Fresh from Lenovo’s consumer-based IdeaPad stable comes the Lenovo Z570 which manages to hit a great balance between power and price.

There’s something about the faint, almost purple tinge to the brushed metal exterior that looks a lot better than the basic black designs offered by other more traditional laptops.

The metal is only an overlay, set into a plastic chassis, but it’s enough to make it stand out. We would say that in a line-up, only the Dell Inspiron 14z looks better.

Inside, the purple colouring is offset with Lenovo’s traditional black keyboard and several backlit hotkeys. Two rectangular speaker grills are present below the screen hinges which are themselves buried into the chassis.

The 15.6-inch screen is covered with a Super-TFT coating for extra colour depth and isn’t interrupted by a particularly thick bezel. It does wobble slightly on its hinges, although viewing angles are very good here. Because of the Super-TFT coating, however, the screen is reflective and in bright light these reflections are quite noticeable.

The Z570 has the same 1366 x 768 pixel resolution as its rivals, so although 1080p video is out of reach, you can still watch 720p high definition from sites like iPlayer.

Using the keyboard is a pleasant experience – providing you don’t use the Return key too often. For some reason Lenovo shrinks this key to a fraction of its usual size, which we find particularly irritating.

While it doesn’t beat the Sony VAIO VPC-EH2F1E’s keyboard, typing on the Z570 is still easy thanks to the well-rounded keys and plenty of space between buttons. The touchpad is large and well-placed and the extra hotkeys controlling volume, thermal management and video mode are a nice extra feature.

When it comes to connectivity, this laptop matches any of the other machines here, boasting three USB ports as well as an eSata port that doubles as a fourth USB. There are both HDMI and VGA ports for connecting to an external monitor as well as an Ethernet port and a 5-in-1 SD card slot for expanding on the 750GB of storage space. A DVD-RW optical drive lets you burn your own data or media discs for backup.

Graphical power

In our benchmarking tests, the Lenovo Z570 posted the best scores and also has some impressive specs on board. The Intel Core i5 CPU is part of Intel’s Sandy bridge family and the Z570 is the only machine to come with a dedicated graphics card.

The Nvidia GeForce GT520M adds an extra 1GB of pure video memory to the 6GB of standard RAM and lets you play basic games or run graphically-intensive programs like editing suites. We expected the extra graphical power to suck up more battery power, but this laptop lasted a solid 173 minutes during our tests. Although it fell short of the Dell Inspiron 14z, it equalled the Sony VAIO VPC-EH2F1E.

TechRadar Labs

Battery Eater ’05: 173 minutes
Cinebench: 9720
3DMark 2006: 5346

It’s unlikely the average user will need more power than what is offered by the Lenovo Z570 but, at the same time, it gives you enough of a performance to avoid becoming dated in six months. Overall, it constitutes an extremely solid new year purchase.

Acer is one of the most prolific manufacturers we know, producing everything from huge multimedia powerhouses such as the Aspire Ethos 8951G to stripped-down budget models. The Aspire 5742Z is one of the latter, and another strong entry-level contender.

At this price range, you won’t be getting the latest technology and performance will be limited. However, the 5742Z features an Intel Pentium P6200 processor backed up by a staggering 6GB of memory, much more than we usually see at this price. Only the MSI CR620 and Asus K52F performed better in our tests.

We managed to write this review, stream music over the internet and back up our files all at once, with no slowdown at all. Applications started up quickly and ran smoothly.

However, you only get basic integrated graphics to keep the price low. This means that you’re limited in what you can do with your media. Browsing your photo collection and touching up images with basic editing tools are perfectly possible, and we were impressed that high-definition movies played smoothly. However, don’t expect to be able to edit videos or play anything but basic or elderly games.

Optical drive

You can watch DVDs thanks to the built-in optical drive, although the 5742z’s speakers are far too quiet for enjoying music or movies. We recommend you attach an external pair.

Thankfully, the 15.6-inch screen is fine for enjoying films, with sharp contrast and rich colours. If you want to work on a larger display, VGA and HDMI ports can be used to hook up an external television or monitor.

Of course, you probably want a laptop for work as well as play, right? The Acer is a great option in this respect too, thanks to the firmly constructed keyboard which stretches the full width of the interior. Some may find the perfectly flat keys a little awkward at first if they’re used to bevelled keys, which feature slanted edges.

However, the keys are well sized, with the exception of the arrow keys which are flattened into a single row. You also have a separate numeric keypad to the right. The rest of the laptop is well constructed, although the palmrests do flex when you push on them.

The lid is solid enough to protect the screen against any knocks. We weren’t huge fans of the plain black design, but it doesn’t look particularly bad. The 5742Z simply won’t be winning any beauty awards.

