Lenovo Y410 - Nice Laptop!

I also got the Lenovo Y410 at Office Depot on Black Friday. People standing in line were mostly going for the Toshibas. I was not. I believe I was the only person interested in the Lenovo at the time. The specs were too good for the price ($599 after rebate). It was time for an upgrade, as my last laptop had served me very well for the past four years. I decided to give it a try after seeing the ad in the paper.

First take: Runs Vista Home Premium very very smoothly. Face recognition software is very useful. Screen could be a bit sharper for my taste, but still it is bright. Keyboard has a good feel to it. Build quality is top notch. Overall, very very happy with the purchase. It will serve me well for a good 4-5 years.

Issues: I am new to Vista. I would like to be able to go back to XP. I am either going to install XP for a dual boot configuration, or wipe the Vista clean and go just with XP. Driver support for XP is currently available at http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-68104 . However, I have yet to try it out. Hopefully all the provided XP drivers on the Lenovo Support site will cover everything.

 

eewwee toshiba's....glad to hear that you like your lenovo and that you got a great deal!

 

Let us know how you get on with it.

 

1. The screen is not sharp because you have Clear Type enabled which blurrys text.

2. Its a good unit BUT I hate how Lenovo bubbled out the bottom and left just the edges of the sides thinner to make it look like a slimmer laptop than it really is. Its not a slim laptop by any means even though it looks so in pictures.

3. Only other complaint is the sub par screen. Low contrast and laughable vertical viewing angle. I dont know who makes these buget 14" screen but MFrs should STOP using them. Same screens are on many 14" Gateway laptops as well.

 

Tiger9473, I also bought a Lenovo Y410 at Office Depot on Black Friday, but I am not happy with the face recognition aspect of it. Is it possible to turn it off? I haven't been able to find it if there is.

 

Onion, so I am assuming if I were to turn off "cleartype", then the screen would look a bit sharper? But then again, it's a subpar screen to begin with in your opinion, so I am thinking it wouldn't help much. Let me know how you have yours set. Thx!

 

I have not been playing around with the settings long enough to know exactly how to disable the face recognition. But what I do remember is that during the face recognition process, there was a clickable link that said something to the extent of "make changes to face recognition". I am sure this would be a place to start. My intuition tells me there would be a way to disable it all together. We just need to dig a bit deeper. Like I said, I am new to Vista and the interface, so I don't know where everything is at just yet. Let us know if you find it!

 

By the way, all Y410 users! Have you made recovery cd/dvds? I called up Lenovo and they tell me there is a tab under "Start" by the name of "Lenovo Care" or "Think Vantage" that will make the recovery cd/dvd making process easier. I have yet to find such tab. Has anyone else? They also said ordering recover cd/dvds is possible through Lenovo for about $50 (which I don't want to shell out if at all possible).

 

Look for a program called Rescue and Recovery. I am a T61 user, but that is the program I used to create my recovery CDs. I'm thinking they probably have the same software on the Y410.

 

YES. Turn Clear Type off. Its makes a HUGE difference. Text looks so much sharper on any LCD. You know where to turn it off right? and make sure you hit "Apply" when you uncheck the Clear Type box.

 

i actually like clear type on my screen....otherwise text is blurry and it doesn't look smooth

 

What are your opinions on the Processing capability of this laptop? Is it sufficient for fairly intensive applications like GIS software, or if you're not familiar with GIS software, the 3d Gaming or something like that.

Also, is the battery life pretty good, i.e. 3+ hours under general browsing, spreadsheet, email situations? I think I read somewhere that Lenovo claims 4 hours battery time?

Does it seem fairly sturdy? Does the keyboard flex? When you grab it like a book when it's shut do you feel the lid compress a lot so that you may be concerned about damaging the display?

Do you find the Bluetooth helpful? What about the Media Shuttle?

Does it run hot, or average for a laptop? Is it noisy? Loud fan, hard drive, or DVD drive?

The reason I am asking is that I bought the Lenovo 3000 Y410 and a Gateway T-1620 on Black Friday for about the same price, and I am trying to figure out which one to keep without opening the boxes and incurring the wrath of the restocking fee. Also, do you know where I can find performance specs for either of these two laptops? Which one would you keep, the Lenovo Y410 or the Gateway T-1620? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated?

 

How can you LIKE clear type yet complain that text is blurry when clear type is causing the problem? Crazy?

 

i don't think you understood me correctly. I am saying that I have blurry text with clear type turned off

with it turned on, it makes the letters and words appear smoother, hence making it less blury

 

Yeah its not gonna stick wit u foor 4-5 years cuzz your gonna want the latest and greatest thats what i said about my thinkpad in 3 years into it i am sick and tired of it.

 

Does it have a built-in Tv Tuner?

