A couple of months ago my Dell XPS M1330 died after four years of faithful service, and despite my best attempts with a screwdriver and soldering iron I’ve yet to manage a repair. While I still hold out hope that it can be fixed, it made much more sense for now to make use of the tax benefits of a one off larger purchase and replace it.
“I wanted something portable yet powerful, and with a good battery life to boot”
Four years ago, when I bought the Dell, it was the thinnest and lightest laptop available to buy (the macbook soon got reviewed and pipped it to this title), and my priorities haven’t changed. I wanted something portable yet powerful, and with a good battery life to boot.
I’ve been watching news of the Lenovo U300s since it was first announced a number of months ago. And while it was its more powerful bigger brother that I had my eye on initially, at over £300 cheaper, this i5 processor equipped version was as far as I could stretch.
What is an Ultrabook?
Ultra Thin Ultrabooks (Image courtesy of theverge.com)
The U300s is one of a number of new laptops bearing the name “Ultrabook” – a term coined by Intel to encourage PC manufacturers to rival Apple’s hugely successful Macbook Air. Rules state that to qualify as an ultrabook, it should be no thicker than 18mm and have a battery life of at least 5 hours. Samsung, Toshiba, HP, Acer and Asus have all released their own efforts, but it was the Lenovo that most caught my eye.
At just 14.7mm thick, it’s the thinnest of all the contenders (which for the most part copy the Air’s taper and general styling). It comes with an i5 processor, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD (an i7 processor version is also available with a 256GB SSD).
Look and Feel
The U300s comes in a “graphite grey” finish all over, with a darker shell than the interior. It’s a little darker than it appears in pictures, and less silvery than I expected, but once I had overwritten that expectation in my mind that didn’t bother me. When you hold it in your hands you really appreciate just how thin and light it is – especially when you compare it to a standard laptop. The whole body is made from aluminium, so it feels really solid, with no plasticy pieces that feel like they could break at any second.
“The Asus has razor sharp edges and looks like it wants to hurt you”
Compared to the Acer, which has a plastic body under a metal lid, and the Asus, which has razor sharp edges and looks like it wants to hurt you, the Lenovo has curves in all the right places, while still retaining a business like structured feel. I was somewhat wooed by the Acer’s silvery finish and cheaper selling price, but build quality and battery life meant the extra stretch for the lenovo was always going to leave me with better peace of mind.
Battery Life
The Lenovo is sold as having “up to 8 hours battery life”, but the best I’ve seen it do is around 6hrs and 45mins, and that’s with energy saver settings on and screen brightness turned way down. It looks to be lasting around 5 hours standard use, which is a little disappointing, but compared to the 45 minutes I was getting from the Dell in its last days it’s a relative lifetime. As long as I can head to a meeting without worrying about getting a seat next to a power outlet I’ll be happy. Even the thought of being able to travel into town without carrying a power cable makes me smile.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Screen
This is the first time using a chiclet style keyboard since I worked with a mac in 2008, and while it is taking some getting used to, it isn’t causing me any major issues. I really liked the keyboard on the Dell, so much so that I bought as close a match as I could for my desktop. But comparing the Lenovo’s to both the Acer and Asus it was clear that Lenovo had done a much better job. There’s no backlight, and while I thought that wouldn’t bother me, the black keys don’t reflect the screen like the silver keys of the dell, so it does make typing in the dark that bit more difficult.
The U300s Touchpad will take some getting used to (Image courtesy of slashgear.com)
The touchpad is a large glass type with integrated button, supporting multi-touch gestures, but I’ve found it even more of an annoyance than Dell’s. I think I’m just a mouse man anyway, but the button is loud and stiff and the gestures are hit and miss. According to reviews, the Lenovo has the best touchpad of all the Ultrabooks. I can’t imagine how bad the others must be.
The screen is typically glossy, which can’t ever be a good thing, and angles aren’t wonderful, but is as much as you can expect for a 13 inch laptop in this price range. I would have paid more for a matte screen, but at this size I wouldn’t want a bigger resolution than the offered 1366 x 768.
Cooling
For years I’ve complained about the decision of laptop manufacturers to put cooling fans and vents on the bottom of the machine. Who wants hot air fired out on their laps, or a fan that sounds like a jumbo jet kicking in when you have it set on a soft surface, blocking the intake vents?
“I’ve only heard the fan twice, and even then it was like a whisper”
Lenovo have placed a vent on the left hand side, and another hidden within the hinge. The U300s draws cool air in through the keyboard, and expels it out of these vents, leaving the bottom of the machine smooth and free of anything save an ugly Windows sticker (thanks, Microsoft). So far the entire machine has stayed cool to the touch, and I’ve only heard the fan twice during intensive tasks, and even then it was like a whisper. Top marks.
Final Word
The Lenovo U300s is the thinnest laptop on the market (Image courtesy of cnet.com)
I’m really pleased I went with the Lenovo U300s to replace my Dell. The build quality is second to none, it boots in 17 seconds flat and will last for a good 5 hours when out and about. While I’ve yet to do any major memory intensive work on it the i5 processor and SSD should be able to handle everything I throw at them in a quick and efficient manor.
The Acer, at around £200 cheaper, looked a good alternative for those on a tighter budget, and the Asus also gets good reviews, but is priced £100 more expensive. If you aren’t concerned about portability and looks there are better deals out there for standard laptops, but as far as Ultrabooks go, I’m content I’ve got the pick of the bunch.
(Title Image courtesy of slashgear.com)