Have no fear if you're impatient over start-up times. The U410 was ready to go in 20.6 seconds from a cold boot. Lenovo uses RapidBoot technology to use RAM as a cache for boot files, taking some of the load off the hard drive. This is a vast improvement over the previous U310 model, which took nearly 53 seconds.

The U410s battery performance was just below average at 5 hours, 33 minutes. This may be enough to get through a full day of class or work, as long as the laptop is not in constant use. Unfortunately, you will probably have to keep your power adapter handy unless you use the battery sparingly.

The U410 manages to stay petite even with some extra hardware thrown in. Without any accessories, it weighs only 4.1 pounds and is 13.5 inches wide by 9.3 inches deep by 1 inch high. It's certainly small enough to carry around in a backpack while leaving some free space.

A nice 14.1-inch LED backlit screen allows for easy Web browsing and movie watching, but be aware that in the wrong light or at an off-axis angle, the glare can get bad.