ThinkPad Twist 3347 Owner's Thread

I didn't see much on here for the Twist so I wanted to start a common thread.

Battery Discussion
I'm wondering what people's battery life is and if people have found ways to improve it. Please check improvements with BatteryBar. I really like the application and it will show you how fast you are discharging. So far I've found that to improve battery life you can:

Disable Bluetooth
Disable Auto-Dim
Dim screen to useable level

Will post more as people post, but no other improvements I tried significantly changed draw.
Here is a thread where Lenovo Techsupport is looking up the issue.
ThinkPad Twist Battery Life - Lenovo Community
Last said "Hi all,
Just to give you further updates, our teams are investigating and analyzing the issue. Based from what I have been informed the further escalated this issue to other teams to join in for the analysis.
I hope to get further updates on the matter within the next few days, please do bare with me till then.
I do apologize for the inconvenienced caused and will update more soon."

SSD Cache
Also, I've found the SSD is partitioned into 7 GB and 15.36 GB. I found out the 7 GB is for Intel's quick resume, but does it need the full 7 GB? Would be nice to have a few extra GB's for space for caching.

Also to check how ExpressCache is doing open powershell with run as administrator. Type eccmd -info


Headphones play along with Speakers at same time
Question
I recently purchased a ThinkPad Twist, and I'm having a problem: When I have my headphones plugged into the headphone jack, I get audio from both the headphones and the computer speakers, defeating the purpose of using headphones. Is there any way to fix this?
Answer

1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Search for "Realtek HD Audio Manager".
3. Click Advanced Device Settings.
4. Click Multi-stream mode.


Any issues with autorotation, touchscreen, or track pad?

 

I'm glad someone finally made a Twist thread... I was debating it but didn't really get to it yet.

So I'm still on the battery tester phase, Only been using it for a day.

One issue I have found that I have not seen mentioned before is:
Audio plays through both speakers and headphones when headphones are plugged in. This kinda ticks me off... I got super embarrassed in the library today when I played music and had my headphones in... everyone heard my music and I didn't realize it until someone had the realization that they should ask me to turn it down.

As for the auto-dim, how did you disable it? I tried once and after I reset the computer it came back on.

 

Hopefully someone can help you out with the headphones, I haven't heard that one! Must be a setting somewhere or in the audio devices settings. Try hitting the search key (F10) and typing in Audio when you have setting selected and look at the areas that come up with headphones plugged in. Something there should fix that.

As for the autodim it's in Settings (F9) -> Change PC Settings -> General -> Screen. This must be set for plugged in and on AC Power.
Also you can go to your battery icon in the taskbar -> more power options -> Change plan settings -> Chang advanced power settings -> Display -> Enable Adaptive Brightness

 

Thanks for the dimming, I guess thats why when plugged in it does not dim but when mobile, it dims.

As for the audio, I forgot that the dolby crashed when I tried this... I will restart and see if that fixes it. I did try the default audio source (Usually works with HDMI or other source options such as USB), no luck there.

 

Found this in the Lenovo Forum

Question
I recently purchased a ThinkPad Twist, and I'm having a problem: When I have my headphones plugged into the headphone jack, I get audio from both the headphones and the computer speakers, defeating the purpose of using headphones. Is there any way to fix this?
Answer

1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Search for "Realtek HD Audio Manager".
3. Click Advanced Device Settings.
4. Click Multi-stream mode.

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I have had mine for a week and I really enjoy it. It has its problems but nothing is perfect. Battery sucks but now that a lot of Touch Screen laptops are getting reviewed it seems that it is a common problem. Maybe they will eek a couple of hours more out of it by tweaking drivers.

 

Good Find, having that selected allows you to see the headphones when you click on sound output at the bottom rt of the desktop. I did that just in case it ever happens again.

As for my specific problem, a restart fixed it... hopefully it does not happen again.

Side question -

Has anyone held this next to an XPS 12? I looked for the complete size specs after thinking that the Twist was kinda big... as it turns out, the online specs that I saw said the twist was a little smaller (footprint) than the XPS12. I had an XPS 13 for a little while and I want to say that it was actually a smaller footprint, I am now guessing I was wrong...