I saw a website that stated it did but then again, it was for the models in India and other countries. Does the U.S. model have it?

 

Hi Onion, I just bought this laptop and agree that the text does not look sharp at all. Could you tell me how to turn 'Clear Type' off? Thanks!

 

Control Panel > Display > Appearance Tab > Effects... > check "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts > drop box to Standard

 

so what the final verdict for Lenovo Y410

 

that it's a good laptop for a cheap price..and that the durability and quality seems to be above any other notebook in that price range

all of the issues people are reporting are more due to vista glitches...that is something lenovo can't control

 

Hi
I got this from TigerDirect. I am just waiting for delivery. I am also thinking of vostro 1400/1500. How does this laptop compares with vostro 1400/1500 in terms of screen quality, durability, build, audio quality and magnesium spill proof?

Do you see any major issues with Vista for day to day activities. How difficult is to downgrade OS to XP. Is it going to cost me extra.
If i return the order, i might loose shipment expenses i paid to tigerdirect.

 

Yep. The Y410 is a budget laptop but a good one for its price IMHO. In 3 years, most of the budget laptops would probably have WWAN and Blu-Ray or HDDVD as standard features AND will eat the current budget laptops for breakfast.

 

OK, I just turned off "Clear Type". Text is much much much more legible and clear. I like it!!!

 

Awesome, glad to help.

 

Thanks braddd, I looked thoroughly, but I could not find it on my Y410 system. I had to search Lenovo's website, and it looks as though Rescue and Recover 4.1 is downloadable. However, I took a quick look at the "readme.txt" message, and in it, it does not indicate that it supports Lenovo L3000 Y410.
Has anybody tried to install it?
Here's the link: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-4Q2QAK.html

Here's the fine print:
Supported systems
=================
- Lenovo 3000 C100, C200, N100, and V100 notebook systems
- Lenovo 3000 9680,9682,9683,9684,9685,9686,9687,9688,9689,9690,9691
- Lenovo 3000 J100, J105, J110 and J115 desktop systems
- Lenovo 3000 J200,J200P,J205,S200,S200P,S205
- ThinkPad G41, G50
- ThinkPad R50, R50e, R50p, R51, R51e, R52, R60, R60e
- ThinkPad T43, T43p, T60, T60p, T61, R61
- ThinkPad X32, X40, X41, X41 Tablet, X60, X60s, X61, X61s, X61 Tablet
- ThinkPad Z60m, Z60s, Z60t, Z61e, Z61m, Z61p, Z61t
- ThinkCentre A35 (type 8139)
- ThinkCentre A50 (type 8084, 8085, 8126, 8147, 8148, 8149, 8174, 8175, 8176,
8177, 8178, 8089, 8090, 8320, 8419)
- ThinkCentre A50p (type 8192, 8193, 8194, 8195, 8196, 8197, 8432, 8433)
- ThinkCentre A51 (type 8105, 8107, 8109, 8117, 8119, 8121, 8122, 8123, 8124,
8129, 8131, 8132, 8133, 8134, 8135, 8136, 8137, 8138, 8424, 8425, 8428, 9212)
- ThinkCentre A51p (type 8420, 8421, 8422, 8423, 8426, 8427)
- ThinkCentre A52 (type 8153, 8154, 8155, 8156, 8157, 8158, 8159, 8160, 8161,
8162, 8163, 8164, 8165, 8166, 8167, 8168, 8169, 8170, 8287, 8288, 8289, 8296,
8297, 8298, 8326, 8327, 8328, 8329, 8340, 8341, 8342, 8343, 8344, 8380, 8381,
8382)
- ThinkCentre A53 (type 8701, 8702, 8970, 8973, 8980, 8983, 8992, 8995, 9276,
9277, 9286, 9287, 9378, 9387, 9628, 9635)
- ThinkCentre A55 (type 8705, 8706, 8972, 8975, 8982, 8985, 8994, 9265, 9636,
9638, 9640, 9641)
- ThinkCentre A60 (type 8013, 8700, 8976, 8979, 8986, 8991, 9266, 9269, 9282,
9283, 9374, 9383, 9384, 9631, 9646, 9647, 9694, 9695)
- ThinkCentre E50 (type 8290, 8291, 8292, 8293, 8294, 8295, 8469, 8472, 8473,
8474, 8708, 8709, 8710, 8711, 8719, 8771, 8772, 8773, 8774, 8776, 8777, 8778,
8779, 8817, 8818, 8819, 9214, 9215, 9216, 9217, 9218, 9219)
- ThinkCentre E51 (type 8463, 8464, 8465, 8466, 8467, 8468, 8712, 8713, 8714, 8715)
- ThinkCentre M50 (type 8128, 8185, 8186, 8187, 8188, 8189, 8190, 8413, 8414,
8415, 8430, 8431)
- ThinkCentre M50e (type 8179)
- ThinkCentre M51 (type 8095, 8096, 8097, 8104, 8106, 8108, 8118, 8120, 8141,
8142, 8143, 8144, 8145, 8146)
- ThinkCentre M51e (type 9213)
- ThinkCentre M52 (type 8099, 8110, 8111, 8112, 8113, 8114, 8115, 8116, 8211,
8212, 8213, 8214, 8215, 9210, 9211)
- ThinkCentre M52e (type 8299)
- ThinkCentre M55 (type 8009, 8010, 8011, 8012, 8791, 8792, 8793, 8794, 8795,
8796, 8797, 8798, 8799, 8800, 8801, 8802, 8803, 8804, 8805, 8806, 8807, 8808,
8810, 8811, 8812, 8813, 8814, 8816)
- ThinkCentre M55e (type 6490, 6491, 9278, 9279, 9288, 9379, 9380, 9389, 9632,
9637, 9642, 9643, 9644, 9645, 9648, 9649)
- ThinkCentre M55p (type 8792, 8794, 8796, 8798, 8800, 8802, 8804, 8806, 8808,
8811)
- ThinkCentre S50 (type 8086, 8087, 8088, 8094, 8127, 8183, 8184, 8416, 8417,
8418, 8429)
- ThinkCentre S51 (type 8098, 8171, 8172, 8173)

