Lenovo IdeaPad S340 Laptop: Ryzen 5 3500U, 15.6", 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD Expired

I've had this machine for about a month (the urlhasbeenblocked deal) and upgraded it by adding a 1TB HDD and upping the memory to 12gb.

Just a few observations:

1) The battery is OK. Not great, not awful. I use mine on A/C power 95% of the time. On battery, in 'general' use (browsing, office, a few videos), I'm guessing I'll get in the 4-6 hour range.

2) I'm fine with the TN screen. I bought it knowing I could replace it with IPS for about $50, but I'm not going to do it. It's got good resolution, is fast and is plenty bright (I run it 85% brightness most of the time). I took it outside just to check it out in the sunlight and (with the matte screen) it was fine. Didn't need to up the brightness. Side to side viewing angle is passable, vertical is a bit better. It's a laptop... 99% if the time, it's used by one person sitting directly in front of it, so it's fine IMHO (and I've got desktop machines with big monitors, if I want to share).

3) It's fast... the R5 runs well and I haven't had any heat problems. I've run CPUID HWMonitor and it rarely gets even close to what you'd consider hot (I don't tax it running games, etc... but even under load I don't see it being an issue).

4) I wish it had one more USB port... I've had a need for three devices a couple of times (memory stick, mouse and backup drive), though a little hub or USB-C adapter fixes that issue.

5) I wish the power port was in the back (it's on the left hand side). No major issue, but it would just work better for my location. It would also be nice if the power cord was about a foot or two longer (it's short compared to every other laptop I've had). It's not a major issue and nothing a little extension cord can't solve.

6) The keyboard feel is really good. Takes a little bit to get used to the key placement (coming from a 17" Dell). The backlighting works well, but I rarely use it. The touchpad works well, though I'm a mouse guy, so I'm not a great judge.

7) The machine is very easy to work on. Case comes apart easily and the memory and Sata bay are easy to access.

8) Sound is good, but not great. About what you'd expect from a thin laptop, decent overall sound and stereo separation.

9) Bloatware was pretty minimal. Most of the AMD and Lenovo utilities are at last semi-useful, so I didn't bother reloading WIndows.

10) The 1x1 wireless has been fine. Granted, I've got reasonably crappy DSL, so speed is never going to be great. Connectivity is good, never have any drops (Linksys mesh network).

Yes, same model S340 with different config came with really weak battery. I haven't checked this one yet but assume it could be similar. Motile by Walmart has much better battery with 14" 1080p screen but very portable with better battery. This one has numeric keypad and is bigger 15.6" also a known brand. Other benefit is dual channel RAM over motile if you don't care about more weight and less portability.

Full specs:
http://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Id...81NC0014US

TN panel, non-touch, backlit keyboard, 1x1 AC wireless, 52.5Wh battery. Some of the earlier S340 deals from Office Depot had 36Wh batteries.