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2012: Year of the Ultrabook , Lenovo’s first Ultrabook IdeaPad U300s Review

2012: Year of the Ultrabook , Lenovo’s first Ultrabook IdeaPad U300s Review

CloudTag: Ultrabook , IdeaPad U300s , Lenovo lap-top , Lenovo batteries , Lenovo thinkpad t61 batteries , inspiron 1525 batteries

The talk is usually all about tablets, but 2012 may be the year of the Ultrabook.

Apple inadvertently touched off a new PC category with its MacBook Air. While the MacBook Air was priced too rich for many in its initial generation, Apple was able to get the price down to a reaso-nable level with the current model. Starting at $999, the MacBook Air forced Intel and Windows laptop makers to scramble to come up with an answer to Apple. Thus the Ultrabook category was born.

What is an Ultrabook? According to Intel, who tra-demarked the term, the Ultrabook is a laptop that:

• is less than 20mm (0.8 inches) thick• has no optical drive• uses a solid-state drive (SSD) for all storage

• uses a Core i5, i7 processor• weighs less than 1.4 kg (3.1 lbs.)• yields 5 – 8+ hours of battery life• priced around $1,000

ThefirstUltrabookshavestartedtoappearfromtop laptop makers, including Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and HP. While these initial models have been able to meet the hardware criteria laid out by Intel, the “around $1,000 has been a sticking point. To be fair, modelsoftheMacBookAirwithdecentconfigura-tions sell at prices higher than the $999 entry-level configuration.

PC laptop makers realize they must do something to kickstart the Ultrabook category. It sounds like the Ultrabook will be the big thing at the CES in 2012, compared to netbooks and tablets in recent years.

It is good that so many companies are looking to produce Ultrabooks, as that will drive prices down. While Ultrabook makers may have a hard time com-peting with Apple currently, if prices drop enough next year that will surely change. Intel is predicting 40 percent of all laptops sold will be Ultrabooks by the end of 2012.

Whilenetbookswereessentiallyaflashinthepan,quickly getting big sales numbers and fading just as fast, Ultrabooks are here to stay. Netbooks went the underpowered route to acheive cost effectiveness, and many owners quickly tired of the corner-cut-ting. Ultrabooks are full laptops, with good perfor-mance packed in a highly portable form. In spite of the fancy new marketing term, they are the natural evolution of the bigger laptops, and they’ll be around for a good while, post-PC era or not.

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2012: Year of the Ultrabook , Lenovo’s first Ultrabook IdeaPad U300s Review

If next year I can get an Ultrabook like the Lenovo U300s I recently reviewed for less than $1,000, I can see myself buying one. I likely wouldn’t be the only one, as many need a Windows laptop, or have a bias against Apple. Next year may very well be the year of the Ultrabook.

Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Review

Ultrabook is a product category invented by Intel to cook up excitement for the laptop segment. It is essentially a thin and light notebook computer thatisreasonablypriced.ThefirstUltrabookforThinkPad maker Lenovo is the IdeaPad U300s, and it validates the new product name as it is the thinnest and lightest Windows laptop I have ever used. It is also the best Windows notebook to cross my desk, and that covers a lot of them.

The Ultrabook design gives the U300s its form, a light (<3 lbs.) aluminum case that is half an inch thick. The unibody design is deceptively sturdy, and is easy to carry and use. The 13-inch display is bright and vivid, and the chiclet keys a typist’s dream with one exception detailed below. Performance is top-notch withtheIntelCorei7processorasconfigured,andbattery life can last all day. I’m not convinced we

need the special Ultrabook marketing term, but the IdeaPadU300sfitstheultrabrandingineveryway.

Hardware specs as reviewed

• CPU: Intel Core i7, 1.8 GHz• Memory: 4GB• Storage: 256GB SSD with RapidDrive techno-logy(verifiedcoldbootin10seconds)

• Display: 13.3 inches; 1366 x 768;• Ports: 1-USB 2.0; 1-USB 3.0, audio, HDMI• Dimensions: 324 x 216 x 14.9 mm; 12.75 x

8.5 x 0.58 inches• Battery life: 8 hours real world; Rapid

charge to 50% in 30 minutes• Weight: 1.32 kg; 2.9 lbs.• OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Using the Ultrabook

Carrying the U300s in one hand couldn’t be easier, withthethinlaptopfittingcomfortablyinthehand.The notebook feels like it could stand up to the daily rigors of a road warrior, while remaining easy to throw in the bag and go. The system is optimized to make the laptop quick to start, easy to put to sleep, and fast to charge when the battery level drops

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2012: Year of the Ultrabook , Lenovo’s first Ultrabook IdeaPad U300s Review

down. Even the power brick is well designed, being almostasthinasthelaptopitselfandeasytofitina small pocket of any gear bag.

Lenovo has designed the U300s with a solid bottom cover to the notebook, with nary a vent. This keeps the laptop cool when using propped up on the lap, due to air circulating through the keyboard and out the two side vents. The Ultrabook exhibits little warming during use as found in many laptops. It is well designed for long-term usage with good ther-mal engineering.

Ultra-performance

The Intel Core i7 processor (1.8 GHz) coupled with the 256 GB solid-state disk (SSD) make this laptop fly.It is thefastest thin laptopIhaveeverused,and has handled everything I throw at it with ease. The Windows Experience Index (WEI) of 4.4 shows how it stacks up, with the highest rating given to the SSD of 7.1.

This performance would mean little if the battery installed wasn’t able to keep it going for very long. Lenovoratesthefixedbatteryat8hours,andmyreal-world usage backs that up. I have routinely gotten over seven hours with the Balanced power setting, and could see getting even longer with ag-gressive power management.

The rapid charging technology in the U300s adds even more value to thelong battery life. Using the tiny power brick, it is possible to make a 50 percent charge to a dead battery in just 30 minutes. This is a huge advantage for the frequent traveler, as just a half hour access to a power outlet can get you an extra 4+ hours of usage at the end of a long day.

Lenovo claims the battery has a 30-day standby time, whichIhavenotverified.Ican’tlettheU300ssitidlefor days as it calls me to use it frequently. I have ve-

rifiedthe10.5secondcoldboottime,madepossibleby Lenovo’s optimization with the RapidDrive SSD.

Conclusion

Lenovo has produced an outstanding laptop for its firstUltrabook,anditmeetstheultradefinitioninevery way. There is even anti-theft protection on the U300s to help locate a stolen laptop for hopefully recovering it intact should that tragedy strike.

See Also:

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