantages. We will touch upon such parameters as design, technical characteristics and ergonomics.
Design
Looking at the U310, you somehow begin to doubt the abilities of Lenovo designers. The old model looked cool - there is no other word for it - bright orange on top, strict black inside. On the one hand, strict gray color is standard for ultrabooks. But I would like some variety. The keyboard is made in black - also a standard solution. The body itself is made of aluminum.
The shape of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 body is painfully reminiscent of Apple's MacBooks. The same “plump” lid, the same cooling system grilles. On the other hand, such forms for ultrabooks are just right. The time will come when all manufacturers will start making faceless poppy-like devices. Because it was Apple that came up with the most suitable design for ultrabooks.
Set of connectors
Availability of the necessary connectors is an eternal problem with ultrabooks. Most manufacturers are trying to “castrate” their devices and deprive them of support for critical connectors. It’s all the better that Lenovo didn’t go down this path. There are no newfangled USB Type C connectors here, there are full-fledged USB 3.0 here. There is an RJ45 port for connecting a local network or wired Internet. And what is quite surprising is the full-size HDMI connector.
The remaining connectors are standard for any laptop: a charger connector and an audio connector. The location of all these elements does not cause any discomfort during their active use. Lenovo has always been good with ergonomics. IdeaPad U310 was no exception.
Keyboard
The most important component of any laptop. It depends on the keyboard whether it will be convenient to use the device. And here she did not disappoint. It has an island-type keyboard with short key travel. For typing - what you need. It's certainly not suitable for gaming. Yes, you can’t play on this ultrabook. There won't be enough power. So this keyboard is just right for this device. What particularly pleased me were the full-size arrow buttons. Special thanks to Lenovo for this. Otherwise, most manufacturers began to cut down “unnecessary” keys in the name of saving space. And ergonomics suffer from this.
Specifications
Now it's time to dig into the inside of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. The technical specifications for the ultrabook are very good. Typically such devices are an order of magnitude weaker. But this is Lenovo. They can't live without power. It should be noted that laptops in the mid-price segment are usually equipped with such hardware. It will be all the more interesting to sort out all the components of this ultrabook.
CPU
Lenovo desperately wanted to equip the device with an Ivy Bridge generation processor. Therefore, I had to install a second generation Intel Core processor. The fact is that the generation of the third model so far only supports Sandy Bridge technology. In any case, the ultrabook is available with Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. Moreover, the “stones” of the i5 and i7 series have a special turbo mode, which turns on automatically when the load on the processor increases. Thanks to this, the processor clock speed is doubled. So far, the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook can only boast of such processors. Perhaps in the future the third generation will be finished and the device will be updated. Who knows?
RAM
The ultrabook is equipped with four gigabytes of DDR3 RAM. Note, not even DDRL! Although this did not really affect the battery life. The operating frequency of this “RAM” is 1333 MHz. Of course, this is not enough in our age, but since there are no plans to play on this device, as well as to carry out complex calculations, this volume is what is needed. For browsers, 4 GB is more than enough.
The unpleasant thing is that the laptop does not have RAM. There is only one slot for the DDR3 stick. Meanwhile, the performance gain when working on two channels is very significant. Due to the fact that there is only one slot, you cannot even increase the amount of RAM. You'll have to be content with 4 GB.
Video card
Nothing supernatural here. The main video card here is the built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics chip. There are not many possibilities, but the chip can handle Full HD video and browser games. There is no point in installing a discrete video accelerator in ultrabooks, and there is nowhere. The small volume of the case does not provide such an opportunity. The body of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is also quite small. The characteristics of the video system therefore do not stand out in any way.
It is worth noting that the low-power 3000 is equipped only with models with a weak Core i3 processor. Other versions are equipped with a more powerful 4000 series graphics adapter. It is capable of running almost all games. Even the most demanding ones, however, only at minimum settings. What can be done is that you have to sacrifice performance in the name of saving space.
HDD
Here is a very successful tandem of HDD and SSD drives. Moreover, the SSD is used only for the system cache, and the HDD is used for storing information. By the way, the volume of the same HDD is not particularly impressive. Total 500 GB. So it’s not possible to turn this ultrabook into a multimedia center. Yes, it’s not designed for that. For work and web surfing, this number of gigabytes is quite enough.
The most interesting thing is that SSD caching can be manually disabled (and it is disabled by default). This is probably done in order to reduce the power consumption of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. It also does not turn on for the reason that each user decides for himself whether he needs it or not. However, for performance reasons, it is better to enable this option. It is turned on from the BIOS device.
Network and Internet
The network adapter is represented by a board based on Intel Centrino. This board provides very good wireless and wired connection speeds. But this is not the main feature of this network card. Intel Centrino has WiDi digital signal transmission technology. A very useful thing if your TV is equipped with a Wi-Fi transmitter. You can watch a movie on your laptop and stream it to your TV.
The ultrabook is also equipped with an RJ45 connector for connecting to a local network or wired Internet. But what’s interesting is that the connection speed is a maximum of 100 Mbit per second. Apparently, the company did not want to install a gigabit adapter for reasons of economy. And by the way, it is very necessary in our time, since 100 Mbit per second is already a thing of the past.
But Bluetooth is not installed by default. It is optional on the most expensive models. Moreover, the ancient version 4.0. Why the manufacturers did everything exactly this way is unclear. Probably out of a desire to reduce the cost of the final product. In any case, you can live without a Bluetooth adapter. Its absence is not at all critical.
operating system
As standard, Windows 7 Home Basic Edition is supplied with the ultrabook. A bit of a confusing solution. Not only is this edition of the OS somewhat “stripped down” compared to the pro version, but the seventh version of Windows is also becoming obsolete. And not by days, but by hours. It would be much better to ship this product with Windows 8.1 on board.
You should not expect a version of the device with Ubuntu or anything “Linux-like” on board. After all, this is a mass product, and for some reason most people prefer the brainchild of Bill Gates. And there is no guarantee that all components of an ultrabook will work normally under Linux. So in this case it is better to use Windows.
Sound
This component is represented by the Conexant HD chip. It won’t be able to provide any “unearthly” sound, but it will be quite enough for standard music playback. By the way, the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is equipped with a combined input for connecting a speaker system and a microphone. Of course, this is a great solution in terms of saving space, but what about ease of use? It turns out that it is impossible to connect speakers and a microphone at the same time. Please purchase an adapter. The laptop's speakers are located in a somewhat strange place - on the fold of the lid. That is, to hear normal sound, you need to tilt the screen completely. And given the weak viewing angles of the display, you begin to doubt that you will see anything there in this case. So this arrangement of speakers is the worst thing that could be imagined.
If someone is not satisfied with the standard sound card and speaker system, you can purchase one with more impressive parameters and turn the ultrabook into a mini-studio. There are plenty of connectors for connecting acoustics and microphones. In addition, this ultrabook has more than enough full-size USB connectors.
Screen
The ultrabook is equipped with an inexpensive screen with a TN+Film matrix. Maximum resolution - 1366*768 pixels. Not enough, of course. Devices of the same category have long been equipped with screens with Full HD resolution. The downside of this cheap matrix is that the viewing angles are frankly nonexistent. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook can only be used comfortably while sitting directly in front of the display, without tilting it even a single degree. Then the colors will not be distorted. True, if a more expensive matrix had been used here, then this laptop would not have cost such ridiculous money. So everything has its advantages.
The brightness of the screen was not very pleasing. Even the cheapest laptops can boast much higher brightness. This screen will not withstand sunlight. So it is recommended to use an ultrabook indoors, because you won’t see anything on it against the sun. But what else could you expect from a budget screen?
Contents of delivery
There is nothing unnecessary in the box. The laptop itself and the charger. Well, a couple more pieces of paper with a guarantee and operating instructions. All. They could at least put a cloth to wipe the screen. But what can you ask for from an ultra-budget ultrabook? The box is black with the proud inscription Lenovo IdeaPad U310 59337930. The last digits indicate the numeric model identifier. It’s good that the box was made black and not the color of regular cardboard. Of course, if the device were more expensive, then the box would have more information about the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 - description, photo. But this is not the case. So I have to
Battery
The power supply is a battery with a capacity of 54 W per hour. The number of cells is six. According to the manufacturer, this nutrient element is capable of maintaining the device in working condition for 7-8 hours. Oddly enough, this is exactly the case when the stated characteristics coincided with the real ones. The ultrabook can actually last up to eight hours on a single battery charge.
By the way, eight hours is not the limit. If you turn on the power saving mode, set the screen brightness to minimum and do not load the laptop too much, you can achieve much better results. The maximum battery life in energy saving mode with the above parameters was about ten hours. A very good result for a budget ultrabook.
