Lenovo U300S In-Hand First Impressions

I received my U300s on Tuesday so I figured I would throuw out some first impressions after using it a bit.

First off - I really like this ultrabook. I was going to go with the Samsung 9 series but the wifi and power adapter issues were too disconcerting to me so I waited for the release of the ultrabooks (thanks to folks like Kalahari and others who shared their pain with us!). I was really holding out for the Toshiba due to the full size outputs, etc. but the speed reviews were a bummer so I started looking at the Lenovo. I'm glad I did!

The other ultrabooks were a bit lacking in the most important area for me - I really need the 256GB SSD. I just don't feel comfortable with the 128GB for what I do. Just my $.02 since there are plenty of folks who are good with the 128. I just felt like I needed some more room on the drive.

I didn't even realize the Lenovo was released but saw a user review on Amazon that got me rolling in that direction.

Since I've been reading these boards for a while and everyone has taken time to share their expertise and thoughts, I figured I would pay it forward and see if I could help some folks.

In no particular order, here are some of my impressions after using the U300S a bit for the past 5 days.

Wifi - this was a huge concern for me with the Samsung but the Lenovo has been awesome in this regard. Plenty of bars, lots of speed and no problems connecting to anything at all. No issues with the wifi for me!!

I love the size and weight of this thing. It is very hard to explain until you see one and get to pick it up but the 'book' design is great and the weight is awesome. Love it more than I expected to!! It does pick up fingerprints on the outside (I have the gray model NOT the orange one) so I'll have to see how much that bothers me over time.

I don't miss the SD card slot but I really don't use SD all that much. I have a tiny USB adapter for the times that I need it but I don't think that will be too often. I know some people really need it but for me, the adapter is only about 1"x2" so it won't add a lot of weight or take up much space.

I was worried about the screen resolution. Everyone is making such a big deal about it. I didn't think there would be any issues for me and I really haven't had any complaints. I can see why people who want a higher resolution screen might be a bit disappointed but if I hadn't read all of those darn comments, I probably would have been fine with this screen and never even thought about it! That being said - the viewing angles aren't super great but for what I do - mostly web and MS Office programs - it's just fine. Depending on the quality of video files, etc. I would say the screen is ok to good. Not great - that's for sure. But not bad and a decent tradeoff for me due to the size and the corners that 'had' to be cut on these ultrabooks. Over time, I'm sure they'll entice move up buyers with better screens, etc. I know some are already offering them but I found more value in the package with the Lenovo than the smaller SSD sizes. I'm happy with that tradeoff.

Power adapter - this was a big worry for me. I was concerned they would create this amazingly light computer and then make you carry an enormous power brick that would add another pound to your laptop bag. Lenovo did a great job, in my opinion, on the power adapter. Still the standard brick between 2 wires but the wires are thin and rounded so they are smaller and compact. Probably 7-9' of cable altogether so plenty of length for those times when you need to stretch away from an outlet. The power brick itself is only the size of a deck of cards. Very light, compact but sturdy. Overall, was worried about this but turns out they took care of it well. For you Samsung 9 people - the plug seems to it snugly enough without forcing it in, and the charging seems reliable without having to jam the plug in too far. I will say that my OCD makes me want to push the plug in a little deeper than it naturally goes because you can a bit of silver on the tip sticking out of the side of the laptop but I don't want to loosen anything inside the unit and it seems to charge fine like that. I know the Sammy Series 9 had issues with this so I figured it was worth mentioning.

Battery Life is good. Sometimes the display says 7 hours+ for remaining run time. I haven't been using it on battery enough to give any times, etc but it seems like this thing will run for quite a while between charges! I also like the quick charge getting the battery to 50% in 30-40 minutes. Great for layovers, etc. Again, can't comment quite yet on battery life but will post back real world experience when I get a better feel!

Keyboard = awesome feel on the keys. No surprise but I type about 50-70wpm and some keyboards just don't feel great. This one does. Now, it is a compact keyboard so adjusting is taking me a little while but it's not bad at all. A few errant hits of pg up/down or an arrow key due to the smallish shift key but not too bad overall.

