Revamped Lenovo IdeaPad 320S, 720S are portable and powerful
With such a wide variety of Windows laptops available, you may be tempted to overlook models such as Lenovo’s IdeaPad 320S and 720S. But you’d be making a mistake.
The redesigned laptops, available in 14- and 15.6-inch screen sizes, are attractive thin-and-light clamshells. They’re good if you need more power, features and screen real estate than you’d get from an ultraportable. Instead of the more mainstream components you’ll find in its more budget-friendly linemates, you’ll get full-HD IPS displays for better off-angle viewing, backlit keyboards and Windows Precision touchpads with multitouch gesture support and PCIe SSDs for storage instead of slower hard drives.
The 320S comes in both 14- and 15.6-inch sizes. The higher-end 720S comes in only a 14-inch model, but with its minimal bezel around the screen, the whole laptop is actually smaller than the 14-inch 320S. Other upgrades for the 720S include an aluminum body instead of ABS plastic, Nvidia GeForce GTX 940MX discrete graphics, an optional fingerprint reader with Windows Hello login support and a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt.
Configurations for the 320S will feature seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processors, 8GB of memory and PCIe SSDs for storage. While the 14-inch has integrated graphics, the larger model will have an Nvidia 940MX GPU giving you a little more power for photo and video work and casual gaming.
The 14-inch IdeaPad 720S starts at $970. The 14-inch IdeaPad 320S starts at $740 with the base 15-inch version going for $750. All will be available starting in June. Though pricing and availability for other regions was not immediately available, the prices convert to £745 or AU$1,300 for the 720S and £570 or AU$995 for the base 14-inch 320S and £575 or AU$1,010 for the base 15.6-inch 320S.
