![]() WIRED A price tag is worth 1,000 words, or at least 600 words. To be frank, I'm not sure if there's a better deal available in computerdom today, that is, unless you all want to start moaning about Linux in the comments. Lenovo may have cut some corners (OK, a lot of corners), but doing so has pushed this thing down into the world of netbook pricing – and I'd far rather have this machine than any netbook on the market. You can barely get an iPad for 600 bucks, much less a touchscreen-equipped laptop that features a legit Core i5 and a terabyte of on-board storage. Why? Because, in case you missed it up top, it costs $600. The screen is impossible to open single-handedly, and even the CD tray (no slot-loading here, sir) is tricky to deal with.ĭespite that litany of complaints, do not write off this machine. Built entirely of plastic, it doesn't exactly feel sturdy (though it does manage to weigh in at a solid half-pound heavier than a comparably-equipped ThinkPad). ![]() And the clickpad is jumpy and often erratic: I experienced frequent problems whereby I often accidentally switched apps due to the Z400 registering an unintended gesture, something I haven't encountered to date on other Windows 8 machines. The keyboard is bouncy and has far too much "give" – a far cry from Lenovo's usual high-grade typing surfaces. There are fit and finish problems to contend with. As well, the screen is extremely dim versus the competition, and its resolution sits at the bare minimum acceptable on a computer today. Of the three USB ports, only one is a 3.0 connector, with HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, and an SD Card slot rounding out the package. The non-user-replaceable battery gives you just over three hours of running time during DVD playback, and even the port selection is on the chintzy side. This is particularly noticeable with graphics work, where the Z400 struggles to muddle through even basic video tasks. Performance is iffy, better than the cheapo Atom-based tablets but a far cry even from what you'll get with the typical ultrabook. To be sure, the Z400 Touch isn't exactly the state of the art. There's even a dual-layer DVD burner.Īll of this will set you back 600 bucks, squarely in the wheelhouse of ultra-budget laptops. For your modest investment, you get a 14-inch (1366 x 768-pixel) touchscreen, a 2.6GHz Core i5 CPU, integrated graphics, 6GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Lenovo's budget laptop for the Windows 8 era is this, the IdeaPad Z400 Touch. And yet they sell like mad, so manufacturers have no choice but to keep grinding them out. Those aren't the kind of computers that companies like to send to publications to write about, because they don't have all the bells and whistles that the expensive machines have and which give you something to put into the "Wired" section, and they're slow and heavy. ![]() For years, the average selling price of a Windows laptop has hovered around a mere $500, according to NPD Group, a number that is unlikely to move significantly. While jaded tech writers and reviewers have become accustomed to seeing $1,000-plus price tags on laptops, the reality is that the vast majority of the rest of the world's buyers aren't ready to pay such lofty prices. ![]()
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