A few months ago, we tested the predecessor of the ultrabook we are considering today, IdeaPad U300s. This model was the Chinese company’s “first pancake” in the field of ultrabooks and it turned out to be not entirely lumpy, but not quite ideal either.
The saddest thing was that the U300s was significantly inferior to its competitors in terms of the number of connectors: the network adapter was available only in the form of an external USB tail, and there was no memory card reader at all. At the same time, there were only two USB ports on board the ultrabook. So it was simply impossible to connect a LAN adapter, card reader and mouse at the same time without a USB hub. In the new model, the developers were able to take this mistake into account - there are an order of magnitude more connectors than last year. But what has changed besides this?
⇡ Appearance and ease of use
At first glance, the laptop seems to be an exact copy of the previous model, but if you look closely, you will notice a lot of differences. Most importantly, the panel that houses the keyboard and touchpad is now just plastic, whereas before it had a metal finish. This simplification has an unpleasant consequence: when trying to twist, the case very readily gives in and bends so much that fears arise for the integrity of the internal components. Of course, we were dealing with a pre-production sample, but, most likely, this feature will also be inherent in samples from commercial supplies.
The display lid and bottom are still made of aluminum with a rough surface that resists fingerprints. These panels can be painted in a variety of colors: in addition to the utilitarian gray option, the IdeaPad U310 is also offered in blue and soft pink.
The keyboard unit is standard for Lenovo IdeaPad laptops. Despite the small size of the case, the [~] key was not compressed - only the arrows were slightly damaged, the width of which was reduced to 13.5 mm compared to the width of the standard type key of 15 mm. The base of the keyboard is well secured, but flexes a little when pressing on one of the central buttons. The travel of the keys is of medium hardness, the moment of actuation is well felt, and the keyboard is almost silent. In general, it is very convenient to work with it; there is no urgent need to connect an external keyboard.
Unlike the previous model, the IdeaPad U310 has a ventilation grille on the bottom, the area of which is quite large - apparently, we were not the only ones who had comments about the temperature conditions. The four rubber feet are the same as those on the U300s - quite large, with a small contact patch, but very grippy.
On the front there is a memory card reader, which the IdeaPad U300s did not have at all, as well as power and battery charging indicators - these can be useful when the lid is closed.
The back side of the case is almost completely occupied by the lid hinge casing, behind which the ventilation holes are hidden. Theoretically, it would be possible to place a pair of ports on the sides of the casing, but the hinge mounting is located there (the internal structure of the IdeaPad U310 is broadly similar to the structure of the IdeaPad U410 - you can see it in the review), so in fact this would be impossible.
On the left there is a button to launch the backup and restore application of the OneKey Recovery system, a ventilation grill, an RJ-45 connector, which barely fits due to the small thickness of the case, HDMI, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports.
On the right is the power connector, one USB 2.0 port, a combo audio jack, and a built-in microphone - to be honest, this is not the best place for it.
The speakers are mounted in a casing that covers the hinges of the lid. The place is very unusual; manufacturers resort to this installation method extremely rarely, because in this case the sound very much depends on the angle of opening the lid.
An introductory sample was provided for testing, which does not fully correspond to what will actually be sold in stores. Let's say, in our case, the laptop was equipped only with an HDD, without the solid-state drive required for ultrabooks. In the USA, such cheaper options are available for the IdeaPad U310, where they are called Non-Ultrabook versions. But in our market this model is presented only in a full-fledged Ultrabook form, with a 32 GB SSD, complementing the traditional hard drive. At least for now this is the case.
Specifications
| Lenovo IdeaPad U310 | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3-2377M: 1.5 GHz; 2x256 KB L2; 3 MB L3; two computing cores |
| Chipset | Intel HM77 |
| Graphics controller | Intel HD 3000, integrated into the processor |
| Screen | 13.3 inches, 1366x768; TN technology Glossy finish, LED backlight (AU Optronics B133XTN01.0) |
| RAM | 4 GB, DDR3-1333 (one expansion module) |
| HDD | HDD 500 GB, 5400 rpm |
| Optical drive | Absent |
| Flash card connector | SD/MMC |
| Interfaces | 2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 1 x HDMI 1 x RJ-45 1 x combo audio jack (mini-jack 3.5 mm) |
| 3G | Absent |
| WiFi | 802.11b/g/n (Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200) |
| Bluetooth | 3 |
| Network adapter | 10/100 Mbps (Realtek) |
| Sound | Conexant Cx20590 two speakers, microphone |
| Nutrition | Three-cell battery, 46 Wh (4160 mAh, 11.1 V) Power supply 65 W (20 V, 3.25 A) |
| Other | Metal cover, webcam |
| Size, mm | 333x225x18 (according to the stated technical specifications) |
| Weight, kg | 1.7 (according to the declared technical specifications) |
| operating system | In the tested copy: Windows 7 Ultimate (32 bit) In serial laptops: Windows 7 Home Basic |
| approximate price | From 22,000 rub. |
| Official manufacturer's warranty | 12 months |
Despite the fact that the laptop is new, it is based on a second generation Core processor. The fact is that with the launch of the new Core i3 on the Ivy Bridge core, Intel delayed until the last minute, so in the lower configurations of ultrabooks, many manufacturers had to use last year's Core i3 of the Sandy Bridge generation. Actually, that’s why they delayed it.
In our case, the laptop was based on a Core i3-2377M processor, but in stores it is sold with a slightly more modest Core i3-2367M. The whole difference is in the clock frequency: 1.4 GHz for the younger model and 1.5 for the older one.
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo continues to conquer the computer equipment market. It is worth noting that the product range of this Chinese manufacturer includes some quite interesting items. What is the Lenovo IdeaPad U300 worth? At one time it really amazed me. Sales of this model were so successful that the company decided to release a continuation of this model. This is how the new Lenovo Idea PadU310 was born. It's time to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of this model. We will consider such parameters as technical characteristics, design and ergonomics.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: design
At first glance at the Lenovo IdeaPad U310, you begin to doubt the abilities of Lenovo's designers. The old model looked pretty cool - it's hard to find another word for it. The device was bright orange on top and strictly black on the inside. However, on the other hand, a strict gray color is standard for ultrabooks. Sometimes you just want some variety. The keyboard of the device is also made in black. This solution is also standard. The device body itself is made of aluminum. The shape of the case of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 laptop is very similar to Apple's Macbook. The same plump lid is present here, as well as cooling system grilles. For ultrabooks, such forms are the most suitable. The time will come when all manufacturers will begin to produce faceless devices similar to the notorious MacBook. It is for this reason that Apple came up with the most suitable design for Ultrabooks.
Set of ports and connectors
An eternal problem with modern ultrabooks is the availability of the necessary ports and connectors. Most manufacturers are trying to reduce the capabilities of their devices and deprive them of support for critical connectors. Therefore, it is good that Lenovo decided not to go down this path. There are no newfangled USB TypeC connectors here. There are only full USB 3.0 ports. There is an RJ45 port for connecting a local network or wired Internet. There is also a full-size HDMI connector, which is simply amazing. The remaining connectors here are the same as in any other laptop: an audio connector and a charger connector. All these elements in their location do not cause any discomfort during active use. Lenovo has always been good with ergonomics. The LenovoIdeaPadU310 model was no exception.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: keyboard
One of the most important components of any laptop is the keyboard. It depends on the keyboard whether you will be comfortable using the device. This component in LenovoIdeaPadU310 will not disappoint users. The LenovoIdeaPadU310 has an island-type keyboard with short key travel. This is exactly what you need for typing. Such a keyboard, of course, is not very suitable for games. And you won’t be able to play on this ultrabook – the power is not enough. Therefore, such a keyboard is just right for this device. I was especially pleased with the full-size arrow buttons. For this I would like to express special gratitude to Lenovo. Most manufacturers have begun to cut down “unnecessary” keys to save space. This seriously affects ergonomics.
