Lenovo U300s Owners Thread

Hi all,
does anybody have any info on what a battery replacement may cost? Mine is still okay but I was intending to keep the machine for a couple of years and maybe have one replacement once necessary (maybe after 3 years or something). However, depending on the price I may want to renounce on this and rather try to not overuse the current battery. Nonetheless it is always so much more convenient to just renounce on any cables and use it like a tablet or cell phone. Any info would be appreciated!

 

Regarding the refurb vs the yoga. I love my u300s. However, if I was forced to make the decision I would go with the yoga despite it being slightly heavier and thicker. Why? The ISP screen. I'm seriously thinking about contacting Lenovo to see if the yoga screen will work in my u300s. The screen is the only negative on my u300s. It's not bad, but it could have been so much nicer & I would have paid for the option.

On another note I pulled out the 4gb stick & put a Crucial 8gb stick in this afternoon. Thanks again to the fellow a few posts back that found the video that they had moved. I got all the way to the last step a few months ago & couldn't figure it out for fear of breaking something. That 10 second segment on the video where you flip the bottom up did the trick for me.

 

Has anyone tried to update their u300s screen yet ? I got a LG 1600 x 900 screen. And im wondering if its possible to replace the old LCD with the 1600 x 900 one

 

Netcrawler - did you try swapping the screen?


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Has anyone tried to install Windows 8.1 on this machine?

If so, which drivers did you use - the ones that ship with 8.1 or the older Windows 8 drivers from Lenovo's website?

 

One more thing: I've just installed Windows 8 (not 8.1) on my U300s and used the available drivers from the Lenovo website.

Has anyone gotten the keyboard shortcuts to work properly?

When I install the Lenovo Energy Management tool (which under Windows 7 also installed the keyboard shortcuts), I can no longer adjust the screen brightness or toggle the wireless and bluetooth options.

 

Nobody running Windows 8 on this device?!

 

Still rockin Windows 7 on mine. I upgraded to the Yoga 13, so I keep the U300s as a backup and only use it once in a while. I'm curious about performance with Win8 though, how is it compared to 7?

 

Going to have to raise a support request for my U300S less than two years after receiving it :/ Keyboard randomly stops working along with trackpad. Sometimes a reboot will sort one but not always. Have repaved the laptop thinking it was drivers but pretty sure it's hardware related. Have plugged in a mouse to replace the trackpad but now the keyboard's playing up I'll have to get it fixed :/

 

If you're brave enough, open it up and check to see if the cables are loose... the manual and video walkthrough are in this thread back towards the beginning. I opened mine up a year ago or so and it was super intimidating, but not bad if you're careful and take your time.

BTW, I'm selling my orange 256 U300s (with hesitation, because it's awesome, but I have the Yoga now). Lenovo IdeaPad U300S 13 3" Ultrabook Laptop i7 256GB SSD 4GB Windows 7 Orange | eBay

 

I might open it up, will see how much Lenovo want to charge me to fix it. Ultimately it's getting replaced with a ThinkPad W540 this year, just paying for our wedding right now so purchase is on hold for now hence why I need to get the U300S working.

 

Hi everyone,

I got my Lenovo u300s (i7, 256GB variant) more than two years ago, sometime in April 2012. However, now the laptop has a host of issues. Performance wise, it is great. But the issues are with the parts of the ultrabook.

As follows:

1) My WiFi adapter "dies" after 15 mins or so after turning on the laptop. To re-enable it to work, I need to restart my computer. In the first 10-15 mins, the WiFi works as per normal, then it just dies.

2) My trackpad cannot right click. Makes it very hard to use MS Word and even the Internet as right-clicking is a integral part of using a mouse/trackpad. Otherwise, the trackpad works well and is one of the strong points of the u300s.

3) Sound does not work 99% of the time. The built-in speakers do not transmit any sound, and only occasionally, all of a sudden it will play the sound, and then die back down.

For all three cases, I have re-installed the drivers. But no improvements whatsoever.

If I do decide to send my u300s in for repair, how much might it cost? The u300s cost a bomb, and as such is there any chance Lenovo can repair these defects for free?

Also, on top of that, my battery has become really poor, even though I have not used my u300s much in recent months. It can barely last 2 hours on a single complete charge.

I'm hoping to stick with the u300s, cause like I said performance is still very snappy, but these defects around the laptop just makes it undesirable to use it.

Thanks!

 

hi himmatsj
i guess have a solution for your first question.
You need to go to "DEVICE MANAGER"
then at network adapter list find your wifi card.
double click it and at the tabs there should be "POWER MANAGEMENT" and unclick any options.

these pictures to show you the way.

 

I have the orange U300s of that same age, i7 256gb... it was getting slower and buggier, I finally used the Lenovo One Key Restore button and restored it to factory image and it's run great ever since. You will have to install driver updates and about a million Windows 7 patches, but there's nothing like a fresh install when your system starts to slow.

My battery is also about 2hr max... I'm afraid that is just normal for this battery having aged 2 years; correct me others out there if I'm wrong.

As for the touchpad, mine sounds just like yours... the right-click has never been very good. I've heard of others with the same issue, and just assumed it was a defect in this model.

FYI, about a year later I bought the Yoga and it's about 1000 times better than the U300s, build quality, etc.

 

Anyone know a reputable place other than Lenovo to buy a new battery for my U300s? Approaching 3 years old, never had a single problem with it, but the battery is pretty much gone.


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If you guys are getting two hours of battery life consider yourself lucky. Mine will never charge above about 30-40% and last 15-20 minutes unplugged, I'm trying to find a new battery, a refurbished one or a third party one that will give it a little life and then it's up on ebay.

Dan - you said you were going to sell yours. Did you? What did you get for it if you don't mind answering?

It's been a pretty decent traveling laptop and I've enjoyed using it. If the thing had come with or one could upgrade to an IPS screen you would have a hard time prying it away from me. My Yoga2Pro is on the way.

 

Hi All,

I am trying to change the hard drive on my u300 (model 1080) i removed the 2 screws from under the feet, however I cant get the back case off.. According to the hardware manual it says to slide it forward and then up.. it wont budge .. Any help any videos out there.. I dont want to damage the case ...

thanks

pat

 

Pat, I've done that numerous times. I'll try to look at it after while
And give you some tips and maybe pictures or a take apart video that I think. I still have a link for".......

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Pat - When looking at my U300s I remember the back cover being hard to remove the first time. If you can get a small book or something similar and place it next to something solid behind your desk or counter and put your U300s on a towel and then put the back of it against the book in between the hinges. Put your thumbs one on each of the front corners of the U300s and the rest of your hand underneath it and give it a pretty hard push with your thumbs it should move enough to lift it off of the back. You only have to move it enough for the cover to be flush with the front edge.

If my instructions don't make sense to you let me know and I'll try to take a picture to show you.