Re: New U400 - General

AshLikeSnow · ‎11-03-2011

@reubun

About the screen - yes it is a bit washed out and the viewing angles do suck. That problem is mentioned in various techwebsite reviews of this laptop.

That kind of lower quality monitor is standard in most laptops, and explains about $100 in the price difference between apples and other brands.

AshLikeSnow · ‎11-03-2011

To be honest. I think after upgrades, this laptop isn't worth it's cost in comparison to the mac book pro.

For me, this laptop cost. $950 +155 + 50 = $1155

A MacBook 13 with same specs would be. $1130 + 155 + 20 = $1305.

Includeing tax and ship. For same specs.

Which is $150 more, but if you put a price to the damage to the laptop during modification and consider the superior monitor and touchpad on the apple. + Backlit keyboard. The apple is a better deal.

Also, while the U400 has a discrete video card, that discrete video card only scores about 20% better in benchmarks in comparison to the integrated intel hd 3000.

reuben9376 · ‎12-08-2011

@AshLikeSnow

I agree. I purchased this laptop from B & H photo about 10 days ago. I think I am going to contact them about a return. I've owned a 15" macbook pro and I loved it but it got way too hot. I dont think the 13" has those issues because of the intergrated graphics so I think I am going to purchase it. I do love the design of this laptop but it has been a bit of a let down in the other area's.

TheWind · ‎12-01-2011

@reuben and everyone who is going to get a Samsung 830 SSD, there is a utility called "Samsung SSD Magician" that can be downloaded on their support site if you click on the "Software" tab. After you install it, there is an option to check system's configuration that makes it easy to tweak Windows' parameters for better performance. Also, to extend the life of your SSD, the software let's you "over provision" the drive (I'm not going into the details on why it is better for the health of your drive, but you can always google it ).

reuben9376 · ‎12-08-2011

Thanks. I just downloaded the software. This is a very handy tool. Even though I had most of the stuff already done kudo's to Samsung for this. It even has built in benchmarking and other tools. Very helpful.

reuben9376 · ‎12-08-2011

More bad news

Out of no where when I did a restart today I am now getting the battery error that others are getting about the capacity only being %40 of a new one and it needing replaced. ughh this will be my last lenovo product for sure

lampee · ‎12-11-2011

One quick question: Could you enable and enjoy he rapiddrive technology with a normal sata ssd?

I am considering to buy one, but I don't know if this technology only works with msata cards.

TheWind · ‎12-01-2011

@lampee,

It is important to know that there are two RapidDrive technologies that do two different things. Both of them require 2 storage drives in your system and can work on a U400 laptop. Since U400 can only accommodate one HDD/SSD, the other one must be the mSATA drive. Basically, in U400 you can only have HDD+mSATA or SSD+mSATA combination. Here is what both technologies can do for a U400 system (let's assume you have HDD+mSATA):

RapidDrive Advanced - will keep mSATA and HDD as separate partitions (C: and D: ) and will automatically keep the user libraries and folders on the HDD (e.g. Desktop, My Documents, Downloads, etc.). Here is a good discussion on what people think about RapidDrive Advanced. Personally, I do not see much advantage in this.
RapidDrive - will make mSATA and HDD visible as a single partition (C: ) and store the most frequently accessed files on the mSATA drive. Here is a good guide on what RapidDrive can do for U400. This approach will give your system a significant boost and keep your storage capacity on the level of what HDDs can offer. What you need to be aware of is the pain that comes with it when you need to recover the data from your system. Here is a good discussion on this subject.

IMHO, if you don't need more than 80-120GB for your storage, just go and get a reliable SSD. In case you need more space and don't want to spend a lot of money for 240GB+ SSD, a good alternative would be this SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive).

lampee · ‎12-11-2011

Thank you TheWind for the great answer,

I have considered the following:

Get the combo drive out, it is making so much noise on startup and I don't even use it, and put a 9,5mm converter into it, so I can put the hdd into that sata port. After this I would place a Samsung 830 ssd into the original hdd place. I think this could work. What do you think?

What I would like to have is a boot time around 20s. If it is possible without rapiddrive, then I won't use this technology..

TheWind · ‎12-01-2011

@lampee, with Samsung 830 SSD you will not need any RapidDrive stuff and your boot time will be under 20s.

About the 9.5mm SATA to SATA HDD converter (e.g. http://www.microsatacables.com/all-products/9-5mm-sata-to-sata-hdd-hard-disk-drive-caddy-adapter/), I can't really say anything since I've never used/considered it before. It sounds doable, but with the tricky construction of U400 body, you might find a few surprises on the way. If you adventurous enough to try out the converter, please post back here about your experience and suggestions for others. It would be greatly appreciated!