 

I haven't had the opportunity to compare it to any laptop except an HP ultrabook nontouchscreen. I like the make of the Twist, the way the laptop is constructed and the materials used. I just hope the hinge holds up the test of time. It's slightly thicker than other laptops by glance, but that may just be because it's smaller LxW which makes it appear that way. I'm really happy to have an Ethernet port, HDMI, and USB 3.0. No complaints here on size, the Ultrabook standard is small enough for me.

 

Proud new owner of a Lenovo Twist! Got it last night at the Microsoft Retail Store (with no crapware, woot!) Coming from a 5-year old X61 Tablet.

 

Congratulations! Enjoy it ! :hi2:

To anyone interested a new review on the Twist on Mobiletechreview.com

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=43847

 

I posted this elsewhere - but maybe this is more appropriate here. I've been thinking about X230 because of its reputation, but hesitate somewhat because of its bulky shape and lack of touch capability. I happened to see the Twist at Fry's and was struck by its beautiful screen (wonderful black, contrast, and saturation; so much better than nearly all laptops around it - if you are into photography check it out), so I started to look into it.

I had thought the X230 is the only Lenovo with IPS, but found out that the Lenovo Twist 12.5" is also an IPS screen, and additionally with touch capability. I prefer the form of Twist over the bulky X230, and am also concerned about the narrow typing surface of X230, plus Twist has a touch screen that I like to experiment with, so I figure I will give it a try. Too bad the memory is only 4 gb, but this is not a gaming laptop and at this price I figure I can't be too demanding.

I got a decent discount from the link below, Twist for $699 at Staples. Hope this helps.
Lenovo Thinkpad Twist 12.5" Touch Screen i5 - 3317U Laptop $699.99AC 12/7-12/8 at Staples. Reserve now for pick up tomorrow. - Slickdeals.net

 

Looks like a great little touchscreen laptop. If i hadn't bought an Asus Transformer Infinity, I'd probably have gone with one of these (since the Yoga isn't available in Australia). Is the average battery life being reported from the reviews of 4 hours fairly accurate?

 

Thank you for starting this thread; it has been very helpful to preserve my sanity. The auto dim/brightness adjustment drove me absolutely nuts! They really should ship with this function off.

Since bought new from Staples a couple of days ago, the only thing I've done is type "update" while at the Metro screen and then click on "System Update." Knock on wood it has been flawless in its operation since. Among other things the update seems to improve the Autorotation function to something so much better than the demo Twist at Staples.

BTW, there are a lot of duplicate controls for adjustment of power settings, auto dimming, and screen brightness adjustment that drove me absolutely nuts until I had things figured out. For example auto dim brightness is adjusted by at least 2 independent algorithms: one that operates by sensor (auto dim according to ambient light - turned off by "Change PC Settings" in Windows 8) and one that operates through the power management - turned off or adjusted by clicking on the battery icon. Similarly, brightness and power management are set by using either "Graphics Property" which gives you the Intel Graphics Control Panel, or by clicking on the battery icon to enter power management.

Some interesting links and shortcuts that have been helpful to me:
***While on desktop screen, pushing Windows key and letter "x" key simultaneously brings up all the important/relevant adjustment functions.
*** http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/update_instructions.pdf (To update to latest Lenovo's software/firmware change.)
*** http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPa...rightness-every-few-minutes-while/ta-p/915291 (To kill the crazy auto dim function. There is an ADDITIONAL auto dim function in the Power Options->Change Advanced Power Settings if you want to get rid of that too.)
*** Thinkpad Twist hangs or lags while moving the syst... - Lenovo Community (I haven't had a problem with this but good to know.)
*** Thinkpad Twist Tent Mode and auto rotation - Lenovo Community (To correct/update original crazy auto-rotation function.)
***Latest version's auto-rotation is perfect and doesn't act strange and hang like the demo units at store. I actually turn it off in Control Panel->Display->Change Display Settings because I don't really care of it in laptop mode, however when you start twisting the screen it turns on automatically and it works fine.
*** Start Button for those who miss it - the Lenovo Quick Launch: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS032411
***To silent laptop speakers when you plug in a headphone: Control Panel-->Realtek HD Audio Manager-->Advanced Device Settings-->Click/check Multi-stream mode.

 

Lenovo Solution Center gave the Samsung SSD of my Twist a "failed" grade for the "targeted read test."

