Lenovo has taken a different approach and installed a Core i3 processor from the Broadwell generation in its IdeaPad. A few months ago we tested an affordable 15.6-inch laptop from Lenovo, the IdeaPad 100-15IBY. Our current review sample is IdeaPad 100-15IBD
Design and build quality
As far as look and feel go, we quite liked the Lenovo IdeaPad 100. Primarily made of plastic, the laptop has a matte finish and slightly roughened surface. The battery is sealed-in, and build quality is overall solid.
However, the same cannot be said about the laptop’s trackpad, which bothered us with its rough surface. After few hours of usage, the roughened surface got annoying and we had to use an external mouse.
The IdeaPad’s non-backlit Chiclet keyboard worked just fine, even after being used for hours at a stretch. The trackpad’s buttons worked great as well.
Lenovo IdeaPad 100-15IBY doesn’t come with a lot of ports, just the ones that are essential. It includes two USB 3.0 ports and a fast Ethernet port, all of which are on the left side of the laptop.
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Performance
Lenovo IdeaPad 100-15IBY features a 15.6-inch screen with a rather low resolution of 1366x768 pixels. While the brightness and contrast of the display is good, we think the viewing angles could’ve been a bit better. The display is quite reflective as well.
The notebook is powered by Intel’s Pentium N3540(Bay Trail) quad-core CPU, clocked at 2.16GHz. It runs Windows 8.1(64-bit) operating system.
Based on the time we spent with it, we can say that the IdeaPad is great for basic use. However, it’s not meant for intensive tasks like graphics/video processing and gaming.
Those who wish to enhance the laptop’s performance can upgrade it through an SSD.Lenovo does offer IdeaPad variants that have SSDs, but they have weaker CPUs.
As for the audio output from the laptop’s built-in speakers, it was just average. However, things got better when we used headphones with the notebook.
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Battery life is also a weak point of the IdeaPad 100-15IBY. Fully charged, the battery lasted around three hours, that too with moderate usage.
We ran the PCMark 7 benchmarking software on the laptop, and it got a score of 1623 on the same.
Verdict
Lenovo IdeaPad 100-15IBY left us with a bag of mixed emotions. While it is good for basic use, the notebook is clearly not for heavy tasks. Build quality, while not out-of-the-world, is still impressive for the price. But given the price, we definitely feel that overall performance could have been a bit better. Battery life isn’t that great as well.