The Lenovo Ideapad: Three Big Ideas Bring Size, Style and Performance Under One Label

The Ideapad series from Lenovo gives laptop users a variety of style and usability choices. From the ‘S’ netbook range with its super-light dimensions which bring you the basics when and wherever you need them, to the portability and performance based ‘U’ line, and lastly to the heavy artillery ‘Y’ model, Lenovo have catered to most budget and power needs.

There have been some battery-life issues, particularly with the lightweight models, however the unique features Lenovo have included in the Ideapad collection (the 007-style Veriface face recognition security software, for example), and the added style bonuses (such as 16:9 aspect ratio LCD screens), will leave you satisfied with this high-quality laptop computer range.

Lenovo Ideapad Review

S – the impressively mobile netbook offering. At a shade under a kilogram, with a thickness of 1.7 cm, and a 10.1″ – 12.0″ widescreen this is ideal for mobile users who need the basics of internet, email and word processing fast. It will also please those laptop users on a smaller budget. Its Intel Atom Processor is the smallest offered by Intel, purpose built for lowering size and cost in netbook computers.

U – standing for ‘ultra-portable’, this model measures in with a 14.0” inch widescreen, a weight of 1.5 Kg and a thickness of 4.3 cm. However, with elegant styling, such as ambient light features, 2.4GHz speed, 250GB hard drive and up to 2GB memory, size is not the only benefit of the ‘U’-range.
This model also works from an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, which, like the U-series itself, blends practicality with performance. As the ‘duo’ suggests, it is particularly effective when you are multi-tasking and need the power to have things running in the background without your performance suffering. Rated five-star by Intel, this processor is designed for energy efficient, lightweight, multi-tasking capabilities. It is also easy on your battery so you stay powered for longer as you move about.

Y – high performance range, not as light and portable as its siblings, but with up to 17” inches of screen, 3.06GHz of speed, a 500GB hard drive, 4GB RAM and optional Dolby Home Theater surround sound, it is able to handle the most intense multimedia, gaming and processing needs. With the Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor, its Intel 5-star rating is justified by 5-star performance. In terms of relevance to the Lenovo Ideapad Y-model laptop computers, the processor is quad-core, rather than dual-core, which means ultimately that high-powered multimedia applications and gaming increases in performance and speed by over 50%. Like the Y-series, the processor is geared towards avid multimedia and gaming users.

Lenovo Ideapad Battery:

The Lenovo Ideapad range use a 6 Cell Lithium-Ion Battery. This ultra-hardy design can give you up to six hours unplugged battery life.

Lenovo Ideapad Price:

Between $400- $1200 depending on the model.

Lenovo Ideapad Support

* Australian support number: 1300-557-073 (24 hours, 7 days a week)

* Online help: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.do (support centre); http://forums.lenovo.com/ (support forum).

* Warranty: 1 year.