1. Oddly enough, I found that if you ***scan both discs (Hitachi HDD and Samsung SSD)*** during the hardware check up part, you'll get a failure grade for the Samsung targeted read test. However if you ***scan the SSD only, then it passed*** the test.
2.You could download a program that confirms the test here: Lenovo Hard Drive Quick Test for Windows 8 (64-bit), 7 (64-bit), 2003 Advanced Server (64-bit) and 2008 Advanced Server (64-bit) - Desktops / Notebooks / Workstations Running this test, the result is the same, if you scan both, you get a failure, if you scan only the Samsung, you get a pass.

This seems to be a bug in Lenovo testing method, a search of Lenovo forum indicates this to be the case. I just want to confirm that my SSD is actually Ok and I don't have to return the computer. It is flawless otherwise.

 

In control panel go to the sound properties (Realtek?). I can't remember if its a realtek or conexant. But once you're in, look for an icon in the corner that resembles a letter "i". You will have a choice between multi-stream or classic. You'll want it on classic.

 

From what I've read, it appears that the Lenovo Twist is the successor to the X230 series. Which is interesting! Seems like this forum is quite dead as well. Not many owners? Or are the majority sticking to the X230T and the Yoga?

 

Do you all know if the Twist has the common Win8 tablet form factor sensors: gyro, accelerometer, magnetometer, ambient light, gps? I think the Yoga 13 has all of these except gps. Thanks!

 

Does anyone have a comparison between this and the yoga 13, xps 12, and/or x230t?

i am in the market for a convertible laptop and not sure which one to choose...probably leaning towards the Yoga 13 at this moment.

 

All 3 Lenovo's have beautiful IPS screens (in this aspect much better than Dell/HP ultrabooks). The color/contrast/viewing angles of these Lenovo's put most other laptop's screens to shame. If you are into photography, you *will* love these Lenovo's screens. The "pop" is incredible and a beautiful thing to see.

X230t and Twist both have excellent Thinkpad keyboard, the best of all ultrabook keyboards by far because it has deeper travel and great tactile feedback. Size wise, X230t is chunkier in form (X230t is 50% thicker than Twist, 1.2" vs. .8") and the space in front of the X230's keyboard is very narrow (no rest space for your wrist - don't think it's a problem though). The thickness is what I like least about the X230t. I believe the touchpad of X230t is tiny and narrower than Twist's but not sure (anyone pls correct as needed).

FWIW, the Twist uses magnesium alloy construction - don't know about the other 2 Lenovo's or whether this means anything, if it will survive a drop from the second story better ;-). Kidding aside, its rubberized outer surfaces and corning glass screen do give it a modern and sleek look and a nice and expensive "feel."

I also love the Yoga, but note that it has different keyboard that doesn't feel as good as that of Twist/X230, and the right side shift key and the backspace key are **HALF SIZED** (you might get used to it perhaps, but I prefer a full sized keys there). The 128 gb model has very little hard disc space left btw, 256 would be much better but so expensive at this point. In tablet mode, Yoga's keyboard is also exposed, unlike Twist/X230t.

The Yoga of course has a bigger screen, but I've found the 12.5 Twist screen to be a perfect solution for portability and readability (not too big, not too small). BTW, I actually prefer the 1366 resolution (vs. 1600) for these smaller screens so everything (web site text, documents, etc.) doesn't look so small (I know text size could be adjusted, but prefer no adjustment).

Lastly, wifi: There have been reports of wifi sensitivity problem with Yoga (very slow) and this of course would be a deal breaker for anyone. I don't know how common this is but make sure to check this out. The Yoga I tested at Best Buy did seem much slower than a couple of other laptops (Samsung) right next to it.

I need to get one before Christmas for a gift and the Twist was on sale for $700 (vs. 1000 for Yoga) and that closed the deal, but really would be happy with any of the 3 Lenovo's. If I get the Yoga I would definitely prefer the 256 gb SSD, but then cost becomes a factor.

 

Excellent summary there Cannga, any comment on battery life of the Twist vs say a iPad or Asus Transformer?

 

Don't forget that unlike the x230T, the twist doesn't have an active digitizer with a stylus. That's probably the biggest difference in functionality between the two laptops.