Specifications
It's time to properly understand the hardware of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 laptop. For an ultrabook, this model has quite good technical characteristics. Such devices are usually an order of magnitude weaker. But Lenovo devices simply have to be powerful. It is worth noting that devices in the mid-price category are usually equipped with such filling. Therefore, it is especially interesting to consider in detail the components of the Lenovo IdeaPadU310 ultrabook.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: processor
Lenovo desperately wanted to equip the device with an IvyBridge processor. For this reason, it had to install a second generation Intel Core processor. The thing is that so far the generation of the third model only supports Sandy Bridge technology. In any case, the ultrabook will be available with Intel Corei3, i5, i7 processors. The “stones” of the i5 and i7 series have a special turbo mode. When the load on the processor increases, it automatically turns on. This doubles the processor clock speed. So far, the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 can only boast of such processors. In the future, the device can be improved and the device updated.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: RAM
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 ultrabook is equipped with 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. It's worth noting that this is not a DDRL. But this did not really affect the battery life. The operating frequency of this RAM is 1333 MHz. This, of course, is not enough in our age, but this device is not intended for computer games and complex calculations. For browsers, 4 GB will be enough. An unpleasant point: the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 does not provide dual-channel RAM mode. There is only one slot for a DDR3 bar. And the performance increase when using two channels at once is quite significant. Since there is only one slot, the amount of RAM cannot be increased. The user will have to be content with 4 GB.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: graphics card
In terms of video card, the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 also has nothing interesting. The main video card here is the built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics chip. It does not provide many capabilities, but it copes with browser games and FullHD videos with a bang. There is no point in installing a discrete video accelerator in ultrabooks. The small volume of the case simply does not give the manufacturer such an opportunity. The body of the device is quite small. Therefore, the characteristics of the video system do not stand out as anything special. It is worth noting separately that the low-power Intel HD Graphics 3000 is usually equipped only with models with a weak Corei3 processor. Other versions are equipped with a more powerful graphics adapter, which belongs to the 4000 series. Such an adapter can handle almost all games. To save space you have to sacrifice performance.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: hard drive
In this case, a rather successful tandem of SSD and HDD drives is presented. SSD is used here only for the system cache. HDD is used to store data. It is worth noting that the HDD capacity is not at all impressive - 500 GB. It is unlikely that you will be able to turn this ultrabook into a multimedia center. Plus, it's not designed for that. For web surfing and work, this number of gigabytes will be quite enough. The most interesting thing is that SSD caching can be disabled manually. By default it is disabled. This was done, most likely, in order to reduce energy consumption. It is also not turned on for the reason that each user can independently decide whether he needs it or not. For performance reasons, it is better to enable this option. It is enabled from the BIOS.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: network and Internet
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 network adapter is a board based on Intel Centrino. This board allows you to provide fairly good speeds for wired and wireless connections. This is not the main feature of this network card. Intel Centrino has WiDi digital signal transmission technology. If your TV is equipped with a Wi-Fi transmitter, then this thing will be very useful. You can watch a movie on your laptop and stream it to your TV. The LenovoIdeaPadU310 ultrabook is also equipped with an RJ45 connector for connecting to wired Internet and local network. The maximum connection speed is 100 Mbps. Apparently, the manufacturer did not want to install a gigabit adapter for reasons of economy. By the way, in our time it is very necessary, since 100 Mbit per second is already a thing of the past. Bluetooth is not installed by default. It comes as an option on the most expensive models. Why the manufacturers decided to use this particular solution is unclear. Most likely, in order to reduce the cost of the final product. In any case, you can live without a Bluetooth adapter. Its absence is not critical.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: operating system
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 ultrabook comes standard with the Windows 7 Home Basic Edition operating system. This decision is not entirely clear. Not only is this edition of this operating system somewhat stripped down compared to the pro version, since the seventh version of Windows is becoming obsolete. It would be much better to supply this product with the Windows 8.1 operating system on board. Don't expect a version with something Linux-like to appear. This is a mass product. Most users still prefer to use the brainchild of Bill Gates. There is no guarantee that all components of the device will function properly under the Linux operating system. Therefore, it is better to work with Windows.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: sound
This component is represented by the Conexant HD chip. It won’t be able to produce “unearthly” sound, but for standard music playback it will be quite enough. By the way, the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 laptop is equipped with a combined input for connecting a microphone and speaker system. In terms of space saving, this solution can be called very successful. But what about ease of use? This means that it will simply be impossible to connect a microphone and speakers at the same time. You will have to buy a special adapter. The laptop's speakers are located in a rather strange place - on the fold. To hear normal sound, you will have to flip the screen all the way down. If we take into account the still weak viewing angles, then doubts arise that the user will be able to see at least something there. This arrangement of speakers can be considered the worst option. If you are not satisfied with a standard speaker system or sound card, you can purchase a USB sound card with more impressive technical characteristics. There will be many other connectors for connecting microphones and acoustics. This model has enough USB connectors.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: screen
Lenovo IdeaPadU310 is equipped with a screen with a TN+Film type matrix. The maximum resolution in this case is 1366*768 pixels. This, frankly speaking, is not enough. Devices in the same price category have long been equipped with screens with FullHD resolution. The disadvantage of this cheap matrix is that the viewing angles here are absolutely nonexistent. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 ultrabook can only be used while sitting directly in front of the display. In this case, the colors will not be distorted. If a different type of matrix were used here, the laptop would cost more. Everything has its advantages. I was also pleased with the brightness of the screen. Even the cheapest devices can boast higher brightness. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310's screen simply won't hold up against the sun. For this reason, it is recommended to use the Ultrabook only indoors. You simply won’t be able to see anything against the sun. What else could you expect from a budget solution?
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: package contents
There is nothing superfluous in the box with the ultrabook: only the charger and the device itself. You can also find a warranty card and operating instructions. The manufacturer didn't even add a cloth to wipe the screen. What more can you ask for from a budget ultrabook model? The box is made in black color scheme. If the device were a little more expensive, then most likely more information about the device could be found on the box. But this is not the case here.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: battery
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is powered by a battery with a capacity of 54 watts per hour. The number of cells is 6. According to the manufacturer, this element can keep the device in working condition for 7-8 hours. This is exactly the rare case when the declared characteristics coincide with the real ones. The Ultrabook can actually last up to eight hours on a single battery charge. If you turn on the power saving mode, do not load the laptop too much and set the brightness to minimum, you can get more impressive results. In power saving mode, the maximum battery life was approximately 10 hours. For a budget ultrabook, this is a pretty good result.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310: reviews
You can find many positive reviews about the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 on the Internet. For example, many users praise the device for its successful design. Users also talk about high performance. There are also negative reviews. Most often, the cause of dissatisfaction is a manufacturing defect. In general, reviews about the device are positive. This means that the new model from Lenovo is that rare case when price and quality have the optimal ratio.
The first ultrabook in Lenovo's portfolio was the Ideapad U300s. I remember it first of all for its very interesting appearance: the outer panels of the case (lid and bottom) were bright orange, and the inner panels were solid black. So in the working position the U300s looked quite stern and businesslike, but in the closed position it looked cheerful and bright. It is worth noting the interesting design of the case: it resembled a thin hardcover book. The U300s also had a light gray modification, but it turned out noticeably more boring. This ultrabook had one of the most convenient keyboards to use, but it had an extremely uncomfortable touchpad, which you constantly cling to with your palm while working, and a poor screen with low brightness. However, we examined this model in detail; details can be found in the review.
The release of the new Ivy Bridge platform to the market was a good reason to update the line of ultrabooks. However, no one really expected global changes; rather, some kind of restyling was expected. After the Russian presentation, about which we have a report on our website, it became clear that the changes in cases and configurations are still noticeable, and the main feature of the new models is the focus on lower prices. On the one hand, the models became more popular and had more chances to win a wide audience, on the other hand, fears arose for their quality.
To test the performance of the ultramobile version of the Ivy Bridge platform, Ulmart kindly provided us with two new Lenovo ultrabooks - Ideapad U310 and Ideapad U410. Performance tests are completed, but they will be presented to your attention in a separate review.
However, we were very interested in comparing these two models. Firstly, they are close to each other in terms of parameters, which will allow you to focus on the differences, and this is, first of all, the form factor of the case. Secondly, now most manufacturers have ultrabooks with a diagonal of 13.3 and 14 inches in their lineup, so buyers are faced with the question of which model to prefer. In this material we will try to tell you which form factor is more preferable and for what tasks.
Contents of delivery
For once, I got my hands on a laptop in a store-bought package. Both ultrabooks come in roughly the same boxes. The box comes with a thick black paper sleeve, making the overall package look nicer.
It is interesting that the U310 and U410 boxes are organized differently inside: the additional sector, which houses the power supply and network cable, is located at the top of the box for the U310, and on the side of the ultrabook for the U410, so the boxes have different proportions.
The delivery set is characterized by almost Spartan simplicity. However, you shouldn’t expect anything else from a budget (for an ultrabook) model. Here is the U310 kit:
And here is the U410:
As you can see, the sets are almost identical. In addition to the fact that ultrabooks are different in color, attention is drawn to the fact that they have different power supplies.
Both models also come with a cover made of synthetic fabric. I still don’t understand whether it is for transport or whether it is supposed to be used with an ultrabook and during work. It looks simple, but it should perform its functions (although it seems to me that it may cause abrasions on the body).
Configuration of the line and the tested model
If we compare the two models with each other, the first thing that attracts attention is the difference in the diagonal of the screen and, accordingly, in the size of the case. You can also remember that the 14-inch model uses external NVIDIA GeForce graphics, but the weakest version 610M, which is not much faster than the integrated one in terms of speed (by the way, we will also check this).
