Thinking of a u300s

Currently running a very long in tooth Asus V6VA and want to upgrade this summer, with Ivy Bridge certainly being something I want to wait for.

I really like the u300s, having used it in person and probably prefer it over any other Ultrabook, though the Asus UX31 has a far higher res screen. The only other serious contender in my mind is the MBA. I've considered the X220 as well, though a 12.5" screen starts to become just a bit small for my liking.

With that being said, what would you all advise me to do? I think that waiting for Ivy Bridge would be a good move, though it could also mean waiting a few months, but it could be worth it. My main considerations are screen (I'm a photographer, and having an accurate screen when traveling/away from home is key), build quality and keyboard/trackpad quality. Battery life and performance seem to be fairly similar across any of the Ultrabooks.

 

Have you looked at the 2012 Samsung Series 9 NP900X3B? It seems to be one of the best 13.3" screens on the market at the moment. Excellent color, contrast, blacks, brightness, etc.

 

The only result for that model number brought me back to a Notebook review forum page. I have seen the Samsung series in person, and they weren't quite as impressive as in the photos, but still a nice laptop.

 

You've seen the new model with the 1600x900 400 nit PLS screen?

Product page at http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP900X3B-A01US

Some retailers at http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP900X3B-A01US-buy

See the forum thread at http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/638253-new-2012-samsung-series-9-13-3-np900x3b.html

Beats the snot out of the U300S.

 

The new (2nd gen) Samsung Series 9 are indeed impressive...

I bought a U300s in December and have been loving every minute. It certainly has the best keyboard (although, not back-lit) of all Ultrabooks, so if you type a lot, that's something to consider.

If you're willing to wait a few months on Ivy Bridge and need high resolution, I'd recommend waiting for the Lenovo Yoga, same build quality and look of the U300s, but 1600x900 IPS multitouch display and it flips around as a tablet convertible PC.
Lenovo's flipping and folding IdeaPad YOGA

 

@Crosstalk

Do not buy a Lenovo Ideapad U300S !

The Lenovo Ideapad U300S is known to have a CPU frequency locking/throttling problem.
Lenovo are aware of the problem for months and have yet to solve it.

The Cypress touchpad fitted to some of the U300S units with the Lenovo driver is a nightmare to use.
You would have to rely on DELL's touchpad driver if you want a usable touchpad on your Ideapad U300S.

I know about these issues and experience these problems as an owner of an Ideapad U300S.

Lenovo's customer care sucks big time too.

Bottom line - if you want an inferior quality product with lots of problems buy a Lenovo Ideapad U300S !

 

Sorry to imessage100 for the bad experience. I hate to hear that.

I have to say though, that I have had a Wonderful experience with my U300s. I purchased and received mine in December 2011 and have not had a single problem. I have the orange core i7 256gb model. Going on six months.

Mine is rock solid. I use this thing for hours every day, both at work and at home. I'm one of the lucky ones with no CPU frequency problem. I've had no problems at all. (maybe we should start a poll to see how many have the CPU problem? I am aware of it though.)

I did find that installing the updated Cypress touchpad drivers from Dell's website helped the performance of the touchpad. Lenovo is several versions behind (it's all software from Cypress redistributed by the manufacturer).

I haven't ever used Lenovo support, so I can't speak to their quality, although I have heard bad stories though.

It's certainly important to know the risks before you buy, but take it from at least one person, the U300s can be an absolutely amazing machine, it's unique, fast, beautiful, a head turner, good battery, and excellent keyboard.

This late in the game though, I'd wait for the Lenovo Yoga (touchscreen convertible laptop tablet hybrid with Win8) http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...5YjOCg&usg=AFQjCNHQjZXk_9kYOhQO7QmWRrU9ZHu0ow

 

I may be off-track here, but how do I know if I have the CPU throttling problem or not?

On a side note, the Yoga is definitely my dream device of the year. I'll probably sell this U300s a few months down the road, top up a bit and buy the Yoga. I hope it has at least a few hours more of battery life though. Cheapest is gonna be USD1200, and it will probably be out November earliest.

 

If you open up "Resource Monitor" on the CPU tab it will have CPU usage and frequency at the top.

 

...and I that's what I've heard also about the Yoga. I hate to wait that long!

Microsoft just announced $15 upgrade to Win8 for any PC purchased this summer, so maybe Lenovo will release it with Win7 early and upgrade certificates. ...unless MS may use the Yoga as a flagship Win8 device.

I've heard Win8 to be released October 2012 and laptops/devices available November.

 

Ok. Mine usually says 40 -50% of max frequency. But does this max frequency refer to 1.8 or 2.9 GHz? I have the i7 version.

 

The cpu frequency locking issue affects both the core i5 and i7 models of the Ideapad U300S.

You need to test your machine - with the battery level at say 67%, plug in the charger, set the power manager settings to high performance, then open/run a couple of software applications, and check what happens to the maximum cpu frequency.
If it gets stuck at around 50% and does not go above 50% then your machine probably suffers from the cpu locking problem.

Test your machine and report back your results here.

 

"with the battery level at say 67%, plug in the charger, set the power manager settings to high performance, then open/run a couple of software applications, and check what happens to the maximum cpu frequency."

these are fairly unusual combinations.

 

is this confirmed ?

 

Yes.
Microsoft to charge $15 for Windows 8 upgrade deal - Computerworld

and
https://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C....2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=643

Keep in mind, "The promotion begins June 2, and was first reported by my Windows Weekly cohost Mary Jo Foley"

 

thanks for the info.

 

I went to their support page with the latest drivers and they mentioned something about this being fixed with the latest BIOS update.

 

Here it is:

Fixes and enhancements

Latest Version BIOS fixes the following issue:

1. CPU speed may lock at lowest P-State while charging < 80% due to AC-Adapter protection.

 

I updated my machine with the latest bios about 3 weeks ago when it was released.
The new bios did not fix the cpu frequency locking problem, and Lenovo are aware of it ! ! !