Lenovo U300s Owners Thread

I purchased this one but now out of stock again.
U series 13.3"Sleeve UC200 (Black) | 0B46978 | Lenovo (US)

 

I just finished the 4GB to 8GB memory upgrade. Here are a few comments.
1. Thanks to Chrisbeame for his pioneering work on this.
2. Watch the videos to get an idea of how to do it.
3. Be careful and organized. Lots of screws that go in different places.
4. Take care disconnecting cables from the connector headers.
5. The actual memory swap takes about 5 seconds.
6. When you turn it on and it just works, pat yourself on the back!!!

Videos are here: RCW09 IdeaPad U300s Service Training

Good luck,
Ursa

 

I just bought 2 new Lenovo U300s from the US back to Australia. Both units were manufactured in Feb 2012.. Both units will not boot up from sleep. One key recovery has not helped, Bios & power management upgrades were not newer than what was installed.
Lenovo USA suggested that both my ultrabooks will need to be replaced. They claim that no one else has had this problem with the U300s, but some other models did have, corrected by an upgrade to the BIOS.
Anyone else had this problem, how can I fix this without shipping it back to Texas from Australia?

HELP.....

 

I just bought 2 new Lenovo U300s from the US back to Australia. Both units were manufactured in Feb 2012.. Both units will not boot up from sleep, ie RAPIDBOOT does not work from sleep.
One key recovery has not helped, Bios & power management upgrades were not newer than what was installed.
Lenovo USA suggested that both my ultrabooks will need to be replaced. They claim that no one else has had this problem with the U300s, but some other models did have, corrected by an upgrade to the BIOS.
Anyone else had this problem, how can I fix this without shipping it back to Texas from Australia?

HELP.....

 

maybe bios update can fix it.

 

tried that... same BIOS version...... what else can I do?

 

Lenovo Australia hasn't released the ideapad U300s in Australia yet, so you are not going to get much help from Lenovo Australia on this.

 

I know, called Lenovo Australia.. would not help. Then called Lenovo USA... spend over 1 hour with them trying to get to the bottom of it. No luck, have to send both the ultrabooks back to the Depot in Texas...... what a disappointment. Have to give credit to the US support... tried flashing the BIOS, reinstalling the Drivers, changing the power options.

 

As a stop gap until I can get hold of a better case I picked up a nanoprene sleeve for a 13" laptop in Poundland for a quid (£1)! It does the job for now and prevents scratches and other damage -

Now looking for backup options for the DVI-VGA cable as I have a presentation to give in four weeks and was hoping to use the U300s so need to have something in place.

 

Newegg has a huge deal on an 8gb sodimm 204pin ddr3 10660 RAM stick... which should be compatible with our U300s. It's $120 from Crucial CT102464BF1339 - 8GB, 204-pin SODIMM , DDR3 PC3-10600 from Crucial.com

$48.29 with EMCNGHH23 promo code:
Newegg.com - GeIL 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10660) Laptop Memory Model GS38GB1333C9SC

 

Hi u300s owners,

A question for you concerning the u300s display.

Are you happy with the screen quality? Not the resolution - I've been using a HP 2540p 12.5" 1280x800 That's what I'm used to so the u300s screen size doesn't bother me. Mainly I'm just curious how you like the screen? Color? Quality?

I'm ordering one soon, just curious and don't want to be disappointed.

Thanks,
David

 

I am very happy with the U300s screen quality. To me, the colors are great, it looks beautiful.

I know there are some other Ultrabooks that have better screens; not only higher resolution, but brighter (hard to find nits specs) and with better viewing angles.

It's 100 times better than my 5 year old Dell laptop screen, but not near as good as my Asus Transformer tablet screen with IPS. IMHO.

 

I hated the screen. But I'm used to a very a good screen (HP 8440w matte screen 1600x900).

The worst thing for me is the reflexivity of the screen. Sometimes it seems a mirror. No one else has problems with it?

 

Nothing a £10 glare reducing film won't fix

 

Yes, I looked for it yesterday but they don't have it in my country. I'll be on UK only on February, 2012 .

Another thing that annoys me about the screen is that I can see "soft" vertical lines all over the screen (forming the image). But I think that with time you get used to. Am I right? Or it only happens on my screen?

 

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this has been covered before but I'm just wondering if anyone know what is the difference between these?

u300s 108026U - i7 1.8, 256SSD, 4gb ram - grey color
u300s 108029U - i7 1.8, 256SSD, 4gb ram - grey color

to me they're identical in specs and color, but lenovo website list 108029U, newegg.com list 108026U

 

Hey guys, how is the battery life on your u300s? Mine doesn't seem so great, barely getting 5 hours.

