Ultrabook Lenovo Ideapad U310: specifications, photos and reviews

The Chinese company Lenovo more and more conquers the market of computers and mobile devices. I must say that the Chinese arsenal has very interesting products. What is only an ultrabook Lenovo IdeaPad U300. He really impressed in his time. His sales were so successful that the company decided to release a logical extension of this model. So the birth of Lenovo Ideapad U310. It's time to lay out all its advantages and disadvantages. We will touch on its parameters such as design, technical characteristics and ergonomics.

Design

Looking at the U310, you somehow begin to doubt the capabilities of the designers of Lenovo. The old model looked cool - another word can not be found - on top of a bright orange, inside a black strict. On the one hand, a strict gray color is standard for ultrabooks. But I would like some variety. The keyboard is made in black - also a standard solution. The body itself is made of aluminum.

The shape of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 body is painfully reminiscent of Apple's MacBooks. The same "plump" lid, the same grilles of the cooling system. On the other hand, such forms for ultrabukov - the very thing. The time will come, and all manufacturers will begin to make faceless makopodobnye device. For it was Apple who came up with the most suitable design for ultrabooks.

Connector set

Having the right connectors is the eternal problem of ultrabooks. Most manufacturers are trying to "castrate" their devices and deprive them of supporting the most important connectors. All the more good that Lenovo did not go on this track. There are no new-fashioned USB Type C connectors, here there are full-fledged USB 3.0. There is an RJ45 port for connecting a local network or wired Internet. And what's absolutely amazing is the full-size HDMI connector.

The other connectors are standard for any laptop: a charger connector and an audio connector. By location, all these elements do not cause any discomfort when they are actively used. Lenovo always had everything in order with ergonomics. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 was no exception.

Keyboard

The most important component of any laptop. It depends on the keyboard, it will be convenient to use the device. And here she did not disappoint. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 has an island-type keyboard with a small key stroke. For typing - what you need. For games, of course, it will not do. Yes on this ultrabuke and you will not play. Power is not enough. So this keyboard just suits this device. What particularly pleased - full-sized buttons arrows. For this Lenovo special thanks. And then most manufacturers began to cut "unnecessary" keys in order to save space. And from this suffers ergonomics.

Specifications

Now it's time to delve into the stuffing of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. The specifications for the ultrabook are very much nothing. Usually such devices are an order of magnitude weaker. But it's Lenovo. They can not without power. It should be noted that such a filling is usually equipped with laptops of the middle price segment. The more interesting will be to lay out all the components of this ultrabook.

CPU

Lenovo desperately wanted to provide the device with a processor of the Ivy Bridge generation. Therefore, we had to install the second-generation Intel Core processor. The fact is that the generation of the third model so far supports only Sandy Bridge technology. In any case, the Ultrabook is available with Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. And the "stones" of the i5 and i7 series have a special turbo mode, which turns on automatically when the load on the processor increases. Due to this, the processor clock speed is doubled. While Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook can boast of only such processors. Perhaps in the future, the third generation still "dopyat" and the device will be updated. Who knows?

RAM

Ultrabook is equipped with four gigabytes of RAM type DDR3. Notice, not even DDRL! Although for the time of battery life it did not particularly affect. The operating frequency of this "RAM" is 1333 MHz. Of course, this in our century is not enough, but since it is not planned to play on this device, no less than to carry out complex calculations, then such a volume is what we need. For browsers 4 GB is enough with a vengeance.

It is unpleasant that the laptop does not have a dual-channel mode of operative memory. The slot for the "bar" DDR3 is just one. Meanwhile, the increase in performance when working on two channels is very significant. Because the slot is only one, you can not even increase the amount of RAM. Will have to be content with 4 GB.

Video card

There is nothing supernatural here. As the main video card here is the integrated graphics chip Intel HD Graphics 3000. There are not many possibilities, but the chip will cope with Full HD video and browser games. Discrete video accelerator put in ultrabuki makes no sense, and nowhere. The small volume of the case does not provide such an opportunity. The case is quite small and the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. The characteristics of the video system are therefore nothing special.

It should be noted that the low-power Intel HD Graphics 3000 is equipped only with models on a weak Core i3 processor. The remaining versions are equipped with a more powerful graphics adapter series 4000. It is able to pull almost all the games. Even the most demanding, however, only on the minimum settings. What to do, you have to sacrifice performance in order to save space.

HDD

Here is a very good tandem from HDD and SSD drives. And SSD is used only for the system cache, and HDD for storing information. By the way, the volume of the same HDD is not particularly impressive. Only 500 GB. So you can not turn this ultrabook into a multimedia center. Yes, he is not calculated for this. To work the same and web surfing so many gigabytes is enough.

The most interesting thing is that SSD-caching can be manually disabled (and by default it is disabled). This is probably done in order to reduce the power consumption of the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. It is not included also for the reason that each user decides whether he needs it or not. However, for reasons of speed, this option is better to include. It turns on from the BIOS device.

Network and Internet

The network adapter is represented by a board based on Intel Centrino. This board provides a very good speed wireless and wired connection. But the main "chip" of this network card is not that. In Intel Centrino there is a technology for transmitting a digital signal WiDi. A very useful thing if your TV is equipped with a Wi-Fi-transmitter. You can watch movies on the laptop, broadcasting the transfer to the TV.