There is a convenient table on the Lenovo website that shows the main technical parameters of different models of the Ideapad U series. An interesting thing worth noting is support for Dolby sound (although this has nothing to do with the actual acoustics, and in general, in most cases you can ignore the presence of this logo, the quality it will not improve the sound) and the fact that Bluetooth has become optional. Both models have HDD and auxiliary caching SSDs. Like all Ivy Bridge ultrabooks (at least the ones we've tested), the new models add Intel Anti-Theft technology, which should be an exclusive benefit of all modern ultrabooks.
The descriptions of the models and on the manufacturer’s website are word for word, only some technical characteristics in the text differ. According to the manufacturer, this model (either of the two) combines high performance, light weight (i.e., it makes it possible to always take an ultrabook with you) and an attractive appearance.
Traditionally for Lenovo, the website is a mess. For example, on the Russian website you cannot directly view the technical characteristics of the model - you can only download a PDF, which, although called a datasheet, is actually a two-page booklet with a fairly general description of the technical characteristics. Moreover, on the American site, all data is quite accessible directly from the browser (although previously the same strange scheme was there). Or, for example, confusion with supported processors: on the Russian website they are listed as “up to the second generation Intel Core i7.” The same error for both models, and there is no error on the American site; the 3rd generation is correctly indicated. The description, even in the PDF, is too superficial and traditionally inaccurate: the “dimensions” section is called “processor,” the graphics are indicated as 3000 series, etc.
In general, when choosing the right ultrabook, the official Russian website is a bad help.
Well, let's take a close look at the technical characteristics of both models. If there are differences between them, information on the Ideapad U410 is in italics.
| Lenovo Ideapad U310/U410 | |||
| CPU | U310: Intel Core i3-2367M (1.4 GHz) or Core i3-3217U (1.8 GHz) or Core i5-3317U (1.7 GHz) U410: the same and Intel Core i7-3517U(on the Russian site it is also listed for the U310, but it is called Core i7-351U, which raises doubts) |
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| Chipset | Intel HM77 Express | ||
| RAM | U310: 4 GB (DDR3) U410: up to 8 GB (DDR3) |
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| Video subsystem | U310: Intel HD 3000 or HD 4000 (integrated) U410: the same and NVIDIA GeForce 610M (1 GB) |
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| Screen | U310: 13.3″ HD LED-backlit, anti-glare U410: 14.0″ HD LED-backlit, anti-glare |
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| Sound subsystem | Conexant Cx20590 and chipset HDMI Audio; Dolby technology support | ||
| HDD | U310: 320/500/750 GB; possible - with 32 GB caching SSD U410: up to 1 TB (7200 rpm) + 32 GB SSD |
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| Optical drive | Not provided | ||
| Card reader | Yes, dual-standard SD/MMC | ||
| Network interfaces | Wired network | 10/100 Mbit/s | |
| Wireless network | Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n | ||
| Bluetooth | Optional | ||
| Additionally | No | ||
| Interfaces and ports | USB (2.0/3.0) | U310: 1/2 U410: 2/2 | |
| VGA Out | No | ||
| HDMI | Eat | ||
| DisplayPort | No | ||
| eSATA | No | ||
| RJ-45 | Eat | ||
| ExpressCard | No | ||
| Headphone output | Yes, combined | ||
| Microphone input | Yes, combined | ||
| Line output | No | ||
| Additionally | No | ||
| Input Devices | Keyboard | AccuType, without number pad | |
| Touchpad | Clickpad with glass surface | ||
| Additionally | No | ||
| IP telephony | Webcam | 1 MP, with fixed focus | |
| Microphone | There is one | ||
| Battery | U310: up to 7 hours (laptop) / up to 8 hours (ultrabook) U410: up to 8 hours |
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| power unit | U310: 8.7 x 3.3 x 2.5 cm (20 V, 2 A) U410: 13x3.3x2.5cm (20V, 3.25A) |
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| Additionally | No | ||
| operating system | Windows 7 (various editions) | ||
| Dimensions | U310: 333×225×18mm U410: 344×235×21 mm |
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| Weight | U310: 1.7 kg (with 3-cell battery) U410: 1.85 kg |
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| Guarantee period | 1 year | ||
Potentially, the Ideapad U410 model may have a more powerful configuration, but in reality this advantage, in my opinion, is quite ephemeral: a Core i7 processor can be installed here (but an ultramobile one, so in terms of performance it is at most an average level), up to 8 GB of RAM, i.e. it has an additional slot, whereas in the 13-inch model memory expansion is impossible (but this is unlikely to be in widespread demand on the market), an external NVIDIA video adapter (but the weakest in the 610M line, which does not stand out much compared to Intel HD 4000), a more capacious hard drive (although theoretically the same can be installed in the U310) and an additional USB 2.0 port.
In reality, I think the top configuration will be expensive, and low price considerations will weigh much more heavily when choosing an Ultrabook to buy than a marginally better configuration. There are no other interesting features worth noting in the configuration of both ultrabooks.
In terms of weight, the Ideapad U310 and U410 differ from each other by about 200 grams. Considering that even a 13-inch model weighs about 1.7 kg, this is not a very significant difference (with a weight of 1.3-1.5 kg, this difference is more noticeable). Although the 14-inch model is larger in all dimensions (which is logical), in reality you will almost never notice a difference of 1 cm in size and 3 mm in thickness. For example, I could not determine which of the ultrabooks was larger, and distinguished them, rather, by the color of the case.
The power supplies differ from each other: the U410's power supply is longer and provides greater capacity (i.e., charging will go faster), but there is no noticeable difference here either. Both power supplies are small and light, I liked them. The connectors have changed compared to older Thinkpads.
By the way, I would like to say separately about the disk subsystem. In the standard BIOS, the RAID option is set, and the system perceives the disk subsystem as a single array, so it is impossible to understand what kind of disk is installed in the system. In BIOS Setup, you can also set other options (AHCI or Legacy, i.e. IDE), but then (without additional steps) the standard system will not be able to boot. Separately, in BIOS Setup you can enable or disable the caching SSD.
Appearance and ergonomics of the case
The U310/410 cases have changed a lot compared to the Ideapad U300s: they have become smoother and sleeker. I would say that innovation and avant-garde have disappeared; new ultrabooks look very conservative and even, one might say, faceless.
The U300s had straight, clean lines with sharp angular transitions and prominent sharp edges on the body. The new models have plump covers, with smoothly beveled corners and edges, the side panels of the case are concave and resemble, for example, half of the number 8. The case looks much smoother and sleeker, but this smoothness does not evoke any emotions. To be honest, the U300s looked more masculine (even despite the orange color), this is very noticeable in comparison with the plump 310/410 - they are much more unisex.
However, for an inexpensive mainstream model, this appearance may even be a plus. It will most likely be chosen based on price, and the calm lines of the body do not cause rejection, i.e. they will not play against the purchase. Whereas the U300s was still a bright product, and some people liked its design, but others did not.
As for the body colors, Lenovo has kept the same concept: the outer and inner panels are different in color, so open and closed Ultrabooks give a different impression. Although at the presentation they promised that it would be possible to choose from a large number of colors (including, for example, bright light blue), in reality, I think, the volume of sales and deliveries to the market of models with gray shades will be significantly higher - these are what we got come to us for a test.
Despite the fact that the bodies of both ultrabooks are identical in design, at first glance they give a very different impression.
The Lenovo Ideapad U310 is somewhat reminiscent of a sink or a jewelry box. On the outside it is grayish-purple, with a very pretty and somehow feminine tint.
When you open the laptop, the inside is pearly white, further enhancing its resemblance to a seashell.
Lenovo Ideapad U410 graphite gray. It is darker on the outside and a little lighter on the inside, but the panel still looks dark.
The keyboard panel is also gray, but a noticeably lighter shade. This ultrabook, whether closed or open, has a completely different look - more strict, more businesslike, more masculine. The body panels also have a cast.
In general, the two Lenovo Ideapads that we had should be given to couples for a wedding - it will turn out very impressive, especially with bows...
Both models use Macbook-style hinges, where the entire central part is a large L-shaped hinge. Due to its design, the opening angle of the lid is very small, and if you hold the ultrabook on your lap, it begins to feel noticeable.
As for the design itself, it is very simple for both models (and they are identical to each other). The keyboard is recessed relative to the body in a small recess with rounded edges, and a huge space on the panel is occupied by a huge buttonless touchpad. It is worth noting that there is a noticeable gap between the case and the keyboard backing, which looks very untidy and can irritate picky users. We won’t comment on the similarity of the design to the Macbook Pro, but we admit that such thoughts are constantly hovering in our heads. Although, for example, the U300s had a very distinctive appearance.