 

Thanks. Laptops with Intel i5, touchscreen, and HDD (which all consume more energy than non touchscreen, SSD counterparts) tend to have battery life around 4-5 hours and the Twist range is about same per report, 4 to 4.5 hours depending on brightness, usage, etc. It is not 7 hours or whatever that Lenovo advertised and it will never be able to match tablet's battery life. Even though it has the capability of looking like a tablet, it really is an laptop first and foremost and its battery life is therefore in that range also.

 

Seriously considering this machine to replace my old Toshiba Satellite. I teach an online course and need good wifi, decent battery, and strong machine for Microsoft Office. I feel like I should get a touchscreen for Windows 8, but am torn whether to just get a good laptop with Windows 7 that has more memory, etc. or this. It sounds like most of you really like it. Any issues I should consider? Thanks.

 

I just went through this and ended up buying the Yoga 13. The Yoga has a bigger, higher resolution screen for about the same size/weight.

ThinkPad Twist : 12.30 x 9.30 x 0.80 @3.48 pounds
Ideapad Yoga 13: 13.10 x 8.90 x 0.67 @3.30 pounds

The Yoga also has all the sensors I need (accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer, ambient light). I wasn't able to find out if the Twist had them...I remember reading that the twist doesn't auto-rotate the screen.

In my opinion, one big factor to consider is how often you'll use it in tablet mode. If the answer is "never, I just want a touchscreen" then get something like the X1 Carbon Touch. If the answer is "sometimes" then the Yoga is a good option. If the answer is "a lot" then the Twist makes sense since it's a true convertible.

 

The Twist does have auto rotation. Yoga is also excellent and I would be happy with one, but as mentioned note that keyboard is not a ThinkPad type and does not have as good feedback and travel depth. Also Yoga's right shift and back space keys are, oddly, half sized and this bothers me.
For anyone who is going to type a lot on his laptop, I would highly recommend comparing the 2 keyboards and see the difference. A lot of thin ultrabooks have very shallow keyboards that are not good for typing. In this aspect, the Twist has by far the best ultrabook keyboard that I have seen.

Regarding resolution, for these small 13 inch and below laptop, for most of what we do for work I much prefer 1366 over 1600. The higher resolution makes text and everything on screen very small and harder to read. Sure you could increase the text size to for example 125% but note that this makes *pictures* on web sites blurry, etc. It is not an ideal solution.
I know everyone wants the highest and best resolution but IMHO for a work/workhorse/college/etc. computer 1366 is overall much better for these small ones.
Only if you are into photography, then I would recommend the higher resolution screens, but then, it wouldn't be a 13 incher either. So yes, there is a time and place for higher resolutions, but not here on these small laptops IMHO. Images are fantastic looking at 1366 anyway because of the IPS screen.

Lastly also as mentioned Yoga has very limited 128 gb and costs quite a bit more; if I were to get a Yoga I would really prefer 256 gb. The Twist is unique for this: For a low cost $700 computer (sale price), there is absolutely nothing else on the market that could match its beautiful IPS screen (wonderful color /saturation /contrast /viewing angle) and its outstanding keyboard. If you want to spend more, sure there are other choices, but at 700, nothing is like it.

 

WiFi Direct with My WiFi Dashboard not working on my Lenovo Twist

I am running Windows 8 Pro 64 bit on my Lenovo ThinkPad Twist with an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230.

I have installed the latest available driver v.15.5.6.48 from Intel. I have also downloaded and installed v.15.5.6 of the Intel My WiFI Dashboard (however it shows v.15.5.0 in "about").

My problem is that most, if not all of the options for "My WiFi Dashboard" are not present. See the following image for what is available. My specific interest is to use WiFi Direct to transfer files to/from a Samsung Galaxy S II. I have already proven that WiFi Direct works on the Samsung GS2 device.



I'm at a loss as to what to try next. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Rich

 

The Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 is IPS as well. It has a 1600x900p screen as well.

 

In response to your talk about screen res, what about the need for more real estate on the screen so that you can multitask easier and see more of webpages? As for the photography aspect, no one in their right mind would purchase an ultrabook but many people will end up occasionally doing light touch ups on photos that are several megapixels large. For this reason they could use more screen resolution. I think that 1600x900 is perfect for a 13/14 inch screens as it offers the best combination of viewing, real estate.