 

Cope- hope it isn't too bad. I use an NEC2090uxi on my desktop, the good screen on a Lenovo w520 & my HP2540p (selling to use the u300s).

 

You should try it before.
I tested other laptops in a store here (Acer Laptops) and they have these same "vertical lines" that you can see forming the image on the screen. It really annoys me, but as I'm seeing here or my unit has problems with the screen or it doesn't annoy anyone else.

 

Can anyone talk about their battery life experience?

 

Thanks for the reply Cope. I'll give it a good trial during the 21 days. None of the stores here in Tucson typically have the higher end Lenovos, so you just have to order them.

I didn't care for the Asus ultrabook. The Samsung 9 was nice but they don't offer a 256gb SSD. I liked the Toshiba but not the flimsy screen and I won't ever buy a Dell again (incident from 12-13 years ago.)

If I end up returning the u300s I'll probably hang onto my HP2540p until Samsung starts offering a larger SSD. Can't believe some of these companies aren't doing that, I'm sure they are losing sales. Maybe ultrabooks aren't moving that well.

 

Battery life is poor on my machine. I am thinking of returning it for a new one since my battery life is sub-4 hours even without me using any power applications or playing games.

Also, my ultrabook heats up relatively fast, again w/o power apps/games.

The WiFi is also very very poor. I emphasize this. The range is lower than all the other laptops in my house. Is this problem inherent, or an isolated case for me? Connection suffers from random drops as well.

Hope to hear your feedback. If some of these problems are alien to you, maybe there's a defect to my device. I'm from malaysia btw.

Cheers!

 

Your problems are definitely alien to me. I have the orange i7 and after more than three months, I have still had an absolutely excellent experience!

Wifi is great, my screen quality is Awesome... i've never seen any lines or anything that others mentioned... I would notice. Battery, it's hard to say. I use it a lot throughout my nine hour day, but not continuously. I usually still have 1/3rd battery left when I get home, usually running in Balanced mode.

Himmatsj: Maybe you can RMA. Good luck.

 

Hey guys

Am I correct in assuming that the Orange version will never be available in Europe?

Any Europeans with experiences with buying from abroad?

Thanks.

 

Has anyone figured where to get an extra power adapter for the U300s? Lenovo doesn't have any and Googling the numbers on the one that shipped with the U300s turned up nothing. I really need a second one.

 

After sending the two laptops to Texas.... they reinstalled the OS in one, and said the other was fine... sent the first laptop to San Francisco, and not to Australia as requested. Now, the first laptop is sitting in storage in SF, the second one is with the Repair Depot and they say that there is NOTHING wrong with it. I asked if I could speak/email to the Technical Support Engineer, and was told that it was not possible to do so.

It worries me that they have now returned one, about to returned the second without any changes, all to SF where I am not present to check if the units are working properly, and it will cost me US$500 all together to get the 2 laptops repaired.... all at my cost!! The call centre person said that there will be NO refund on shipping!!

Why is a cost to me when there is a problem with the two units straight out of the BOX!!! And now, I still do not have the computers in hand.... WHAT A MESS!!!

As much as the Industry Reviews on the Lenovo U300s have been positive, I have to say I have been EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED with this whole purchase, and would caution everyone about the support provided by Lenovo.

I am now questioning how Lenovo could possibly be a company of good reputation when this is all I get from them. I would NOT recommend Lenovo to anyone..... unless they contact me, and offer reimbursements on the shipping of the units.

 

For those U300S owners with the Cypress Touchpad looking for a newer driver.
I have tried a Dell driver - Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

This driver works well for me. Two finger scrolling is now perfect. The speed for two finger scrolling can be adjusted too.
My Lenovo U300S touchpad now functions as well as the touchpad on my Macbook Pro !

One small issue: the three finger swipe left and right, which should bring up the notepad application and wallpaper changing option, does not work however.

 

Good find, and certainly interesting. I had not heard which touchpad Dell used for the XPS 13.

Theirs is listed as ver 2.3.6.33.... Lenovo's most recent is 2.3.6.14, but I have found that 2.3.6.13 is better, more responsive and better palm detection for the Cypress.

I just downloaded it, will give it a try later and add my thoughts. Thanks!

 

@spineboyak04

Were you able to get an International Warranty Service, because lenovo does not appear to offer that service on u300s. If not, how are you getting service when you left the country?