In general, the design can be called minimalistic, or it can be called boring. It has no striking features, it is aimed at approximately satisfying the majority of buyers according to the principle: it does not cause rejection - and that’s okay.
I got the impression that the 13-inch laptop is large for its form factor, which can be seen, for example, in the thick bezels on the sides of the screen. The 14-inch model has a smaller frame.
Extensibility
Let's look at the set and location of ports in both models. Both ultrabooks have indicators on the front edge (there are only two of them, connection to the electrical network and battery status). The U310 has a card reader on the left side of the front edge.
The back edges of both models are a hinge of the lid, i.e. there are no connectors there. Let's look at the side edges: let's start with the Lenovo Ideapad U310
On the left is the One Key Recovery button, which we will talk about a little below. The button is flush with the body and has a tight movement, so it is very difficult to press it accidentally. Next comes a large ventilation grille, an RJ-45 network port, HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports.
On the right there is a connector for the power plug, one USB 2.0 port, and a combined headset jack.
We did not disassemble the ultrabooks. The fact is that there is no standard way to disassemble them (many manufacturers deliberately make it difficult to get inside). In principle, it is possible to disassemble an ultrabook, but due to the very cramped internal layout - with unpredictable consequences. I personally know about several damaged ultrabooks. Therefore, let the Lenovo Ideapad U310 and U410 remain some kind of mystery for us.
The set of ports on the Lenovo Ideapad U310 can be described as quite good: it has everything you need for a home ultrabook, and you don’t even have to worry about the compromises of a portable model. There are no special complaints about the location of the ports either. You can criticize a little that the USB connector on the left and the audio connector are too close to the front edge: with headphones plugged in, the wire sometimes interferes with moving your hand from the keyboard to the mouse. But that's all.
Let's move on to the Lenovo Ideapad U410. This model has a different positioning: precisely in terms of positioning, this ultrabook is a little less portable, a little more productive and a little more designed for working with peripherals, so there are more ports here. I wanted to repeat the old stereotype that the case is larger here, but the case of the Lenovo Ideapad U410 is not particularly larger, and the Lenovo Ideapad U310 would definitely have room for a couple more ports.
But, actually, let's look at the set of ports on the Lenovo Ideapad U410.
On the starboard side: card reader, two USB ports, HDMI, RJ-45 wired network port, power connector.
If there are few peripherals or they are connected for a short time, then the Lenovo Ideapad U410 is more convenient. It is also more convenient if you constantly connect headphones: the wire will not get in the way. However, if you connect an external hard drive, a wired network and a second monitor via HDMI, then all the wires will be on the right side, right next to the mouse. Again, this does not always interfere and not for everyone (depending on how the laptop is installed), but theoretically it can interfere, and this should be taken into account. Especially if you often work with a connected external hard drive that has a short cable. In this regard, the Lenovo Ideapad U310 will be more convenient: there are two ports on the left, and only one (for a flash drive or just for a mouse) on the right.
Keyboard
The U300s used virtually the same keyboard as modern enterprise laptops, such as the Edge line. The T-series hasn’t come to us for testing for a long time (again, due to the passivity of the representative office), so I can’t say what is being used there now.
Island-type keyboard, complex-shaped keys with a semicircular bottom edge. The upper working surface of the key is uneven, the side edges are noticeably raised. During active work (touch typing at a high speed), this form of keys turns out to be very convenient: the typing speed increases with it, and the number of typos decreases. The fonts are printed in white, the contrast is high, and I had no problems with readability.
The keyboard layout is quite standard for modern laptops. The type of layout used is where the keys of the over-cursor block are placed in a vertical row on the right edge of the keyboard. The Del key is enlarged, which makes working with it even easier and more enjoyable.
The cursor was pushed into the keyboard, but there were no particular problems with it. The top row of keys is narrower, and the most frequently used keys (Esc and Del) are noticeably larger than the others. Because of this I had to throw away Ins, but I don’t remember the last time I used it. So, I think for most users this keyboard feature will go unnoticed. The keyboard has no obvious disadvantages that are worth paying attention to. There are also no differences in keyboards between the two models.
That was good, now let's talk about the bad. The keyboard is just terribly loose. So much so that I almost wrote the traditional phrase about a poorly assembled sample, but I remembered in time that we bought this laptop in a store, i.e. this is the version that is sold at retail!
Firstly, the entire keyboard body flexes when pressed by almost 2 mm, which creates a very unpleasant sensation when typing. Secondly, the keyboard is very hard and has some kind of smeared pressing. The keys are pressed with a very well-felt click. There is no trace of the former ease and clarity of operation that was so pleasing on the U300s.
In general, the keyboard is disgusting in terms of pressing and typing sensations, and this is solely the fault of the mechanism - the shape of the keys is comfortable and still evokes only positive sensations. As a result, typing on it is simply unpleasant. Again, I’ll make a reservation that this begins to play a significant role for those users who type touch-sensitively and at a high speed. For ordinary home users typing with two fingers, this drawback will either be unnoticeable or will not be of decisive importance.
Touchpad
Almost everyone has already supported the introduced fashion for huge clickpads and multi-touch support. Moreover, in Windows 8, gesture control has a very important place, which also requires a large and clearly functioning touchpad. Therefore, Microsoft is now asking manufacturers to make the touchpad larger and more sensitive.
The fashion for clickpads began largely in order to free up more space for the touch surface. After some experiments, almost everywhere they began to use the scheme proposed by Apple: the entire surface of the touchpad (or its lower part) is a button that should be pressed. A left or right click is determined by the position of the finger on the surface.
Both ultrabooks have the same touchpads manufactured by Elan.
The touchpad surface in these models is apparently also glass. The finger glides over it very easily, but there is feedback, and it’s pleasant to work with the touchpad.
When typing, of course, you constantly touch the large touchpad with your palm. In the U300s, let me remind you, this led to absolutely terrible consequences: typing with the touchpad turned on was completely impossible, the cursor constantly jumped chaotically around the screen, highlighting pieces of text that were erased the next time you pressed any key. Therefore, in order to print at least something, I had to constantly turn it off.
In new versions of the driver, the developers have automated this process: the touchpad is disabled when printing is in progress (keys are pressed). In most cases, this is enough, although sometimes the cursor turns on even when typing quickly and manages to move somewhere. Situations where he manages to highlight a part of the text that disappears with the next keystroke have become rare, but sometimes they still bother me.
In general, the touchpad is pleasant to work with, and typing protection has become noticeably better, although problems with the cursor jumping and erasing entered text still hinder the work.
Additional keys and indicators
The Lenovo Ideapad U310 and Lenovo Ideapad U410 have only two indicators; they are located on the front edge of the laptop and look forward. The indicators are round and relatively large, shining with a milky white light. I would describe them as bright - at night they brighten up the room noticeably and can be distracting. One indicator shows the status of the laptop (on, in sleep mode, off), the second shows the status of the battery and network connection.
There are no other indicators, in particular the hard drive access indicator, in these ultrabooks. In principle, this is logical, because ultrabooks have SSDs - either as the main storage device or as a cache - so they still shouldn’t give a real situation. Although I sometimes had suspicions that delays in operation were related specifically to the hard drive, and there was no way to quickly check this using the indicator.
There are no additional hardware keys either, with the exception of One Key Recovery. You can turn on the laptop with this button, then it will offer a choice: start the recovery system, open the boot device menu, enter BIOS Setup.
The ultrabook is controlled traditionally - using the top row Fx keys. In Lenovo Ideapad U310 and U410, these keys by default work specifically for laptop control functions, and to get traditional Fx, you need to use them with the Fn key.
Using these keys, you can adjust or mute the sound, turn off the screen, turn off the webcam, adjust the brightness, etc. I would especially like to point out that the management of wireless interfaces here is different from other laptops. Typically, pressing a button immediately disables interfaces or cycles through them. The button on Lenovo laptops calls up a menu in which you can enable or disable the desired interface.
Screen
The U300s was also remembered for its poor screen quality and very dim backlight. Considering the general budget orientation of the new generation, no special improvements should be expected.
The screens in the Lenovo Ideapad U310 and U410 differ only in diagonal: 13.3 and 14 inches, respectively. Resolution - 1366×768 pixels. The screens in both cases are glossy.
The brightness of the backlight, if at all, has changed, it is only slightly, i.e. the level of maximum brightness is low. It is quite possible to work with an ultrabook in a room with dim lighting (for example, at home, if the window is covered with at least a tulle curtain during the day). Moreover, this brightness level may feel more pleasant than others, since too high screen brightness in dim room lighting leads to rapid eye fatigue (and people often forget to adjust the backlight level or simply do not know that this needs to be done).
