The IdeaPad U410 isn't just about being easy on the eye, although with its clean lines and bold styling it's not a bad looker. No, the main sell for this 14-inch Ultrabook is the technology within. At its heart is one of Intel's latest processors, the third generation Core i3 3217U, running at 1.8GHz. This isn't the fastest mobile chip, but it's capable of most tasks. It s paired with 4GB of RAM, which is more than enough for everyday tasks, or even something a little more serious.
Lenovo's laptop is comfortable to type on, and there are no bizarre layout choices waiting to catch you out. That said, Lenovo has changed the default configuration of the function keys, but this is a change we welcome wholeheartedly. Instead of holding the [En] key down and then hitting the various function keys to change volume, enter flight mode or change screen brightness, these are now the defaults, and you need to hold [En] if you just want [F1]-[F12]. We were little less enamoured by the touchpad though. A mouse isn't just a nice accessory - it's essential.
Surprise gaming
Surprisingly, this machine also has aspirations on the gaming side of things thanks to the inclusion of real Nvidia graphics. The 610M GPU isn't going to put a true gaming computer to shame, but we were able to enjoy the recently released Sleeping Dogs once we turned some of the settings down.
The build quality gives away the pricing a little, but only on closer inspection. The IdeaPad U410 is an impressive piece of kit for the money. We would have liked more storage and a better trackpad, but there's a lot to love here.
