Lenovo Ideapad 330 17 Laptop - Intel Core I7 - Geforce Mx150 Reviews

When I'thou looking to be productive, more screen existent manor is a necessity. Bigger screens lets me have multiple windows in view at once, or pin different applications to the screen corners. While I can get past on a 12-inch screen, I admire 15- and 17-inchers.

While strolling through Best Buy a week ago, I saw a compelling 17-inch laptop from Lenovo: the Ideapad 330. After playing on the brandish model laptop a bit, I decided to accept the plunge and purchase the laptop myself.

About this review

This model has an 8th Gen Intel Cadre i5-8250U processor (CPU); 8GB of DDR4 RAM; a 1TB, 5400 RPM Hard disk drive (HDD); and a 17-inch, 720p display. After using the stock configuration, I swapped in a 512gb SATA 3 Solid State Drive (SSD) and installed a make clean version of Windows from a USB drive.

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Lenovo IdeaPad 330 17-inch hardware and specifications

Category	Xx
Processor	8th Gen Intel Cadre i5-8250U Quad-core
Display	17-inch 1600 x 900 (HD)
RAM	8GB DDR4-2400MHz
Storage	1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD
Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics 620
Ports	Proprietary power Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet HDMI 1.4B Ii USB-A 3.0 3.5mm audio in/out USB-C 3.0 (data only) SD carte reader DVD reader
Speakers	Dual 1.5W stereo with Dolby Audio
Wireless	Intel Dual Band Wireless AC-3165 802.11ac (2 x two) Bluetooth 4.1
Camera	Front end-facing 720p
Security	dTPM 2.0
Keyboard	Not backlit
Touchpad	Not Precision
Biometrics	N/A
Bombardment	30Wh, 4000mAh internal
Weight	6.17 lbs (two.8 kg)
Dimensions	16.46 in 10 11.52 in x 0.98 in (418.1 mm x 292.6 mm 10 24.89 mm)

Lenovo Ideapad 330 17-inch pattern and features

This laptop is congenital entirely out of plastic, to keep both the weight and the price down. But it isn't inexpensive-feeling, and information technology won't scratch easily. It'southward likewise well counterbalanced: it'southward not a huge strain to briefly employ it i-handed, with the bottom of the laptop resting on my forearm. Information technology'southward too non awful to carry in a backpack.

There are 15 screws keeping the back panel fastened. Unscrew those and run a flathead screwdriver or spudger along the panel seam, and it will be off in no time. Inside, you can see the 2.5-inch hard drive, battery and single SODIMM slot for RAM. This model besides includes 4GB of RAM soldered onto the board, assuasive for a maximum of 20GB if you lot really want to aggrandize it. The DVD drive comes off with the dorsum console, and can be replaced with a Blu-ray bulldoze. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth card is located in the middle and can be replaced with any m.2 network carte du jour.

Finally, yous can see there's a scrap of extra room around the battery. At this time Lenovo does non sell larger batteries that you can install for this laptop.

In that location are full-sized HDMI, USB-A and Ethernet ports, so you won't need a dongle. Unfortunately, the USB-C port simply works for data transfers, not display-out or charging. I love having the full-sized ports to be able present materials in meetings, but it's frustrating that Lenovo crippled the USB-C port.

The born microphones are serviceable for video calls, simply the webcam is bad. There aren't any biometrics bachelor for Windows Hello, which isn't likewise much of a surprise given the price point.

Lenovo Ideapad 330 17-inch keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard and touchpad are generously-sized, fitting with the big chassis. The keys themselves offer enough of travel, and require a satisfying amount of strength to register input. They aren't stiff or loose. Unfortunately, there isn't backlighting, but there are lights to indicate if Caps Lock and the Number Pad are on.

The trackpad is a different story. It's a good size, simply it doesn't apply Precision drivers. Trying to install Precision drivers simply left the trackpad inoperable, so I resigned to using a wireless mouse with the laptop.

Lenovo Ideapad 330 17-inch operation

Besides the size, functioning is the primary entreatment of this laptop. For simply $530, you lot're getting the same processor that's in the $1,200 ThinkPad T470. You're likewise getting 8GB of RAM, more than enough to keep up with nearly use cases.

What doesn't keep up with most apply cases is the 5400 RPM hard bulldoze. I'm non sure why Lenovo decided to pair this not bad CPU and RAM with such slow storage, but the production is worse for information technology.

Thankfully, you can easily put any SSD in this laptop and it'll scream. Whether you already have an SSD or you but desire to spend an actress $fourscore or so, you'll be and then happy you did. With the SSD in identify, the laptop starts up well-nigh 10 times faster, powers down much faster, applications open in an instant, and multitasking is a breeze.

More: How to speed upward an one-time PC with an affordable SSD

The display is merely OK. It'south a 720p console with decent colors and viewing angles.

Another bad mark is the battery. Even with a full charge and up to appointment BIOS and power management drivers, I could merely squeeze well-nigh three and a half hours of piece of work from the laptop. That's just writing upwardly Google Docs documents inside Microsoft Border, with a couple other Border tabs open for research. I had the screen brightness at 75 percent,, which is the minimum you lot'll desire to utilize it at. This is also a 720p panel, and so the GPU isn't working nigh equally hard as it could be. But put, the default battery is too small. If you're going to utilise this laptop, exist prepared to bring the charger with y'all wherever yous get.

Lenovo Ideapad 330 17-inch review decision

Out of the box, this laptop is pretty terrible to use because of the deadening HDD and low bombardment life. Still, it's an inexpensive way to get corking performance, if yous don't mind installing an SSD and mayhap a larger battery if they become available.

Working on such a large screen is a joy, and it performs better than anything else at this toll indicate one time you swap the hard bulldoze out. There are enough of ports, but not existence able to employ the USB-C port for charging or display-out is what's going to cause me to return this laptop.

Pros:

• Piece of cake to upgrade internals.
• Big display.
• Great keyboard.
• Full sized Ethernet, USB-A and HDMI ports.

Cons:

• Poor webcam.
• No Precision trackpad.
• USB-C port is express.
• Stock HDD is slow.
• Stock battery is too small.

All-time Purchase has these on sale regularly. It costs $530 right now, only I picked it upwards for $439 a week agone. Even adding $100 for an SSD, either of those prices is a bargain for a laptop with the i5-8250U and 8GB of RAM. If y'all don't heed the effort it takes to install the SSD, and you lot can observe a way to manage the battery life, information technology'due south difficult not to similar this laptop despite its faults.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/lenovo-ideapad-330-review

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