It's matte of opinion though, and I guess also how good your eyesight is as well

 

Yes I agree that it's a matter of personal preference and definitely eyesight. For example, my son tolerates the small text much better than I do. So with that in mind, 99% of the times, 1366 is better for me in such a small screen and "native" text did appear too small in the Yoga. YMMV. (*No* argument about the quality of the picture in a higher resolution screen - just about the functionality for 99% of usage. Here I think that 1366 is actually better for these *small* screens, but again, any buyer should judge for his own use, budget, and as you mentioned, eyesight.)

Regarding photography - I am actually a quite nutty photography hobbyist (Canon 1D and Nikon, Contax and L primes and zooms, shoot in RAW, developed with C1, etc.) for many years now. I spend hours and hours with photography and 1:1 true "pixel peeping" LOL. Do I appreciate the picture quality of a higher resolution scree, especially one of bigger size? Yes. Do I need 1600 (vs. 1366) to adequately adjust contrast/white balance/touch up blemish, etc.? Definitely, no. Again, just my opinion, YMMV.

BTW, in terms of sharpness, the Twist screen's pixel pitch is around .20mm, as sharp as I could hope for. In comparison, a 24 inch screen at 1080p has pixel pitch around .27mm (anyone please correct as needed). As I have mentioned, there is a time and place (and usage) for high resolution, for photography it is much more important and relevant for bigger screens than for sub 13 screens, for me anyway.

 

Have you tried to ask your question also on the Lenovo forum?

ThinkPad Edge & S series - Lenovo Community

 

I have asked it on the Intel site, but absent-mindedly neglected the Lenovo site. I will now. Thank you!

 

Yes, I agree that for us photography buffs that a larger high res screen is most optimal. I was mainly referring to hte mainstream population who does occasional slight touchups.

Regardless, the Twist's screen has pretty decent accuracy and has a screen that is as good if not better than the X230 (exlcuding the fact that the X230 has a matte screen).

 

Hi everyone. I am looking into buying a Thinkpad Twist; the model that comes with an i7 CPU, 8GB RAM & an SSD. Does anyone know where I can find a review of this specific combination? All of the reviews I found are usually of the i5 & HDD and I think that most of the negative feedback is because of that. So I'm curious if the top of the line model would review better in terms of performance and battery life. Your help is much appreciated!

 

Do you know if it has all the 'standard' win8 sensors: accelerometer, gyro, ambient light, magnetometer?

We won't resolve this one! I am coming from an x220 with the 12.5" IPS 1366x768 display and I really hated that screen...such low res is painful for my productivity. I wish the Yoga was full HD

I do really miss the TrackPoint though...I'm having a very hard time adjusting to the touchpad on the Yoga.

 

Oh I didn't know that. Both X230 and X230T have matte screen? Here comes another controversial topic . I wonder how much the matte screen affects sharpness/brightness/saturation.

Strange that if you opt for the "outdoor" screen, it means you have the Gorilla glass. Very strange since that glass is reflective and I would think the last think you want outdoor.

 

Yes someone switched from HDD to SSD and battery life increased about 20% to about 5 or 5 1/2 hours I think. Not stellar but better.
The touchscreen feature is another reason for the short battery life. The Twist also has smaller battery to make it light. IMHO, 4 to 5 hours will be far for the course of these lighter (therefore smaller battery) ultrabooks with touchscreen. People think it's a bug partly because it is on the short end of 4 hours, but mainly because Lenovo stupidly advertised/claimed 7 hours life, which definitely is not true.

Performance wise, your i7 and 8gb ram model obviously better than my i5, 4gb, but I had to keep cost in mind since this was not for me, but for my son. LOL I hope he's not reading this forum.

Check my first post in this thread - there are few things you need to do to fine tune when you first get the laptop. If you don't, I guaranted that !@#$%% auto-dim function will drive you crazy.

 

I have no idea what they are but let me try to guess
Accelerometer: Probably yes because it does have that APS function that parks the hard disk if it detects sudden movement or impact.
Gyro: Probably yes because it has auto-rotation.
Ambient light: Definitely yes because it has auto-dim to ambient light. This function btw is buggy in the Twist and is the number one complaint against the Twist from Amazon customers. The screen brightness would change seemingly randomly every few minutes with this on. Very easy fix: Turn it off through Windows 8 PC settings.
Magnetometer: I thought this was needed only for nuclear missile guidance system. Just kidding. What exactly does it do in our laptop?

