Lenovo U160 review

With a 1GHz Celeron processor and just 2GB RAM, this isn’t the kind of laptop that will set pulses racing. Its price and weight are two low figures that are more attractive, though. After using it for a while, we found ourselves growing to like it despite its shortcomings.

With an 11.6in screen, the U160 is about the size of a netbook, and at 1.4kg it’s just as light. It doesn’t have the low screen resolution of most netbooks, though; 1,366×768 is the same resolution as most 15in laptops, and it gives plenty of space for office documents and busy web pages. It’s also ideal for watching HD video. The screen’s 16:9 aspect ratio reduces the size of the black bars above and below widescreen video that appear on netbooks’ 1024×600-pixel screens.

Squeezing such a high resolution into a small space means that each pixel is smaller, making images pin-sharp, although it also makes text quite small. Colour accuracy isn’t spectacular: the LED backlight is slightly uneven and the glossy finish and tight viewing angles mean we had to adjust the screen’s tilt carefully or else contrast was ruined. Once we’d done so, colours were quite vibrant and accurate.

The dual-core Celeron U3400 processor is based on the Intel Core design but it runs at a slower 1GHz – hence the lower benchmark scores compared to Core i3 chips. However, its overall score of 36 is almost twice the performance of a netbook. Its best result was 46 in our image-editing test, which doesn’t benefit from multiple processors. That’s true of most office and entertainment software, too – given a single task to handle, the U160 should be able to keep up. The integrated graphics chipset can decode HD video but it’s not powerful enough to run demanding 3D games.

Visually, the U160 is stunning. Its dark brown case sandwiches a white interior, and the lid has a smart etched pattern. Opening the lid reveals a white keyboard panel and a glossy black bezel surrounding the screen. The keys are an odd shape but their slightly concave surfaces make them comfortable to type on, while their crisp, light action gives plenty of feedback for touch-typists.

Other than placing the Fn key in the bottom left corner where the Ctrl key should be, Lenovo has stuck to a fairly standard layout, including a double-height Enter key. Below is a small but responsive touchpad, with two separate, light-action buttons. There’s a small, fiddly switch to toggle WiFi and Bluetooth, and a standard complement of expansion ports. One welcome exception is the inclusion of a shared eSATA/USB port, which is useful for adding a fast eSATA external drive.

It may not be screamingly fast or packed with the latest features, but the U160 is light, lasts for over six hours per charge and costs little more than most netbooks. The 11.6in screen may be a bit cramped for some people, and those using demanding applications such as photo or video editing will be frustrated by its basic performance, but for web browsing on the move it’s a great little laptop. It’s worth considering the pricier Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 for its superior performance and battery life, though.