My biggest issue is the 'f' key. For some reason, I either skip the key press or it registers double on occasion. I am not certain but my guess is that the 'f' key might sit right above one of the supports that helps give the housing its rigidity so the keypress doesn't always register. Not certain there but when you type fairly quickly, it can definitely slow you down. I will be curious to see if others have this same issue or if it's just my unit. The only weird thing is that I often find that if I miss the keypress and go back, it will register twice so it could be a software issue (just did it when I typed 'software'!). Not the end of the world but I'll see what others say about theirs.

I did have a period of about 2 minutes where the right click on the mousepad - including the single click on the pad itself - stopped working. I was going to shut down and restart but it corrected itself somehow. I'll keep an eye on that as well. I'm thinking buggy driver but nothing like what some of the complaints on the other ultrabooks have been garnering. So far, I really like this touchpad for what I use it for. Just that one glitch in 5 days. I'll keep an eye out for updated drivers for sure though.

I think that's probably it for right now.

I will say that I ordered from ABT on Sunday( it is currently showing as special order/out of stock) and called them because I didn't believe they had them in stock even though the website said that they did. The web price was $1499. When I called to verify stock, the sales rep told me the price was $1399. So I ordered it right away with overnight shipping! Couldn't resist the extra $100 discount. I just asked what the price was, no haggling or anything like that. It just so happened that he said $1399, I was expecting the web price of $1499 so I jumped on it.

When you are in the market - I would CALL ABT instead of just using the web and see if the pricing is any better. Could have just been luck but those reviews with the comparisons about what you give up in screen resolution and the SD slot between the MB Air and the Lenovo start to diminish when you aren't paying the same price anymore.

Hope this helps some folks. I've gotten lots out of the boards and people taking the time to post so I figured I would pay it forward.

Jay

 

Nice short review. Thanks

 

@ JAYK1

Thanks for the review! I'm still on the fence as to what I should do in terms of Ultrabooks...

I'm not sure why some people make a fuss about the lack of a SD slot. I have Class 10 (fast) 32GB SD cards that fit in a tiny USB adapter (that they came with) -- and that makes using SD cards very easy. In fact, on my previous laptop, it was more convenient to use the SD cards in the micro USB adapters instead of using the SD slot that Samsung had! If I remember correctly, it was faster using USB 3.0 too.

Keep us updated on any other "quirks" that you might notice like the 'F' key and the right click.

Thanks

 

Jayk, can you comment on the hinges? Any wobble? When you hold the keyboard perpendicular to the ground with the screen open at 90 degrees, does gravity pull the screen open further?

 

Great review and information! Thank you. Very interested to hear follow up.

I ordered the Orange one from ABT earlier in the week, but those are not in stock yet... hoping that it will ship soon!

You mentioned the keyboard is compact... according to the ipbook specs http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/ipbook.pdf , it is full size. Is that incorrect?

 

Thanks to you, Kalahari, I avoided the mistake of buying the 9 series. I'm glad I waited. I agree about the SD slot. I think some folks use it alot and don't want to worry about an extra adapter. I agree that would be better but there were far more important factors for me and this fits the bill!

I should clarify the mousepad issue. It was actually the 'left' click not the right click - I misstated that in my review. Sorry about that! Many more issues when you can't left click. It is weird, every once in a while the cursor disappears and the mousepad gets finicky. I'm deifinitely thinking it's software related and has only happened twice now. I'll see if I can sense a pattern . . .

I will keep you posted for sure.

 

Negative, I have had no issues with the hinge at all. No flopping, no pulling or anything. The screen pretty much just stays put. I tried holding the laptop at many different angles to see if I could produce the issue you are asking about and I can't do it. The screen stays in place.

Hope that answers your question.

Jay

 

Congrats, I think you'll be very happy with the laptop! Did they give it to you for the $1399? just curious.

I think you are right about the keyboard being 'full size' but it's definitely compact full size. Again, I don't have much in the way of issues so it's pretty easy to adapt to. I think you'll really like it!

Keys like 'shift' and 'backspace' are a bit smaller and the end/home/pgup/dwn buttons can get hit by accident but I've really minimized that issue the longer I use this keyboard.

Jay

 

Thank you! I am very excited! Now, just playing the waiting game... hoping to have it some time soon. Good call about the smaller keys, it's good to hear that over time you've gotten more used to them.

As for the price... let's just say I can't say

 

Thanks for the first impressions. Some pictures (especially of details not quite covered in other reviews) would be fantastic

 

The lid picks up prints easily? How noticeable is it? Pics please?