Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Update 2: Review done. Read my Lenovo IdeaPad U150 review.
Update: Added some battery life figures.
Here are my thoughts for the first couple of days with the 11.6” Lenovo IdeaPad U150 notebook. I talk about size and weight (compared to the Acer Aspire 1410), battery life, noise (maybe), keyboard and touchpad and sound quality).
I’m using the IdeaPad U150 today as a replacement for my desktop and I haven’t experienced any noticeable slowness compared to my desktop for mundane tasks. (web browsing, YouTube, videos and music)
And if you have been following on my Twitter account, I mentioned I was experiencing poor Wi-Fi with both the Acer Aspire 1410 and Lenovo IdeaPad U150. Turns out that a reboot of my router appears to have fixed things.
Here are some battery life scores. All done at 50% brightness (closest to 90cd/m2 brightness). Windows 7 shuts down standard at 5% remaining battery power.
4 hours, 44 mins - Blogging and Web-browsing, Wi-Fi ON, Bluetooth ON. Power Saving mode. dual-monitor setup using HDMI out. (included about 25 mins of HD YouTube and playing MP3s)
4 hours, 30 mins - Looped full-screen 480P video, Wi-Fi OFF, Bluetooth OFF, Sound ON. Super Power Saving mode.
4 hours, 23 mins - Looped full-screen 720P video, Wi-Fi OFF, Bluetooth OFF, Sound ON. Super Power Saving mode.
I’m getting an hour less with the same benchmarks on the Acer Aspire 1410.
Remember, you can always watch my videos in HD for much better quality if you double-click the video.
Thanks for posting your initial impressions on the video. I’m still waiting for the U150 to appear for sale on Lenovo’s US site. I appreciate your comments on the keyboard & touchpad. So many netbooks have cute but awful touchpads. I prefer the IBM-style keyboard over the chiclet-style, but sometimes size matters. Could you please post some of the keyboard measurements? For example, on my 12” Lenovo X60:
width of alpha keys Q-P (including Q & P): 18.5cm (7.5”)
width of entire keyboard: 26cm (10-3/16”)
height from spacebar to function keys (including both): 10.6cm (4-3/16”)
I’m not sure what “full-size” means technically, but I find the above comfortable.
Lenovo Ideapad U150 keyboard size:
width of Q-P keys: 23cm / 9”
width of entire keyboard: 26cm / 10.1”
height from space to function keys: 10.2cm / 4.7”
I’ve been using all day for work and the only issue I have is the fn and ctrl keys being switched which also makes pressing Ctrl + shift a little more difficult when it comes to short keys.
Can’t say it enough but I really love this keyboard, it’s nice to go back to these traditional type keys (IBM style is it?) after using so many chiclet keyboards.
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Just added some battery life figures to the post.
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Thank you so much for the keyboard info. That sounds perfect.
The sculpted tactile keyboard Lenovo inherited from the IBM Thinkpads evolved from the 1960’s IBM Selectric typewriter keyboards through the dedicated wordprocessors (e.g., IBM Displaywriter) through the original IBM PC & on. Apple started using chiclet keyboards in recent years but that’s probably the reason why most of these recent ultra-thin Air-clones are using them (although the Airs have a much better tactile feel than the mushy cheap keyboards on most netbooks & neutbooks). Ah, well. I’m glad Lenovo had the sense to put the Thinkpad-style keyboard on their new neutbooks. I want one.
Yes, I’m old enough to have used all of the above.
Does anyone know from where can i buy this netbook?
It will be available mid-November in the US. It’s selling in Japan already. I don’t think it’s available elsewhere.
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Thanks for that keyboard info psydeways, that’s a long history you have with keyboards heh.
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Peter,
I’m confused. Is the U150 getting one hour more or one hour less battery life than the 1410 under the same benchmarks? If I’m reading your post right, than the U150 is getting better battery life than the 1410. Thanks for all the posts. I’m personally looking forward to the 1420p.
Thanks,do you have any idea if i can buy it now from Japan? I mean they ship it internationaly?
What size battery are you testing?
Nevermind on the battery life question. Just watched the video (youtube blocked at work). Is the 1410 battery really that weak?!
Fred: No power saving utility on the 1410 MIGHT account for the big difference. All I have done is set the power saving mode to converse battery life in Windows 7.
vjc, I’m not aware of any stores in Japan that ship overseas. You’re better off waiting because computers here are hundreds of dollars more expensive than in the US.
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Remember that the Acer 1410 has a lower capacity battery (4400 MAh) than most 6-cell netbooks. Acer did that to hit that low $399 price point for the US market.
The Acer 1810 has a ‘normal’ capacity 6-cell which should last longer (5200 MAh). It’s also more comparable in price to the Lenovo model.
That would probably account for the 1 hour difference in battery life versus the Lenovo, which probably has a higher capacity battery.
Have you tried Ubuntu on it? If yes, how did it work? If no, could you? Linux compatibility is an important thing to me.
I will be trying the U150 with Ubuntu, yes.
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What can you tell us about the miniPCIe SSD option for the U150?
I have no news on the SSD option.
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