Conclusion
Conclusion
Lenovo’s IdeaPad U410 currently starts at $799. For that you receive the same hardware found in our review unit including an Intel Core i5-3317, NVIDIA GeForce GT 610M graphics processor and eight gigabytes of RAM. More expensive models upgrade you to a Core i7 processor or pairs a 1TB mechanical drive to the cache drive, but those are the only significant differences. In top trim you’re looking at a price just north of $1,000.
This would be a good value if the GT 610M brought more to the table. Instead, I found it was only meaningfully better than Intel HD 4000 in two games out of the five we tested. The GT 610M is the only piece of hardware on offer that might make the U410 stand out, but it fails to do so.
Acer’s Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 only pours salt into this wound. That laptop can be purchased for $780 with a GT 640M LE and otherwise similar hardware. It is, as you’d expect, substantially quicker. Anyone interested in being able to play a few games on their ultrabook will clearly prefer the M5.
Ultimately, there’s nothing about the U410 which makes it stand out from the competition. It is not a bad laptop, but it is merely average. Lenovo needs to bring more to the table if it wants this 14-incher to catch consumer attention.
How about Running the Joe
How about Running the Joe Blow benchmark on this laptop!
the Joe Blow is an easy benchmark, just:
1) do a Windows system image backup, and list the total time it takes using the fastest USB port on the computer attatched to both a usb 3.0(if computer has one) and then a USB 2.0 external hard drive (this will test the computer and the computers ability(time it takes) to perform a complete backup! This will also test how well the computers USB 3.0 port, If it has one, performs when attatched to the previous generation external hard drive (You would be suprised how poorly some USB 3.0 ports perform when attatched to a USB 2.0 external hard drive, mostly beacause of The computer’s OEM’s poor job writing drivers)
2) Once the image backup is complete, turn around and copy the system Image backup to the computers C drive from the external drive, while it is copying under windows, note the best average copy speed that windows says the file is being copied at, but also keep tabs on the total time it takes to perform the copy! do this test for USB 3.0 and 2.0 External drives (if the computer has USB 3.0)
3) take the system Image backup and copy it, once again, to a 64 gig thumb drive (do this for a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 thumb drive, if the computer has USB 3.0). be sure to get the thumb drives that are on sale for the least price, but make sure they are at least 64 Gigabites. Record average transfer speeds, and total time it takes for each transfer.
64 gigs is usually big enough for most system images on a new laptop including bloatware!
4)Publish The results in a neat table of your own design!
On the ‘Joe Blow’ benchmark,
On the ‘Joe Blow’ benchmark, I’d be interested in the performance in Ununtu 12.04, in both NTFS-WIN7 & Linux’s EXT file systems.
Probably the only CPU-compatible benchtest might be 7Z compression & decompression. This varies for the compressiblity of the files, so we perhaps might standardize on the Windows folder on C-drive?
I found the USB-port speeds vary on which of the ports are chosen; one of mine has ESATA available on it as well.
Retired Chief Information Officer (1984), Australian Capital Territory
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does this model have any Wifi
does this model have any Wifi problems like the U310?
ya it does
ya it does
I just purchased the i-7, 1
I just purchased the i-7, 1 TB (no SSD), version for 699 USD directly from Lenovo’s website using a ‘weekly deal’. So, maybe they have a surplus of the higher end model. At that price, this seems like a steal to me. BTW, they report a 4+ weeks ship time on the website and talking to customer service, but once purchased the ship time is two days.
Hi,
the i7 version of the
Hi,
the i7 version of the U410 with 4GB ram and 500gb hdd, 24gb ssd is available hear cheaper as a factory seconds refurbrished. I want to buy it as a cheap light weight alternative to hauling my work laptop around town. Are there any issues in the basic system I should be looking out for?