Gadgets & Tech
First look: Lenovo IdeaPad U350 laptop
Promotional (about)
Get more out of your laptop by finding cheap laptop accessories and parts that can help you work on your laptop more efficiently.
We just received a Lenovo IdeaPad U350 from Lenovo. This is a 13.3″ laptop with almost netbook-like proportions (but not quite). Thin and light, it tips the scales at about 3.5lbs.
As far as I know this is one of the first Lenovo products to ship with the Pentium SU2700, part of the new line of Intel CULV processors with energy efficient design, and with performance a notch above the Atom so commonly used in netbooks today.
First impressions:
- Brushed aluminum design is slick, and feels well built
- Battery (4-cell) integrates completely into underside
- Keyboard looks to be up to usual Lenovo standard (excellent)
- No dedicated volume up/down, only mute
- The U350 is wider than my old 14″ ThinkPad T42p, probably because of widescreen format, but it is still narrower and thinner
- Includes HDMI out, Bluetooth, Active Protection System (protects hard drive), multi-touch touchpad, ambient light sensor
- Compared to S12: trackpad is larger, with texture; buttons are easier to click and contoured slightly at front
- Ships with Windows Vista Premium, eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
- Weight-wise, it feels similar to S12 (with 6-cell battery), but easier to handle since battery doesn’t jut out back
- The AC adapter is of typical notebook size (bigger than S12 by about 40% or so), and for some reason the designer gave the Lenovo logo a blue glow
- So far appears to run louder (still relatively quiet though) then the S12, with some warmth on left side of keyboard (keep in mind this is while installing Windows 7 so it may not represent actual usage)
- The screen hinge folds back approx 15-20 degrees more than the S12, which is handy when the laptop is on lower level surfaces
Full review to come. Any questions, let us know in the comments.
Clint writes about new media, arts, wine, indie film, and tech (including his trusty Droid). An aging ice hockey player, he tries in vain to direct Loni in SSC videos. He's held executive marketing roles at tech companies including Cisco, EMC and Salesforce.com. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, he now lives in Silicon Valley. More »
View Comments »
Have a thought, question or opinion? Feel free to share it with a comment below.
SSC - ALL THINGS WEST COASTSocial: Facebook | Twitter
Mobile: SSC iPhone app
Press/requests/events: press@starksilvercreek.com
I was hoping you guys could test out YouTube videos, both regular and HD streams, in FULLSCREEN. I have heard a lot of netbooks and lower end CULV processors have a hard time playing these clips on YouTube in fullscreen, which is awful.
Tests so far on YouTube play SD and HD full screen well. Smooth. Need to make sure processor is not in energy saver mode. We’ll keep testing. So far so good. Mike may help us post some vids on it.
3 nitpicks: right shift key truncated, still trying to get used to that. Fan seems to run all the time and although not loud is noticeable. Screen slightly less bright and contrast not quite as strong as S12 (as comparison) but still very clear and lots of pop, good viewing angles.
I just got one of these. I have been experiencing consistent problems with streaming HD content from youtube. Quicktime trailer (720p) from the apple website work fine, but almost all HD clips on youtube run jittery. This is in the high performance mode for power. Let me know if you are able to locate any way to fix this while doing these reviews. Thanks for your efforts in publishing this review :)
I’m sure this will be covered in a later full review, but some overall performance benchmarks would absolutely be appreciated. That, and the recommended usage (web browsing with many tabs, office productivity, the extent of multitasking abilities, etc) for a laptop like this.
Also, how close is the actual laptop weight to specs?
Clinton,
Thanks for the following… Will wait for your in-depth review with bated breath. I’ve actually put down a deposit for the following over here in Singapore (and have been looking for a review in vain) whilst I wait for the stock to arrive (hopefully in 2-3 weeks).
Notice that there are a couple of changes in the US spec vs what we’re getting over here. We’ve got the SU3500 with 3 Gigs of RAM. Mind you, we don’t get any other options and we pay about US$960 for a single-spec model.
The things I’m most curious to know centre around:
1) Build-Quality… Have heard some varied reports (from Gizmodo or Engadget) about ultra-thins having problems with the all-plastic casing cracking (due to heat dispersement) as well as the usual hinges for the LCD screen.
2) Heat generated by the system. I like my thighs the way they are (ie non-toasty).
3) General performance
4) Battery life… Especially how the standard 4-cell performs. Given the criticisms of some of the other Ideapads (U330), wondering how this one stacks up.
Thanks again for the review!
We’re still testing the U350, and should have review up this week w/more pics, hopefully video too.
I’ve had a day to play with it, here’s some of my thoughts:
* the fan is on almost all the time, even in energy saver mode; it’s not terribly loud (need to measure it), but it is louder than the S12 and noticeable
* the left side of the palm rest gets warm (almost hot at times); the right side remains absolutely cool; I’m disappointed in this as my old T42p is cool all the time, and the S12 is also very good in this regard
* Windows 7 runs well; all drivers installed, no issues there
* If the S12 keyboard is superb, then the U350 is less so, but not by much; unfortunately that truncated right shift key is annoying, and I’m not so sure I like the vertical column of keys to the right of the ENTER key; it does give you nice dedicated home/end pgup/pgdn keys however
* The screen: I find the S12 brilliant. Literally. Sharp, bright, easy on the eyes with nice contrast; the U350 is very good, but when sitting side-by-side with S12 you notice it is slightly washed out, and not quite as bright
* Processor wise I find the performance of the U350 to be decent, certainly all tasks were zippier compared to the S12
* Streaming full-screen SD and HD seemed to work ok, but make sure laptop is in power mode first -> we are getting inconsistent results though, sometimes frames are slightly choppy… it might be because of other apps/windows, or that the processor was still shifting to full power mode, not sure yet we need more time
* Battery: 4-cell. Integrates flush into underside (love that). Battery life so far I’d estimate about 4 hours, but we will do more testing on this. It may even be down to 3.5hrs with med brightness, surfing. Hard to tell yet. We’ll re-charge a few times and measure
* Wireless: strong signal, no issues
* Trackpad: I really like the texture. Excellent feel. Buttons are large, responsive and much less “clicky” then the S12. One odd thing. When we first received the unit, the trackpad was providing horrible, unpredictable results. We had to set “sensitivity” to the lightest setting in order for it to work without pushing down overly hard
* Price wise though this thing is quite a deal given the processor, memory expansion, bluetooth, multi-touch touchpad, widescreen, etc.
more to come!
Thanks for the quick reply. I hope you guys get the in-depth review up soon. Could you include the sound quality of the speakers. Also, what about upgrading options such as the RAM and Hard Drive. Is it a 2.5″ notebook HD? Or one of those 1.8″ that are expensive…What’s the max amount of RAM? I’m assuming 8gb. Thanks.
Yes, I am on the verge to ordering one as well.
I am especially interested in the speakers. Most laptops have crappy speakers requiring you to bring along some external speakers when you travel (if you want good sound). Lenovo has really touted their speaker system, please tell us about their quality.
Second, if you loaded windows 7 RC, when the upgrade comes can you simply use the new one right over the rc without a clean install,. With all the programs I use, it is a two day job to get all the programs up and synced. Don’t want to go through that twice.
Third I am sorry to hear that the power adapter is like a normal laptop. What’s the point, to have super light machine and then have a brick for a power adapter that you obviously have to lug around when you travel. I have seen some really light adapters power pretty powerful laptops like the dell e4300. What’s the score on this one?
Thanks for the comments so far.
dr. duke
FYI, Mike just posted the full review of the Lenovo U350.