U330 vs Y530 vs Sony Vaio SR/Z

Hey everyone. Ill start by saying I never really considered getting a Lenovo as a laptop, but now that the U330 and Y530 have been released, I'm strongly considering them and are 2 of my options. I need to buy a laptop within the next few days and cant decide, so I need as much help as possible.

I will be using this for university, so will be carrying it with me everywhere I go. I will also be using it for some gaming (not crysis, im a gamer but not hardcore) and will also be watching a lot of videos, movies, clips, and some multimedia stuff online. I am looking for something with ddr3 ram, the new centrino 2 processor, and a decent video card (that can run SC2, GW, cs:s, etc).

I tried going on the Lenovo website but they didnt realy let me customize the U330. I wanted to get a better processor, 4gb ram and a better vid card but the only thing I can customize is the warranty and software...

Also, I couldnt find the Y530 on their site. The reason Im interested in this laptop is because I read I have the option of putting in a 9500GS, which would complete the laptop.

Also, looks is very important to me. So I am looking for something stylish, thin and light but with as much power as possible.

What is my best option? When is the Y530 coming out? Why can I not actually customize the u330?

Thanks in advance for any help!

p.s I live in Toronto, I'm assuming I can order from the US site and get it delivered here?

 

I'm also very interested in people's opinion on this...


Anyhow, related to your question below... I asked the same question in another thread and I was *told* that this seems to be the way Lenovo sells their Ideapads at first. NO OPTIONS. But that could be the reason for the low price, AND perhaps down the line they may let you custom order. But for now I think we're stuck with what they give us.

 

ah ok. Thanks for clearing that up. I dont have time to wait though, need a laptop before september 1st, so I dont think that helps at all lol.

 

cant customize ....
but they are getting the P7350 as CPU ..............

 

The ideapad y510 was never open for customization. I don't think Lenovo will change their policy regarding U.S. marketed ideapads anytime soon on that issue, since the uniform build characteristics must be one of the things keeping the price down on ideapad units. So don't expect to see customizable u330 units anytime soon, if at all.

You always have the option to upgrade the RAM yourself, although with only 32bit OS being offered at the moment (at the lenovo configuration site) 3G RAM might suffice.

I do realize that y530 is already out in the Asian markets. People expect them to come out over here (in U.S.) around september.

 

Yeah I'd be okay with the 3gb it comes with. And although the HD3450 isn't amazing, its still decent and I think can run SC2, GW and such games. But the only problem is the CPU, I was hoping to get atleast a P8400...

 

No. See Mark's note at:

http://forum.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=Special_Interest_General&view=by_date_ascending&message.id=1534#M1534

 

the price is a lot cheaper than lenovo selling it in China though
its like 1700 with only the different between 7350 and 8400

 

Y530 and Y730 are already released, and on the website. Check it out for ypruself. I was surprised to find them this morning. Also, not customizable.

 

You are right. Sheesh. They should at least do some PR before major updates like this, I think.

 

They don't have PR's. just some monkeys making typos all day. I believed that MKT department is watching the olimpics, so they don't have time for silly things like a website well made, and with good information.

Disclaimer> I'm not saying that lenovo workers are monkeys. I'm saying that monkeys are working in lenovo. Typos is a monkey hobby.

 

Y530 did not come with a very good graphic card at all....actually even worse than the ones on Y510.....U330 has a better graphics (HD 3450) which is better than 9300M GS of Y530 (although notebookcheck will disagree with this)....they both have the same processor....so I would go for U330 for mobility and performance.

 

chen, I see you have a T400, so let me ask you. How do you like the looks? For me that's the only thing keeping me from buying the T400 right now. And I live in Canada so the only retailer that sells Lenovo's is Tiger Direct and I went in today to check it out but they didnt have it.

Inform me on the style/looks of it as thats the only thing negative I find about the T400.

 

Sorry to disappoint you....mine is on its way .... I would not recommend T400 to you if aesthetics is important to you .... I would recommend you to go with U330 that has a flush 6 cell battery....similar dedicated graphics (HD3470 being the overclocked form of HD3450)...a slightly less powerful processor....a little slower HDD....but it looks really nice....with low price...and the great LED back-lit 13.3" screen.....I would say it's a Macbook killer

 

yeah I already considered the U330 but when I found out I couldn't upgrade the processor to ATLEAST an p8400, it was no longer an option. I was hoping i was able to customize it and get p9500 or even p8600 but thats not possible. If only ....

 

anyone knows wts the "real" different between 7350 and 8400?
will the 7350 eats more energy?
and performance different?

 

I mean what's the difference? 260MHz? That wouldn't be a significant difference at all....as P8400 is to P8600....but if you are talking about P7350 to P8600 then that would make some difference...but if you seriously doubt what I am saying....you should go with SL300 for the same screen size or T400 like me

I think they are the same in terms of the amount of energy they consume that's why they are both the Pxxxx series (25W)

 

thing is, I will be using the laptop for some gaming, movies, videos, school and a lot of multimedia stuff online. So for me the most important is the processor, then ram then GPU.

 

I agree with Chen about the aesthetics on the U330. I actually think the T400 looks great, it's very clean cut and professional. Just remember only the 4-cell battery doesn't stick out of the T61/T400!

 

lol a lot of owners say that (obviously, they wouldnt get it if they thought it was ugly). But to me, it looks like the laptops from 20 years ago, its so, oldschool looking and, ugly :| lol. But its an amazing notebook I hear, so the people who buy it dont/shouldn't care about the style.

Are there any pictures of the U330 other than what the site shows?

 

Well I think T400 looks very professional...

But T series will probably never look as chic as Ideapad series. The performance gap between the T400 and the U330 are not that great either, unless you plan on sinking a lot of money in T400 config screen.

If you are going for T400, you are going for the solid build quality and spill resistant keyboards. If those are not absolutely necessary to you, U330 would make a fine choice. Not that U330 has flimsy build quality, just that U330 is not as built as the thinkpad line, which probably has the best build quality in the business.

 

Does the SR or the T400 stay cooler while high performance activities/gaming?