Ultrabook is equipped with an RJ45 connector for connection to a local network or to a wired internet. But what's interesting is that the connection speed is a maximum of 100 Mbps. It seems that the company did not want to install a gigabit adapter for reasons of economy. And he, by the way, is very much needed nowadays, since 100 Mbps is already the last century.

But Bluetooth is not installed by default. It goes optional in the most expensive models. And the ancient version 4.0. Why did the producers do it exactly this way? It's unclear. Probably from the desire to reduce the cost of the final product. In any case, you can live without bluetooth adapter. His absence is not critical at all.

operating system

By standard, along with the ultrabook comes Windows 7 Home Basic Edition. A little incomprehensible solution. Not only does this version of the operating system differ by some "cut-off" in comparison with the pro-version, so the seventh version of Windows is also morally obsolete. And not by days, but by the hour. It would be much better to ship this product with Windows 8.1 on board.

Expect the version of the device with Ubuntu or something "linux-like" on board is not worth it. Still, it's a mass product, and most people for some reason prefer the offspring of Bill Gates. And there is no guarantee that all components of the ultrabook will work properly under Linux. So in this case it is better to use "Windu".

Sound

This component is represented by the Conexant HD chip. He will not be able to provide any "unearthly" sound, but for standard playback of music it is quite enough. By the way, Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is equipped with a combined input for connecting the speaker system and microphone. Of course, in terms of space savings, this is a great solution, but what about the ease of use? It turns out that you can not connect speakers and microphone at the same time. You must acquire an adapter. The speakers of the laptop are located in a somewhat strange place - on the fold of the lid. That is, to hear a normal sound, you need to completely flip the screen. And given the weak viewing angles of the display, you begin to doubt that at least something you'll see in that case. So this location of the speakers is the worst thing you could think of.

If someone does not like the standard sound card and speaker system, you can buy a USB sound card with more impressive parameters and turn an ultrabook into a mini-studio. There are any connectors for acoustics and microphones in abundance. In addition, the presence of full-sized USB-connectors in quantity more than necessary for this ultrabook is enough.

Screen

Ultrabook is equipped with an inexpensive screen with a matrix of TN + Film. The maximum resolution is 1366 * 768 pixels. Not enough, of course. Devices of the same category have long been equipped with screens with Full HD-resolution. The downside of this cheap matrix is also that the viewing angles are frankly none. Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook can be used comfortably, only sitting right in front of the display, without deflecting it by one degree. Then the colors will not be distorted. True, if a more expensive matrix were used here, then this laptop would not be worth such ridiculous money. So in everything there are pluses.

The brightness of the screen is not very pleased. Even the cheapest laptops can boast much more brightness. Against sunlight, this screen will not stand. So it is recommended to use an ultrabook in the premises, because you will not see anything against the sun. But what else could you expect from a budget screen?

Contents of delivery

In the box there is nothing superfluous. The laptop itself and the charger. Well, a couple of pieces of paper with a warranty and instruction manual. All. Could at least put a cloth to wipe the screen. Although what to claim from an ultra-budget ultrabook? A box of black color with a proud inscription Lenovo IdeaPad U310 59337930. The last digits indicate the numeric identifier of the model. Well at least the box was made black, and not the color of ordinary cardboard. Of course, if the device was more expensive, then on the box would be more information about Lenovo IdeaPad U310 - description, photo. But it is not. So it is necessary to be content with small.

Battery

The battery is a battery of 54 watts per hour. The number of cells is six. According to the manufacturer, this nutrient element is able to keep the device in working condition for 7-8 hours. Strangely enough, this is just the case when the declared characteristics coincide with the real ones. Ultrabook can really last up to eight hours on one battery charge.

By the way, eight hours is not the limit. If you turn on the power saving mode, set the brightness of the screen to a minimum and do not heavily burden the laptop, you can achieve much better results. The maximum battery life in the energy-saving mode with the above parameters was about ten hours. Very good result for a budget ultrabook.

Product Reviews

Popular retailers are full of positive reviews about the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. For example, many praise his good design. But most reviews rely on a very good performance for a budget ultrabook. However, there are also negative reviews (as without them). But most of them come from people who received a product with a factory marriage. The most common complaint - the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 does not turn on. Since most owners do not have such a problem, it is logical to assume that the dissatisfied fellow got a model with a factory marriage. In general, the reviews are positive. So, the novelty is quite acceptable in quality and price.

Summary

Ultrabook Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is good for work. In this regard, there is nothing better than him. Powerful, convenient, easy, inexpensive. What else is needed? For special gourmets there is a special version of Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch with a touch screen instead of the usual one. However, if the device is purchased for work and Internet surfing, then such "bells and whistles" are completely superfluous. The usual version is enough.

The technical characteristics of this laptop are such that you can work with it, watch Full HD video and even play some games that are not particularly demanding on system resources. An excellent option for students and just busy people. Especially because the price is the most advantageous offer. Ultrabook Lenovo IdeaPad U310 - what most users need.