Lenovo Ideapad 130 Review: The Light Performer

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By Olatunbosun Adesoye

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My take on Lenovo Ideapad 130

Summary

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 is an affordable laptop with reasonable specs and features. Aside from its bad viewing angles and poor display, it meets the average performance expectations, which are good enough for light computing operations.

Overall
3.3

Pros

  • Comfortable keyboard
  • Relatively lightweight

Cons

  • No IPS
  • Poor graphics performance

Lenovo Ideapad 130: At First Glance

Lenovo has made sure to emphasize that you will no longer need to search for a budget laptop with good features when it released the Lenovo Ideapad 130.

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 is an inexpensive laptop as promised by Lenovo. Although Lenovo has taken some cost-cutting measures to keep the price down, this has not affected its quality much.

Features like the laptop’s screen, casing, and graphics all have glaring compromises. Though these compromises are expected for a budget laptop.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Design, Dimension, and Weight

Even though the Lenovo Ideapad 130 is a budget laptop, its build quality is excellent. However, its design doesn’t exceed what you would expect from a regular budget laptop.

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 has a complete plastic body with some textures. Unlike most glossy plastics, the textures on the laptop help to reduce fingerprint marks on its body.

Unfortunately, this laptop is a bit thick. It weighs 2100 g and measures 375.6 x 253.4 x 22.7 mm.

Furthermore, the Lenovo Ideapad 130 features a grand Island-style keyboard. It also has a fairly decent trackpad size.

Additionally, on the right side of the laptop, you have a DVD-RW slot and a lock slot. On the left side, you have a power connector, RJ-45 port, 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI port, a headphone jack, and an SD card slot.

Although the Lenovo Ideapad 130 is on the cheaper end of the laptop range, its build is relatively okay. Therefore, it scores seven in this review.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Processor (CPU) Performance

Lenovo equipped the Lenovo Ideapad 130 with a dual-core AMD E2-9000. The laptop’s processor has a base frequency of 1.80 GHz and a maximum frequency of 2.20 GHz.

Despite Lenovo’s claim of this laptop’s ability to do some video editing, its video editing performance isn’t exactly smooth. One of the reasons behind this is because it uses a dual-core CPU, so video rendering processes take a lot of time.

Moreover, based on the Cinebench R15 test that was carried out, this laptop’s CPU is a bit slow at running intensive computing operations. It took the laptop 9 minutes 32 seconds to render an edited picture.

However, the Lenovo Ideapad 130 CPU can handle basic computing tasks like emailing, light browsing, and word processing. But it will struggle to handle CPU intensive tasks

In conclusion, this laptop scores a seven because of its ability to handle regular computing tasks.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 comes with 4 GB of RAM. It has two memory slots – so you can use one for memory expansion.

However, the maximum size supported is 20 GB.

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 is only capable of light multitasking. It can multitask between a few browsing pages and about 1 to 2 programs running at the same time.

Also, the Lenovo Ideapad 130 has very few apps preloaded. This helps you get a clutter free desktop that enhances the efficiency of the laptop.

Finally, it scores a six in this review because of its light multitasking capability.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Storage Options and Performance

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 comes with a 5400 RPM SATA HDD. Its drive has a maximum storage capacity of 500 GB.

In addition to that, the laptop comes with a 4-in-1 card reader.

Clearly, this laptop offers reasonable storage options. Its storage capacity will be enough for most files and programs.

Although, getting an SSD could have been better, but this laptop’s storage performance is acceptable to an average user.

It scores a seven in this review because its storage options are okay.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Graphics Card Performance

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 features an AMD Radeon R2 Graphics card. The Graphics card (GPU) has a base frequency of 351 MHz and a boost frequency of 600 MHz.

However, this laptop is not very suitable for gaming. It can barely play graphically intensive games.

Also, you cannot run CAD packages smoothly on this laptop. For instance, running Adobe Premiere Pro on the Lenovo IdeaPad 130 is a no go area.

Moreover, the Lenovo Ideapad 130 barely play high-end games with lower settings. For instance, to play games like GTA5, Fortnite, and Apex Legends, you have to reduce the game’s settings to their lowest.

This laptop scores a 5 in this review because it can barely run the latest AAA games.

Lenovo Ideapad 130: Battery Life and Performance

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 comes with a 2-cell 30 Wh Lithium polymer battery. Lenovo advertises the battery life to last up to 6 hours.

Moreover, based on a battery life test, the Lenovo Ideapad 130 lasted for 4 hours 50 minutes with light browsing. However, it doesn’t last very long, with more intensive computing operations.

As an example, playing a game or watching movies on the laptop will only get you about 2-3 hours of battery life.

Moreover, battery life totally depends on how you use the laptop. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t expect more than 6 hours max.

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 scores a seven in this review for its manageable battery life.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does the Lenovo IdeaPad 130 have a touch screen?

No, it doesn’t. The Lenovo Ideapad 130 has a 15.6-inch HD resolution screen with an anti-glare feature. But it isn’t a touchscreen.

2. What is the lifespan of Lenovo IdeaPad laptops?

You should expect a life span of 2 years. However, many factors determine if it will last that long. The way you handle and care for the laptop goes a long way.

3. Does the Lenovo Ideapad 130 have an optical drive?

Yes, it does. The Lenovo Ideapad 130 has a DVD drive. The DVD drive can read CDs, write CDs, and read DVDs.

4. What Operating System does the Lenovo IdeaPad 130 use?

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 makes use of the Windows 10 Home operating system.

5. Is the Lenovo IdeaPad 130 a good laptop?

The Lenovo Ideapad is a budget-friendly laptop that is able to handle most basic computing operations. If you’re looking for an affordable laptop that’s useful for getting work done, it is capable. It has a decent selection of ports. It also has a comfortable keyboard for easy typing.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Ideapad 130 is a great laptop for its price point. It is good enough for daily computing tasks. Therefore it is a good laptop for students and business use.

However, I would not recommend it for gamers or graphics-intensive users because of its poor graphics rendering.

I hope you found this Lenovo Ideapad 130 review helpful.  If you found the review helpful, click Yes to “Was this post Helpful?” below.

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Finally, for more laptop reviews, visit our Laptop Reviews page. You may also find our Laptop Specs page very helpful.

About the Author

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Olatunbosun Adesoye

Adesoye Olatunbosun is a technical writer at Itechguides.com. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering. Ola is an art and philosophy enthusiast. When he is not writing, he reads, watches football, or codes apps. Ola writes reviews, buying guides, and best pick articles for Itechguides.com.

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