Lenovo IdeaPad U310 (Summer 2012)

The ultrabook revolution of 2011 has become a deluge in 2012, which means one thing: lower prices. If you were hunting for a reasonably thin Windows laptop with good battery life at a reasonable cost, you couldn't have picked a better time. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is a perfect example: it's an update of sorts to the IdeaPad U300s, one of the first Windows ultrabooks we reviewed last fall that carried a MacBook Air-like $1,195 price tag. This time, the cost is a mere $799 -- but, with some compromises made along the way.
The IdeaPad U310 is a different machine: it's got a significantly heavier and thicker chassis and a standard magnetic platter-type mechanical hard drive instead of a solid-state drive (SSD). However, its internal specs are very good, with a third-gen 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and all the ports you'd need (Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI). It's still an ultrabook by definition, but not quite as sleek a product.

It's a pretty similar package to what the identically priced Sony Vaio T offers, although the Vaio T is lighter and has a better battery life. It's also similar to what the new Dell Inspiron 14z offers, although the Inspiron 14z also has dedicated AMD graphics.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

So, where does that leave the IdeaPad U310? It's not a bad deal for what's under the hood, but the U310 doesn't feel as surprising as last year's U300s. Nor is it. It's really the smaller cousin of the IdeaPad U400: a MacBook-like Lenovo laptop with a good keyboard, a solid set of features, and a pleasing design that could make an excellent back-to-school computer. Students should look into the IdeaPad U310, especially if it's on sale. You might want to comparison-shop the growing landscape of affordable ultrabook-alikes at the time of purchase and see if you can do better, but the bottom line is this: be happy. Ultrabooks have larger hard drives (without SSD), and are cheaper than ever. That's a good thing.

System weight / Weight with AC adapter
At 0.7 inch thick and 3.68 pounds, the IdeaPad U310 is thin and light, but not quite as thin and light as other 13-inch ultrabooks. It's somewhere between "normal" 13-inch laptop and ultrabook, and feels more like the former. It's heavier than the Sony Vaio T ultrabook, and lighter than the new Dell Inspiron 14z.

Unlike the sleek, black IdeaPad U300s, the U310 is both whitish and candy-colored. Its larger cousin that it looks the most like is the IdeaPad U400, a machine that was closer in size and function to a 13-inch MacBook Pro. The U310 is more backpack- and small-bag-friendly, but also ditches the slot-loading DVD drive in the process.

 (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

You'd better get used to hearing, "Hey, you've got a new white MacBook!" because you're going to hear it a lot at coffee shops. The IdeaPad U310 is MacBook-like, and there's no way around it. Sure, the outer wraparound Aqua Blue aluminum on the lid and underside (also available in Graphite Gray and Cherry Blossom Pink) is distinctive, but open the lid and the white surfaces, black raised keyboard, and large touch pad -- even the bezel around the screen and keyboard -- practically scream "MacBookalike." The anodized, colored-aluminum exterior sandwiches the slightly off-white plastic interior when closed, giving the laptop a two-tone look and a booklike profile.

It's a comfortable laptop to use, too: the palm rest is spacious, the multitouch clickpad gigantic, and the keyboard nearly as excellent as most Lenovo keyboards.

Why nearly? Because the keyboard's not backlit, and the keys themselves have an ever-so-slightly lower-quality feel compared with the high bar of ThinkPads. It's still good, but I found keys not registering every once in a blue moon, and the column of keys on the right side makes the Backspace key very hard to locate by touch. To make matters worse, the keyboard exhibited some flex on our review model. At least the function keys are reversed (the media-control buttons for volume and screen brightness work without the Fn key held down).

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

The very large touch pad is the same size as that on a MacBook, but not as good. Pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling are less instantly responsive and more prone to jumpiness. Chalk that up less to Lenovo than to Windows 7.

The audiovisual experience on the IdeaPad U310 is similarly adequate but not outstanding. A glossy 13.3-inch screen has an utterly normal 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but is prone to screen glare. The screen isn't all that bright at its highest setting, and off-axis viewing angles are poor. It's fine for a budget computer. The stereo speakers are louder than you'd expect from an ultrabook, but sounded hollow and flat when playing back music or movie trailers.

On the other hand, the included 720p Webcam looked sharp via the preinstalled Cybervision YouCam software.