However, in a well-lit room or on a bright sunny day, the picture on the Lenovo Ideapad U310 or U410 screen is poor. If the backlight brightness is too low, contrast is lost and it becomes difficult to see anything on the screen. Working with text in applications with a contrasting background is still somewhat possible, but viewing videos or pictures is no longer convenient, especially if the picture is dark. The glossy surface of the screen greatly worsens the situation: it begins to glare and reflect the brightly lit interior of the room, turning attempts to see anything on the screen completely hopeless.
The vertical viewing angles of the matrix are also poor: even a relatively small change in head position up and down causes the color shades to change greatly and you can no longer distinguish between either dark or light shades.
In general, the matrices in both models are not particularly high quality. They can be used for working with text in not very brightly lit rooms (for example, at home), but they do not provide any versatility.
Sound
The sound in both models is also nothing special. The quality and volume of the speakers is enough to, for example, talk to someone on Skype in a not very noisy room. In a noisy room (or, for example, during the day in the city with an open window), the volume may not be enough for this. Dialogues in movies can be heard normally in a quiet room, but music and special effects are clearly not for them.
Technical characteristics and operation of Lenovo Ideapad U310 and U410 ultrabooks
Let's now look at the configurations of the ultrabooks tested and how they perform under load. Let me remind you that the general results of performance testing are presented in a separate material dedicated to the performance of the Ivy Bridge platform.
First, the U310 configuration:
| Lenovo Ideapad U310 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-3317U |
| Chipset | Intel Panther Point HM77 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3-1600 DDR3 SDRAM (10-10-10-27 @ 761 MHz) (9-9-9-24 @ 685 MHz) (8-8-8-22 @ 609 MHz) (7-7-7- 19 @ 533 MHz) (6-6-6-16 @ 457 MHz) (5-5-5-14 @ 380 MHz) |
| Video subsystem | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Screen | AUO102C B133XTN01.0 |
| HDD | N/A |
| Lenovo Ideapad U410 | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-3317U |
| Chipset | Intel Panther Point HM77 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3-1600 DDR3 SDRAM (10-10-10-27 @ 761 MHz) (9-9-9-24 @ 685 MHz) (8-8-8-22 @ 609 MHz) (7-7-7- 19 @ 533 MHz) (6-6-6-16 @ 457 MHz) (5-5-5-14 @ 380 MHz) Ramaxel RMT3160ED58E9W1600 |
| Video subsystem | Intel HD Graphics 4000 NVIDIA GeForce 610M |
| Screen | LEN40A0 B140XTN02.0 |
| HDD | N/A |
As you can see, the processors and most components are the same, the only difference is the graphics subsystem. When we compare test results, we'll see if this makes any difference.
So, let's compare the operating parameters of the processors. To start U310:
The operating parameters are traditionally the same, with the exception of voltage. True, these ultrabooks showed the same strangeness as other ultramobile Ivy Bridges: when working under load, when the processor has already dropped the frequency to the standard 1.7 GHz, the voltage value drops to 0.821 V or something similar, i.e. That is, under load the processor operates at a much lower supply voltage than when idle.
The next step is to look at the speed of interaction between the processor and memory. U310:
The parameters are boringly the same. As you can see, both systems operate under the same conditions, both in single-channel operating mode, under Turbo Boost the processors are overclocked to the same frequency - and all speeds are exactly the same. The only surprising fact is that the processor clock speed is very high when running this test: a whopping 2.6 GHz (and overclocked by 53%). For example, the Acer Aspire S3 passed this test at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, and this is more logical, since 2.6 GHz is the maximum frequency that the processor should set when loading only one core.
And Lenovo Ideapad U410, which has two video adapters. Integrated:
And external:
Of course, there is no difference.
Finally, the last subsystem that we will examine is the data storage subsystem.
Lenovo Ideapad U310:
And Lenovo Ideapad U410:
Apparently, the configuration of this subsystem is such that the utility measures the performance of the SSD cache, but the system does not have direct access to the disk.
The speed at this stage is normal by modern standards (for an SSD), an average of 215 MB/s with very low access times. In principle, this should be enough to ensure fast and trouble-free operation of the ultrabook.
Just in case, let's run one more test script.
Lenovo Ideapad U310:
and Lenovo Ideapad U410:
And here the results are almost identical.
We stop here and move on to the most interesting part: how our ultrabooks will perform under maximum load.
Working under load: Lenovo Ideapad U310
So, first, let's look at a more portable model, the Lenovo Ideapad U310. When idle, the processor resets the frequency to 800 MHz.
The temperature is at a very decent level.
Only 42 degrees.
Let's run the test. Nine seconds after it started:
The processor temperature is already 59 degrees.
The processor operates at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, voltage - 0.961 V. However, as they say, the music did not play for long.
By the 23rd second, the frequency rather unexpectedly drops to the base one:
The voltage drops along with it.
The temperature, of course, also begins to drop.
Subsequently, the frequency remains at 1.7 GHz, the voltage fluctuates between 0.821 and 0.841 V. However, the temperature, contrary to our expectations, continues to creep up even with such a gentle mode.
And stabilizes slightly below 80 degrees.
Thus, the behavior under load of the Lenovo Ideapad U310 is consistent with what we have seen before in other ultrabooks.
Let's now look at the second test participant.
Behavior under load: Lenovo Ideapad U410
The Lenovo Ideapad U410 is larger, but it has an external video card, which also needs to be cooled under load.
And it stabilizes at approximately the same level - 80 degrees.
Overall, the behavior of both Lenovo Ultrabooks under load is very similar, and very similar to the behavior of other Ultrabooks tested.
Thus, both ultrabooks with ultramobile Core i5-3317U processors behave approximately the same. Under load, they reach the maximum possible frequency (when all cores are loaded, it is 2.4 GHz) and are able to maintain it for around 20 seconds. After this, they lower the frequency to the nominal one, i.e. 1.7 GHz, at which they continue to operate, and the system no longer tries to raise the frequency. The temperature continues to rise even after the frequency is reset and stabilizes around 80 degrees.
Heat and noise
Now that we've sorted out the temperature of the internal components, let's look at the temperature of the case. This is interesting for two reasons: firstly, ultrabooks are still portable computers, so, for example, heating the bottom is important for them (since they can work on the lap). Secondly, ultrabooks have an all-metal body and are often equipped with rather strange cooling systems. In the first generation, many manufacturers borrowed their ideology from Apple, where the Macbook Air expels air into the space between the body and the lid hinge. It seems to me that this system is not very effective, because the loop interferes with the outgoing air, reducing its speed. And this decision was introduced rather for aesthetic reasons. In the first generation of ultrabooks, this drawback was strongly manifested in all models with Core i7 processors.
The Lenovo Ideapad U310 case is at idle almost everywhere at room temperature, only slightly warm on the bottom left, where the exhaust ventilation grille is located. Under load, the left area under the palm begins to heat up, and it gets very hot, up to 33 degrees. The right one remains almost at room temperature. At the bottom, the hottest place has a temperature of 38 degrees, which is already very high. The exhaust temperature is also very high, 60 degrees.
Lenovo Ideapad U410 gets even hotter. When idle, almost the entire left half of the bottom reaches a temperature of 32-33 degrees. Under load, the areas under the palms heat up less, but the bottom is still hot - 35 degrees, and over a large area. The exhaust temperature is 57 degrees.
To summarize, not everything is good with the temperature regime of ultrabooks. If the increased temperature of the bottom in normal work scenarios can still be survived, then the fact that the left platform under the palm heats up creates discomfort when working with a laptop, and you almost always feel it. At 100% load, the bodies of both models get very hot, and it is simply impossible to work with them on your knees.
Battery life
Battery rating capacity: 51,260 mWh for Lenovo Ideapad U310 and 44,134 mWh for Lenovo Ideapad U410.
Uh... the results are quite difficult to comment on. The error is excluded, because data on battery capacity is taken from the ultrabook configuration report, and the characteristics are visible there. Most likely, the system is giving incorrect information about the battery capacity, although it is unclear why.
Testing for battery life is carried out in two modes: minimal load mode (reading text from the screen) and when watching a movie. Tests are carried out without the use of test programs. Energy saving parameters: the power scheme is set to “balanced”; if the laptop manufacturer offers its own power scheme with similar characteristics, then it is set. The monitor shutdown time is set to “never”. There are no other interventions in power management (switching graphics, turning off components, etc.), they remain at default values. The screen brightness is set to maximum, wireless interfaces are disabled. During testing, the laptop reboots, all utilities installed by the manufacturer are launched (except for the antivirus program, which is uninstalled before testing).
When testing for battery life in reading mode, no programs are launched except for the utility that measures battery life.
