Lenovo 3000 N100 review

Brown isn't the first colour we'd choose for a notebook, and Lenovo's 3000 N100 does nothing to alter that opinion. However, if you can see beyond the unappealing plastic chassis you'll find a fairly decent notebook beneath.

This is the first widescreen Lenovo notebook we've seen at Shopper. The fingerprint reader provides convenient security without the hassle of passwords. This suggests that the notebook was designed with business users in mind, though it ships with Windows XP Home Edition.

The chassis weighs a fairly average 2.8kg, so it's light enough to carry about occasionally. The battery lasted a respectable three hours and 40 minutes, which is fine for an afternoon's light work or internet surfing.

The 3000 N100 has four USB2 ports and a memory card reader. More unusual at this price is Bluetooth.

Rather than the glossy screens we're used to seeing on notebooks, the 3000 N100's LCD has a traditional anti-glare finish. This makes it more suitable for use on the move, under fluorescent lighting or outside, although it gave the screen a slightly grainy finish. In our tests the display produced a greyish white, and the colour and greyscale tests showed terrible banding. Office application users may not be bothered by these shortcomings, but anyone who wants to view photos or watch videos should look elsewhere. Above the screen is a built-in webcam, which could be useful for video conferencing.

Perhaps the biggest and most ill-advised change Lenovo has made from the IBM days is the keyboard. While IBM's notebook keyboards were easily the best, the 3000 N100's is one of the worst we've used. The keys have slightly sloped fronts that make typing more comfortable, but they offer little resistance and our fingers soon got tired after smacking forcefully into the chassis. The track pad is accurate, but the buttons could also do with more feedback.

Inside the chassis is an 80GB hard disk, which is plenty for business users. There's also a DVD writer for backing up files. The Intel Core Solo T1300 processor has only a single core, but it's still a capable processor and faster than the equivalent Pentium M. The notebook performed well in our benchmarks and has plenty of power for office tasks.

It was the disappointing colours on the display, rather than the unattractive colours on the chassis, that put us off Lenovo's 3000 N100. If you're looking for an inexpensive business notebook, HP's nx6125 (below) is a much better choice.