 

Anyone had any joy getting a HDMI to VGA Adapter in the UK? I've tried to source the Lenovo Adapter (VS4522) in the UK and US and can't find it anywhere, desperately need to find an alternative now as I can't hook the machine up to projectors and will need to at conferences and usergroups very soon. The accessory story for this device, which has been available for 6 months is shocking!

 

In my screen the image seems like that:
Imageshack - problem1i.jpg

(I edited this image in another computer to simulate how the images appears in my Lenovo).

 

Deal: Best Lenovo Portable DVD Burner DB60 Black Coupon & Deal | LogicBUY
Lenovo external USB DVDRW drive $36.

 

I have been using the HP HDMI - VGA adapter with my U300s for presentations at work daily for the past two months. Works perfect every time.

The U300s automatically recognizes it's a VGA adapter output and auto switches to a new display profile for my projector. It's small and compact.

It also is small enough on the HDMI connection to allow full use of the USB right next to it for something else (I use an AT&T 4G LTE aircard).

HP HDMI to VGA Display Adapter | HP® Official Store

I'd gladly pay twice as much for it. Got it in 2-3 days after buying online.

See if any of these stores will ship to the UK:

HP Display adapter - 5 pin HD D-Sub (HD-5) - F 9 pin HDMI Type A - F - PC

 

Thanks I appear to have found the HP Adapter in stock at Amazon UK, just sorting out ordering it now as I need to use the U300s to deliver a presentation next week. Thanks for the tip.

 

Hi guys! May I please know what's your standard battery settings? I've seen review from Cnet, Engadget and TheVerge among other posting above 5 hours of battery life.

I am using my machine on standard settings with 60% brightness and I find it hard to eke out anything more than 4 hours from my battery.

Is this the same for you guys? What setting do you put your laptop on? I am currently using the i7 model.

Actually, is there a way to tweak the power setting of the device itself? I've noticed that my standard CPU usage is between 10 - 20%. All I do see Internet browsing and occasional movies and Office usage.

So, since I am using so little of my CPU, is there a way to make the processor commit less etc?

Also, just curious, is it possible to launch a suit against Lenovo? They blatantly claim 8 hours of usage. Did their unit run on 10% brightness with no WiFi connectivity etc. Baffling...

 

Hi folks,

I'm a tech junkie, but I've ordered my first laptop without a DVD drive - a u300s orange 256gb. It will be here Monday, YEA! Never owned lenovos before and this is the 2nd one I've bought this year, the other a w520 for my graphics work. Always been a HP guy, but their ultra high price on their workstation laptops with a wide gamut screen are just way too expensive. I'll be putting my 2540p traveling laptop up for sale if I'm satisfied with the u300s.

I have a question and I should know but,
Say I have a DVD movie. I'm going on a trip and want to watch that movie, but I don't want to carry an external DVD player. Can I copy the entire DVD to a folder on my laptop and then view the movie from that folder? Or do I have to use something like itunes or netflix to rent the movie through their apps?

Thanks in advance................

 

Yes, you can just copy the contents of a DVD to your hard-drive. Use VLC to play it, there is an option called 'Open Folder'. It will treat the entire contents of the folder as if it were a DVD.

Sorted

 

That is the problem...had to Fedex the laptops back to Texas from Australia . Cost US$300 to do this..... not reimbursed by Lenovo...... they said they have fixed it by reinstalling Windows .... not onekey rescue.

Waiting for my relatives to mail it back to me.... at my cost again!!

 

UPS just dropped my u300s off. The neat orange color will make a perfect back drop for a Horns decal. \m/. Can't wait to play with it.

 

Will I harm the U300s if I play games on it? Of course, not Crysis or Mass Effect....but games like Warzone Anomaly and Botanicula.

Thanks.

 

Instead of buying the HP Adapter on the day of going to order I found the following item for £14.03 which saved me about £30, Neewer Black HDMI Input to VGA Adapter Converter For PC: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics it arrived in a couple of days and does the job perfectly used it for two presentations already this week and have more over the next week or so, just plug it in and it does exactly what I need. In addition the listing on amazon states micro hdmi but it's a full hdmi connector as mentioned in the review.

 

We have a winner!

