The Lenovo IdeaPad Z370 makes us feel blue, but in a good way. This 13-inch thin-and-light laptop gives consumers a welcome pop of color in a market flooded with grays and blacks. But the Z370 is more than a pretty face. For $629, it packs a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive. Does this notebook have the substance to match its style?
Design
The Z370's glossy plastic exterior is a brilliant blue that immediately draws the eye (consumers wanting a more muted color can get the laptop in brown). The lid features a 3D square geometric pattern that radiates from the middle of the lid and transitions into a dotted pattern and then a solid pattern. We were expecting the Z370 to be a fingerprint magnet, but were pleasantly surprised that the lid remained fairly clean. However, the large gap between the laptop lid and the base was a little jarring.
We were pleased that Lenovo chose to continue the glossy blue motif on the Z370's interior. The keyboard rests in a recessed area surrounded by a blue keyboard deck. Located above the keyboard are two built-in speakers. A metallic gray power button is also located above the keyboard, as are touch-sensitive buttons for changing volume, Lenovo's OneKey Theater settings, and thermal management. The blue buttons are slightly recessed and--as a nice visual accent--they light up.
Measuring 12.9 x 8.7 x 0.8-1.3 inches and weighing 4.6 pounds, the Z370 is small and light enough to carry around comfortably. Still, the HP Pavilion dm4t has nearly the same footprint, weighs 0.2 pounds less, and manages to cram in a larger 14-inch display.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The Z370 packs a black matte island-style keyboard with generous spacing between its large, flat keys. Similar to the ThinkPad Edge line, the Z370 features "smile-shaped" Accu-Type keys that provided firm feedback. While Lenovo is known for its great keyboards, we were disappointed with the undersized right Shift key. We found ourselves making more typing errors than usual.
We enjoyed running our fingers over the Z370's textured touchpad. Comprised of a series of raised dots, the 3.3 x 1.6-inch touchpad gave us plenty of room to maneuver. We were able to navigate documents and websites as well as select and highlight text with ease. Multitouch gestures were turned off by default; you have to activate them in the control panel.
Display and Audio
The 13.3-inch widescreen 1368 x 768 display is surrounded by a glossy black bezel. Unlike other laptops, we were able to work outdoors unabated thanks to the Z370's anti-glare display. Text on LaptopMag.com was sharp and easy to read, while images were bright and vivid. Aside from the non-stop action in the YouTube 1080p trailer of Immortals, we were blown away by the rich reds and golds that appeared throughout. However, we noticed slight pixelation during night scenes in the Super 8 trailer.
The Z370 provided a relatively balanced audio experience. Dialogue during movies and news reports was loud and clear. As we listened to The Lonely Planet's "The Creep" featuring Nikki Minaj, vocals and music blended together without losing any of the highs, mids, or lows, and the speakers easily filled a small office. Still, bass junkies will feel somewhat deprived; songs such as Jay-Z's "On To The Next One" lacked a thumping lower end.
Pressing the OneKey Theater button let us change the Z370's audio and screen temperature between one of three settings: Intelligent, Movie, and Normal. The latter two settings added more bass to music and videos and increased the contrast on the screen.
Ports and Webcam
The right side of the Z370 houses a USB 2.0 port, DVD burner, headphone jack, microphone jack, and the power jack. In addition to a wireless switch, the front of the machine features a 5-in-1 card reader. An additional USB 2.0 port resides on the left side of the laptop along with an eSATA port, HDMI port, VGA, an Ethernet port, and a Kensington Lock slot.
Using the Z370's 2-megapixel camera, we were able to capture clean, bright images in an office setting. Using CyberLink's YouCam, the notebook records footage at up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. During a Skype session, our caller could hear us well, and video was equally clear. Lenovo's VeriFace face-recognition software let us set up an extra layer of security for logins without much effort.
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