Ideapad u330 - New owners :-)

Post all your first impressions, pictures and reviews about the new Ideapad u330 notebook from Lenovo here. Enjoy.

 

It'll be a while before anyone posts...

 

why?

a lot of people will be receiving theirs today or tomorrow

 

I might be posting from mine tonight!

 

will be posting tomorrow....perhaps not pictures but ask any concerns and i will let you know


the first 2 concerns i will address is battery life under normal use of microsoft word and browsing the internet

and heat....meaning how hot is on your lap considering i always have my laptop on my lap.

i'll also throw in my comments on the keyboard (which i hardly care about consider i like even the bad ones ). and i will throw in comments about the design and glossyness/glossy screen


i will say that i will be reinstalling windows immediately when i get it with a fresh copy of ultimate - won't even turn it on and get to the stock windows first. I never use the stock windows cuz it has too much crap on there and about 60-90 processes running....when you reinstall with a fresh copy, its about 40.

 

here's a first impression from someone on slickdeals (see the 2nd post on the page)

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=25276&t=921456&page=7

 

EDIT: nevermind, read it wrong

 

kickace, where are all the drivers? i'm doing a clean install also.

any xp drivers match u330's hardware? would rather use xp
thanks

 

My apologies, I thought I saw a post about delays until Nov.

 

Make sure to read the Ideapad FAQ before formatting your HDD.

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=ideaPad&thread.id=488

 

I would also like to do a fresh vista installation when i get mines, but i dont want to lose the one button recovery option. I hate vista and would like to go back to xp but most likely there are no xp drivers. Guess i'll just stick with what i get.

 

its simple for me - i simply copy the system32 folder onto an external hard drive and then reinstall with windows vista ultimate, a clean copy

and then all the drivers are in that folder so easy as possible....


for xp, i would suggest looking at the driver website for lenovo - if not there, then i'm still you could get most of the drivers just by going to the hardware's company websites like intel, ati, etc

 

What about the one button recovery option. Let me know how it works out for you, and maybe i might do the same. Post some pics

 

i got my u330 this afternoon, been using it for an hour or two now. i have to say, i love it so far. the screen is not overly glossy/reflective at all; it looks great to me. LED is bright as hell too, i have it turned down to ~60% when plugged in. keyboard feels solid to me, but i've never used a thinkpad. not too much junk software either, compared to my old toshiba.

also, the veriface recognition is sweet ***, and seems to work great so far

 

Where are the pictures?!?! I would like to know about heat and fan noise. I know its a little bit subjective but is the fan audible when doing really basic non intensive tasks? Would it work well in a class room environment?
I read some a couple quick initial comments about build quality. Is it pretty good? Is it made out of hard plastics? Any flex throughout the keyboard or palm rests? Fingerprints much?

 

pictures by a user on slickdeals: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=13088916&postcount=99

 

thanks buddy

 

i dont have my camera, but i figure most others will post pictures tonight/tomorrow/sometime soon. i am surprised i'm the first to post here having one.

my use so far is limited, but fan doesnt seem loud to me. this thing definitely seems like a great classroom laptop.

build quality seems very good. the cover is indeed the "magnesium alloy" or whatever, not plastic. the rest of the plastics used are hard and seem quality. the only part (besides screen) that is glossy is the top of the lid, but no big deal. i cant lie though, this thing looks sexy

i've had the thing plugged in at my desk for a while, and just now have transferred to battery power and on my lap. its a little warm, but not hot. so heat doesnt seem like an issue thus far

the "touch inductive panel" is pretty cool too. touch-sensitive buttons that all light up when you hit the main button (dont know what its called). you can switch between multi media buttons (play, pause) and equalizer buttons. also has a volume control (but Fn + up/down arrows also control volume, so i dk why there's both)

 

heres my question for the others who get one of these...

what is the deal with making a recovery disc? pushing the OneKey Rescue button gives you the option of making a system backup image, as well as burning these images (4 dvds required). should i have done this before uninstalling/installing anything? i've already added a few programs, and uninstalled a few (napster, office trial), and didnt realize i should have potentially made the backup before doing anything else. i wish lenovo would have just given a backup disc, this is BS

 

I have mine sitting here in the box but won't have the time to set it up and take pics...sorry. I have a 4 week old baby and I don't have much time in the evenings to spend with him.

Plus I don't want to start setting it up and stop half way. All i'll do is lie in bed thinking about what I need to do next!

 

No, you can burn recovery disks whenever, they won't be affected. Install programs for everything are in the C drive, also (IBM Tools --> Apps, for me), regardless.