. No problem re. what resolution is best, I understand my viewpoint is only subjective/personal opinion and very likely you have younger/better eyesight than I do. Vive la difference and I agree Yoga has one beautiful screen also; I would be happy with it.

Touchpad: I don't follow Yoga forum but isn't there some problem with the Yoga's touchpad? Anyway the Twist's touchpad is ok for simple touch but could be better with Win 8 multi-touch functions I think. There is no problem per se but it just seems the Sony S laptop's trackpad that I had is smoother and more responsive.

How about Wifi, do you have any problem? I've read there is some problem with Yoga's wifi signal strength? When I was at Best Buy the Yoga there indeed was having some problem with wifi function and was noticeably slower than the 2-3 computers next to it.

 

Magnetometer is often called "electronic compass" - some report magnetic north, some can also report true north (ie axis of earth's rotation). I was just playing with the one in the Yoga and it seems to be only capable of magnetic north, bummer.

I have to carry reading glasses if I want to read a restaurant menu or bill so my eyes are no longer young!

My Yoga touchpad is fine, no issues so far.

I'm just starting to test the Yoga's wifi: down=9.3Mbps, up=2.9Mbps (for comparison, my thinkpad x220 with a 2x2 Intel card is getting down=53.5Mbps, up=5.0Mbps). It's not a perfect comparison as the x220 is on my 5Ghz network which the Yoga is not capable of...but still, this could be a big issue for me, perhaps a deal breaker on the Yoga.

Edit to add: I just retested the Yoga two days later and after a reboot of modem/router and got 38 down / 10 up which is much better.

 

Surprisingly, the matte screen does not make it look that much different. The only noticeable difference is that colors seem to 'pop out' a bit more on the twist because of its reflective coating. Other than that, I prefer the X230's screen quite a bit more since it is generally more readable, and the colors are still quite vibrant and eyecatching. It also has the added benefit of being more readable in daily situations.

(oh, BTW, this is coming from a person who generally prefers glossy screens over matte screens- as long as they are both high quality )

 

anyone thinks Lenovo is going to offer the new 7W cpu's on the Twist (vs 17W current cpu's)? That, together with a SSD, might improve battery life quite a bit. Intel announced that the new cpu's are shipping today.

 

1. What function does the magnetometer do in a laptop? I assume it's more than for us to find out where north is? Just curious.

2. So the wifi problem is for real with the Yoga? Have you re-tested and got better numbers than 9.3/2.9. That's terrible and would be a deal breaker for most people I would think.
After seeing your post I went to test the Twist. In my house the fastest I have gotten is about 29/5, and the Twist scored about that high, 25/5. The first test was 10/3, the re-test 25/5, using speedtest.net.

Incidentally after the first test the computer locked me out and I had to wait for my son to come home with the password. I thought I might have to return it and started looking for replacement, then I was reminded again for ultrabooks with i5, IPS screen, and touchscreen capability, at $700 there is absolutely nothing like the Twist! I really hope for the Twist to succeed and wish Lenovo engineers would get their act together and straighten out all the little annoying problems with this computer. Simply to fix but no excuse at all to ship computers like this. A lot of people are returning the Twist on Amazon because of the stupidly implemented auto dim to ambient brightness feature.

 

1. It can tell you which way the device is pointing...might be useful in navigation/maps?

2. Yes, sorry. I will update my other post: just retested and the Yoga got 38/10. Still not as good as my ThinkPad x220 though.

For the money, it does sound the the Twist is a good option if you like 1366x768. I really miss the TrackPoint and the ThinkLight now that I'm using a Yoga.

 

It's a shame about the battery life, but to be expected based on the spec's and dimensions of the Twist. I really want one, but battery life says no.

 

I bought a twist yesterday even after the negative battery reviews. I like it im getting about 4hours battery use on 50% brightness with a Samsung SSD installed, which is fine for me. This is my 4th laptop within a week, I've returned the other 3 and so far so good. Boot time is about 8 seconds on the ssd, resume from sleep about .5 seconds and resume from hibernate is about 3 seconds.

