ThinkPad’s Quality without ThinkPad’s Price – SL500

In the past few months, Lenovo has experimented to tremble up its merchandise accessibility a bit with the preamble of new-fangled lines of laptops. The SL series is a finances line of notebooks intended at the small business section.

Design
The 15.4-inch SL500 is a bigger adaptation, obviously, than the 13.3-inch SL300 or 14.1-inch SL400 that weve reviewed at previously. It trails the identical stylings, with a lustrous back lid and narrow piece underneath the LCD, while all over the place else is encrusted in a black matte plastic. Positioned in the corners of the slick back are the different Lenovo, ThinkPad and Energy Star logos.

Specifications
· Memory: 2GB PC2-5300 RAM
· storage space: 320GB SATA hard drive
· Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
· Wireless Connectivity: Intel 5100 802.11 a/b/g/n
· Graphics Accelerator: NVIDIA Geforce 9300M GS 256MB

Performance
The SL500 is a commerce laptop, so dont be expecting disproportionate 3D/gaming presentation. That being alleged, it detained its own extremely well. Recital was satisfactory with even desktop rendering. The laptop never felt bogged down even with quite a few applications open at similar time appreciation to the dual-core Intel processor buried inside. Lenovos laptop keyboards are branded for their constancy and effortlessness of typing, and the keyboard on this notebook is no omission.

Being a 15.4" laptop provides the SL500 the suppleness to proffer a number of dissimilar ports and extension technologies, and the SL500 takes benefit of the room. Lenovo also elegantly speckled the ports around the sides of the laptop rather than putting them all in the flipside, so users dont have to twist the laptop around anytime they desire to plug something in.
Lenovo did an unbelievable job when engineering the SL500s temperature dissipation techniques. Our laptop came with a 9-cell battery, which is a supplementary $79 but except your laptop stays plugged in all day, Id say its a requirement. For the battery test, I set the display to sixty percent vividness, wireless networking on, and loading different webpage’s every so frequently.

Overall
At the end of the day, the SL500 is a commendable accumulation to the ThinkPad line, as it permits consumers to forgo a definite degree of build excellence while saving adequate money to approximately buy a second computer. Small businesses glancing to swell their productivity while keeping prices down would do well to seem at the ThinkPad SL500 as a mobile elucidation.

Pros
+ Assortment of ports, together with FireWire and HDMI
+ Bodily wireless connectivity button for easy conformity with flight regulations
+ Far-fetched heat debauchery
+ Contemporary business plan
+ ThinkPad excellence devoid of ThinkPad prices!

Cons
- Intend makes accessing a few ports tricky
- Lustrous lid is a fingerprint attraction

Value For Money

Our Rating

Lenovo has unveiled three new IdeaPad notebooks featuring Windows 7. The machines are dubbed Y550P, U150 and U550 and are presently available for customization on Lenovo’s website.

The Y550P has a 15.6 inch display. It is the first Lenovo laptop to be powered by the Core i7 processor. The machine is aimed at multimedia enthusiasts and is equipped with a discrete GPU from Nvidia. It will also feature ‘unique Lenovo tools’ such as SlideNav.

The U150 is a thin and light laptop with an 11.6 inch display. It measures just .53 inches in thickness and weighs under 3 lbs. The U150 will run on an Intel CULV Core 2 Duo processor with up to 8GB of RAM. The U550 is aimed at businesses. It has a 15.6 inch display and sports an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Other features include switchable graphics and VeriFace facial recognition software.

All laptops

The new product from the house of Lenovo is fanciful and is out with a decision to make a revolution in the entertainment world. The fancy products that line for the home users and home office users are a great effect in the laptop market. The recent product has come with a lot of new ideas. The product, Lenovo U110 is a new addition to the fanciness created by the company with the Idea Pad series. The list of products says that it is a star product and the products reflect them. The notebook’s screen is 11.1” and it weighs 1.13 kilo grams. The notebook serves the portable users and it is highly performance oriented. The laptop works on 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and posses Intel’s X3100 integrated graphics.

The notebook is a good performer not just because it is got the 3 GB memory but also it has 120 GB hard drive. The camera is 1.3 mega pixilated. The battery life is good ranging to eight hours a day. The operating system is Windows Vista operating system. The system is rigid with special features and the combination of design, performance and sleekness is in right ratio. Multimedia is good and the system promises goodness.

We told you that the Y650 had begun shipping last month, and now Lenovo has handed out the second system in their new Y series line. This14-inch model comes with some pretty solid specs. 4GB of DDR3 RAM comes standard, as well as 320GB HDD, DVD writer, and $679 for the 2.1GHz Intel Dual Core T4300 system and 4829 for the 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 system.

Crammed with functions such as an incorporated UMTS broadband modem, non-compulsory Blu-Ray drive, online statistics backup utilities and high luster exhibit lid, the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 is approximately like a cross flanked by a multimedia and a business laptop. Lenovo evidently means to score point’s exterior of its customary business fan base with the SL400.

Design
What at 1st looks unmistakably like a characteristic ThinkPad, after closer examination exposes substantial differences to the recognizable Lenovo business ranks, first and leading is the top of the exhibit lid, which has been specified an elevated luster thoughtful surface. Even despite the fact that this business-atypical characteristic stays barely perceptible for the abuser; at slightest while in its open condition, the laptop very plainly outwardly classifies itself as the resources alternative of its replica range.