A lot of companies are no longer sending recovery discs. It is pretty annoying.

 

Man, I thought this thread would be blowing up today! The guy on slickdeals who received his is doing a great job answering questions. Hope to see some more people who got theirs tonight posting in here...

 

GOT MINE!!! Posting from the u330... Works great.. Will be installing a clean copy of Vista Ultimate and Fedora core 9 on this baby... Will update...

 

I cant wait for some more reviews / pictures!

 

I've got a U330 ordered, will be my first laptop.
How do reformats work? Do they send the OS discs, or can you get the OEM key and order some media from microsoft?

 

common guys get to snapping =), i want to see!

 

There's a man who knows his priorities. You have my utmost respect for your sacrifice. Congratulations. (I mean on your child, its overrated to say congrats just for a hunk plastic and silicon.)

 

Got a question does the "lenovo" sign onthe lid light up in any way? Thanks

 

Any info on howto install a clean copy of vista on ideapad. The sticky thread provided here is only for thinkpad. So, are they follow the same identical steps in anyway?

 

Lets give some time to the ppl who just got their toy, it takes time to get familiar with fancy thing!

 

Is there anyone else who are receiving defected u330? Only heard of one case so far which is pretty good. Can't wait for mine to get here friday or monday. **** ups dont ship on sats....

 

can someone please comment on the screen, is it grainy like the complains on the u110? I know everyone is excited but please try not to be biased.

 

some pics http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-u330/

 

as i said ealier, the screen looks great to me. its not overly glossy, and is extremely bright. i have no complaints at all about the screen, and that was the main thing i was worried about on this machine

 

Nope, the lenovo sign seems painted on an not lit.

 

Any HDMI tests?

 

will have mine in about 5 hours....at school right now, but driving to st. louis today to pick it up

and for anyone who cares....USC lost last night! since i go to Missouri, who is ranked 5 at the moment - that is huge

 

No discs from Lenovo. Just the laptop with one-key recovery option. I installed Vista Ultimate, had a previous key and it works fine. You lose the ability of OneKey recovery from inside Vista, but you can still reset the laptop to original configuration by booting the laptop with the recovery key (as long as you do not delete the hidden partition and the D: drive on the laptop). They use about 50 gb of the 320gb HDD, so you still have about 250gb of HDD to play with.

Currently installing OSx86 using the Kalway CD as an experiment. Seems to install fine.

Cheers,

 

man that laptop is just plain pretty


and i will be deleting that whole partition as i don't care for the one key recovery....but thats me

not waisting 50GB for a recovery partition that has bloatware preinstalled in it. will just make a partition that i can save any stuff in if i ever need to reinstall

 

I'm just leaving those partitions as they are for now, till I am under that warranty period. If I ever need to return the laptop for any kind of repairs.

 

i would've posted results if mine didn't come with a manufacturing defect.

here are my thoughts on it:

Screw lenovo and anything that comes from china (unless its from hong kong or taiwan.)

 

You know... Shenzhen (where it was probably built) is pretty close to Hong Kong, and still inside Guangdong.

Anyhow... mine just came in a few days ago. Now where's my camera... Anyone want to buy me a new camera? =P

 

Close doesn't mean they're the same.

Still waiting for your full review by the way.

 

Wow, that's annoying. I wasn't really expecting much more but it would be nice for them to at least allow you to call in and get some clean Vista install media with the OEM license key. Not a "recovery disc."

I've never had a pre-built system of any kind so I think I'll find it annoying to rely on Lenovo's proprietary restore method. Oh well, shouldn't be too bad of a problem.

 

Ha. I hate to brag... but i go to OSU and was at that game
that was amazing.

 

Anyone has any reviews or pictures?
I bet a lot of people are looking forward to......

 

I'm not sure you have much to brag about as an OSU fan at the moment.

Glad to hear good things about the U330! Mine was supposed to ship yesterday, but still nothing. I hate that Lenovo can get away with having such terrible customer service. If I get a defective system, I'm gonna break something (most likely the U330).

 

What is your Visa Windows Index? Thanks.

 

reviews (or at least initial impressions) should start rolling in as people get home today

 

I just opened mine up and installed the WiFi Link 5300, replacing the stock 5100. I would highly recommend AGAINST doing this. The third antenna was too short to reach the mini PCI-e slot, so I had to move the CMOS battery wiring around. It was a bit nerve-wracking to do to my brand new laptop, but I need my streaming HD! Not sure how much of a difference it did make, though.

Edit:

I am on my way to the GF's house. Maybe she will let me borrow her camera, so I can take pix for all of those still waiting. Finally got mine, after ordering on 8/20!