Lenovo G530 Review

Other than its main ThinkPad and IdeaPad lineup of notebooks, Lenovo also offers some notebooks that gives the consumers the value for their money. The latest G530 is a notebook that has a nice full sized 15.4 inch display, an Intel Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo Processor and 3GB of RAM with a sub $500 price tag. The notebook surely has good enough specs and features under a budget pricing but does it have any glitch that can be a deal breaker? We have made a review to find the answer. Have a go.

Design

The design of the notebook is minimally simple though has some subtle style elements with rounded off edges and matte black finish lid that is smooth to touch. The chassis is constructed of good quality plastics that does not flex under pressure. The overall build quality feels very good for a budget notebook. It measures standard 14.1″ x 10.1″ x 1.22″-to-1.46″ and has a weight of under six pounds with its six cell battery which is good for occasional traveling.

Performance

The standard system comes with a 2.16 GHz Intel Pentium T3400 with a 3GB DDR2 RAM. The pricier models have options for a Core 2 Duo CPU but the Dual Core Processor delivers enough performance for day to day work and far better performance than the netbooks with Intel Atom Processors. Opening multiple tabs in firefox and constantly switching between them was no problem while a video being encoded and music playing in the background. The 5400 rpm 250 GB HDD performance was average.

Display

The 15.4 inch display quality is very good compared to other notebooks of its class. The resolution of the panel is 1280 X 800 with a 16 : 10 aspect ratio unlike the 16 : 9 1366 X 768 widescreen displays. The few pixels of extra height shows some extra lines in the word documents or webpages. The colors and contrasts are very good in its glossy screen but glare is a problem as with other glossy screens in the market. The viewing angles were very good to share the screen with a few of your friends.

Graphics

The system comes with a integrated Intel X4500 graphics chipset which, sadly doesn’t have good enough performance to play any 3D game. The graphics performance feels like the netbooks though it has no problem playing the HD movies in its nice display. Just don’t try to play any current games and you’ll be fine with its graphics capabilities.

Keyboard and TouchPad

The keyboard is smooth and silent and gives good feeling while typing on it. The build of the keyboard also feels good and durable with no flex even when a good pressure is applied to it. Typing at high speed was no problem with this keyboard. The touchpad is also smooth and has no lag. The touchpad buttons are also large and easy to click.

Ports

The port selection is barely minimal if compared to other full size notebooks but we have no complain with that keeping in mind its price tag. The headphone and microphone jacks are at the front and a Kensington Lock Slot, Ethernet, VGA, 2 USB and an Express Card 54 Slot is on the left. There is a modem, 2 USB, an optical drive and an AC Power jack slot in the right. There are no ports in the back. We would have liked to see an eSATA or an HDMI Port or even a memory card reader in it.

Audio

The audio quality is okay for a budget notebook like this. It has enough volume to watch a movie and hear the dialogs clear enough but it does not have enough bass or low range sound to enjoy music on it. But the quality of the speakers are fairly good and we are quite satisfied with our experience while talking to one of our friends via Skype.

Price

The base models start at $429 and you’ll be able to grab a decent performing standard laptop at the $499 configuration. The pricing is really attracting for those who are going to buy a netbook as he can get a full size notebook with decent performance at just hundred bucks more.

Battery

Battery life is the main glitch of this notebook. It comes with a good sized six cell battery but that too can not run the system for more than two hours under heavy usage. Under normal usage and screen brightness dimmed, we got a maximum of 3 hours of runtime. This notebook is clearly not recommended if you need to use it for a long time where there is no nearby power outlet.

Pros

• Good Performance at an affordable price
• Nice build quality for a budget notebook
• Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
• Remains Cool even at high stressed conditions

Cons

• Low Battery Life
• Basic Port Selection
• Doesn’t support high speed  802.11n draft wireless but only more common wireless services

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it is a great budget notebook that look good, feels good and performs good. Looking at the price tags and comparing its configuration to the Dell Vostro or HP Probook lineup, the Lenovo G530 seems to be a better deal. If you can live with its unimpressive battery life and basic port selection and don’t want to play 3D games in this device you won’t find a better laptop than this at this price range.