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Battery Life
LENOVO IdeaPad N581 Laptop Battery, IdeaPad N581 batteries fast shipping to UK, Europe and World.
With 6:49 hours, the IdeaPad N581-MBY4YGE lasted the longest of the three comparison devices in idle mode. HP's Compaq Presario CQ58-148SG (6:01h) and Sony's Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W (6:12h) lag behind clearly. Idle mode is ascertained via BatteryEater's Reader's test. The screen is set to minimum brightness, the energy-savings profile is enabled and the wireless modules (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) are disabled. The IdeaPad N581 achieved a load runtime of 1:20h. Both other laptops lasted for six minutes longer. BatteryEater’s Classic test is used for the load test. For this, we set the screen to maximum brightness and enable the high-performance profile and wireless modules.
One L11L6Y01 battery charge is enough to keep the Wi-Fi test running for 4:20h. There is not much of a time difference between the N581 and the CQ58-148SG (4:18h) or Sony's Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W (4:05h). Websites are automatically opened every 40 seconds in this test. The energy-savings profile is enabled and the screen's brightness is set to roughly 150 cd/m2. The IdeaPad N581 accomplished a runtime of 3:37h in the DVD test (CQ58-148SG: 3:51h, Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W: 3:11h) The DVD test is performed with disabled wireless modules. The screen is set to maximum brightness and the energy-savings or higher profile is used should the DVD not be rendered smoothly.
The battery life of all three laptops is comparable as they use batteries with similar capacities (HP: 47 Wh, Lenovo: 48 Wh, Sony: 45 Wh). If you are looking for the cheapest laptop with the longest battery runtime, you might take a look at Lenovo's G585. This laptop accomplishes a runtime of 8:40h in idle mode. The device is equipped with AMD's E2-1800 APU. However, we have to point out that the CPU part of the AMD APU is much weaker than the CPU part of Intel's Pentium B970.
Case
The IdeaPad N581 is made completely of plastic. The lid's rear is rubber-coated just like the wrist rest and keyboard bezel. Here, Lenovo makes reference to the ThinkPad series. The laptop does not feature many glossy parts due to the rubberized surfaces. The only exceptions are the screen and display bezel. The case's workmanship is acceptable, although there are a few flaws. For example, a few places with sharp edges on the base unit's sides. (LENOVO CPA-A065 adapters)
The base unit basically conveys a solid impression. It hardly yields under pressure. Merely the bezel over the optical drive can be dented more intensely. The laptop only warps marginally when we pick it up at its opposite corners. The lid also can be twisted a bit. The hinges keep the display firmly in position. The lid rocks when we let go of it. It is possible to open the laptop with one hand if you lift the lid carefully.
Connectivity
Lenovo's N581 does not bear any surprises when it comes to connectivity and presents the expected interfaces. It is great to see that Lenovo has given the laptop two USB 3.0 ports. Neither HP's Compaq Presario CQ58-148SG nor Sony's Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W can serve with that.
Keyboard
Lenovo installs its own, well-known AccuType keyboard into the IdeaPad N581 that is also built into many other Lenovo laptops. The keys feature a clear pressure point and a sufficient drop. One feature of Lenovo’s keyboards is the rather small enter, backspace and the right shift key. They are easily missed in the beginning and thus need a certain period of familiarization. (ASUS A32-K56 batteries)
Touchpad
The laptop's touchpad features a generous size of 10.2 x 5.4 cm. It is slightly lowered in the wrist rest and rubber-coated, just like the wrist rest. The finger should not be pressed too hard on the touchpad when gliding over its surface because the rubber coat slows down the finger and makes gliding difficult. The touchpad's right edge serves as the scroll bar. However, it is cannot be seen or felt since it is not marked. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures. Thus, functions like pinch-to-zoom are available. Both mouse keys are below the touchpad and feature a clear pressure point and short drop.
Display
Unsurprisingly Lenovo builds a 15.6 inch, glare-type screen into the IdeaPad N581. The screen features a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It is illuminated by LEDs. Other screen models are not offered. Considering it is a low-budget laptop, the screen's average brightness of 219.7 cd/m2 is quite high. It surpasses the rates of HP's Compaq Presario CQ58-148SG (186.7 cd/m2) and Sony's Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W (199.6 cd/m2).
The IdeaPad N581's black value of 1.37 cd/m2 is in the lower midfield. The contrast ratio of 163:1 is not much better. Thus, none of the three laptops excel in terms of black value and contrast. HP's Compaq Presario CQ58-148SG (1.24 cd/m2; 152:1) and Sony's Vaio VPC-EH3C0E/W (1.54 cd/m2; 144:1) even supply worse rates for the most part. The screen covers neither the sRGB nor the AdobeRGB color spectrum. However, this is not a problem since these color spaces are only required in the professional picture and graphics field.
The screen's brightness allows using the laptop outdoors. However, the glare-type surface makes this difficult. Thus, you should avoid overly bright surroundings and direct sunlight.
The screen's viewing angle stability did not surprise us and corresponds to the IdeaPad N581's price range. Adapting the vertical viewing angle quickly causes the image to distort. In return, the horizontal viewing angles are more tolerant. (LENOVO L11P6R01 batteries)
Speakers
The IdeaPad N581's speakers are located above the keyboard behind a finely perforated cover. They produce a very thin sound that can be enhanced audibly by enabling the pre-installed Dolby Home Theater software. The speakers basically fulfill our expectations. We had to listen to worse speakers in the past. If you do not like the sound, you can always connect external speakers or headphones to the device.
Verdict
With the IdeaPad N581, Lenovo again introduces an affordable laptop that excels with its good money for value performance. The device provides enough power to satisfy the requirements of most users. However, you have to live with a contrast-poor screen like in almost every low-budget laptop. You can also opt for the IdeaPad N581-MBA4XGE, if you do not need Windows 7. The saved money could then be invested in a warranty upgrade. If you are looking for an even cheaper laptop, you should look closer at HP's Compaq Presario CQ58-148SG.
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
