IdeaPad U260 review

Hi all, I just posted a review of the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 (purchased myself not a review unit). Lenovo IdeaPad U260 Review - Notebook Reviews by Mobile TechReview

I read here frequently and I haven't seen any posts about the U260 and I'm curious why. Is it too expensive? Too focused on design? Or is it just too new?

 

You can probably get a similarly equipped X201 for a few hundred less. ThinkPad owners generally tend not to be style mavens. I don't know that the tomato soup color is my cup of tea, but it looks better than the Edge notebooks with the silver trim. Thanks for posting.

 

but the lcd on the x201 is horrible compare to u260.

 

The designer style and slim form factor seems to make this the best Window's alternative to the 11.6" Macbook Air. In that comparison it has some trade offs that I wouldn't take.

It's clearly has a more powerful cpu, has more memory and comes with a lower price (current web special makes the Core i3 $799 and the i5 $899). But the MBA comes with flash storage, Nvidia graphics, better battery life (as high as 5-6) and a better trackpad. It's also thinner and lighter. But it's limited to 128mb flash storage at most; a deal breaker for many I'd bet.

In terms of picking a stylish computer for everyday tasks, I would pick the MBA.


Overall the Arrandale was severely disappointing when it came to battery life in ULV proccessors, was simply a step backwards when compared to C2D ULVs. Will have to see how Sandy Bridge ULV preforms. AMD's Fusion chips could also make this space more interesting.

 

aznguyphan: Acer and others manage extremely good battery life with the ULV Core Arrandale CPUs (even the latest iterations of the U160 aren't bad). I think the 4 cell battery really hurts the U260 more than the CPU for battery life.

For the other X201-related comments, I can definitely understand a ThinkPad person preferring the traditional ThinkPad design. I would add that the U260 is lighter than the X201-- good for those of us with bad backs and wimpy arms .

Interesting comments, thanks so much! It's most helpful to hear about the things that matter to you most in a notebook.

 

If you follow the Lenovo sub forum, then you know there are basically three categories of users:

1) Thinkpad users whom want a robust business laptop with good warranty support.

2) Gaming users whom want a laptop with good GPU, CPU and LCD.

3) People whom want cheap laptops whether they are thinkpads runout models or G series.

The U260 is targeted at 'fashionista' computer users, which is a market segment that Lenovo has not been able to capture, and therefore not a brand that most people would think of when it comes to these fashion/designer laptops.

The consumer in the target market segment of U260 may not be at all tech savvy, since many of them use a laptop as a tool (they also want to make a fashion statement), they usually don't want to know all the intricate details of how the laptop works. What they expect is basically a laptop that will work straight out of the box, not too much fiddling and if they want it serviced then they would send it off to the store or depot.

Basically U260 will be competing in the same category as the MBA.

But Lenovo would have a hard time capturing these consumers for two main reasons:

1) These fashionista probably own an Apple products of some sort, which gives Apple a leg up in terms of brand preferences for subsequent purchases of ultraportable laptops.

2) Apple MB Air is already the category killer, and they can be bought in many stores, where people can physically feel and touch the product (many people buy these products on a whim). Whereas, the U260 is only available from online stores, which limits amount of product testing and interaction before purchase by the consumer. So many people wouldn't know what to expect from this product or how it compares to the other laptops of the same class.

Therefore unless the person has significant involvement with the Lenovo brand or the U260 is sold at a greater discount, then most likely they would go along with something they can actually see in real person or go with an Apple MBA of some sort (this is the benchmark).