I saw another post about wifi speed on the yoga being bad, well on the twist its fine I get 90+Mbps/11MBps on a e2000 router over 5ghz

 

Which other 3 laptops did you have?

 

I guess you probably got the Staples version that has the Broadcom wireless card which supports 5Ghz radio, right?
Most of the other owners usually have the optional Intel Centrino card, maybe that is what is causing the issues? Even though there are at least a couple of owners with Broadcoms that have wi-fi issues as well.
What other 3 laptops did you buy previously?
Do you find the screen on Twist too dim, or the brightness is fine?

 

As far as brightness goes on full bright its fine, bright enough to hurt my eyes inside. The screen is a little too reflective and outside on dimmer settings is not so good. The dimmer settings can be very dim, I think they need to change the scaling on the brightness.

Yes I have the staples version with the Broadcom.

The other 3 laptops/tablets that were returned were:

Acer W700 tablet - great machine, touch screen failed on the left side in 2 days. I would have exchanged for another one but I realized I use the keyboard about 70% of the time and would be better off with a laptop or convertible. Also 1080p in the desktop is no fun on anything under 13". The non upgradable storage was also a bummer, and no sd slot.

Samsung ATIV 500T - a good machine, keyboard dock does random disconnect on me sometimes, which also disconnects anything connected to the keyboard dock USB ports. I knew the atom z2760 would be slow and I could deal with that but the GPU on it the power vr sgx 545 had TERRIBLE drivers, and I know I can't trust Samsung or intel to update and write better ones. Fruit ninja couldn't even render correctly.

ASUS S200e - I loved it except for one major flaw. It can't keep its CPU cool, the i3-3217 hits 90C very fast and throttles back to 800mhz on the cpu and 300 MHz on the GPU. I logged with GPU-z while playing a game. Basically this makes it un-usable for any games at all. Running cpu full tilt only no gpu would drop it back to 1.3ghz or 1.4ghz. Running a single thread at 100% would not throttle the cpu. This is why when you see 3dmark 06 benchmarks for this system they are between 2200-3000. When they should be closer to 4000.

another day on the twist and it's still doing fine. I almost freaked out when I couldn't get a CCD camera I have to work on the usb. But then I turned off USB 3 in the bios and it works fine. I'll just have to remember to switch back and forth if I ever get any usb3 devices. So I guess I have a complaint that there should be a normal usb 2.0 port on here somewhere.

 

also I case anyone was wondering my Samsung SSD 840 shows up in HDTune as being connect to and using SATA 3. The stock mSATA 24GB drive shows as SATA 2 and is slow for an SSD about half the speed of the Samsung 840.

 

Thanks for the very detailed rundown. I was looking at the same Acer and Asus models. Here in Canada I saw samples of those in stores, but can't find the Twist anywhere.
Regarding the screen glare, do you think installing a 12.5" matte screen protector would help?
Funny you mentioned the USB 2.0/3.0 issue, because I guess that explains very well why Lenovo has decided to put a 2.0 in the upcoming Helix tablet, and 3.0 in the keyboard dock. I was kinda of confused why they did it, but it's probably for this sort of situations.
I ordered the Twist directly from Lenovo. I mostly needed 8GB RAM, but it also comes with the i7 CPU.

 

Hey everyone. I bought a Lenovo Twist laptop a few months ago and I had a ton of glitchy problems with it. After countless hours with their customer service dept. I finally got a brand new one and it's still having some of the same issues! I'd love to know if anyone else here has experienced these:

1) Without warning or move of a cursor the screen I am on will collapse and another (usually the last app I had opened) will open in its place.

2) The cursor often appears backwards (move it left and it goes right, move it up and it goes down, ect.)

3) Sometimes the cursor rotates 90* off course (move it right and it does down, move it down and it goes left, ect.)

4) For no particular reason the menus will open (mostly sidebar but also bottom menu)

5) The screen often fails to auto-rotate when flipped (or takes far longer than it should)

6) When using Chrome browser, zoom will suddenly toggle, either making screen really tiny or huge!

7) When in tablet mode the QWERTY keyboard doesn’t show

Is it just my bad luck to have gotten 2 glitchy computers or is this part of a larger issue???