Chic and lively, Lenovo's notebook is
a worthy, if not unspectacular, machine
Style adorns the new Lenovo IdeaPad Z480.
Style, chic and quite a few things under its lovely aesthetics. By virtue of
design, the Z480 isn't built as a flagship device of varied and marvellous
spectacle. But if you're one for a stylish notebook with the performance chops
and sufficient features to go with, the Z480 is dressed right for you.
We harp on its style for good reason. The
Z480 sports a glamorous design, which starts with its bright, arresting colours
(our ruby crimson one is lovely) that is nicely balanced with glossy black.
This 14-inch notebook doesn't try very hard to be thin, but it's not bulky for
its stature and is no more heavier than the standard notebook.
The good design doesn't just end on the
aesthetics, as the Z480 sports pretty good exterior components, too. The screen
displays decently, and Lenovo's excellent keyboard design is back to provide
great and comfortable typing. The trackpad works smoothly too, but it's
unfortunately marred by buttons that are too soft and click awkwardly
Generously, the Z480 offers two USB 3.0 ports aside from two other USB 2.0's.
It also has a HDMI and a VGA port. It's nice to be complete.
We'll like to point out that the Z480's
audio is, perhaps surprisingly, excellent. Not only is it loud, but it also
reproduces sound with good fidelity and clarity. Great for music and movies.
The Z480 runs an Intel Core i5-3210M
clocked at 2.5GHz alongside 4GB of RAM. It's not the most performable laptop,
yes, but it's well powerful enough for normal laptop use. By that, we mean that
the Z480 can perfectly handle HD movies, most software and less
graphics-intense gaming. Battery life here is nothing to shout about; we barely
clocked 2 hours and a half with our video loop test, screen at max brightness
and Wi-Fi on. But hey, that's just about as far as standard notebooks go.
Pros and cons
Pros
Sleek, stylish design
Good performance
Nice audio
Cons
Trackpad buttons could be better
Benchmark results
PCMark 7: 2,199 points
PCMark 7 (Productivity): 1,446 points
PCMark 7 (Entertainment): 2,239 points
PCMark 7 (Computation): 3,222 points
Chip conclude
All in all, the Lenovo IdeaPad Z480 doesn't
shout spectacles in its wake. There's not much here that sets the bar. But for
all its worth, the Z480 is undoubtedly well made. It's a stylish, well-designed
and ultimately quite performable notebook that has all the parts done right.
Sometimes good ideas are the ones that work best, and this certainly works its
best.
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Specifications
Price: From $645
Contact: Lenovo Technology Sdn. Bhd.
Phone: 1 800 80 8575
Website: www.lenovQCQm/mv
CPU: Intel Core i5-3210M @ 2.50GHz
RAM: 4GB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Display: 14-inch LED backlit HD display
(1366 x 768)
Storage: 720GB
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet,
2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, VGA, HDMI
Extras: Webcam, Card Reader
Dimensions: 341 x 232 x 32.4mm
Weight: 2.3kg
Ratings
Performance: 4/5
Features: 3/5
Design: 4/5
Value: 4/5 |
