Like the idea of owning a laptop nearly as light as a netbook, but don’t want to settle for a small screen and cramped keyboard? Then take a good look at the Lenovo IdeaPad U350. This $749 system (starting at $679) offers a larger 13-inch screen and a more comfortable typing experience, plus a more powerful processor than the typical mini-notebook. Although the battery life is below average for an ultraportable—and less than most netbooks—this svelte system is a pretty good value.
Design
The IdeaPad U350 is certainly one of the sleekest notebooks you’ll find at this price. Weighing 3.6 pounds and measuring 0.7 to 1.0 inches thick, we had no problem slipping this system into a backpack; in fact, we could barely tell it was there. The black lid has an attractive ridged diamond pattern, adorned with a sliver Lenovo logo, while the plastic silver deck is made to look like brushed metal. The 13.3-inch LCD has a glossy black bezel, and that’s more than enough gloss for us.
Above the keyboard is the Power button, a one-touch recovery button, and a mute button. What you won’t find are multimedia keys or dedicated volume controls. Overall, the Acer Timeline 3810t (another affordable ultraportable) feels more solid, but the IdeaPad U350 is sturdier than the MSI X340.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The IdeaPad U350’s keyboard is plenty large, and offered a comfortable typing experience. The keyboard flexes more than a ThinkPad’s, but overall we were pleased with our speed and accuracy when typing on it. Just keep in mind that certain keys, like the right Shift key, are slightly shrunken. That’s because to the left and right of the layout are tiny bumpers to protect the screen’s bezel when the lid is closed.
We like that the touchpad on the IdeaPad U350 is big, and the tiny dots across its surface provide just a bit of friction. Navigating the desktop was smooth, but finer movements were difficult. Also, because of the close proximity of the touchpad to the keyboard, we sometimes moved the cursor accidentally with our left thumb. This touchpad supports multitouch technology, but only the pinch gesture for zooming in on photos, Web pages, and other documents.
We’re not fans of the large, silver touchpad buttons, which feel a bit chintzy and floppy; we prefer more springiness in our buttons.
Display, Webcam, and Audio
One of the highlights of the IdeaPad U350 is its glossy 13.3-inch display, which has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Thanks to the built-in LED backlight, everything from the desktop to Web pages and videos looked bright. Images in Windows Photo Gallery looked sharp, and colors were well saturated. We noticed a fair amount of glare when viewing the LCD from the sides.
When we used the integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam to conduct a video call in Google, the other caller said the picture looked fine, if somewhat pixilated. You’ll want to avoid dim lighting. Sound quality was good in both directions, and when we waved our hand in front of the camera, our call partner detected a little motion blur.
The stereo speakers on the IdeaPad U350 are easily among the best we’ve heard on a notebook this size. When we streamed “Can’t Stop” from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Slacker, the sound was loud enough to fill a small room without being tinny. Dialog also sounded loud and clear when we watched Family Guy on Hulu. If you want to tweak the audio settings, like bass, you can use the included Dolby Sound Room software.
Port and Slots
As one might expect from a notebook this thin, the IdeaPad U350 lacks a DVD drive. This may be a deal-breaker for some consumers, but given all of the available online options for media and software, we doubt you’ll miss it.
The right side of the notebook has a 4-in-1 memory card reader, the headphone and microphone jacks, two USB ports, and the power jack. A VGA port, HDMI port, Ethernet jack, third USB port, and a wireless on/off switch line the left side.
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