The Lenovo V200 replaces the V100 as the top-of-the-line model in the Lenovo 3000 series of budget-priced ultraportables, so it has the same design (all silver outside and black inside), a quite attractive look for travelers and small business consumers. The build is durable with a slight amount of flex (it’s made of a sturdy plastic material), but the LCD is having ripples if you push in on the back side of the lid. Thanks to the Intel Santa Rosa Core 2 Duo processor platform, and the 2GB of RAM on board, the V200 is a remarkably capable performer, allowing Windows Vista Business to run trouble free without any lag. The Intel X3100 integrated graphics processor isn’t very powerful, but provides more than enough power for a business notebook.

With the 6-cell battery the V200 tips the scales at 4.4 lbs which is by far NOT the leightest portable laptop and also not the thicker. Instead of that, you get a built-in optical drive, video camera, fingerprint reader, and a low price, so people on a budget might be willing to carry this notebook. The screen has a glossy finish causing the strong reflections on the screen from overhead lights (common to office settings) to be very frustrating, but, otherwise, it provides richer, deeper colors and a better media viewing experience. It’s not as bright as some competing 12.1″ notebooks, so that might be an issue for some, while the vertical viewing angles are as poor as in any other laptop so don’t worry too much about this.

As for the speakers, these aren’t the worst notebook speakers … but they aren’t the best either: bass is lacking as usual, and, when used at higher volume, the sound gets unrealistic. What I don’t like very much is the position: in front of the laptop - the sound might be ubstructed. The V200 is remarkably quiet, the fan is generally silent and the CPU temperatures stayes in the 40-degrees Celsius range. The touchpad is ok but not brilliant, and as for the keyboard, every key is responsive with minimal travel and the entire keyboard has very little flex. After 3 hours and 18 minutes the 6-cell battery dies - it’s a good time.

Lenovo V200 Specifications