The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is a device of a compact design and a beautiful structure of 12 inches ultra portability. The disappointing factor of this device remains its underperforming battery.

Design and Features

The display of the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 is 12.5 inches, glossy with a 16:9 rationed LED backlit. The native resolution of the U260 is 1,366×768 pixels and texts and icons are very simple to read while the videos and images play with vibrant colors and clarity. The stereo speakers have a fair sound and the 0.3 megapixel Webcam accounts to an image of a resolution up to 640×480 pixels.

The laptop has Bluetooth and only two USB 2.0 ports and no optical drive or SD card slot. The choice of configurations in this laptop is also very limited with an option to avail either a 1.33 GHz Intel Core i3-380 UM CPU or a 1.33 GHz Core i5-470 UM CPU. The U260 consists of integrated Intel graphics that does not enable high resolution graphics but allows ground games and HD video playback.

The Good Facets of the Laptop

The Lenovo IdeaPad has a fine and eye catching design. It is 12.5 inches, lightweight and appealing to the eyes. It is a beautifully designed device with specifications including a Core i5 ULV processor, a 320 GB hard drive, a 4 GB RAM, USB ports and HDMI. The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 gives one the feeling of a luxury laptop with being one of the first laptops of a 12.5 inch screen along with excellent colors, textures and linings.

The laptop has an admirable keyboard along with a beautiful and attractive look. The power button is located above the keyboard between small stereo speaker grilles and the volume and brightness controls are consigned to functional combination buttons. The touchpad is a glassy multitouch one which is a bit small with dedicated click buttons.

The good thing about this laptop is that not only does it look great it also has tremendously contented ergonomics. It feels great to touch as the rubberized external surface provides good grasp to the hands while also hiding fingerprints. The surfaced rest area is of leather which gives comforting rest to the wrists.  The keys of the keyboard are slightly curved in and well spaced allowing the fingertips to crib perfectly.

The Poor Facets of the Laptop

The disappointing about the laptop was the lethargic boot up time and general receptiveness because of the CULV Intel processor as it functions at a lower clock speed. The laptop although boasts of a better battery life than the Dell Vostro V130 but severely disappoints with a poor battery life of 3 hours. The processor of the Lenovo IdeaPad U260, the Intel CULV processor is a power saving processor which makes the laptop slow on boot ups and will disappoint you on the fulfillment of a laptop.

The battery of the U260 lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes when tested on the video playback battery drain test whereas for a laptop of this size, the battery life should have been up to 5 hours. Thus, the usage of the laptop at CES 2011, the discouraging battery life recorded as a big disadvantage.