Black color, characteristic squarish shape and firm construction are common factor of all ThinkPad notebooks and this model hasn’t betrayed the ThinkPad tradition. It looks like any other ThinkPad model but with few differences compared to T and R series. Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 has cover made in piano finish which means that it is fingerprints magnet in contrast to traditional matte surface used on other ThinkPad models. It will look nicer in a shop window but if you like practicality you should be aware of this. Anyway, this change would make sense only if other parts of notebook casing have undergone some changes but it maintained traditional ThinkPad shape. ThinkPad logo is clearly noticeable on cover with one interesting detail. Dot on “i” is actually power-on indicator and lights with red light when notebook is powered on.

We mentioned that SL models belong to low-budget series of ThinkPad notebooks. This can be observed in firmness of notebook construction that is less rigid then on T and R series but still SL series has above average quality build. Keyboard is typical for all ThinkPad notebooks with protection against accidental fluid spills in form of drip holes that channel fluid out of notebook without any damage to sensitive electronics. Famous RollCage is also integrated into SL300 along with hard disk protection system. Motion sensor in earlier models was sometimes too agile and in case of bumpier ride it would power-off hard disk, but in this model Lenovo integrated new generation of motion sensors that have “learning” capabilities so it will ignore smaller harmless vibrations. Front and lateral faces are sloped so all connectors are 1cm retracted from upper edge. This makes access to connectors somewhat difficult but pictograms can help in finding appropriate one. For notebook that has 13.3inch diagonal, SL300 it pretty beefy, at least compared to other 13.3inch models.

TouchPad with appropriate keys is located below first-class keyboard that became trade mark of all ThinkPad notebooks. When we used TrackPoint, cursor was moving somewhat jerky, but when we used touchpad everything was fine. Vertical and horizontal scroll areas on touchpad are also present.

Display on this notebook will produce different reactions. Some will be disappointed by the fact that this business model has glossy panel with reflecting layer. On the other side this is display with LED backlight, uniform picture and nicely saturated colors. LED backlight is more economical than standard one so this is one of features that is responsible for great autonomy of this model. Under maximum load, power consumption is similar to other notebooks with same configuration, but under minimal load SL300 power consumption is really minimal - similar to power consumption of netbooks. In the same time performances are also low but if you want to read some text you can do that for 6 hours on one battery charge. If you decide to watch HD movie, autonomy will drop to “only” 3.5 hours.

As far as basic components are concerned we have only one complaint: relatively small hard disk. This is another of those compromises mentioned at the beginning of review. SL300 is very quiet and doesn’t heat up too much even under full load. This is rare combination, but the best one. On the other hand it is strange why fans are active all the time, even when system is doing “nothing” and temperature drops to 30 degrees Celsius. Air that is pumped out of notebooks is slightly warm so it seems that something is wrong with fan control on our sample.