FULL REVIEW :Lenovo IdeaPad U260
, Posted in
Can the company that's synonymous with business notebooks create a machine that excites consumers? Yup, and the IdeaPad U260 is exhibit A. With its magnesium alloy chassis, orange lid and bottom, and soft leather palm rest, the world's first 12.5-inch ultraportable combines executive sleek with casual cool. Meanwhile, a low-voltage Intel Core i5 CPUs provides plenty of pep for $899. Just don't forget to pack the AC adapter along with this 3-pound head-turner.
Design
The IdeaPad U260 has the kind of flair we wish ThinkPads had. The lid comes in Clementine orange (our version) or Mocha brown, and the design is made from a single piece of magnesium-aluminum alloy that lends the notebook a sense of smooth, minimal professionalism. Measuring just 0.7-inches thin and weighing one-tenth of a pound more than the most recent 2.9-pound Apple MacBook Air, the U260 slips so nicely into bags and backpacks, it's easy to forget the machine is there.When the notebook is open, your eyes are quickly drawn to the LED status icons that are traced in illuminating dots, and your hands are drawn to the soft, leather-textured palm rest. The U260's left, right, and front sides, as well as the bezel around the display, are lined in a smart-looking, polished black plastic.
Lenovo didn't skimp when it came to the notebook's base, either. Not only does the smooth chassis material extend all the way around the notebook, but the rubber stands on the bottom of the system give the U260 a slightly elevated and sloped footprint. Plus, the bottom air vents, cut in a fresh mosaic serpentine pattern, add some pizazz.
Heat
Lenovo's Breathable Keyboard gives the U260 air to let out heat. That, along with Intel Advanced Cooling technology, helped keep temperatures around the touchpad and keyboard to a respective 80 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The middle of the base registered a somewhat uncomfortable 95 degrees, but the real hot spot is the back vents just beneath the display hinge, where the temperature reached a sweaty 107.Keyboard and Touchpad
The U260's chiclet keyboard sits in a slight basin that made typing comfortable, with plenty of space and travel. While some of the keys on the right side, such as Shift and Backspace, are smaller than what you'll find on a full-size layout, we still found them easy to find by feel. The keyboard is also water-resistant.
The 3.2 x 1.7-inch glass touchpad was silky smooth when moving the cursors, as well as when using the touch scroll and tap-to-select options. However, multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom felt somewhat sluggish. The two discrete chrome mouse buttons were very responsive.
Ports and Webcam
Along the left edge, the U260 has a miniPCIe and USB ports, along with a dual headphone-and-microphone jack, Wi-Fi on/off switch, and a spare slot for a card reader (not included). The front and back edges of the device are clean, and on the right side are the remaining ports, VGA, Ethernet, HDMI, and another USB slot.
The 0.3-megapixel webcam didn't perform well. When we used it in our brightly lit office, the camera failed to pick up enough light to show our face. The webcam performed better when the light shone from a source in front of us, but in other cases, we couldn't even get Lenovo's facial recognition software to recognize the portrait we'd shot using the same camera just half an hour earlier.
0 Response to "FULL REVIEW :Lenovo IdeaPad U260"
Post a Comment