Performance
Subsequent the FSC Amilo Si3655, the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 is our 2nd test model to be planted with Intels most recent PM45 chipset and the much overestimated Montevina Platform. Implementation the wrap up, the SL400 has a new-fangled Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU at 2.26 GHz and 3MB L2 Cache. This CPU is the negligible and "weakest performing" chip in the new-fangled Intel range. The "P" mark denudates the power saving description of the new-fangled processor assortment, whose TDP lies at under 25W.

For its explicit solution, our SL400 test replica came with a Geforce 9300M GS from NVidia. Planted with 256MB GDDR3 of video memory, these explicit cards be in the right place to the admission level ranks of the new-fangled NVidia chip range, which in contrast to incorporated solutions like the existing Intel GMA 4500M HD chip proffered an understandable presentation improvement, even though maybe not to a satisfactory degree for proficient applications.

In the (currently ageing) gaming classics Doom 3 and FEAR, the SL400 displayed rather sensible presentation. In our sensible DVD playback test on utmost brightness, deactivated WLAN and standard system recital settings, the machine achieved a sprint time of 140 minutes.

Overall
Overall the ThinkPad SL series showcases a motivating alternative for the cost conscious business novice or even the personal customer, since it does after all proffer a lot of ThinkPad at a diminutive price. This embraces incorporated broadband internet, no-nonsense Lenovo Care Tools and to conclude a whole range of options in terms of overhaul, support and data security (obtainable at extra cost).

Pros
+ Healthy case
+ All-embracing connectivity variants (HDMI)
+ Non-compulsory Blue-Ray available
+ Contented input devices
+ Incorporated UMTS module
+ Lenovo Care Tools

Cons
- Extraordinary design and styling
- Receptive display lid
- Restricted brightness and standpoint constancy in the display

Value For Money

Our Rating

You might remember that a day or two ago we covered a story leaked by Engadget of a mystery netbook from Lenovo. Well said netbook turns out to be a design concept.

Lenovo has finally announced its business minded budget notebook called ThinkPad X100e. The device is powered by an AMD Neo processor.

The ThinkPad X100e has an 11.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels. The notebook is available with all the three processors in the AMD Neo line. Lenovo, however, has no intention to offer the laptop with an Intel processor.

The X100e supports a variety of connectivity options including Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX wireless. Bluetooth is also offered as an optional feature. There are 3 USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader and VGA. There is no HDMI. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures. There is also a touchpoint pointing stick. Lenovo offers Windows 7 Pro/Home Premium or Windows XP Pro with the notebook. The base version starts at $449.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is the newest inclusion to the IdeaPad family and has freshly been gathering a lot of interests. Lenovo might be renowned for the ThinkPad line of laptops, but the majority of standard consumers dont find the customary style spec of the ThinkPad line to be very striking.

Design
The IdeaPad U110 is astonishingly solid in requisites of fabricate superiority. The aluminum etches flaunt cover and a complete magnesium aluminum framework that provide both potency and trivial. You can bear down on the unit as hard as you would like on the body of the laptop and it simply will not bend. Like the ThinkPad linage, the IdeaPad U110 is intended for (unintentional) cruelty and drops, and were presuming that the U110 might be the most rugged notebook in the IdeaPad lineup.

Performance
Lets be reasonable, the IdeaPad U110 was not build to participate with your desktop encumbered with the power of a quad core processor. Thin travel laptops like the U110 utilize low voltage processors to marmalade power and shrink high temperature build-up. The IdeaPad U110 utilizes an Intel 1.60GHz Core 2 Duo L7500 processor thats quite proficient of successive office applications and performing any universal web linked errands, but will not dish up fighting fit for 3D graphics applications or any profound duty interpretation tasks.

Similarly, the Intel X3100 incorporated graphics will permit you to engage in recreation for a little light games, perhaps even Half Life 2 on low setting, but in all-purpose youll fancy to fasten to e-mail, web browsing, Office and photo editing errands. Thats sufficient for the majority of standard customers ... predominantly if you previously have a prevailing desktop.

The hard disk storage space could have supplemented concert if it was a 5400rpm or higher rpm rated drive. Better still; a wonderful fast SSD would have prearranged the U110 a little supplementary "snappiness." Regrettably, the slow 4200rpm hard drive on the U110 only prepared the system that much slower at times of daily use.
The 11.1" WXGA (1366 x 768) display on the U110 is pleasant and vivid, but suffers from a noteworthy degree of "graininess."

The keyboard fitted on the IdeaPad U110 has nil flex and brilliant key travel with hushed presses. Lenovo has additional a lustrous "piano paint" finish to the keys so that they dont wear off and obtain all gleaming over time. Lenovo provisions both the regular 4-cell battery power pack as well as the 7-cell extended life battery for the U110. The 4 – cell promises 2 hours and the 7-cells packs punch for 6 hours usage.

Overall
On the whole the notebook is so loaded with the features that are so specific of the Lenovo brand. The brand image is clearly carried forward with loads of personal interest and care. U110 is an overall package of pride & integrity.

Pros
+ Built quality is really good.
+ Battery choices are well sorted.
+ Well laid out keyboard.

Cons
- Graphics could have been better.
- SSD could have been a good choice.

Value For Money

Our Rating