Lenovo IdeaPad S400 offers users essential
features for a thin and lightweight portable laptop with stunning design and
reasonable price. With the starting price only from 455 USD, Lenovo IdeaPad
S400 (14 inch) is equipped with Intel Core i3 processor, high-speed USB 3.0
port and 720p webcam... allowing users to use it well for all daily tasks at
the office. The “sacrifice” users have to take as an exchange for this low
price is that it doesn’t have DVD drive. But with such price, will a 14-inch
laptop running Windows 8 be a suitable choice for you?
Design
Lenovo
IdeaPad S400 offers users essential features for a thin and lightweight
portable laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad S400 has maximum thickness
of 23 mm and the thickest area is about 21 mm, thickness can help the product to
be classified in the ultrabook line. The reason the device has slim design and
light weight (1.54 kg) is simply that the entire chassis is made from plastic,
and this will helps users who are always on the move feel more comfortable.
Apart from bezel of the display, the entire chassis is designed in order to
create a same feeling as a luxurious metal one and still create signature
attractions in the design.
Lenovo
IdeaPad S400 has compact and attracting design.
Basically, the case feels solid and sturdy,
but sometimes it’s still very sensitive to the pressure.
Lenovo
IdeaPad S400 is equipped with useful ports such as USB 3.0, HDMI, Ethernet.
About the connectivity, the device is
designed with 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2-in-1 card reader, headphone jack and a power
jack mounted on the right edge of the device.
While
the right sides includes USB 3.0 port, HDMI, Ethernet and a button for the Key
Recovery software of Lenovo.
With the size of 335.28x238.76 mm and
weight of 1.54 kg, IdeaPad S400 is considered to be lighter than the 14-inch
size of the laptop at this price range. As for comparing, Toshiba Satellite
L745 is also an affordable laptop with the size of 14 inch but the weight up to
2 kg and thickness of 38.1 mm, but it’s packed with an optical drive.
Display, webcam and audio
Lenovo
IdeaPad S400’s display offers not-really-good viewing angle.
The 14-inch screen with resolution of
1,366x768 pixels on IdeaPad S400 is capable of displaying much brighter and
more colorful images than many competitors but it has narrow viewing angle. The
colors on video and images are inverted when the screen inclined 45 degree back
or forth.
With the light sensitivity of only 171 lux,
the display of IdeaPad S400 is darker than the average level of 228 lux, but
still higher than of Pavilion Sleekbook 15z-b000 (142 lux) and Asus Q200 (116
lux).
With low brightness, contrast and solid,
glossy surface, users will have trouble using this device under direct-light
condition outdoors.
With
low brightness, contrast and solid, glossy surface, users will have trouble
using this device
The 0.3-megapixel camera of the device is
capable of shooting and recording videos 720p resolution through the
pre-installed CyberLink YouCam 4 software that goes with the device. Under
fluorescent light in a room, the displayed images have washed-out colors and a
bit of noise. But in natural-light condition, the colors are significantly
improved. Although the rate of noise doesn’t reduce much, it’s still suitable
for video chatting.
As many kinds of today’s laptop, IdeaPad
S400 speaker is designed on the underside, but it’s still able to offers a
high-standard sound. The audio quality is also enhanced and optimized through
the Dolby Advanced Theater v2 tool.
Keyboard and Touchpad
IdeaPad
S400’s keyboard is a Chiclet-type one
IdeaPad S400’s keyboard is a Chiclet-type
one, but following the way Lenovo calls it, it an AccuType keyboard. When
performing input operation, the keys deliver springy feedback, though many
places on the keyboard have flex (when typing 1 key, the keys around it will
sink as well).
Touchpad below have the ability to react
accurately with all tasks on the surface, even “highlights” to make the
paragraphs stand out or move the pointer at desktop mode. The multi-touch operations
like 2-finger move and rotate, zoom in/out, 3-finger operation at the same time
almost respond instantly, as long as that operation is performed at the center
of touchpad.
Lenovo also adds Intelligent Touchpad
software that helps users quickly freeze/unfreeze the desktop. This is very
convenient if you want to lock the device without interrupting the working
process. When swiping 4 fingers downward from the top edge of the touchpad, a
gray screen with info about time, day and month will drop down over the screen.
If you want to continue your job, you just need to perform and upward swipe
from the bottom edge of the touchpad. The right/left mouse right on the bottom
edge of the touchpad duties easily.
The
right/left mouse right on the bottom edge of the touchpad duties easily.