At 2.3kg, it’s a lightweight laptop and would suit the regular commuter. The slim 35mm body slips easily into a bag or rucksack big enough to hold a 15.6-inch laptop, but make sure you pack the charger too.

The battery died before we finished a two-hour film and only lasts half an hour longer if you limit your use to basic office software.

TechRadar Labs

Battery Eater ’05: 113 minutes
Cinebench: 5661
3DMark 2006: 1703

Still, at least you can carry your entire media collection if you take to the road, thanks to the generous 640GB hard drive. This is the largest amount of storage offered by any laptop here, and something we would expect from more expensive mid-range models.

The Aspire 5742Z offers strong value for money, although the poor battery life is a shame. If you want a highly portable laptop, the Lenovo IdeaPad S205 may be more suitable.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad range is traditionally aimed at business users, but has recently taken a more consumer-friendly turn, with less imposing builds and price tags. The ThinkPad Edge E520 is one of the more powerful laptops in the range and can keep you entertained on the move as well as at home.

The excellent performance is down to the latest Intel Sandy Bridge technology. This means you can do almost anything on this laptop, with incredibly fast response rates. Even complex editing software opens in seconds and happily runs alongside web browsers, media players and other applications. You won’t need to replace this laptop for a long time.

This laptop also scored high in our graphical tests, beaten only narrowly by the Acer Aspire 5750G. We tested out some recent games and found they ran smoothly, although we occasionally had to turn down detail levels.

You can also check out and play around with your photos or home movies. Of course, if you’d rather relax with a film, the Lenovo won’t let you down. High-definition (HD) films play perfectly and look good on the 15.6-inch widescreen display.

However, while many other laptops use Super-TFT screens, which use a glossy surface layer to produce richer colours, the Lenovo has a matt TFT display. Images aren’t quite as vibrant as a result but, on the flipside, the screen isn’t reflective, so you can use the laptop outside.

If you do want a portable to keep you entertained out of the home, this laptop has a lot going for it. Firstly, while the Toshiba Satellite L730-10G is a fair bit lighter, the Lenovo’s solid frame weighs just 2.5kg. We comfortably carried it around all day in a backpack.

Even better, we were able to watch an entire three-hour movie before the battery died, and lighter use will prolong the battery life by almost two hours.

TechRadar Labs

Battery Eater ’05: 183 minutes
Cinebench: 9431
3DMark 2006: 7167

An isolation-style keyboard is in place. It’s one of our favourites with firmly set keys that are very comfortable to type on. A separate numeric keypad is included, along with various shortcuts – you can lock the laptop, search your files or bring up the calculator with a press of a button.

Our only complaint is that the Left Ctrl and the Function keys have been swapped around. This won’t bother most people, but anyone who uses Windows shortcuts will be constantly frustrated when they hit the Function key by mistake.

Love or hate?

The touchpad covers a wide area and you get the trademark nipple in the centre of the keyboard, which can also be used to move the on-screen cursor. We can’t stand the thing, but we’re sure that some people out there might prefer it.

Features are comprehensive, from the 500GB of storage to the eSATA port which can be used to transfer data at high speeds with external hard drives. There’s also an ExpressCard slot for expanding the laptop’s potential, but most people will never use it.

The ThinkPad Edge E520 is a mobile machine that’s as good for work as it is for entertainment. If you need something to keep you busy on the move, this is one of the best laptops here.

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Lenovo has expanded its ThinkPad Edge laptop family for small businesses with the 11.6-inch ThinkPad Edge 11.

The 1.1-inch thin Edge 11 starts at less than three pounds. It’s now the smallest and lightest ThinkPad Edge model and offers the choice of Intel Core/Pentium or AMD Vision Pro Athlon ultra low voltage processors, and a battery life of up to seven hours.

Lenovo’s new laptop provides Wi-Fi and optional 3G or 4G/WiMAX connectivity, and has a contemporary style spill-proof keyboard, webcam, three USB ports, an HDMI port, and a 4-in-1 media card reader.

The ThinkPad Edge 11 runs Windows 7 OS and comes in three color choices: Midnight Black Glossy, Midnight Black Smooth and Heatwave Red Glossy.

The notebook is available immediately through business partners and starts at $449, according to Lenovo.

Lenovo announced today that the ThinkPad T410, T410s and T510 business laptops are now optionally available with Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics technology.

The ThinkPad notebooks with Optimus combine the Nvidia NVS 3100M dedicated video card and Intel HD integrated graphics that switch on-the-fly in order to achieve longer battery life.

The new solution additionally enables the ThinkPads with Optimus to display content on up to four screens via select ThinkPad docking stations.

