*Lenovo IdeaPad u160 User Review*

Introducing Lenovo's most popular laptop: The IdeaPad u160.

Since this laptop is so popular that no posts have been on it and half of you guys/gals have never heard of it, I figured I would do a small review on it.

Specs: Intel i5-470UM 4Gb of DDR3 Ram 500Gb 5400rpm hard drive Screen: 11.6" HD Glare 1366x768 6 Cell Bluetooth

Build Quality/Looks: If you slapped a ThinkPad logo on this, not too many people would be the wiser.(Build quality) It is really solid and isn’t too different from the build quality of the x100e/x120e. You really have to work to get anything to flex out of it and in everyday use you shouldn’t see any flex. I doubt it would fare well if you stepped on it or dropped it, but even the x100e/x120e wouldn’t be all that better off. The laptop is also very striking with the loud red colors and all white keyboard. It’s a love it or hate it look no doubt about it. I would get the dark brown color choice if you want to keep a low profile because people will notice this from across the room.

Battery life and performance: To be blunt; battery life is not that impressive. You can get around 4 to 4 ½ hours out of it when surfing the web and doing light tasks with the screen at ~50% brightness. I’m sure you can hit the 5 hour mark if you lower the backlight turn off the wireless, but not that many use a laptop for just taking notes. Performance is adequate for the size of the laptop. Full HD videos, light Photoshop, light video editing, and most other tasks are done with ease. With my old x100e I felt that the system was sluggish even when I installed a SSD. This is not the case with the u160. It feels snappy and it hardly feels overwhelmed. The hard drive also feels like no other disk drive I have ever used. It boots fast and seems to be extremely responsive. Games are out of the question unless they are old or something along the lines like Minesweeper.

Keyboard and the screen: I LOVE chiclet keyboards and I feel they are great for smaller laptops as they make the typing area seem larger than what it really is. Whether you like or dislike chiclet keyboards, the keyboard is well made. You don’t have to smash the keys to make them work and the keys are spaced well. The track pad is alright, but it seems a bit small. They could've at least put a track point like on the ThinkPads. The screen is like most 11.6 screens. The HD screen has so-so viewing angles and without some color changes, it looks bland. It does get bright and the glossy screen doesn’t reflect everything like some glossy screens. I know people are going to say that a matte screen would be better, but honestly the glare isn't a problem unless you're sitting in direct sunlight.

Heat and noise: Let’s start with the bad; the noise. The fan tends to be on nearly all the time at a low setting. It isn’t by any means annoying, but in quiet environment, can be easily noticeable. Every once in a while the fan will spike for a few seconds to purge the heat from the system. This can become annoying and is very noticeable. It almost seems unnecessary since the components don't heat up all that much. Heat management is quite well compared to some other ultra portables. The small bottom and top left of laptop heats up to the point where it becomes uncomfortable even under light loads as this is where the exhaust vent is. The rest of the laptop remains luke warm and doesn’t warm up even when the system is stressed. The CPU likes to stay in the 40C to 60C range. Watching 1080p flash videos results with temperatures in the 50C range and seems to be far better than my old x100e. (AMD L625 ATi 3200)

Ports:Two USB ports, microphone port, audio port , HDMI, VGA, e-SATA port, 4 in1 card reader, Ethernet port, Kingston lock

Pros: Good build quality, snappy performance, sharp looking, great keyboard, lots of ports.

Cons: ~ 4 hour battery life, crapware, so-so screen, left of laptop runs warm, price.

*Biggest con: Some of these sell for $1,000. You would be out of your mind to buy this over an x201 or like system. I got mine for $650 and even that can be argued as you can get an x120e for well under that and get better battery life and like performance. It seems that Lenovo loves to make a lot of laptops that are really similar to other laptops they already have.

Pictures:







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I tried to keep this short and to the point. If you feel that I left something out or want me to go into greater detail, by all means let me know.

Thanks for your time,

~350

 

I've used one of these before - powerful, packed with tons of ports, and quite well-built, particularly for a small thin-and-light. When I was using it, the fan didn't seem overly annoying, but I didn't really stress it at all, and used it only on a desk. My only issue with it, really, is the price - some configurations sell for over $1000, and even the base Core i3 configuration is quite costly.

Also, what camera/lens did you use? You have some funky distortion going on there

 

Specs look good but kinda pricey. Is the keyboard like the Apple one? Do they have a...less attention drawing color? lol

Guess this competes with the Vostro V130, but for 1 grand why one would get this over a x200/x201/x300/x301...plus I think ThinkPads have a standard 3 year warranty..

 

Yeah it's some kind of fish-eye lens or something. Thanks for the review, I had the U150 for a short while, and had mixed feelings about it. I honestly feel that for what you get, the U160 is over priced (especially when you can get a far more durable x120e for around $400).

Edit: @Tsunade_hime, thinkpads have a standard 1 year warranty, but you can buy an extended one for up to 3 years of coverage.

 

Was this a replacement for the Thinkpad you were having problems with?

 

Indeed it is. I turned down an AMD Edge 14 and got this instead.

The camera in question is a GoPro HD. It's an action camera and doesn't take the best pictures.

@ Tsunade_Hime: Yes you can get one in a color that doesn't scream at people to look at it.

 

Actually the i5 is 2x more powerful than the e350.

 

Hrm okay I guess standard ThinkPads only have the 1 year. All the ones sold in our store come with 3 year standard depot mail in warranty (T410, T410s).

Well I'm glad you got a comparable replacement ThreeFitty, though the white palmrest worries me as grimy palms will easily turn it into a different color.

 

Yes, eating cheetos and typing are going to be a no-no with this keyboard. Maybe I can find a cover for the keyboard to something similar to those silicon ones on the Sony's.