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Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Summer 2012)

(For a comparative look at the entire Apple MacBook line, read our 2012 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air roundup.)

Remember Netbooks and ultraportable laptops? Those 10- and 11-inchers were all the rage a few years ago, but thanks to the rise of larger-screened ultrabooks and smaller-screened tablets, they've been disappearing from the computer landscape.

One significant 11-incher still remains: the 11-inch MacBook Air. When it first debuted in late 2010, it was the answer to the Netbook Generation. Now it stands alone, not only as a speedy ultraportable, but as one of the few 11-inch ultrabook-class laptops around. The closest Windows equivalent we've reviewed recently, the Dell XPS 13, is larger and heavier.

Last year's 11-inch Air was a beautifully compact and surprisingly powerful machine, nearly as quick as a 13-inch Air, but with sacrificed battery life due to its tiny size.



This year's model is faster, packing a third-gen Intel Core i5 processor that's nearly indistinguishable from the one in the larger 13-inch MacBook Air. USB 3.0 ports have been added, and battery life is better, finally clearing 5 hours and then some on our tests.

The other problem had to do with price: last year's attractive $999 entry-level MacBook Air came with a diminutive 64GB solid-state drive (SSD) and only 2GB of RAM (which couldn't be upgraded). The package you really had to upgrade to was the one with a 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM, which cost $1,199.

This year, the entry-level 2012 11-inch Air is still $999 -- the least expensive MacBook in Apple's lineup -- but still only has a 64GB SSD (though 4GB of RAM this time). The good news is that the configuration you'll want, with a 128GB SSD, costs $1,099, $100 less than last year's step-up. (If I were to be really nitpicky, I'd say that that $100 bump-up only buys you more SSD space as opposed to last year getting the SSD and RAM, but the total cost for components is $100 less either way).

A thousand dollars is a lot to pay for such a tiny laptop, but this Air's shocking portability and comfortable keyboard will win travelers over, with performance that's pretty much as good as that of the fuller Air.

You're giving up about 2 hours of battery life and an SD card slot for the privilege compared with the 13-inch. Then again, some might enjoy saving an extra $100 off a similar 13-inch configuration. Either way, the 11-inch seems better as a luxurious secondary computer than a primary one.
1.7GHz Intel Core i5 ULV (third-gen)System weight / Weight with AC adapter

Unlike Microsoft and its Windows 8 strategy, Apple has pursued two nonoverlapping paths for mobile computing in the iPad and the MacBook Air. The Air is a full OS X laptop, but it feels iPad-size when closed.

Its dimensions, while longer and thicker, aren't far off. From the front, the 0.11-inch edge looks iPad-thin; it's 0.68 inch thin on the back. At 2.38 pounds, it's a little under a pound heavier than the third-generation Retina Display iPad.

The new 11-inch Air is identical to last year's in size, shape, and design, and hasn't changed at all since its introduction in late 2010. It still looks cutting-edge; the all-metal aluminum construction gives it a seriously solid feel despite its blade-thin profile, and the whole package feels thin and light even to someone used to working with very small laptops (such as myself).

Yet, even though the Air is small, it manages to avoid compromising the keyboard and trackpad -- they're full-size -- or even screen resolution, which is a standard 1,366x768 pixels. You can see upon lifting the Air's lid that the 11.6-inch screen has a significant aluminum bezel around it, enough space, it feels like, for a 12-inch screen. The reason for the extra bezel is clear when you look below: the large, wide keyboard is basically identical in size to the 13-inch Air's, fitted snugly edge to edge. The Dell XPS 13, a 13-inch ultrabook shrunk into a 12-inch footprint, is still larger and heavier at 3 pounds versus the 11-inch Air's 2.38, and thicker all around.

The backlit keyboard has the same shallower raised keys as the 13-inch Air, but the typing experience, once you get used to it, feels excellent. The multitouch glass clickpad below is still the best in its class, perfectly responsive and tuned to Apple's operating system and software. The pad's surface area is smaller than on a 13-inch Pro or Air, but there's plenty of room for basic navigation -- although four-finger pinch gestures can get a bit cramped.
The only cosmetic change to the Air's exterior is a new MagSafe 2 connector that fits with a new charging cable that juts out rather than riding snugly along the Air's side. The connector port isn't compatible with older MagSafe cables.

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