Nice find

 

Does anyone know how to enable a function key lock on the U300s keyboard. I use F10-F12 a lot with Visual Studio and it's a major pain to keep holding the Fn key in addition to the function keys, I wish manufacturers left the old behaviour the default :/

 

You can disable the hotkey mode in the bios:

- turn off your machine
- turn it on with the onekey recovery button, located on the left hand side of the machine
- choose the bios / config option
- go to configuration
- set HotKey mode to 'disable'
- save and exit

et voilà

 

I'm waiting on that too but Lenovo is being an idiot for some reason in only keeping the orange version to the states.

 

I just received my U300s this week and I just performed the 8MB upgrade and swapped in the Intel 6230 wifi card. It was actually pretty easy but I echo Ursa: BE ORGANIZED and keep track of exactly where each screw comes from. Also there are some screws near each other--the video highlights where to look which is super helpful but be sure you are taking out the right one. It took me about an hour all said & done.

I am really happy with the machine so far. My first impressions:

• The screen is fine though I do not like the glossy finish--it is annoying when there is any natural light shining in... I have a privacy screen on the way so I am hoping that will cut some of the glare.
• Battery life is mediocre. I haven't timed it but I would guess 4 hours or so. The power supply is very small & portable though.
• WiDi works great with my Push2TV (first gen) after installing all of the updated drivers from Intel. Composite video is good only for watching videos--text is barely legible. Time for me to upgrade to an HDMI-compatible monitor!
• The trackpad is taking some getting use to. I have the synaptics version and it does sometimes have a mind of its own I am sure some more fine tuning in control panel will help. Other than that, it is a dream to use. Very smooth, taps & clicks are responsive.
• The keyboard is wonderful. I am so glad I didn't setter for a Zenbook although they were much easier to find.
• The YouCam software it comes with is pretty rad. But I am easily amused. The fact that it integrates with Skype has my nieces giggling every time I answer a call with a special effect.
• I am still amazed by how quickly it starts up. I have an i5 T420s I use at work with a SSD and it can take a good couple of minutes to resume from hibernation.

I wasn't planning to use the U300s for work, but now I just might. This is a sweet little machine! Can I wait for the T430u???

 

Hi folks. I've now got my U300s for just a little over a month. An interesting observation I have made is that the boot up time has significantly increased.

Once I first got the laptop, it would reach the login page in 11 seconds and then take a further 2 seconds to fully stabilize after logging in. I actually timed this just to see if Lenovo's 10 second claim was accurate.

Then a week or two later, the login page was reached in 13 seconds, and took 3 seconds to stabilize thereafter.

Now, it takes 18 seconds to reach the login page and a further 7 seconds to stabilize.

At this rate, it is alarming as I only have had the laptop for 1 month. I never expected the drop to be so drastic.

Just to be sure, I only installed a few apps (Firefox, Security Essentials, Full Office, Flash, Java and Adobe Reader), and all these within the first few days of use. Since then, I have not installed a single new app. All I do is browse the Internet.

My computer is totally free of viruses. I defragment my disk and clean it up as well. I cannot understand why is there a drop-off, considering I obviously do not use my machine to the max. All the apps I installed are pretty clean and basic. My usage, like I mentioned, is basically Firefox plus a little office.

Is this the same case for you? I would like to get a reply!

PS: Would be good if you can share your boot up time to the login page, and the further time it takes to stabalize after logging in (you can see the blue loading circle on the cursor). Also include the period of time for which you've had your machine.

 

With a Solid State Drive (rather than a platter hard drive) there is no need to defragment in the conventional sense. I've read several articles and it's a common school of thought that defragmenting SSDs can actually cause damage. That's one thing to think about.

Java and Adobe both slow startup time by a small percentage.

Which model do you have? What power settings do you use? Have you been monitoring CPU usage and frequency? There is a BIOS update on the Lenovo site Lenovo Support - Drivers & Downloads

I just timed my i7 256gb U300s, boot up was about 18 seconds, 2-3 seconds therafter with everything up. Mine is about six months old with probably 25 different programs installed and tons running at startup.

Resume time is still 2-3 seconds, while wake from hibernate (after 70 minutes of sleep) is closer to 20 seconds.

I hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the reply man. Might try to update the BIOS once I get the time.

I am using everything on normal settings - the way they were when I got the computer. Anyways, I defragmented 3 or 4 times...don't that do much of a damage.

Your resume from hibernate seems long. Mine is below 10 seconds. I have the 256GB Core i7 version.

 

Thanks... I use this thing like a workhorse desktop, so I expect my resume times to be a little long... Dropbox, GDrive, Onenote, Google Music all running in the system tray... and when I go to sleep, I often leave Chrome & Firefox both open with 10 or so tabs open in each. I'll test it again later with nothing running.