Ideapad u330 - New owners :-)

speed-
I run Windows 7 and do not experience the blinking HDD light. My theory is that it has something to do with the Lenovo Active Protection software.

I just ordered a BluRay burner for my U330. It was a finding a 9.5mm drive, as Panasonic is the only company that makes them and they are only available OEM through Sony for $1100. I will need to remove the Sony mounts and then spot weld the Lenovo mount on, and find some way to get the faceplate on the drive. should be a fun project!

BTW, no I did not pay $1100 for the BluRay burner.

Next step is Intel P9500 and then SSD.

 

Any updated thoughts on this notebook since it's been out for a while now? Seems to be similar in price to the new Dell Studio XPS 13, but spec'd a bit lower.

 

It's not similar in price. It's ~1000 bucks, while to make the S-XPS compete, you need to pay extra for the LED screen, for example.

 

Thanks for the info but I would like to disable that thing because if it is accessing the hd all the time it is compromising battery time but, still, monitoring reads and writes they stay the same all the time so, what the heck it that hd doing that does not relect in reading or writings? Is it something other than the OS running and not controlling by it so there is no changes in the reading and writes numbers? Geezz... I'm getting quite confused here...

As for Windows 7 what drivers are you using for video, bluetooth, network, etc? The same as the Vista ones? Are they working fine?

Hei keep us posted of the upgrades of the blue ray and specially the CPU.. a how to with lots of pictures would be greatly appeciated by the community... if by any chance you do find why the hdd light is so busy please let me know.

Cheers and good luck

 

This is all for the US:

The 2 models of the U330 are $1249 and $1299. Coupons play a roll, but varies based on the week.

The Studio XPS 13 is starting at $1199 and right now the LED screen is a free upgrade. That's a 320gb 7200rpm hard drive, 4gb ram, and P8400.

Taking into account Lenovo's current deal (15% off I believe) and the free LED at Dell, I'd call that comparable. At least within $100.

But the comparison defeats the purpose of my original question. How are the like/dislikes holding up or changing over the months of ownership for the U330?

 

I really like mine.
It's slim, fast, comfortable, nice screen... and has a vid card if I need it.

 

EnterKnight,

As I recall from a post in another thread, you are/bought it while in Poland right? That's how you managed the P8400? If only they had that or the P8600 in the US version(s).

 

Correct.

I'm sure we'll see more powerful versions in the future.

But... I have it restricted to 0.8 full-time when running on battery and it still runs marvellous.

 

Hey enterknight, do you know if there is any guide around on opening the U330 up to access the CPU? Kinda wanna change to a P8600ish.

 

havoc531 and anyone else running Windows 7, have you gotten the Extend Desktop function to work?

 

Qeu, there have been no guides on even opening it up around.

 

No guides to opening it up. When I get my P9500 or P9600 I will take pics and post them. My Bluray drive should be here some time next week, I will take pics of that adventure as well.

As for the Win7 question- no, I cannot get Extended Desktop to function. The ATI card also does not function in Win7 64bit. I will be going back to Vista Ultimate 64.

 

Can't wait for your results! Good luck and becareful! =D

 

EnterKnight (and any other owner),

I noticed a few early posts in this thread mentioning the notebook gets hot in the upper left had corner above the keyboard, do you experience the same thing?

Thanks.

 

I haven't noticed that specifically, but it can get a little warm.

 

I have the Bluray drive in right now. It took only one day to get here from NY!

Anyways, I am not able to get a Bluray to play. The video is all green, but the audio comes through perfectly. I am using Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 Ultra. Any suggestions? Im sure someone with a U330 does h.264 playback or other HD formats.

As for the drive plate/bezel, that is another story. The mounts do not even come close to lining up with the Lenovo bezel... not sure what I will do with that.

 

That looks like a software/codec issue and not something specific to U330's - bring it up in the Windows forum.

 

I'm also very interested to know how the processor upgrade goes. If I can swap a faster one in, this is definitely the laptop that I'm going to buy.

 

I know it can be done. There is a seller on ebay that upgrades U330s and resells them.

Search for completed U330 listings and you will see them sold with Intel P9500.

 

Any recommendations for Bluray playback? I havent found much help in Windows subforum.

 

This may be obvious, but have you tried VLC? It plays back everything I've ever thrown at it except realplayer files.

videolan.org

 

I have tried VLC but unfortunately it will not play HD discs.

 

Three questions:

Has anyone picked up/ does anyone know where to pick up a second battery for this laptop?
Has anyone tried 64 bit vista (with this laptop)?
Does anyone know what is the default warranty when you buy through Amazon?

 

I had some trouble getting a lot of my media to play after upgrading to x64 on my HTPC until I read that you have to find x64 codecs to go along with a x64 media player like WMC, etc. Perhaps your DVD software is 32 bit and you only have 64 bit codecs.. I've no experience with BR but perhaps this is a path you could look into..

 

Lenovo does not yet sell replacement batteries for the U330. If you are dead set on getting one, your best bet would be to get in touch with Mark@Lenovo here on NBR.

I run Vista x64 and it runs flawlessly. However, I do not use any of the Lenovo proprietary software so I cannot comment on the compatibility.

Not sure about Amazon warranty.

I managed to finally play a Bluray after installing WinDVD 9. It took a few installs/reinstalls but it works Thanks for the suggestion

 

I'm pretty sure it is the generic 1 year standard from Lenovo. You can purchase an extended warranty from Lenovo anytime during that year. Not sure about accidental damage coverage if you want that, though.