When testing for movie playback from a laptop hard drive, a movie in AVI format is played. For playback, the portable version of Media Player Classic is used, which contains built-in codecs.
If you look at the battery life numbers, the Lenovo Ideapad U310 is slightly behind the average level, while the Lenovo Ideapad U410 is noticeably superior to this level. On average, from a modern ultrabook you can expect a little more than 4 hours when watching a movie and around 6 hours with minimal power consumption. At the same time, compared to conventional laptops, the battery life parameters of both models are very good (let me remind you that for modern laptops these figures average 3.5 and 4.5 hours, respectively).
The difference between the models when idle, when power consumption is minimal, exceeds an hour; under load, it is reduced to 50 minutes, i.e., very noticeable. Considering that the dimensions of the Lenovo Ideapad U310 and Lenovo Ideapad U410 do not differ that much, users interested in long battery life should prefer the 14-inch model.
Positioning and output
So, who are these two models aimed at? First, let's look at it in general, and then talk about the difference between them.
Both tested models belong to budget ultrabooks: you will not find expensive large-capacity SSDs and high technologies in them (high-quality screens, keyboard backlighting, good acoustics, and much more remain the domain of expensive models), but for simple use - Internet, mail, etc. away from home or on the road - these should be enough. But they have a low price for ultrabooks.
An ultrabook should be chosen by those users who often take their computer with them and often run on battery power (even at home, moving it from place to place). You can choose the form factor you need with a screen from 11 to 15 inches, but if the laptop sits on a table, it doesn’t matter that it’s thin and has a capacious battery (which won’t last long in such conditions anyway). In addition, the performance level of ultramobile solutions is always lower than that of conventional laptops, but you will have to pay a lot extra for an ultrabook (compared to a laptop with a similar configuration). Therefore, when buying it (unless, of course, you are captivated by its appearance), you should take a sober approach to your needs so as not to spend extra money.
As for the price, the new Lenovo ultrabooks play in the very crowded and highly competitive niche of budget ultrabooks, where there are many models, and price is one of the main factors when choosing, so the fight is for every extra ruble. So we won’t speculate on prices at the time of writing the review; we’ll simply advise you to check the price before purchasing and compare it with competitors.
And the second question: which of the two presented ultrabooks should you choose, and how do they differ from each other?
To be honest, I couldn’t find a global difference between them. In theory, the 14-inch model is more "tabletop" and the 13-inch is more portable. However, in practice, it is in portability that the difference between them is small, unless an extra centimeter of length or width and a 200 gram difference in weight are critical for you. This, however, only applies to the indicated models, since, say, the Toshiba Portege Z830 is very noticeably thinner and lighter (the model weighs only 1.05 kg) than the U310, so sometimes the difference between 13- and 14-inch ultrabooks noticeable. But in the case of Lenovo Ideapad there is almost none. In addition, the 14-inch U410 has noticeably better battery life, so it is still unclear which model should be chosen as a traveling one. The platform is almost the same, but in many respects the Lenovo Ideapad U410 is a little better, plus it has, albeit weak, external graphics that can help with some tasks (for example, video encoding).
Ideapad ultrabooks of this generation should be presented on the market in different colors; when choosing, it is worth looking at them in person. If we talk about the color options that we tested, the Lenovo Ideapad U410 is more suitable for men (or as a strict universal system), and the Lenovo Ideapad U310 is more suitable for women.
The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 ultrabook is a continuation of the U300s ultrabook line, released in 2011. The new product was presented at CES 2012 in January of this year, and now it has fallen into our hands. It received a new processor and video card, as well as a full-fledged high-capacity hard drive instead of an SSD drive. You also cannot help but pay attention to the cost of the U310. Also, compared to the previous generation of 13-inch Lenovo ultrabooks, the new model with an Ivy Bridge processor will cost the buyer a little less.
The Lenovo ultrabook series includes another model - the 14" IdeaPad U410. It differs not only in its display diagonal, but also in the use of a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 610M video card with 1 GB of video memory.
However, enough guesswork and assumptions, let's move on to the facts and find out what other changes the new version of the 13-inch ultrabook has undergone.
Specifications
| CPU: | Intel Core i5-3317U 1700 MHz |
| RAM: | 4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz |
| Data storage: | 500 GB HDD 7200 rpm SATA II |
| Display: | 13.3" 1366x768 WXGA LED, glossy |
| Video card: | Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Drive unit: | absent |
| Wireless connection: | Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Audio: | 2 speakers |
| Interfaces: | 2xUSB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, card reader |
| Additionally: | 1 MP webcam |
| Battery: | 3-cell lithium-ion 46 Wh |
| Dimensions, weight: | 331x226x18 mm, 1.67 kg |
| Operating system: | Windows 7 Home Basic 64-bit |
| Equipment: | Lenovo IdeaPad U310 (59333504) |
Contents of delivery
The first thing that caught my eye was the presence of decorative cardboard packaging, which was placed on top of a traditional box with an ultrabook. It does not carry any special semantic load, but rather a visual and aesthetic one.In addition to the ultrabook itself, the delivery package includes: a power supply with a cable, a laptop case (of course, it is not suitable for carrying, but if the laptop is stored for a long time, it can protect it from dust), as well as a setup guide, a safety guide and a warranty information. That's all, since it has a built-in battery.
Design
The laptop is made entirely of aluminum. The lid, like the bottom, is painted dark gray. The side surfaces and the working platform are also made of aluminum, but in a lighter silver shade.
The keyboard backing is painted the same color, but unlike the under-palm surface, it is plastic rather than metal.
The keys are black and contrast well with the main silver color scheme. The frame around the display is made of gloss black, which is not very practical. Fingerprints are left on it with great eagerness. On the lid they are hardly distinguishable, but on the working surface they are not noticeable at all, so in terms of practicality, the ultrabook can be given a “5+”.
The build quality and reliability of the U310 are a bit disappointing. When pressed, the lid bends quite noticeably, so if you are not careful, the chances of pushing through the display are high. The working surface also vibrates when typing, especially the right side of the keyboard unit. The bottom also sags and even crunches. In general, calling this ultrabook unkillable doesn’t raise one’s hand. Its owner, most likely, should be an intelligent young man or girl who treats things and especially technology very carefully.
On the bottom you can see 4 rubber feet and a long perforated grille, which allows cold air to make its way to the hot internal components.
There are no screws or latches, so how to gain access to the internal components remains a mystery.
There are no recesses on the front edge for convenient opening of the lid. When pulled in, it fits very tightly to the base, so you can only open it by prying it with your fingernail. To do this, one hand will be enough, because the rest of the body does not “reach” behind the lid. The display opens up to 135 degrees, which is quite enough for comfortable work.
The dimensions of the ultrabook are 331x226x18 mm, weight - 1.67 kg. Its thickness has increased compared to the previous model (U300), but remains smaller than some other ultrabook models. The weight is also not the smallest. For example, the Asus ZENBOOK UX31A weighs only 1.4 kg; this figure is even slightly less for the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air.
Display, sound and webcam
The display in the U310 is glossy, model B133XTN01.0 manufactured by AUO. This is a standard 13.3-inch matrix with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels (WXGA). At maximum brightness, the screen is not as colorful as we would like, and the 200 cd/m2 figure confirms this. For comparison, ZENBOOK from ASUS has a brightness level of 450 cd/m2. The contrast is also not the highest - 500:1. The colors look somewhat faded, which is disappointing.
It is worth noting that the glossy surface of the screen very strongly reflects surrounding objects, and at a small opening angle of the display, the keyboard is reflected in it. When tilted back 135 degrees, the picture darkens a little, but remains quite readable. Horizontal viewing angles are much better than vertical ones, but are also far from ideal. Watching photos or videos in the company of friends, especially on the street, will not be the most pleasant experience.
Perhaps Lenovo should have thought about installing a matte matrix, or choose a display with better brightness and contrast, then the gloss wouldn’t be too much of a problem. On the other hand, if you only surf the web on an ultrabook, then it will be enough.
The IdeaPad U310 is equipped with two stereo speakers of 1.5 W each with Dolby Home Theater V4 technology. The sound comes out of a perforated oblong grille located between the display hinges. The speaker volume is not the highest, but sufficient for an ultrabook. At maximum volume, nothing beeps or whistles, but the lack of bass is very noticeable. There is only one headset output, so you can only enjoy higher quality sound through headphones alone.
As for the Lenovo EasyCam webcam, the matrix resolution is 1 megapixel. It allows you to record video in high quality 720p format, i.e. 1280x720 pixels. By the way, the maximum possible resolution for photography is the same.
The quality of the photos is quite good, there is no extraneous noise, and the colors are quite realistic. It's just that the number of pixels is not enough to get a clearer picture.
The webcam is located in a frame above the display, next to it there is a light sensor. If you use the VeriFace function, you can use the camera as a password to log into the system.
