The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is the first ultraportable laptop to feature a 12.5-inch display and is packed with an Intel Core i5 processor. A durable metal body and leather accents add to the premium feel, but is this notebook worth the $1,000 price tag? you will decide it after read this article.
Build and Design
The team at Lenovo is better known for the all-business ThinkPad line of professional notebooks than for designing attractive laptops for consumers. That said the U260 might just be the best looking Lenovo
notebook we’ve ever seen. The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is about as close as anyone can get to building a MacBook in PC clothing. The U260 isn’t a carbon copy of the MacBook, but Lenovo engineers took some of the key design elements that make the MacBook attractive a Chiclets-style keyboard, a clean-looking design, a thin and light metal chassis and put them into a Windows-based laptop.
The thickness it’s only 1.7 cm. There are four rubber feet, two are near the hinge that is higher than near the palmrest. Rubber legs are necessary to prop up the notebook body to not directly attach to the
surface of the table. Thanks to the presence of rubber feet, IdeaPad position a little bit move up, so that there is a little below the body cavity. Cavity is important for air flow and heat release for the notebook from overheating. Therefore, it is advisable to assume this notebook without the ‘mat’ as a portable computer desk
That said it’s important to give the team at Lenovo credit for a few unique design cues. For starters, the IdeaPad U260 features leather-covered palm rests that are quite possibly the most comfortable palm rests. Typing documents or emails on this laptop feels great simply because your wrists and palms feel like they’re
floating beneath the keys. Combine the soft-touch palm rests with a durable metal chassis and the attractive mocha brown exterior color and you’ve got one of the best looking Windows-based laptops we’ve seen in a while. Granted, more consumers would probably like the color of the U260 if it was also offered in more standard colors like black, red and blue, but the available mocha brown or clementine orange exteriors help set this laptop apart from the competition.
Unfortunately, the simple and clean design of the U260 also means that this laptop lacks a number of features you’ll find on bulkier, heavier notebooks. For starters, you only get two USB 2.0 ports and no media
card reader or ExpressCard slot on this notebook. Two other potential concerns are the fact that the U260 uses an integrated battery (you can’t replace the battery yourself) and no easy access panels for
replacing the hard drive or upgrading the RAM. In short, the IdeaPad U260 is essentially stuck the way it is at the time you purchase the notebook. Sure, if you own a set of Torx bits and precision screw drivers you can disassemble the entire notebook to swap out the battery or make additional upgrades, but most consumers are unlikely to go through all that trouble.
Ports and Features
As previously mentioned, the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is far from being the most feature-packed notebook on the market. While many modern laptops have high-speed eSATA or USB 3.0 ports the U260 comes with just two USB 2.0 ports. The U260 has a single headset audio jack that combines both earphone output and microphone input. The notebook also lacks an ExpressCard slot for expansion and also doesn’t have a built-in SDHC card reader. On a happier note, this notebook has both VGA and HDMI video output so you can connect this notebook to old business projectors or the latest HDTV at home.
There’s skin on the palmrest
Layer of skin is not just wrapping the outside of the IdeaPad U260. On the inside there. If the cover mocha brown color, which is on the inside is black, matching the color of the keyboard keys, the screen frame and also the top of the keyboard panel. (The color of the shiny black screen surround panel, and black doff the keyboard panel.)
The Equipments
Let’s look around this slim notebook equipments, there are DC-in jack, one VGA port, one LAN port, one HDMI port and one USB 2.0 port.
Move onto the left side. We start from the rear to the front again, let the uniform. On the left side is visible burrow for Kensington Lock, a USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, and switch the wireless features (Bluetooth).
Like the front, here was clear of the port. Well, if judging from the back like this, the IdeaPad U260 does not seem to have a thickness.
Because it is visible is the hinge directly.
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.
Wide Screen, Antiglare
IdeaPad U260 looks wide screen. Dimensions 12.5 “, only slightly less than non-ultraportable notebook 13.3″. In a wide screen with 1366 × 768 pixel, you will enjoy HD video clip shows pretty well. Images look bright and flowing smoothly. Icons were apparent. And because the antiglare screen, the shadow does not interfere with the display on the screen. Reflection of the shadow is coming from a shiny black frame surrounding the screen. Glossy frame was also leaving the screen fingerprint impressions holders. Webcams its 0.3 megapixel resolution and include supporting software, Cyberlink YouCam.
Keyboard and touchpad
IdeaPad U260 had chiclet-style keyboard. The lower end of each of the keys slightly rounded. Comfortable suppressed keyboard, as expected from a big name Lenovo.
Under the present keyboard panel rectangle with patterned black field boxes fine. This is the touchpad-based multi-touch glass.
Above the keyboard panel, you will see an on / off button with white LED on the left side. Seven other white LEDs lined up along the same panel, reinforcing the impression of an elegant but simple ultraportable. Near the hinge left and right, we’ll see small holes to form a rectangle. Those stereo speakers, the sound quality is not too special.
