The first thing that catches your eye is the screen, which was defective from the factory, according to the measurements of the review author – instead of the stated 1200:1 in psref, the author measured only 1000:1.
The screen itself is too small 15.3" (this series is not durable enough to be carried along the street, especially often, but why a small screen at home or in the office, instead of 16-18"?). ppi, at the same time, is still shameful and fonts in the same chrome and edge will be visually 100% cloudy, because Incorrect grayscale anti-aliasing (shadows around letters that should not exist) cannot be disabled in them, like in Firefox. Correct grayscale anti-aliasing (like XP default mode without ClearType)) is only available in Firefox up to version 68(by, which I have proven many times. The screen should be at least 220-230 ppi, which even at 15.3" requires a 4k panel, since 2.5/3.2k are incompatible at the pixel level with 4k/fhd video.
Let's move on to the ports – shameful antique hdmi 1.4b(!) from 13 years ago, instead of 2.1, which is built into the SoC and which Lenovo, probably by the request of marketers, deliberately did not bring out. Like DP2.1 with UHBR20, which is also built into the SoC by Intel datasheet.
This is an office model, but no RJ45? It's a shame. No stable ping and speed 1Gbps+. How to connect in an office where the use of wlan is prohibited for security reasons? There is plenty of space on the case. RJ45 2.5Gbps is also built into the SoC, but is deliberately not routed externally.
Now about power connector. The stupid scheme with power supply only via USB-C, when an unreliable and fragile plug sticks out perpendicular to the laptop body on the left (let me remind Lenovo once again that 90% of the planet is right-handed!) excludes comfortable use of this laptop when relaxing on sofas and beds, reclining, i.e. to a right-handed person’s feet are always on the left, exactly where that USB-C plug sticks out perpendicular to the body. Only left-handed people can use this solution on this places, i.e. 10% of potential buyers. For right-handers, there is only one option (angled USB-C adapters are even more unreliable and still stick out too much) – using a battery, where the performance of the memory controller and overall performance drops significantly and the number of battery cycles is such (and there are usually 300 cycles, unless otherwise specified) that the battery will have to be changed in less than a year if used at home without power supply every day for 8-12 hours and besides, it will require at least 2 recharge per day, based on real 5-6 hours of operation.
The shameful soldered 16GB were already completely insufficient even in 2023, not to mention 2024+. The minimum volume in all series must be at least 32GB for W11 with options even for office with 64GB. The SSD is also too small for modern purposes – the minimum should be 2TB for this price (although prices for SSDs have increased significantly since the summer of 2023, but let me remind you that the warranty for this series of laptops is 1 year, and at retail SSDs are sold cheaper with a full 5 year warranty!). It should be noted that 5 years ago Lenovo installed SSDs with a full-fledged DRAM buffer in similar series, which behave much better under mixed loads typical of the OS and software. It’s good that this is a TCL SSD, and not the shameful QLC without a DRAM buffer, as they install in Lenovo LOQ series (replacement for Ideapad Gaming 3).
As for the keyboard, it’s certainly a shame that for such a price there is no backlight. Well, as always, let me remind you about the stupid row of Esc, F1..F12 keys narrowed by height, which complicates quick, effective work in the fast blind typing compared to the classic size of the buttons.
I'll add that I like the way the power supply is done in the Ideapad 3 Slim (like in the old S340 everything was also excellent in this regard – more than 5 years of operation from the power supply on sofas and beds – no hint of damage to the power socket or round corner plug) 16" – there is a standard, very durable round angled plug, on the edge, on the left, which allows you to comfortably use the laptop on beds and sofas, reclining, in a relaxed state, working 100% of the time from the power supply and not constantly thinking about charging and battery life. USB-C is needed in case of use outside the home, as an additional power input, but not the main one, so as not to carry several charges with you, but again, this series is clearly not for business trips and frequent use outside the home, because the case and mounting mb inside are not strong enough, like in the Thinkpad T series.
This new fashion for usb-c simply cancels out the purchase of all similar series, if the goal is, among other things, use on beds and sofas without constant attention to the battery and the performance from it from the power supply.