 

What is everyone getting for battery life? I was at Panera today with no access to an outlet. I used Windows power saver mode, with wireless and BT on and ~20 tabs in Firefox, typing in MS Word, and listening to pandora.com through headphones. Battery lasted about 3.5 hours.

 

NEW ISSUE - I have my U330 hooked up to a spanking new Asus 24in LCD 1080p. 1080P movies are unreal on this thing. I highly recommend this monitor for anyone who has $250 sitting around. That price is after tax and shipping too. I diligently research every buying decision, and I found the asus 24in is unmatched quality for an unbelievable price. (Who said mortgage backed securities are worthless?).

You can find the monitor for purchase at lowest price here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

Review here (you may have to scroll down): http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=110627&page=36

Anyway, I am hooked up through HDMI. Everything works great. One hitch. I am running "extended desktop mode" so that I have my Vista OS and task bar etc on my laptop screen, and bundles of green pasture on my 24in LCD for whatever I want to throw up there. However, I want to be able to close my U330 screen down (during movie, or gaming) and just have the movie/game running on the "extended desktop" of the 24in. Yet no matter what I do, I cant not stop the laptop from adjusting the display setting when I close the lid. It changes to single display mode. This would normally be fine, except that ATI control panel then thinks my 24in is my laptop "primary" display, and applies the color tweaks that I use on the 13.3in LED laptop screen to the 24in. The 24in looks like hell when it does so. Does anyone know how to prevent the U330 from adjusting my display settings once I close the screen??

I am not a newbie, and understand this "problem" is usually a non-issue. The U330 seems to be a difficult case though.

Thanks,
Cohn

 

not sure what lenovo has in the states, but in canada we have a 2 year warranty on the u330

 

RoyCohn
I was working on this for a while. I had connected my U330 to my HDTV to watch BluRay movies and no matter what, I could not set the computer to do nothing when I close the lid.

On a side note, anyone want my UJ-232 9.5mm BluRay burner? I got a ps3 and dont need it any longer.

 

How Much for the burner?

 

just wondering, does anyone get any issues with HDMI out @ 1080p? I have my system at High Performance and on the ATi card but it still lag a little when I play 1080p movies

 

Have you tried using the Intel chip? It was crafted with 1080p in mind.

 

Well, I just purchased a U330. Hopefully I have more success with it than the 2 Dell XPS 13s I received and returned.

 

on amazon, the u330 has the vibrantview (glossy, right?) screen, but lenovo's site lists the screen as anti-glare. are there 2 different screen options?

also, is there any disadvange to ordering from amazon? their configuration has 3gb ram for cheaper.

 

the glossy screen is the only option

i see no problem with ordering from amazon - same quality, same warranty, cheaper, no tax

 

unfortunately, i cant output to hdmi through the intel gma..

does anyone know if i updated the drivers to intel's instead of ati's, would it still work with the u330?

 

You need to use Lenovo's switchable graphics drivers that come with drivers for both.

 

Does anyone know if theres travel-sized power supply for the U330? Where did you get blu-ray drive for the U330?

 

thanks for respondig. are you saying that the screen is both glossy and antiglare or that the info on lenovo's website is incorrect?

i thought maybe lenovo had to reconfigure the u330 because of a shortage of led screens like the t400.

anyone else have any insight?

 

Currently, Amazon has this lappy for $899. I'm about to make the purchase this month and wonder if there's any better deal out there. I read posts here about ordering at CCP with coupon but for some reasons, all of my trials with CCP resulted an insignificant reducing.
Another concern is about the uneven problem with the early batches of u330 and issue with battery life. I don't know if Amazon's stock has these issues ?

 

I have the travel adapter from Lenovo (41N8460). Works great.

 

The U330 Screen is glossy. The bright LED backlit display can overcome even the most bright glare at max setting. So its fine. To reiterate.. again... there is no battery problem. Have my U330 since Nov (i think) and get more than 4hr battery life, all the time. It doesn't wobble either. The people who reported the U330 as "wobbly" are beyond neurotic.

No, there is no better 13.3 in for this price.

You can only output HDMI using ATI card. ATI card is HD... aka made with HD in mind. It is much better than Intel card BTW.

I output 1080p to 24in LCD, no lag at all. Only lags if i turn on power saver battery settings (reduce CPU speed) The only lag i do notice has to do with the monitor, not the Laptop. LCD monitors can have poor refresh times, or display rates. In this case, you will notice a choppyness, usually during scenes that are moving fast, and in one direction. Its your LCD, not laptop. I get this on mine a little. Then again, i also get it on my Ultra high end 55in LCD, but to a lesser degree. Stop looking for it, and it will go away

 

I played around with CPU settings and am gettin 4 hrs 50 min . U330 is great on a single charge, the hell with mac's...U330 is far superior.

 

can you post what changes you made? and did that 4 hrs 50 min include surfing, etc or just idling?

thanks

 

Here's my post from a while back. This is how you make your own power settings. This is internet browsing, with bluetooth off, bightnessness 1 to 2 bars and cpu at 32%.

 

Does anyone here run fedora on their U330?
I am trying to run Fedora 10 on live cd, it boots up and goes to a blank screen with a cursor. My only guess that it wont run is that the U330 is way to hi-tech (seriously).

-The live cd works on my desktop running vista-32 bit, the U330 is the same, so whats up?

 

Ummmm... drivers?

 

Are you running fedora or any kind of linux on the U330?

 

No.

Your desktop is not the same thing as your laptop...