Keyboard and touchpad
The first thing that catches your eye is the black chiclet keyboard, which contrasts well with the light silver backing.
Alphabetic and numeric characters are printed in white, only redundant functions are printed, and a few more keys are highlighted in dark orange. This is very convenient and helps you quickly find the functions you need. The keys are pressed softly and very pleasantly, but the jumping backing is terribly upsetting.
The keys have a trapezoidal shape with rounded corners; they are somewhat smaller than standard ones, but this also does not cause any particular complaints.
A huge advantage is the large buttons of the pointer block; they differ only slightly from the main ones. But the , and keys are especially narrowed, so the chances of confusing them with other buttons are quite high.
The ultrabook power key dominates the keyboard in splendid isolation. It has a round shape and LED backlight, so it is easy to find even in complete darkness. Additionally, I would like to note the OS recovery button, which is located next to the power key, but on the side.
The touchpad is very large, its dimensions are 106x70 mm. Its surface is neither matte nor glossy, I would even say satin, in general, very pleasant and very responsive. The touch panel is located in a small recess, so it is easy to locate both visually and by touch. The keys are not highlighted separately; they form a single whole with the platform; only a small gray strip separates the right and left function keys. They are also very easy to press and make a barely audible clicking sound.
The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures, including two-finger rotation, three-finger swipe, and two-finger vertical scrolling.
Processor and performance
The ultrabook runs on the Windows 7 Home Basic 64-bit operating system. It allowed us to get an overall score for the system, which was 5.1 points. In combination, it is the lowest rating that the built-in video card has earned. But the processor, on the contrary, took the lead and showed 6.9 points.
However, let's look at the processor in more detail. Our Lenovo IdeaPad U310 (59333504) model is equipped with a third-generation dual-core Intel Core i5-3317U processor, which operates at a frequency of 1.7-2.6 GHz. Overclocking the processor is possible thanks to support for Hyper-Threading technology. The chip is manufactured according to the 22 nm process technology and has a TDP of only 17 W, which is very beneficial for ultrabooks. More detailed information about the processor can be seen in the screenshots of the CPU-Z application.
The laptop is also equipped with a built-in Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics card, which operates at a frequency of 350 MHz. In Turbo Boost mode it can increase to 1050 MHz. In terms of performance, this video card is in no way inferior to the AMD Radeon HD 6620G. It is ideal for browsing websites, working in simple graphics applications, and playing and encoding HD video. Information about the video card is presented in the screenshot of the GPU-Z program.
When it comes to gaming, the U310 can't handle everything. So Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition comes with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels on medium settings with 24-31 fps, which is quite enough for a normal game. But DIRT 3 with a similar resolution shows 23-29 frames per second only on ultra-low settings. It's sad, but what more can you ask for from an integrated video card.
The 3DMark06 benchmark helps evaluate graphics performance. The test result was a score of 3717 points. The processor test showed 2964 points.
Since the video card supports DirectX 11 technology, we decided to test it in 3DMark 11. The score of 438 points is not the best among competing models, but still the video card’s capabilities will be enough for normal operation.
Below is a graph comparing the results of 3DMark06 and 3DMark 11 of the U310 ultrabook and other similar models.
The Cinebench R11.5 application also allows you to evaluate the performance of the video card and processor. The essence of this benchmark is to build complex three-dimensional scenes and dynamic effects. So the processor earned 2.39 pts, and the video card - 10.20 fps. The results turned out to be quite predictable and quite good for this combination of processor and graphics.
Based on the test results obtained using the Cinebench R11.5 application, a graph was created in which you can see a comparison of the performance of our model and other ultrabooks.
4 GB of RAM is represented by one Sharetronic stick, which has the DDR3 standard and operates at a frequency of 1600 MHz. This will be more than enough for the tasks that the ultrabook is designed for. Memory information was provided to us by the CPU-Z application.
Also, the IdeaPad 310 has a full-fledged HDD, and not an SSD drive, as in the previous generation of 13-inch Lenovo ultrabooks. The Hitachi HTS545050A7E hard drive has a capacity of 500 GB. The spindle speed is 5400 rpm, and the buffer is 8 MB.
The HD Tune Pro application made it possible to determine the maximum and minimum reading speed, hard drive access time and other indicators. You can view this data in the screenshot below.
Based on the results of the HD Tune program in the Lenovo 310 and other competitive models, we built a comparative graph that allowed us to find out which ultrabooks provide faster data access.
The CristalDiskMark application allows you to determine not only the read speed, but also the write speed, both sequential and selective. The results obtained prove that a regular hard drive is slower than the one paired with an SSD cache.
Furmark's PCMark 7 benchmark helped us assess the overall performance of the ultrabook. So the score of 2242 points is one of the lowest among all the ultrabooks that we tested. The weakest link was the performance and storage test.
The PCMark Vantage program is also a comprehensive test and determines the performance of the processor, video card, memory, hard drive and other system components. The final score was 6142 points. The leader was the Communications test, which tests the ability to encrypt data, render web pages, and transcode audio files. The hard drive test, memory test and gaming test scored the least.
Based on the results of the PCMark 7 PC and Mark Vantage tests, a comparative graph was created.
Ports and communications
The IdeaPad U310 has a very good set of interfaces. The most popular ports are available, and there are even three USB ports. There is no optical drive, and there is no particular need for it.The left side of the ultrabook turned out to be the most populated. Here you can see the OS recovery button that we already mentioned, a large ventilation grille, a network connector, full-length HDMI, two high-speed USB 3.0 ports and a built-in microphone.
On the right side there is a power connector, a USB 2.0 port and a combined interface for connecting a headset or headphones.
On the front you can see a 2-in-1 card reader and two LED indicators, one of which indicates the on state of the ultrabook, and the second indicates the battery status.
But you don’t have to worry about the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. It stays pleasantly cool when working with text documents and surfing the web. The upper left corner heats up the most, but due to the fact that fingers almost never end up there, this does not cause any discomfort.
Even under load (in our case this is the Furmark + AIDA stress test), the temperature rises very slightly. The only exception is the upper left edge of the bottom and working surface (although in the photo it looks like the upper right), here the surface heats up to 33-40°C.
The heating of internal components remains within acceptable limits. The processor with a built-in video card heated up to 89 degrees, while the critical temperature is about 100°C. The hard drive traditionally remained the coldest component of the system - the maximum was only 31°C.
Without much load, this ultrabook operates almost silently. The noise level created in this way is 35.4 dB. When conducting a stress test, which perfectly emulates the maximum load mode of a laptop, the cooling system began to work more intensively, and the noise level rose to 44.4 dB. This is not the quietest, but at the same time not the noisiest ultrabook.
Battery
The ultrabook is equipped with a 3-segment lithium-ion battery L11M3P01 with a capacity of 46 Wh. It is non-removable and is located under the solid bottom cover. On the one hand, this is convenient, nothing will cling or play anywhere, but it won’t be possible to make a quick replacement.When idle, the laptop can work for almost eight and a half hours. When setting the power plan to “Energy Saving” in “Classic” mode, the ultrabook lasted 2 hours 2 minutes, in “Read” mode (lower display brightness and disabled wireless network) - 6 hours 35 minutes.
In “High Performance”, the “Read”s” mode turned out to be the most productive - 5 hours 3 minutes. The “Classic” mode (maximum brightness, Wi-Fi on) also shows good results - 2 hours 2 minutes. For long-term work away from a power outlet, this Of course, it won’t be enough, but in order to surf social networks while sitting in a cafe, or show friends a video from Youtube, the battery capacity is quite enough.
Lenovo U310 is charged with a 40 W power supply. Charging takes about 2 hours 35 minutes.
The power consumption level of this ultrabook is very moderate, so when idle it consumes only 18 W, when surfing the web, power consumption increases to 20 W. The most energy-consuming mode, which is quite obvious, turned out to be the high load mode (Furmark + AIDA stress test). In this case, the laptop consumes 29 W from the network. These are typical figures for devices such as ultrabooks.
Conclusion
It's safe to say that Lenovo has made a good ultrabook. It costs a little less than its competitors, but has a stylish and organic design and good technical characteristics. Separately, we can highlight the third generation Intel Core i5 processor, a full-fledged hard drive with a capacity of 500 GB, a large touchpad and a good audio system.The insufficiently bright display and low contrast, flexing of the lid and jumping of the keyboard unit are a little disappointing. Also, this ultrabook cannot be called the lightest among its competitors.
However, the IdeaPad line has never been aimed at business users. Representatives of this series are most likely typical workhorses used for everyday work, entertainment and web surfing. All this can be provided by the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 ultrabook.
We thank ASBIS-Ukraine for kindly providing us with a laptop for testing.
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