Lenovo IdeaPad C340, S340, S540 are practical laptops with premium details

Lenovo's newest IdeaPads announced today at MWC 2019 blur the line between its mainstream and premium slim laptops and convertibles. 

The IdeaPad C340, for example, is a two-in-one available in 14- and 15-inch versions with a fiberglass top and slim bezels -- a design touch once solely found on Lenovo's high-end laptops. The same goes for its webcam-blocking Privacy Shutter and rapid charging feature, which Lenovo says gets the battery to 80 percent in an hour. A backlit keyboard, active pen support and a fingerprint reader are available options as well. 

The 14-inch IdeaPad C340 will start at $450 (about £345 or AU$630) for Intel and AMD models, while the Intel-only 15-inch will start at $500. 

Those prices will get you low-end components like an AMD Athlon 300U or Intel Pentium 5405U processors and a 1,366x768-pixel resolution TN display. But, you can also expect options like a full HD-resolution IPS display, up to a Core i7-8565U processor and discrete Nvidia GeForce MX230 graphics when it arrives in April.

Joining the C340 are the slim IdeaPad S340 and S540 laptops. These, too, come in 14- and 15-inch versions and are built with higher-end materials like carbon fiber and aluminum, slim bezels around their displays, Dolby Audio, rapid charging and webcam privacy shutters.

The lower-end IdeaPad S340 will feature:

• Up to Intel Core i7-8565U or up to AMD Ryzen 7 3700U
• Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU (Intel only)
  
• Up to 14-inch full HD IPS display or 15.6-inch full HD IPS touch display
• Up to 12GB of memory
• Up to 256GB M.2 SSD (NVMe support) or 128GB SSD + 2TB HDD storage
• 14-inch Intel starts at $370 (AMD pricing not currently available)
• 15.6-inch Intel starts at $450, AMD starts at $430
  

The slightly higher-end IdeaPad S540, which starts at $850, has an all-aluminum chassis and adds Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics to the 15.6-inch version and dual-action cooling fans to handle its heat, up to a 512GB PCIe SSD and a full HD IPS display with 300-nit brightness (all the other panels top out at 220 or 250 nits). 

Lenovo also announced the IdeaCentre AIO A340 desktop. Available in 22- and 24-inch sizes, the full HD touchscreen all-in-one PC stands on an asymmetric steel tube base that skirts the line between modern office furniture and cheap lawn chair. Inside you'll find up to an Intel Core i5-8400T processor with AMD Radeon 530 discrete graphics. It also arrives in April with prices starting at $500 for the 22-inch and $680 for the 24-inch. 

As well as the PC announcements, Lenovo tacked on a pair of Yoga ANC Headphones. Coming in July for $170, the headphones feature active and environmental noise cancelling, are optimized for Skype, have voice controls and connect to your phone or computer via Bluetooth 5.0 or USB-C. No UK or Australian prices were announced.