The Lenovo 3000 N 200 15.4" Notebook is a sleek mid-range notebook that fights it out against the Dell E1505 and Toshiba A200/205. The N200 sports quite a few enhancements compared to the previous N100 series. The N200 features a Santa Rosa chipset, double the dedicated video memory, express card instead of the PC-card and Windows Vista.

The laptop is sturdily built, keeping flashy designs to a minimum. The color tone of silver and dark plum doesn’t give it much to stand out from the crowd. However, the N 200 scores on superb build, quality, ease of use and a solid ThinkPad geared keyboard.

Design and Manufacture

The keyboard design has sort of become legendary due to its tactile feel and intelligent layout. The ThinkPad keyboard features specialized keys and buttons for easy access to various applications such as director application and Lenovo Care tools.

The screen hinges are built really tough, the durability, which you generally associate with the company that brings out the durable ThinkPad business line of notebooks. The screen latch holds down the top part firmly by allowing for a bit of tension on the rubber pads that line the screen edges.

The laptop is powered by a GeForce Go 7300 with 256 MB dedicated memory, which is perfect for light gaming like Half-Life 2. Even High-Definition movies at 1080P resolutions can be viewed with ease.

Lenovo computer laptop reviews have singled out a major fault in the N200’s armor; it’s that the speakers are weak. Don’t expect a thrilling bass or a midrange, but they are fine for casual movie or music. Lenovo 3000 N 200 provides some outstanding performance and usability, thanks to its latest Intel Centrino processor technology. The laptop is targeted at meeting the needs of growing business.

Video

The most conspicuous of the features is the wide 15.4” screen that renders crisp images. The screen is a glossy style LCD with a good viewing angle, considering it’s a non-IPS display. Enjoy razor sharp images and stunning movie effects with the 15.4 WSXGA screen, which is larger by 18 percent than the standard 15 inch screens. The entire area around the keyboard is well supported without any sort of irritating flex under pressure. The Lenovo 3000 N 200 15.4" Notebook features a real nice chassis that produces no plastic squeaks or creaks when lifted up.

Upgrade without dismantling

Upgrading the laptop without completely dismantling the unit has been a trademark for Lenovo line of laptops, and the N200 stays true to it. Each area is held down by one or two Philips screw, including the ram, hard drive and CPU areas. Most of the upgrades that an average or power notebook user would ever need can be dealt with through these sections.

Alternative options

In a nutshell, the N200 is a competitive laptop for the price if you configure the Dell E1505 or the Toshiba A200/205 for a similar spec; you’ll end up spending as much as $200 more, moreover they lack the Santa Rosa platform. The N200 also features some cool additions such as Windows Vista and a 2 GB DDR2 ram stick, (which is in fact quite expensive compared to two 1 GB sticks) at no additional costs.

Pros
• Good laptop for the price.
• Sturdy built quality and easy to upgrade.
• Vibrant screen.
• ThinkPad Keyboard.

Cons
• Cooling fan with ADHD that tends to ram up the speed at the slightest increase in temperature.
• Looks.

Lenovo 3000 N 200 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100 (1.83 GHz), 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD RW, Windows Vista Business) asin: B000PLTX8Y