The 13.3-inch U310 from Lenovo is an ultrabook featuring an upgraded graphics card and a 500GB hard drive. At 3 pounds, it's lightweight and you can carry it in almost any bag without making your shoulder ache. The screen resolution is on par with the industry standard for ultrabooks, but the presets are too bright and the colors appear washed out. It took a lot of fiddling to get the color scheme the way we wanted it, but a quick processor and strong design make this good ultrabook.
There is a dual-core i5, 1.7GHz processor inside the U310. It's a third generation processor, so it uses less energy to run and maintains a cooler temperature than second generation processors. Compared to other ultrabooks, this one has an upgraded graphics card. While the HD Graphics 4000 might not be suitable for hardcore gaming, Blu-ray movies and other high-definition media will look great once you adjust the default display settings. The screen has a standard resolution of 1366 x 768, but the display's presets don't give you the truest color and contrast. Adjusting these settings is doable, but it will take some time.
The U310 is super responsive. RapidBoot technology optimizes the boot sequence. The system will be up and running in less than 26 seconds, even when you've installed 60 additional applications on it. There is a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) in this laptop, but Lenovo combines HDD with newer solid-state drive (SSD) technology. This means you cannot only expect the computer to boot up in seconds, but you will get more hard drive space.
Lenovo makes it simple to control audio as well. Dolby Home Theater x4 gives you presets meant for movies, music or games, but you can also have up to six custom profiles under each preset. We found the 2.0 speakers loud enough for watching movies in a small room, but headphones will give you better sound than ultrabook speakers.
Lenovo offers excellent customer service. You can contact them through phone, email or live chat. The email does take a day or two longer, but this is to be expected when emailing a large company. We waited less than five minutes when calling in for questions. You can also visit their online forums, browse the FAQs and download drivers from their site.
You can expect quality products from Lenovo, and the U310 ultrabook is no exception. It comes with a third generation processor, quality audio and more hard drive space than other ultrabooks. While the screen features a standard resolution, we were disappointed with the clarity of the default display settings, and it took some effort to adjust them. In the end, you can expect this ultrabook give you quality performance whether you are watching movies or putting together a presentation.
