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By Alex Kidman, CNET.com.au
Mar 18, 2008

For as long as they've been around, the ThinkPad line (previously IBM, now Lenovo) have been the Volvos of the notepad world. To borrow shamelessly from Dudley Moore's Crazy People, "they're boxy--but they're good". That design idea has carried on throughout the ThinkPad's life and it's ensured legions of enterprise buyers have continued being buyers of ThinkPads.

Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com.au. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

On the consumer end of the spectrum, however, Lenovo's had less success and a lot of that has come down to design issues. Or, to put it more succinctly, their consumer notebooks have looked ugly and often appeared cheap. The IdeaPad line, thankfully, erases that perception; while it takes a lot from the ThinkPad line in terms of design, it's also packed with enough neat consumer touches to make it stand out. This isn't a wholly blinged-out consumer system--but it's also not just a boring black box.

From the outside the IdeaPad doesn't seem that special, aside from the textured cover, which has the nice side effect of not picking up finger smudges. Opening it up reveals that the screen doesn't sit on the usual thin hinge, but instead rotates off a roughly L-shaped stand, which pushes the 15.4-inch TFT display back a touch. Lenovo refers to the IdeaPad as having a "frameless" screen, but that’s not exactly true. It does lack a protruding bezel--the glass of the screen floats to the edge--but there's still a 1cm black frame behind the glass. At 360 x 262 x 36.2mm and with a carrying weight of 2.96kg, this isn't a massively portable machine.

Features

The IdeaPad submitted for review was the Y510-300 model, which ships with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9300 running at 2.50GHz. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium on a 250GB 5400rpm hard drive with 2GB of RAM. Graphics are handled by an onboard Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS with 256MB of memory. The Y510-300 isn't a slouch in the audio department, with four speakers and an embedded subwoofer (2 x 2w speaker with chamber, 2 x 1w secondary speakers and 1 x 2.5w subwoofer). Networking connectivity is via 10/100 Ethernet, Intel PRO/Wireless 3945AGN (so it's a badged Centrino model), V92 Modem and Bluetooth.

The IdeaPad also comes with a 1.3-megapixel Web camera, which in the current consumer market isn't anything special to speak of. What Lenovo has done with the Web camera is special, however; it has integrated this into the notebook's security system using an application called VeriFace. This lets you log into Windows, encrypt files and store passwords using a simple facial recognition system. On the consumer "cool" side, when it's scanning your face, it runs some totally superfluous, but funky, scan lines over the displayed screen, which is sure to bring a few "oohs" from anyone passing by when you're first logging in.

Performance And Battery Life

The nice factor about the IdeaPad picking up design cues from the ThinkPad range is that ThinkPads have long had great keyboards and a lot of sturdiness and this follows through on the IdeaPad when you're using it for practical work. It's easy to type on, the screen is clear and mostly glare-free and the touchpad has both good positioning and decent response. Fans of the Trackpoint "nipple", however, will no doubt be disappointed by its absence.

From a specifications point of view, we were looking for good things from the IdeaPad and it delivered nicely. With a PCMark05 score of 6,127 and a 3DMark score of 4,355, this a capable machine for any consumer task. Our DVD battery rundown test was less inspiring, offering only 1 hour 28 minutes running a full-screen brightness DVD with all power-saving measures disabled.

We were wary of how well VeriFace would work in practical terms, but came away very impressed; it logged us in seamlessly each time, even when sitting on angles. It rejected a photo of us--we weren't quite willing to be decapitated to see if a skull would work--and in a nice nod to security, it also logged failed attempts by other people to access our system. It should be noted that at least for Windows Vista Login, the VeriFace system is just an option; if somebody knows your system password they can still get access.

Service And Support

The laptop comes with one-year regional carry-in warranty at the Lenovo service center. On Lenovo's support Web site, you can register your warranty after which the site will automatically detect your machine configuration and offer the appropriate support. A knowledge database is available for simple troubleshooting. Updated drivers, manuals and software upgrades can be downloaded as well. If the issue requires a professional assistance, a telephone helpline is available during working hours from Monday to Friday which will dispatch a technician onsite if required.

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