IdeaPad U260 notebook is beautiful inside and out. Dedicated processor for superslim notebooks, namely Intel core I5 U470 1.3 GHz. RAM type DDR3 with a maximum capacity of 4GB. Unfortunately yes, the hard disk
attached “only” 320GB.
Software Default
Like all Lenovo products, IdeaPad U260 is equipped with a number of software pre-installed. Lenovo Security Suite, DirectShare Lenovo, Lenovo VeriFace 3.5, OneKey Rescue, McAfee antivirus software and Energy Management has been embedded. Features APS (auto shock protection) which protect the hard disk from unexpected shocks were installed. So if the shock is detected when the notebook is in use, the head of the hard disk will be parked in order to minimize loss of data. Lenovo DirectShare its fun. Its function is to synchronize all files and data between computer and USB flash disk that is included in a local network. Not difficult to wear. Install this software, then give the password, and begin synchronizing data via LAN or wireless (Wi-Fi, ad hoc) with other computers that have been fitted DirectShare Server. One more, Lenovo Dock Smile pair that can be launched by clicking the icon on the desktop smile. From the dock, we can search
Google or check the weather forecast.
Performance
We see first the battery endurance. In the Balanced (setting provided Lenovo), the embedded battery of unknown capacity was invited to hold the job 2 hours 56 minutes. As can be seen from the results of
benchmark tests, when playing high definition video (HD), the battery lasted 1 hour 51 minutes 30 seconds. But if used for texting, battery life could breathe up to 2 hours longer so that a total of 3 hours 51 minutes. Fortunately, recharging the battery is not too demanding, or about the same durability. As mentioned earlier, the display on the screen 12.5 “on the IdeaPad U260 is quite comfortable to view. HD video stream to flow smoothly. Used to play the game okay only. Just need to be aware, because integrated graphics are used instead of discrete graphics, it is less suitable ultraportable gaming heavyweight. This is reinforced by the 3DMark score obtained.
Multimedia enjoyment here already supported two stereo speakers mounted in the panel above the keyboard. To measure ultraportable, speaker sound quality is pretty good. But of course more is recommended to use headphones plugged into the headphone port on the left side ultraportable. When compared to other Lenovo notebooks ultraportable, Lenovo IdeaPad U460 is sailing 14 “, the performance of the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 12.5-screen” is less prominent. But remember, even though supported by 4GB of memory, processor Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is not as high as the other. Just look at the type, U470 1.33 GHz, which is devoted ultraportable notebook. Because it is quite reasonable if the response doesn’t as agile as the IdeaPad U460. But as an ultraportable notebook, the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 still really fun. It’s an elegant, thin, lightweight, portable and capable of supporting day-to-day computing tasks.
Pros:
• Superslim
• Flat body
• Lightweight
• Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
• Ergonomic
• 12.5 inch screen
• Elegant design
• Glass touchpad and leather palm rest
Cons:
• Without a sdcard slot,
• Internal battery,
• Battery endurance less than 3 hours
• Limited performance
• Limited ports
• High price tag
Test Results:
Sysmark 2007 Preview 1:06 x Rating : 106
PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0.2.0
PCMark Score (PCMarks) : 3788
3DMark Vantage Pro 1.0.2
3DMark Score : P79
Cinebench R11.5 CPU : 1.26 pts
Expression Encoder 4 : 1050 seconds
dBpoweramp Music Converter 13.5 : 141 seconds
Battery Life
Playing high-definition video : 6690 seconds
Battery Eater ’05 Pro 2.70 (text mode) : 13.880 seconds
Specifications:
Main Memory : 4GB PC3-10700 DDR3 (667MHz)
Intel Chipset : Intel QS57
HD Video Graphics : Intel MB nVidia GeForce 1722)
Hard drive : 320GB (Hitachi HT543232A7A384)
Optical drive : None
Facilities : Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, VGA, HDMI, 2 USB 2.0, Webcam
Screen : 12.5 inch 1366x 68 pixel
Sound card : Realtek ALC269
Operating system : Win7 Home Premium
Ultraportable and slim-type laptops don’t need to be a desktop replacement. This has to the best designed laptop from Lenovo and the best designed PC laptop available right now. The only thing that can compare is a Macbook Air. The magnesium-aluminum alloy shell that the U260 is wrapped in looks awesome especially with the mocha brown color. Other great features include the 720p HD LED-backlit screen, glass touchpad and leather palm rests. The feel of the U260 is just great, it feels comfortable and easy to carry. As far as performance goes this laptop is nothing ground breaking, you will be able to do your basic tasks and run multiple applications, but you are not going to be able to play CPU-intensive games or anything like that. It has performed great for the tasks that I have been using it for such as surfing the web, writing reviews, photo editing and watching media.
The U260 is in no way made to be a desktop replacement. The only thing that a little bit annoying is the battery life, you are going to get about 3 hours out of it. That is good if you are out for lunch or a meeting, but on a long flight or day where you don’t have access to power this could be an issue. Obviously Lenovo could have stuck a bigger battery on the U260, but that would of course ruin the design.
Bottom line is if you are looking for a great slim laptop and want one that is elegant and full of style this is the laptop for you. As soon as you take it out of the packaging you will be instantly impressed.
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