CNET Editor's rating: 7.0 out of 10
Reviewed by
Michelle Thatcher
Review date: 6/16/06
Release date: 5/31/06
The good: Low price; high-end components; solid performance; comfortable keyboard; wide-aspect display; integrated optical drive; solid assortment of ports and connections, including media-card reader; fingerprint reader; robust system-management and help utility.
The bad: One-year warranty inferior to some business models'; small touch pad and shallow mouse buttons; few dedicated multimedia controls.
The bottom line: If you can carry a little extra weight in an ultraportable, the Lenovo 3000 V100 is a well-appointed business laptop that offers solid performance for a competitive price.
Description:
This configuration of the Lenovo 3000 is a 4.4-pound, mainstream notebook computer.
Compared to other mainstream notebooks on the market, it is midpriced at around $1,200.
Has Wi-Fi (wireless connectivity) built-in.
Pros:
Has only a 4.4-pound weight, which is lighter than some similarly priced notebooks.
This notebook includes a memory stick slot, making it easy to swap digital photographs, music files, and other files with your palmtop.
Cons:
Has only 512 MB RAM, which is considerably less than some similarly priced notebooks.
For example, the
HP Pavilion tx2120us
, a 4.6-pound notebook at around $1, 180, has 4 GB RAM.
Also, this notebook has only a 12.1-inch screen size, which is considerably smaller than some similarly priced notebooks.
For example, the
Dell Inspiron 1720
, a -pound notebook at around $1, 200, has a 17.0 screen size.
Integrated graphics controllers that rely on shared video memory are sometimes an acceptable trade-off for budget-minded users.
Suitability:
A mainstream consumer notebook, suited for general mobile computing.
Travel with your own digital entertainment center – this notebook comes with a DVD player.
This computer also has a CD recorder, allowing you to compile your own audio CDs or video CDs.
Comes with office-grade word processing software -- capable of producing all the complex documents you may need to publish.
Develop your digital darkroom savvy using the photo editing software bundled with this notebook.
If you have a
wireless network
at home, wirelessly browse the Web from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled notebook.
Value:
In general, this notebook has good features for the money.
Generally, given the trade-offs between performance and low price, this item will likely only appeal to serious bargain hunters.
Suggestions:
(1) Given this device's Wi-Fi capability, you may want to get a
wireless access point
for your home, so that you can browse the Web more conveniently from any room.
(2) To get the most out of this computer's Bluetooth capability, you could have a Bluetooth-enabled headset, handheld or other device, and be able to link it wirelessly to your computer within a range of 20-or-so feet inside the same room.
Ethernet,
IEEE 802.11a,
IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11g,
Fast Ethernet,
Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Networking standards
IEEE 802.11a,
IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11g
Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free)
2 ( 1 ) x Memory - SO DIMM 200-pin,
1 ( 1 ) x ExpressCard/54,
1 ( 1 ) x SD Memory Card,
1 ( 1 ) x XD-Picture Card,
1 ( 1 ) x Memory Stick
Interfaces
3 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A,
1 x Display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15),
1 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm,
1 x Headphones - Output - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,
1 x Modem - Phone line - RJ-11,
1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45,
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 4 pin FireWire
Miscellaneous
Features
InstantOn,
Power-on password,
Hard drive password,
Administrator password,
Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately)
Compliant Standards
CE,
CCC,
CER,
NOM,
BSMI,
RoHS,
SASO,
MPR II,
UL 60950,
IEC 60950,
FCC Part 15 B,
CISPR 22 Class B,
CSA 22.2 No. 950,
VCCI Class B ITE
Power
Power device form factor
External
Voltage Required
AC 120/230 V
Battery
Technology
3-cell Lithium ion
Installed Qty
1 / 1 (max)
Battery capacity
2600 mAh
Mfr estimated battery life
2.2 hour(s)
Operating System / Software
OS Provided
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Office Ready
Includes a preinstalled image of select 2007 Microsoft Office suites. Purchase a Medialess License Kit (MLK) to activate the software.
Software
PC Doctor,
Lenovo Care,
Google Picasa,
Diskeeper Lite,
Google Desktop,
Google Toolbar,
Softex OmniPass,
InterVideo WinDVD,
Adobe Acrobat Reader,
Corel WordPerfect 12,
InterVideo Instant On,
Roxio DigitalMedia LE,
Lotus SmartSuite Millennium license,
Corel Paint Shop Pro X (60-day trial),
Lotus Notes Stand-alone Client license,
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12 (60-day trial),
Corel Quattro Pro 12 (60-day trial with viewer),
Corel Photo Album 6 Deluxe Edition (60-day trial),
Corel Presentations 12 (60-day trial with viewer),
Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware (90 days subsc)
Windows Vista ready
The Windows Vista Capable logo identifies hardware that delivers the Windows Vista experience at a minimum.
Environmental Standards
EPA Energy Star Compliant
Yes
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support
1 year warranty
Service & Support Details
Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year - Bring-in,
Limited warranty - Battery - 1 year
Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics'
Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics' manufacturer rating (June 2008)
3.9
Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics' manufacturer rating (Mar 2008)
7.3
Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics' manufacturer rating (Sep 2008)
Manufacturer: Lenovo Specs:
Intel Core Duo (2 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 4 lbs, 12.1 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Manufacturer: Lenovo Specs:
Intel Core Duo (1.66 GHz), 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 4.4 lbs, 12.1 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, RoHS, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
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