With a nice 16-inch screen, great power and storage and HDMI output, this notebook from Lenovo is set to be a primary multimedia machine.  For this kind of screen size it manages to run fairly light at about approximately 5.8 pounds.  Its build is sturdily for this weight, and even manages to have a rugged feel to it despite it’s construction (it even uses carbon fiber – space age!).  The exterior is black and the exterior white, which gives it a very nice feel.  One interesting feature is also that the CD drive is not on the side as in most laptops – It’s on the front.  I imagine this will appeal to many of you, but I can see it being a bit of a problem when traveling when space is tight.

Another feature you will quickly notice when you open this laptop is the keyboard and touchpad.  In most cases, as laptop screen size increases, keyboard size increases too.  In this case though Lenovo’s engineers shrunk the keyboard in favor of palmrests and a larger touchpad.  It also has a touch sensitive bar above the keyboard with several cool features like facial recognition!

As for ports, you can tell that this is where sacrifices were made for speed.  There are no ports in the back.  On the right there is a 6 in 1 card reader, USB, headphone (and mic), eSATA, Expresscard(34), and Ethernet ports in addition to a lock slot.  In the front you can find the on/off switch and the aforementioned optical drive.  The left side holds the HDMI, VGA, power, and USB ports.  This means there is a total of only 2 USB ports – which can be a problem.  In addition, there are no Firewire ports.  This is definitely a strong candidate for a USB expansion or Firewire add-on.  The speakers are pretty good, and don’t have much distortion unless you crank them up all the way.  Unfortunately as with most laptops the bass is a little lacking.

Overall this computer runs quickly, but it’s graphics card isn’t as good as some comparable models.  It’s ideal for day to day functions like web browsing, email, word processing, or watching movies.  It’s not really a gaming machine though.  With ordinary use the laptop battery runs for about 3 hours, which makes it good for home or class use.  If you’re travelling for an extended period however this might not be quite enough time.  The computer does heat up somewhat, but remains cooler than most other laptops I’ve used.  And so long as you aren’t stressing the computer too much (like with gaming) the noise from the fan isn’t bad.  It can become loud from time to time which could be a problem in a classroom setting, but if you’re taking notes it’s unlikely that it would get that loud.

Overall, this is a solid, classy looking laptop which is a great media machine.  It’s a little large for classroom use and the battery life is OK, plus it’s a little lacking in the gaming department.  This leads me to classify it as a semi-portable media center.  Check it out for yourself!

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