Lenovo N100 Review (pics, specs)
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The Lenovo N100 is a new mid-sized offering from Lenovo in the 3000 series line of notebooks. The N100 will come in 14.1" and 15.4" widescreen sizes. Prices will start at $999 for Core Duo based models. Lenovo is positioning the notebook as one for small business and mobile professionals. To me it looks more like a consumer notebook with the silver skin, glossy screen and plastic case. There are plenty of people who are mixing business with pleasure today or people who use business notebooks for personal use, like me. The fact that Lenovo is going after both segments with this notebook makes sense. The N100 has lots to offer and a few less worthwhile qualities, all of which we will get into in more detail in this review.
Competition
The 15" segment is one of the most competitive of all notebook segments, which is a good thing. Being one of the few with a WSXGA+ glossy screen helps set the N100 apart from other notebooks in this class. I included some business and consumer class notebooks here as the N100 features indicate it has a foot in both worlds.
- Fujitsu N3530
- Sony FE & FS Series
- Acer Aspire 5672
- HP dv5000 & NX Series
- ThinkPad Z60
- Dell e1505 & D610
- Asus Z92f & Z70va
- Gateway NX560 & M465
- Toshiba Satellite
- Model: N100 0768-21U
- CPU: Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz T2400
- Chipset: Intel 945 Express
- Memory: 512MB DDR2 P5300
- Hard Drive: 100GB Hitachi(HTS541010G9SA00) SATA
- Screen: 15.4" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 Glossy
- Optical Drive: LG GMA-4082N DVD-/+R/-RAM
- 8x DVD-/+R
- 4x DVD-/+RW
- 2.4x DVD+R DL
- 3x DVD-RAM
- 24x CD-R
- 24x CD-RWX
- GPU: 128MB Nvidia 7300 Go
- Network/Wireless: Intel Wireless 3945A/B/G, Realtek 10/100 Ethernet Card, Modem and Bluetooth
- Inputs: 84 Key Keyboard with Two Button Touchpad with Scroll Bar
- Buttons: Power, Lenovo Care, Power Up and Down, Mute, and WiFi/Bluetooth On/Off Switch.
- Ports:
- Four USB 2.0
- Four-Pin Firewire
- 4-in-1 Card Reader
- Ethernet
- Modem
- VGA Out
- S-Video Out
- Microphone
- Headphone
- Security Lock
- Power Connector
- Slots: PC Card
- Battery: Six Cell
- Dimensions:
- Width: 14.2"
- Depth: 10.4
- Height: 1.7"
- Weight: 6.5 Lbs.
- Operating System: Windows XP Pro
- Warranty: Three Year Warranty With One Year Battery
- Price: ? Unknown, base configuration price will start at $999
When I first saw the N100 on NotebookReview.com, I thought it would be black being from the new maker of ThinkPads, but the pictures I saw of it only showed the inside. When I opened the box I found, much to my surprise, the outside is almost all silver with a strip of black along the sides and on the front. I prefer darker colored notebooks so the N100 didn't do a lot for me. I like the color scheme on something like the Fujitsu N3530 better, but it is a personal preference. Aside from the color, I found the shapes and curves to be pleasing. One thing I noticed about it right away is how thick it is, coming in at around 1.7" including the feet on the bottom.
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The extra thickness didn't add any weight as it felt about the same as my ThinkPad, maybe a little more. Using the highly scientific method of my bathroom scale, it weighed three pounds. Seeing how useless that was, my educated guess is that it is around 6.5 pounds as I had no way of weighing it short of sneaking it into the produce section and we don't want to go there again. I think the 15.4' version has a bit too much girth for everyday travel for most people. Perhaps the 14.1" will be more suited to fill that role.
The N100 feels sturdy and the chassis is rock solid. You can pick it up by the very corner and it does not protest in the least. The case on the N100 is made of plastic. When pressing on the center of screen from the back, the screen distorts noticeably. The sides of the screen are better protected. The case material is the kind that will get scratched under normal use. As I pulled it from the box the first time I opened it, I could see scratches through the plastic wrapper which must have been made while it was assembled or packed for shipping.
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If you are the type who obsesses over little flaws, you might want to consider, at a minimum, a good sleeve. I wish notebook designers would put more effort here. Something that doesn't look used after a couple of weeks of use would be nice. Not being a materials engineer, I wouldn't know if it is cost prohibitive. Fit and finish were good on the N100. There were no unexplained gaps or misaligned parts that I noticed.
Screen
The screen on the N100 being reviewed is a WSXGA+ glossy screen. It will also be offered with a WXGA screen as well. It is one of the few WSXGA+ screens available with the Dell e1505 being the other I am aware exists. Despite being secured to the base using metal hinges, the screen was a little wobbly, but not under normal use. I could drop my ThinkPad on the floor and the screen wouldn't move, not that I would recommend it. I could open it with one hand. I do not consider myself to be muscular. The higher resolution screen will allow you to see more of the screen, which is a nice plus. I really dug the wallpaper Lenovo chose for the N100. It showed of the colors rather well.
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There are seven brightness levels. The brightness level can be adjusted using Fn + F10 or F11. For watching DVDs or viewing photos any of the settings worked well. Reading text was more difficult on lower settings. There was a bit of leakage in the corners on the bottom of the screen, but it was only noticeable when the screen was black. I am someone who prefers a matte screen, but I thought the screen looked pretty good. Colors are deep and rich. It is not as bright as the Fujitsus and Sonys of the world, but the extra resolution more than makes up for it in my opinion. The glossiness did bother me a bit, mostly in well lit environs. Viewing angles were not particularly good which surprised me some since glossy screens generally tend to have better viewing angles. I did notice more blockiness when watching DVDs than other notebooks I have seen recently. It was most apparent when viewing older DVDs with poor transfers. Here is a shot of the N100 next to my ThinkPad T42:
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You win the prize if you can correctly guess what the two movies are.
Sound
The speakers are located on the right and left side of the keyboard. With the speakers located on the sides of notebook, I had high hopes for good sound. I would describe the sound as poor. They did not get very loud, and the sound was muted and lifeless. Speakers on a laptop are never going to be a strong point due to their small size. I would rather see Lenovo invest the money elsewhere as a decent pair of headphones will always be better.
CPU and Performance
The N100 sports one of the newest of Intel's notebook CPUs, the Core Duo T2400. It is the first Core Duo I have seen beyond Best Buy.
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It is a serious number cruncher. The CPU is almost 30% faster than my Dothan Pentium M based ThinkPad running Super Pi. I converted some Mp3 files into WMA files. It was very impressive. The CPU however is only one link in the chain which determines a notebook's performance. I felt my T42, with a 7200RPM hard drive and extra gig of memory, was in the same performance ballpark as the N100 for the things I do. I would not describe myself as a power user or heavy multi-tasker. The things I do most, internet, burning discs and office, are not CPU intensive tasks. The one area where my T42 lagged was doing Photoshop, where the Core Duo was significantly faster. I did get the Core Duo to bog down when I was installing OpenOffice while extracting the restore CDs, but that is most likely a function of the slower hard drive and lesser amount of memory which are upgradeable. Anything CPU intensive, the Core Duo will win hands down.
Benchmarks
Super Pi
Super Pi is a good tool to judge CPU performance. As you can see from the results below, the Core Duo in the N100 and others is setting a new performance bar for notebook CPU
