Lenovo Ideapad 300 15.6″ Review

Lenovo is back with another Ideapad, and it’s an interesting model. The laptop, at its lowest configuration, is very budget-friendly, but you don’t necessarily have to make big compromises to hit that low price point. The 15.6-inch glossy display makes for a large overall laptop, one that presents its bulk well. How does the laptop hold up in everyday life, and will it meet your needs? Read our review to find out!

Hardware

The Lenovo Ideapad 300 is a budget-friendly laptop for those more concerned about functionality than portability. Yes, Lenovo has many lightweight, portable Ideapads -- this isn't one of them, but that's not a bad thing. The Ideapad 300 offers some features you'd be hard-pressed to find on a competing model, such as a VGA-out port for use with the older monitor you may have sitting around and an optical drive. As well, it has a dedicated number pad and a generously-spaced keyboard...you feel like you have a bit of room to spread out, if you will.

The laptop's lid is smooth -- silver colored, in our case, but also available in black and red -- with a low-contrast Lenovo logo in one corner. The bottom of the laptop contrasts the lid with a dark, textured body panel; there are four rubber feet in each corner, as well as vents and speaker grilles. The edges, meanwhile, are angular and dark with a noticeable lip on the front edge.

The ports are fairly extensive and inline with the wants of the laptop’s main audience — the right side has a VGA port, a 4-in-1 card reader, one USB port, and an HDMI port, while the left side has an optical disc drive and two USB ports.

The internal design is pleasant, if not excessively plastic-y. The bezel around the display is smooth plastic, whereas the plastic around the keyboard is slightly textured with a cross-hatched pattern, and is the same color as the lid. The keyboard is low-profile and dark; the keys require a pleasant amount of force to press and don't feel loose. The trackpad, meanwhile, is about as wide as the spacebar and has two physical buttons; it works as it should, and you can't ask for much more than that.

TECH SPECS

Processor: Up to 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i Processor; Up to Intel 4405U Processor

Operating System: Windows 10 Home

Graphics: Integrated Intel® HD

Memory: Up to 8 GB DDR3L

Webcam: 1MP HD with single Microphone

Storage: Up to 1 TB HDD

Audio: Stereo Speakers with Dolby® Advanced Audio™ certification

Battery: Up to 4 Hours Local Video Playback

Display: up to FHD (1920 x 1080)

Dimensions: 15.11" x 10.43" x 0.90"-0.92"

Weight: Starting at 5.07 lbs (2.3 kg)

WiFi: 802.11 a/c 1 x 1, Bluetooth® 4.0

Connectors: 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI-out, VGA, 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC), Audio Combo Jack

Software and Performance

The Ideapad 300 ships with several Lenovo applications on it: OneKey Recovery, Companion 3.0, Photo Master, SHAREit, and REACHit. The latter two are arguably indispensable for those steeped in Lenovo’s ecosystem; the others come in handy if you don’t have alternative preferences. In addition to Lenovo’s own software, there’s a 30-day trial of McAfee included. The operating system is Windows 10.