Lenovo U310 Touch Ultrabook Repair
We repaired wifi internal card for the Laptop Lenovo U310 UltraBook Toronto, Markham, Richmond Hill and Thornhill
Ultrabooks are fast becoming ultra-affordable. It was a big deal a little over a year ago when we reviewed the non-touch-screen Windows 7 Lenovo IdeaPad U310, priced at $799. Today, for $100 less, you get this Windows 8 touch-screen model with a comparable Core i5 processor, the same 4GB of memory and 500GB of hard drive storage (albeit with a 24GB instead of 32GB SSD cache), and some nice design touches.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch flat
The downside? The system has put on a little weight—the IdeaPad U310 Touch checks in at 3.9 pounds—and its performance and battery life left us a little flat. We also miss the cool Cherry Blossom and Aqua Blue colors of last year’s models, since Lenovo has settled on a subdued Graphite Gray. Still, this ultrabook’s exceptionally pleasant to use, as well as priced right for budget-conscious students and small business operators. It narrowly misses the Editors’ Choice nod its predecessor got, but it earns a thumbs up.
Design
The IdeaPad offers many thoughtful design elements, which we started to appreciate the moment we pulled it out of the box. The matte gray case offers a little more friction than most of its peers, letting us keep a firm grip on the PC, even though its sleek design is free of bumps and ridges. The AC adapter is one of the smallest and lightest we’ve seen, only 3.5 inches long and barely wider than the plug that fits into it, making the ensemble very easy to stash in a carry-on bag. Speaking of bag, the IdeaPad comes with a thin cloth-like black sleeve you can slip the notebook into to help keep it from getting scratched while in your briefcase or backpack.
The edge of the PC’s top cover slightly overhangs the front panel, making it easy to fit fingertips under the lid to open the laptop. The screen panel and keyboard deck are remarkably clean and free of distracting buttons and lights. The 13.3-inch display is rimmed by a black bezel an inch thick on the top and bottom and three-quarters of an inch side to side—a little inelegant but not distracting. The case feels sturdy, with only minor flex in the display panel and the keyboard deck.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch keyboard
We called the IdeaPad U310’s one of our favorite ultrabook keyboards, and the U310 Touch earns the same applause.
As far as compact keyboards go, this one’s a pleasure to use. The keys are flat but provide just the right amount of friction to keep your fingers from sliding, and they give excellent tactile response. About the touch pad, all of them get in the way while we’re typing, and this one’s no exception. Lenovo lets you tap a key to turn it off while you use your external mouse.
Can’t remember whether it’s F11, F7, Esc, or some other key to pound frantically during system startup to reach the BIOS menu? Neither can we, and that’s why we really like the U310 Touch’s Novo key (dubbed the OneKey Recovery button on some other Lenovo models). Tucked away near the back left corner and the power button, the Novo button’s small and recessed enough so you won’t accidentally press it; at the same time, you won’t have to scrounge around for a paper clip as is the case with some PCs that hide their reset buttons deep inside tiny holes.
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch Novo key
Pressing the Novo button gives you the choice to go into the BIOS, the boot menu if you’re launching from an external drive, or the System Recovery function in case a virus infection or other catastrophe causes a need to revert to factory settings or an earlier state. We would have liked to see a menu option to troubleshoot the system, but the button is a big improvement over the function keys and a fix that other PC makers should have adopted long ago.
We’re not in love with all the IdeaPad’s design elements. The glaring flaw is the disappointing speaker sound. The speakers are stashed away out of sight in the case facing the screen hinge; no wonder they sound flat and even a little muffled. The rich, gently sweeping strains of Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” came out tinny and a little hissy, and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” sounded at times like a late-night AM radio signal. If you listen to a lot of music, you’ll want headphones.
