Connoisseurs of LG Notebooks are familiar with the straightforward form and the overall geometric design that we also find in the P310. In combination with with the extremely flat base unit the tastes of many potential customers are ensured to be met.

This is also true for the colouring of the case. Whilst the notebook is predominantly black with the lid closed, with the display open the silver surfaces of the base unit and the matching silver keyboard are pleasing.

The high-quality of the materials gives a very positive impression of the system as a whole.  A mix of plastic, magnesium and aluminium components are employed, which are partly just for decoration.

Despite the rather thin base the LG P310's case achieves a considerable stability. The case's high rubber feet keep it in place without the slightest movement. The results are also good for the lid.

Even the thinnest display resists pressure - and even when bent the display help up. While the screen can only be opened to a maximum of 155 degrees, this allows for a limitless mobile workspace. The hinges on the display seem thoroughly robust and keep the slim 13.3 inch screen sturdily fixed in position. However, a very slight sway  could be noticed in the screen for the review.

It's also worth mentioning that the P310 no longer comes with a locking mechanism for the display. In our opinion the hinges are strong enough to ensure that the screen isn't accidentally opened when shut. During transport, however, the notebook should still be stored separately.

In the LG P310, not much space remains for possible connections, as the base unit is extremely flat. The back of the notebook has no possible connections due to it being taken up by the folding mechanism of the display. At least the small front of the case houses the card reader, which takes the load off the side connections.

The laptop is however somewhat covered in terms of interfaces offered. The laptop has 3 USB Ports, VGA and an HDMI Port, as well as a LAN interface and a LG Smart-Link Port. This primarily serves the purpose of directing data between two computers. The necessary software for this is also included.

During the review we weren't entirely pleased with the positioning of the various interfaces. There are some USB ports on the sides on the front half which are  particularly uncomfortable during extended use. Since the LG P310 has no docking interface despite its compact form factor and its orientation towards businesses, it is surprisingly only possible to use a commercially-available USB dock.

If you connect the notebook to an external monitor, which in view of the small 13 inch display in WXGA format and the highly capable graphics hardware is highly probable, you will find that, as both the HDMI and VGA ports are relatively far forward, the area right next to the laptop is unusable. This is particularly relevant for right-handed people.

Conversely those who are left-handed have to deal with the opening for the fans on the left edge, which ensures warm fingers even at the most arctic temperatures.

As previously mentioned, The LG P310 Camini is not only the stronger model of the two but has a 13.3 inch display with LED backlighting. The WXGA resolution with 1280x800 pixels is usual in consumer notebooks and desktops. For jobs with low requirements regarding desktop size you will find that this display suffices. However if you want to work simultaneously with several windows or if you want to use a program with several toolboxes, you will find that the display is too small, irrespective of the display being 13.3 inches diagonally. An alternative method here is use of the fully digital HDMI port, with which the notebook can be connected to an external monitor.

LED-lit displays often offer better brightness and illumination than conventional CCFL displays. The P310 uses the LED technology to its advantage and offers  very good brightness. In the central area of the display  the measurements ranged up to 273 cd/m². Since brightness decreases to a somewhat limited extent in the edges of the display (min. 218 cd/m²), the illumination of 79.9% is still ok.

As mentioned before, the LG P310 is attractive to gamers  who are looking for a compact and mobile gaming platform because of the Geforce 9600M GT graphics card. The fact that the P310 performs well even with current games is shown in the tests we carried out.

In the action-shooter Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare, the tested rig (P310 Camini)  reached an average frame rate of 46.9 fps  on medium settings,  at a resolution of 1024x768, with anti-aliasing disabled. This was achieved at the beginning of the first single-player mission. As a result you can enjoy completely fluid gameplay.

Only on increasing the settings to high, with 4x anti-aliasing and a resolution of 1280x1024, performance fell to 25.7 fps. Whilst frames were frequently dropped and there were short bursts of jerkiness, which limited the fluid gameplay experience we had experienced earlier.

The current horror-shooter Fear 2 posed no problem to the system. At a resolution of 1024x768, with anti-aliasing and HDR lighting disabled, running at medium settings gave us an average frame rate of 50-60 fps. This too was achieved in the first minutes of the game in single-player mode. Apart from sparse loading screens, which interrupted play, this system promises a fluid gameplay experience.

Even in the real-time strategy game Supreme Commander - Forged Alliance the results are somewhat pleasing. In the benchmark test which included real-time gameplay, the notebook managed an  average frame rate of 25.094 fps (medium settings, 1024x768, AA disabled). On high detail and 2x anti-aliasing enabled, the notebook achieved 19.8 fps.

At medium detail multi-player matches were extremely playable. The P8400 reaches its limits, however, on large maps and numerous AI with many units.

Finally we were able to test GTA IV, the current saga in the Grand Theft Auto series, which tests the LG P310 to its limits. Even on the lowest possible settings at a resolution of 800x600 with everything on low, the P310 only managed 30.83 fps. In normal gameplay  we observed 25-45 fps at the same settings, which still provides a moderately fluid gameplay experience, however it doesn't permit us to enjoy the otherwise impressive graphics of the game.

At medium detail the P310 can still render GTA IV playable, but anything more demanding is not playable.

System Noise

It seems obvious that a comparatively compact notebook with adequate performance hardware isn't light on its feet.  Because of this the constantly running fan, even when the system is idle, is not surprising. With a system volume of 34.3 dB(A), the LG P310 Camino is in this case constantly audible but isn't disturbingly so.

Interestingly the maximum system noise under a heavy load was relatively low. Indeed, a level of 38.0 dB(A) is quickly reached, however even under a constant heavy load the notebook remains at this comparatively uncritical level. In our opinion we didn't find this maximum level too unpleasant.

A quick look at the case temperatures shows that the insides of the LG P310 are busy at work. With a maximum 39.1 °C on the left area of the keyboard,  the heat given off by the upper side is limited to a certain extent. However the underside of the case was relatively interesting.

Here the P310 reaches a maximum value of 47.7 °C by our measurements, by which it can be extremely unpleasant to make direct skin contact. The hot spot in the central area of the left-hand side of the case also shows the positioning of the most important components, such as the GPU and the CPU, which is shown when the keyboard is removed.