In the same Acer Aspire 5 2022, everything was done from this point of view almost perfectly – there is power via USB-c (+TB4! allowing you to connect an eGPU and docking stations, and it states HDMI2.1 with support for FRL6 in addition to TB4) and there is The power input is through a standard (but unfortunately not very durable, too small diameter – strange savings on matches) round angled plug, but which allows this series to be used comfortably by right-handed people from the power supply on sofas and beds.
I don’t mind running on battery power – if I have 100% performance from it and a battery life of at least 20 hours (and not during idle time, but during heavy surfing), i.e. almost 2 days of work, like a smartphone with a large battery.
Or manufacturers need to output USB-C power to the left and right at the same time or to the back of laptops. Models powered by USB-C only on the left discriminate against right-handers. This is quite strange decision, because they are the majority on the planet…
It is precisely because of the impossibility of using it from the power supply on beds and sofas that I cannot personally replace it for the already obsolete S340, and Slim 3 does not suit me because of its low-quality screen like S340 in 2019 by colorspace (and the lack of options with Zen4 Phoenix) and, again, only 16GB of slow, outdated ddr4 RAM, also soldered! And also the even more shameful DP1.2 via usb-c from 2009!
And the Acer Aspire 5 has a completely broken numpad and again there are no options with Zen4 Phoenix+USB40 and a 2.5k screen (i tested 2022 with i5 1235U+2.5k screen – cpu too slow and laptop too noisy). And the 2023 series already comes with soldered RAM and only one M.2 2280 slot instead of 2 in 2022. In addition, they also removed some RJ45 models, and some with Intel already removed TB4.
Office laptops, easy to use, of normal quality, with a full set of ports (including proper power supply), good screens, keyboards, and have practically disappeared from the market…
The question is – who are these series intended for? I don't understand the target audience.
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Table of ContentsThe Best Premium fanless laptops and ChromebooksFull-size fanless laptopsFanless ultrabooks and Windows ultra-portablesFanless Windows-running Mini laptops In this article, we’re discussing fanless laptops and silent Windows ultrabooks...
NikoB
May 25, 2024 at 11:41 am
The first thing that catches your eye is the screen, which was defective from the factory, according to the measurements of the review author – instead of the stated 1200:1 in psref, the author measured only 1000:1.
The screen itself is too small 15.3" (this series is not durable enough to be carried along the street, especially often, but why a small screen at home or in the office, instead of 16-18"?). ppi, at the same time, is still shameful and fonts in the same chrome and edge will be visually 100% cloudy, because Incorrect grayscale anti-aliasing (shadows around letters that should not exist) cannot be disabled in them, like in Firefox. Correct grayscale anti-aliasing (like XP default mode without ClearType)) is only available in Firefox up to version 68(by, which I have proven many times. The screen should be at least 220-230 ppi, which even at 15.3" requires a 4k panel, since 2.5/3.2k are incompatible at the pixel level with 4k/fhd video.
Let's move on to the ports – shameful antique hdmi 1.4b(!) from 13 years ago, instead of 2.1, which is built into the SoC and which Lenovo, probably by the request of marketers, deliberately did not bring out. Like DP2.1 with UHBR20, which is also built into the SoC by Intel datasheet.
This is an office model, but no RJ45? It's a shame. No stable ping and speed 1Gbps+. How to connect in an office where the use of wlan is prohibited for security reasons? There is plenty of space on the case. RJ45 2.5Gbps is also built into the SoC, but is deliberately not routed externally.
Now about power connector. The stupid scheme with power supply only via USB-C, when an unreliable and fragile plug sticks out perpendicular to the laptop body on the left (let me remind Lenovo once again that 90% of the planet is right-handed!) excludes comfortable use of this laptop when relaxing on sofas and beds, reclining, i.e. to a right-handed person’s feet are always on the left, exactly where that USB-C plug sticks out perpendicular to the body. Only left-handed people can use this solution on this places, i.e. 10% of potential buyers. For right-handers, there is only one option (angled USB-C adapters are even more unreliable and still stick out too much) – using a battery, where the performance of the memory controller and overall performance drops significantly and the number of battery cycles is such (and there are usually 300 cycles, unless otherwise specified) that the battery will have to be changed in less than a year if used at home without power supply every day for 8-12 hours and besides, it will require at least 2 recharge per day, based on real 5-6 hours of operation.
