Lenovo's New Mainstream Ideapads, Miix, And More

Lenovo announced an overwhelming overhaul of its product lines, incorporating the latest Intel Skylake processors into the entire catalog, reinventing its naming convention, and upgrading several key features. Predictably, the company's mainstream offerings were refreshed, as well.

If you haven't checked out our explanation of Lenovo's new nomenclature, take a brief moment to do so. The amount of new ideapads is staggering, and keeping track of what to expect from each model can be tricky without some guidance. That's what we're here for, and don't worry, there are more tables on the way.

Ideapad 300 Series

The ideapad 300 comes in 14-, 15-, and 17-inch models, including an 11-inch "S" series ultrabook. All ideapad 300's can be configured with up to an Intel Core i7 Skylake processor, but the 14- and 15-inch models can also have up to an Intel Pentium N3700 quad core processor (Braswell) for lower power consumption. The 300S does not support Core-series chips, and it offers only up to the Intel N3700 processor. There are currently no AMD processor offerings in the 300 series.

Ideapad 300 series notebooks with Braswell-series processors can support up to 8 GB of DDR3L memory, but models using Core-series processors support up to 16 GB of DDR3L RAM. Regular 300 series ideapads can have up to 1 TB of HDD or SSHD storage, with non-Braswell models offering up to a 128 GB SSD. The 300S is available with up to a 1 TB HDD, a 500 GB SSHD, or up to 64 GB of eMMC storage.

The 14- and 15-inch models support up to 1920 x 1080 displays, but the larger 17-inch model comes in only a 1600 x 900 resolution, and the 11-inch 300S offers just 1366 x 768. Regular 300-series models with Braswell processors can use the integrated Intel HD graphics or Nvidia Geforce 920M 1 GB discrete graphics. Products using Core-series processors can use the onboard video or opt for an AMD Radeon R5 M330 dedicated card. It's nice to see AMD make it to the 300 series somehow.

The ideapad 300 is designed for everyday use, but it has plenty of performance options once you reach the upper tier of the series. Here's a table of the complete 300 series offerings, with primary features:

Ideapad 500 Series

Picking up where the 300 series leaves off, the ideapad 500 series offers 14- and 15-inch models with AMD or Intel processors, and three different sizes of "S" series ultrabooks (13-, 14- and 15-inch models). All display sizes for the 500 series have up to FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution.

Any 500-series model with an AMD processor onboard can have up to an AMD Carrizo FX-8800P processor and comes loaded with Radeon R5 M330 graphics. Regular ideapad 500 models with Intel inside can use the onboard Intel HD graphics or an AMD Radeon R7 M360 dedicated graphics card. The 500S uses the Intel HD graphics as well, but 13-inch models can include up to an Nvidia GeForce 920M, while 14- and 15-inch models can feature up to an Nvidia GeForce GT 940M.

AMD versions of the ideapad 500 will also allow up to 128 GB of SSD storage, whereas the regular 500 series Intel models only offer up to a 1 TB HDD or SSHD. However, Lenovo brings SSDs back for Intel in the 500S, offering up to 1 TB HDD, 500 GB SSHD and 128 GB SSD options for the 13-inch model, while the 14- and 15-inch 500S offers up to a 256 GB SSD. Additionally, 500 series ideapads can have up to 16 GB of DDR3L memory, but 500S models offer up to just 8 GB.

Webcams come standard with pretty much all laptops, but Lenovo offers an Intel RealSense 3D camera in select 15-inch 500 series models. This option is painfully absent from the 500S options, but Lenovo makes up for it with a higher-than-standard quality 720p HD camera.

Here's another table, because we love tables:

Somewhere In Between Tablet And Laptop: The MIIX

Lenovo also brought an interesting new product to life that feels like it isn't sure whether or not it is a tablet or a PC. The MIIX 700 is a bit of both (and therefore appropriately named), a 2-in-1 with an easily detachable keyboard and up to an Intel Core m7 (Skylake) processor and 8 GB of DDR3L memory. The display itself is 12 inches and up to FHD+ (2160 x 1440) resolution, with the integrated Intel HD graphics to drive it. A micro HDMI output can bring the images to the big screen, if you need it.

The tiny device has one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port. A microSD card slot provides more storage options, but the MIIX can come with up to a 256 GB SSD. A micro SIM card slot provides LTE and 3G connections, while dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 round out the wireless options.

The MIIX features front and back 5MP cameras, but configurations can include an Intel RealSense 3D camera.

Ideacentre Refresh

Although they are nothing like an ideapad, it is worth mentioning that the Ideacentre all-in-one (AIO) and tower systems have also been refreshed with Skylake parts. These mainstream offerings continue to embrace the new Intel processors, but don't offer any groundbreaking new features to set them apart from their previous designs.

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