Lenovo IdeaPad U260 Review

Lenovo’s laptops usually has that design signature that you’ll easily spot a mile away. The IdeaPad U260 does not seem to inherit the usual genetic make-up and thus gives it a much refreshing look. Check out our full review of the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 after the jump.

The IdeaPad U260’s design is just elegant with its very thin frame; a bit squarish on the edges but with a smooth, muted texture and matte finish. The area within palm rests and surrounding the keyboard are also laid out with leather to give it a more elegant finish.

The trackpad looks like it’s made of tempered glass and has that smooth, polished finish while the separated left and right buttons are made of thin sheet of aluminum. The trackpad-button combo is among the most comfortable set I’ve used in a laptop in recent memory (Lenovo deserves the credit for creating really great and comfortable trackpad & button clickers for their laptops). The keyboard is nice and spacious with an almost chiclet-type form — it’s slightly curved at the bottom end and has a concave surface.

While the U260’s thin frame did not accommodate an ODD, Lenovo still went out and somewhat splurged a bit on the processor — using a dual-core, multi-threaded Core i5 1.33GHz processor than can Turbo Boost up to 1.86GHz (they also have a Core i3 variant).

Another odd feature of this unit is the size of the display screen – at 12.5” across, it’s a little bigger than the usual 11.6” but still smaller than the regular-sized 13.3”. It is still unclear why they opted to do this screen size though I doubt if they did it just to be labeled as different.

The screen comes in a matte finish which minimizes glare when used in the outdoors or against bright light source. The display is still bright and crisp; has that polished surface that somehow prevents smudging and fingerprint marks.

While the dual-core Intel Core i5 processor performed very well, the embedded Intel HD Graphics did not compliment it that well (so forget hard core gaming on this rig).

The CPU gets a sub-score of 5.6 on Windows Experience Index and a decent 4.6 sub-score on gaming graphics. See screenshot of the WEI below:

The unit comes with only 2 USB ports but has an HDMI port so you can hook it up to an external display (like an LED TV). There’s a mini-PCIe port on the left side and a dedicated On/Off WiFi switch beside it.

Lenovo IdeaPad U260
12.5″ display at 16:9 ratio and 1366×768 pixel resolution
Intel Core i5-470 UM @ 1.33 GHz (2 Cores, 4 Threads, Turbo Boost 1.86GHz)
Intel HD Graphics
4GB DDR3 RAM
320GB SATA HDD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1
HDMI port
2 x USB 2.0 port
GigaBit LAN
0.3MP webcam
Windows 7 Home Premium
4-cell Li-Po battery

What’s a bit disappointing though is that the built-in 4400mAh Lithium Polymer battery is a little lacking. A full power, the unit only lasts about 3 hours. You can optimize the settings to go as long as 4 hours but that’s already stretching it. The battery compartment is locked from the inside and not readily user-replaceable (unless of course you’re willing to un-screw the back panel).

The laptop does not come in cheap (although it’s certainly more affordable than a similarly spec’ed Samsung Series 9). Suggested retail price for the Core i5 model is Php51,990USD 886INR 75,105EUR 844CNY 6,452 while the Core i3 variant is at Php44,990USD 767INR 64,993EUR 730CNY 5,583. Both variants are available in mocha brown and clementine orange colors.