Lenovo’s IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook hit the market not long ago and is well suited for the college crowd. The U310 is the newer version of the U300, This is Lenovo’s consumer level Ultrabook and can be purchased for a college student budget. If you’re looking for an inexpensive back-to-school Ultrabook, the U310 should definitely be on your consideration list. You can find the U310 with a Core i3, i5, or i7 processor. It is a second generation Ultrabook with an Ivy Bridge processor featuring HD4000 graphics.
Here are some basic quick specs::
Intel Core i5-3317U @ 1.7GHz
4GB of RAM
500GB Harddrive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
13.3″ screen at 1366×768
Intel HD4000 integrated graphics
about 3 lbs
College Student Approved Laptop
Being lightweight is always a very important aspect of choosing a laptop when heading to school since it will be lugged around all day and also at 0.7 thick, it is easily to slip in and out of your bag. I do suggest to get a well padded sleeve as well.
I will say unfortunately, booting the U310 showed a disappointing amount of bloatware installed. Lots of advertising shortcuts placed on the desktop as well as a trial of McAfee’s anti-virus software.
Even with the extra bloatware, the boot time is really nice. Lenovo’s RapidBoot technology has optimized the boot sequence. the average boot time is about 25 secs, compared to the average consumer model laptop at 60-80 seconds.
Stylish Design
The U310, comes in a coice of colors as well which is great for personalization (grey, aqua blue or cherry blossum). The shell is cast out of aluminum and the palm rest is comfortable but sturdy.
I especially like the “Mac” look of the keyboard which is a AccuType design. The keyboard is ergonomy designed which s great when writing papers, taking notes and living your busy student life. The touchpad is much larger then average which is a good selling point and it’s made fro glass. This makes it smoother to navigate with. The F-keys are bound to functions like volume control, radio toggles, brightness etc. without the need to press Fn to activate them.
Be Your Own I.T.
You’ll find an one-touch recovery button fr those when you go “opps!”. The one touch recovery button launches a utility which helps the user make a backup, create recovery disks (despite the U310 not having a CD-drive), or restore to a backup/factory restore.
As a security feature the U310 has VeriFace 4.0. VeriFace, allows you to log onto sites and into laptop using the HD webcam by using facial recognition. Someone may steal your password but with this feature activated they can’t get into sites, etc (unless they steal your face as well).
WiFi Issues
I unfortunately also found that there was some issues with the WiFi and range on the U310. Lenovo says they’re aware of the issue and working hard to resolve it. It is unclear whether this is a hardware or software issue. I’m sure there will be updates to work through this. When I was in the same room as router I had no issues, just when I would leave the room and were just a bit further from the router also in bust hotspots it would go in and out more often then my Macbook Air.
Overall
Overall,for the price and size, weight and function this is a good idea for college students heading back to school.