The 14-inch ThinkPad T410, T410s and 15.6-inch T510 with Nvidia Optimus are available now through business partners and lenovo.com. Pricing begins at approximately $1,299 for the T410 and T510 and $1,849 for the T410s.

Lenovo also announced that sales of ThinkPad laptops will surpass 60 million this month. In celebration of the company’s milestone, Lenovo is rewarding customers with a Customer Appreciation Event featuring up to 15% savings on select ThinkPads purchased in the U.S. The promotion runs through October 8th.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad V560 15.6-inch affordable WiMAX notebook for small business users is now available for purchase in the USA.

The IdeaPad V560 is offered for $549.99 at Best Buy, which is currently the only place where you can order the laptop. Besides built-in WiMAX mobile broadband an Wi-Fi connectivity, the V560 model features the Intel Core i3-370M 2.4GHz processor, Intel integrated graphics, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB hard drive with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed, and a DVD burner. The display resolution is 1366 x 768 pixels, but we don’t know if it’s glossy or anti-glare.

According to the product page, the laptop has a battery life of up to 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Lenovo’s V560 also includes a 1.3MP web camera, fingerprint reader, three USB ports, an eSATA/USB combo connector, 4-in-1 media card reader, and Gigabit LAN port. It doesn’t feature HDMI output. We assume that it has a VGA port.

Although it belongs to the IdeaPad consumer laptop line, the 5.4-pound V560 has a simple business-class exterior.

For a more portable version, you can check the 14-inch IdeaPad V460, released a couple of months ago.

Lenovo is going to release the IdeaPad U260 ultraportable laptop, featuring a 12.5-inch display and Intel’s ultra-low voltage processors, according to leaked info.

The IdeaPad U260 weighs 3.04 pounds and is 0.71-inch thick. It will reportedly ship with the Core i3 or i5 ULV CPUs, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a 4-cell battery for “4 hours of runtime”. The unusually sized 12.5″ screen has a 720p resolution and anti-glare coating.

There are also HDMI and VGA outputs, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The U260 has a case made of magnesium-aluminum alloy and will be available in brown and organge colors.

There’s no word on pricing and availability date at the time of this writing.

Lenovo has released the 15.6-inch IdeaPad Z565 affordable multimedia laptop.

Unlike the Intel-based Z560, the Lenovo IdeaPad Z565 features AMD’s processors. Available models in the U.S market have the Turion II P520 2.3GHz or N530 2.5GHz dual-core CPUs, ATI Radeon HD4200 integrated or Radeon HD5470 512MB discrete graphics, 4GB of DDR3 memory expandable to 8GB, 320GB of hard disk space, and a DVD burner.

The 15.6″ LED-backlit display has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels.

The IdeaPad Z565 includes a 0.3MP web camera, stereo speakers, mic, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, three USB ports, an Express Card slot, a 5-in-1 digital media reader, and HDMI and VGA outputs.

It weighs 5.7 pounds with its standard 6-cell battery which provides “up to 4.5 hours” of run time and comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS.

Prices of the Lenovo IdeaPad Z565 range from $619.99 to $698.80, depending on model.

Lenovo’s recently released 15.6-inch IdeaPad Z560 entertainment laptop is now on sale.

The IdeaPad Z560 offered by Lenovo.com comes with the Intel Core i3-350M processor at 2.26GHz or i5-450M at 2.4GHz, Intel HD integrated or NVIDIA GeForce 310M 512MB dedicated graphics, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, a 320GB or 500GB hard drive, a DVD writer, 1366×768 LED-backlit display, a chiclet-style keyboard, Bluetoooth, HDMI output, and Windows 7 Home Premium OS.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Z560 starts at $739.

Lenovo has announced the 15.6-inch IdeaPad Y560d, the company’s first notebook with a 3D display.

The entertainment-oriented IdeaPad Y560d features the TriDef 3D technology solution with a 3D screen, software and glasses, the Intel Core i7-620M processor, switchable graphics combining an integrated GPU and the ATI Radeon HD 5730 1GB dedicated video card, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, up to 750GB HDD, optional RapidDrive 64GB SSD, and optional Blu-ray optical drive.

According to the press release, Lenovo Enhanced Experience RapidDrive technology “seamlessly combines SSD and HDD storage solutions to deliver even faster Windows 7 boot-up times and significantly improve application performance”.

Lenovo’s 3D laptop also includes JBL speakers, Dolby Home Theater surround sound, 802.11n WiFi, optional Bluetooth, and an HDMI output.

The IdeaPad Y560d runs Windows 7 Home Premium OS and will be available by the end of June for a starting price of approximately $1,199.99.