This version of Rescue and Recovery may also work with other systems that meet
the system requirements. However, no testing has been done with these systems
and no support is provided for using Rescue and Recovery on any system other
than those listed as a "Supported system".

 

Look for something called OneKey Recovery although it doesn't specifically say it will allow you to make the discs.

"Lenovo OneKey Recovery saves the original, preload system state so you can restore it easily - with the press of a button."

Also, look here -> http://consumersupport.lenovo.com/lenovo/drivers/list.aspx?CategoryID=104

(When in doubt, 3book -> ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitute/psref/3book.pdf)

 

Hi Nonny, thanks for the input. Please correct me if I am wrong. I was under the impression that "Onekey" is basically only a recovery tool. If I were to wipe the harddrive clean, I would lose the recovery image that "Onekey" requires. I am basically trying to burn an image of the recovery portion, so that I am able to use "Onekey" later. Only "Rescue and Recovery" has the capability of doing this.

 

Tiger, that may very well be true and very annoying if it is. I don't have one here to look at, and what's in the userguide isn't promising.

 

OK, the "Rescue and Recovery 4.1" does not seem to work on the Y410. I downloaded it, installed it, rebooted the computer like it asked me to do. It almost killed my laptop.

Right after booting, I got a message that read something like "Press F11 to continue booting with Rescue and Recovery". I pressed F11 and nothing happened. Windows Vista was not booting at all.

I tried to press the "NOVO" button (the "OneKey" Recovery), to go back to factory installation. It seemed to copy the image on the the hard drive without any problems. The entire process took about 20 minutes. HOWEVER, AFTER INSTALLATION AND REBOOTING, THE "PRESS F11 TO CONTINUE...." MESSAGE SHOWED BACK UP, AND F11 DID NOT WORK AGAIN.

I was thinking "OH SH*T" by this time, and dug into the Vista DVD provided.
It seems to be a Genuine MS Vista Home Premium DVD (not an OEM).
I did a clean install, installed drivers using the drivers CD provided.

Everything seems to be somewhat back to normal now.
I am able to leave you feedback about the "Rescue and Recovery" fiasco using my Y410.
I got a clean install in the process, and got rid of all the junk bloat ware programs.

Bottom line:
1. Don't install the "Rescue and Recovery 4.1" program on the Y410.
2. "NOVO" button does not seem to be a "cure all" recovery for all problems. It might work in other circumstances. It did not in my case.
3. Provided Windows Vista DVD is not an OEM image of the initial hard drive. It's the real genuine OS software.

Hope that helps!!

 

By the way, how much HD space does a fresh install of Windows Vista Home Premium take up? My fresh install is taking up about 14.x GB on a 30 GB partition. Seems like way too much. Remember reading somewhere that this is the case though. Just want to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on. THX!

 

Are you serious?? XP takes like 3GB fresh.

Geez, I never knew it was so much for Vista. Yikes!

 

Could anybody enlighten me about what the "EZ Button" does?
I was installing the driver for it, and I see it the icon for it in the lower right hand side corner of the screen, but I don't know what it does or what it's used for. Thanks for the help!

 

I have no problem downgrading it to XP, all XP drivers works, the dvd software that come in the disk also runs in XP.

I've since dual boot with ubuntu 7.10, works like a charm. The only problem was with the sound, just follow this instruction http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com/2007/12/getting-sound-to-work-on-your-ubuntu.html. It works.