The shameful soldered 16GB were already completely insufficient even in 2023, not to mention 2024+. The minimum volume in all series must be at least 32GB for W11 with options even for office with 64GB. The SSD is also too small for modern purposes – the minimum should be 2TB for this price (although prices for SSDs have increased significantly since the summer of 2023, but let me remind you that the warranty for this series of laptops is 1 year, and at retail SSDs are sold cheaper with a full 5 year warranty!). It should be noted that 5 years ago Lenovo installed SSDs with a full-fledged DRAM buffer in similar series, which behave much better under mixed loads typical of the OS and software. It’s good that this is a TCL SSD, and not the shameful QLC without a DRAM buffer, as they install in Lenovo LOQ series (replacement for Ideapad Gaming 3).
As for the keyboard, it’s certainly a shame that for such a price there is no backlight. Well, as always, let me remind you about the stupid row of Esc, F1..F12 keys narrowed by height, which complicates quick, effective work in the fast blind typing compared to the classic size of the buttons.
NikoB
May 25, 2024 at 12:12 pm
I'll add that I like the way the power supply is done in the Ideapad 3 Slim (like in the old S340 everything was also excellent in this regard – more than 5 years of operation from the power supply on sofas and beds – no hint of damage to the power socket or round corner plug) 16" – there is a standard, very durable round angled plug, on the edge, on the left, which allows you to comfortably use the laptop on beds and sofas, reclining, in a relaxed state, working 100% of the time from the power supply and not constantly thinking about charging and battery life. USB-C is needed in case of use outside the home, as an additional power input, but not the main one, so as not to carry several charges with you, but again, this series is clearly not for business trips and frequent use outside the home, because the case and mounting mb inside are not strong enough, like in the Thinkpad T series.
This new fashion for usb-c simply cancels out the purchase of all similar series, if the goal is, among other things, use on beds and sofas without constant attention to the battery and the performance from it from the power supply.
In the same Acer Aspire 5 2022, everything was done from this point of view almost perfectly – there is power via USB-c (+TB4! allowing you to connect an eGPU and docking stations, and it states HDMI2.1 with support for FRL6 in addition to TB4) and there is The power input is through a standard (but unfortunately not very durable, too small diameter – strange savings on matches) round angled plug, but which allows this series to be used comfortably by right-handed people from the power supply on sofas and beds.
I don’t mind running on battery power – if I have 100% performance from it and a battery life of at least 20 hours (and not during idle time, but during heavy surfing), i.e. almost 2 days of work, like a smartphone with a large battery.
Or manufacturers need to output USB-C power to the left and right at the same time or to the back of laptops. Models powered by USB-C only on the left discriminate against right-handers. This is quite strange decision, because they are the majority on the planet…
It is precisely because of the impossibility of using it from the power supply on beds and sofas that I cannot personally replace it for the already obsolete S340, and Slim 3 does not suit me because of its low-quality screen like S340 in 2019 by colorspace (and the lack of options with Zen4 Phoenix) and, again, only 16GB of slow, outdated ddr4 RAM, also soldered! And also the even more shameful DP1.2 via usb-c from 2009!
And the Acer Aspire 5 has a completely broken numpad and again there are no options with Zen4 Phoenix+USB40 and a 2.5k screen (i tested 2022 with i5 1235U+2.5k screen – cpu too slow and laptop too noisy). And the 2023 series already comes with soldered RAM and only one M.2 2280 slot instead of 2 in 2022. In addition, they also removed some RJ45 models, and some with Intel already removed TB4.
Office laptops, easy to use, of normal quality, with a full set of ports (including proper power supply), good screens, keyboards, and have practically disappeared from the market…
The question is – who are these series intended for? I don't understand the target audience.