Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Updates:
I’ve got my hands on a 11.6” Lenovo IdeaPad U150 notebook which went on sale in Japan on October 22. It should be announced elsewhere tomorrow on Monday.
IdeaPad U150 Specs:
- Intel CULV Processor (Core 2 Duo SU2300, 1.2GHz)
- 11.6” 1366 x 768 display (glossy)
- GS45 Express + GMA 4500MHD Graphics
- 2GB (DDR3) RAM (8GB max)
- 250GB HDD (with APS - active shock protection)
- 1.3MP Webcam
- Card Reader, 2x USB, 1x USB/eSATA port, HDMI, VGA, LAN, LAN switch
- 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
- Multi-touch touchpad
- Dolby Sound Room
- Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
- 7 Hour Battery (6-cell)
- Available colors: Black
- Weight: 1.5kg / 3.3 lbs
- Thickness: 13.5 - 34.3mm / 0.5 - 1.35 inches
Double click the video below and watch it in HD over at YouTube:
Overall, I’m really liking the build quality of the IdeaPad U150 over the Acer Aspire 1410, feels and looks better, but of course, the U150 costs more than the 1410. (59,800 yen vs 72,800 yen - about $130 difference for pretty much the same specs). The 1410 goes for $399 in the US (see Amazon.com). No price for the U150 in the US yet as it hasn’t been announced yet.
I was surprised by the 6-cell battery. I was expecting to be flush with the bottom, but this isn’t bad either, pretty much unnoticeable. Battery has written on it: “NOM 11.1V, 57Wh” and elsewhere “10.8V 4.68 Ah” (4680mAh).
Some more pictures of the Lenovo IdeaPad U150:
Removing the access panels reveals HDD, 2x RAM slots, free PCI-E slot, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
SIM Card is written on the back with an area shaped like a SIM card slot. There’s no actual slot though.
As you can see comparing my Acer Aspire 1410 to the IdeaPad U150, the U150 is raised a little higher, but it has a slightly beefier 6-cell battery.
great job Peter and a very appealing device.
Thanks for posting this immediately. I’m looking forward to their US announcement tomorrow to see what configurations they’ll offer.
Looks like the touchpad may be superior to the trendy smooth ones on most competitors. But it also looks like the keyboard could have been a bit wider.
I’m looking forward to reading what you think of the CULV Dual-Core Celeron processor, as well as the keyboard/touchpad.
Pics & Specs at
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t;-category-id=E43D2699BCE742179B81FE831165E337&tab=4#tab-container-5
[click on various tabs for specs, pics - everything but configs with prices - maybe tomorrow]
Hi Psydeways,
Yeah I’ve posted about the Lenovo U150 being up at Lenovo.com in an earlier post. Thanks, though.
I’m really loving the keyboard on this U150, I thought it might be a bit cramped but it’s great. I just hate the reverse ctrl + fn like they do on their netbooks.
Touchpad feels great, there’s some kind of texture on the touchpad is it’s not smooth and it easily has the best buttons I’ve used on a notebook or netbook. Size is good too.
I have a few issues with it though. Mouse cursor movement is jerky. Imagine plugging in an early 1990 ball mouse into your computer right now.. It woule be kind of like that. Second, two fingered scrolling is unresponsive and just frustrating.
I hope driver updates fix this, but right now there is only one driver up for sound (on the Japanese site, none on the US site)
Thanks for participating!
Hopefully the US site will be filled out today. I’ve had two thinkpad/lenovo notebooks - Lenovo is very good about updating drivers. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu.
Loveleeeee!!!
I’m planning on purchasing a Windows 7 netbook very, very soon. (I’m actually looking at my friends’ Win7 netbooks and seeing how they perform…)
I like the CULV procs more than the Atom ones. The only small issue for me here is the graphics solution. I usually watch DVDs on my long trips, pairing my current ASUS EEE netbook with this funky DIGISTOR USB DVD drive - http://www.digistor.com/Digistor-External-DVD-Burner-USB-2-Tray-Load-Drive - for DVD playback and some burning capability.
Is the Intel GMA gonna be ok for that or do I need to look for one that has an nVidia ION graphics solution?
Other than that, this beauty looks nice indeed.
Netbooks or these CULV ones (or pretty much any computer for over a decade+) have no problems playing DVDs.. when it comes to HD videos though (eg. Blu-ray), these CULV notebooks can play 1080P HD video out of the box.
ION is only going to help if you play games right now but early next year it will enable to watch YouTube HD video smoothly. This netbook can already do this well.
Thanks for participating!
Could you help me regarding that sim card.. does it just “lay” in the that opening? I just got the U150 and in looking at that area on mine, there is a piece of what appears to be black tape accross that “circuit board area” where the sim card would go.. do I remove that tape and just “set” the card on it and put the battery back in and it will work?
There’s no SIM card slot.. just some designs in that area which suggests there could be models with 3G.
Thanks for participating!
Thanks for your reply. That is what is confusing. The manual states you can use a SIM card and shows that area in the example.. however as you stated.. there is no slot to slide the card in to and it does not seem logical to just “lay” the card in the opening and somehow it connects to the metal connections under that tape. Perhaps as you stated some models might come that way and when ordering that might need to be specified. I did try Best Buy and their Geek Squad and Lenovo directly and no one seems to know! Thanks again.. Have a great New Year.