11.6” Lenovo IdeaPad U150 (SU2300, 6-Cell Battery) Review
Review Summary
Updates
The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 excels in most areas (sound, superb keyboard, 5 hour battery life) and really has some great build quality in a sector where most netbooks are mostly cheap plastics. No major drawbacks but rather a few minor annoyances like the switched Fn + CTRL keys and the slightly protruding 6-cell battery.
I recommend this notebook to anyone looking for more power than a netbook (play YouTube HD, 1080P HD videos), doesn’t mind a 5 hour battery life, wants something just as portable (as a netbook) and is fed up of cheap plastics.
Where to Buy?
You can buy the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 straight from Lenovo.com., or Amazon.com (SU2300 model)
Pros
- Excellent build quality / feel
- Excellent keyboard
- 5 hour battery life
- 1080P HD video playback
- HD YouTube playack
- Good sound quality
- Best quality (feel) touchpad I’ve seen
Cons
- CTRL + Fn keys swapped
- No F12 key (need to use Fn key)
- Two-fingered scrolling not very responsive
- 6-cell battery increases thickness, protrudes
- Could be a tiny bit quieter
Lenovo IdeaPad U150 Deals & Coupons see all
Introduction
The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 is Lenovo’s 11.6-inch entry into the low cost thin-and-light notebook space. It’s been available here in Japan for almost a month now and is now just available in the USA (more expensive) priced from $699 with two models.
Here were my thoughts after a couple of days of using the Lenovo IdeaPad U150:
Box Contents
Nothing much in the box. The U150 itself along with the A/C cable and brick and then some user / start guide manuals and warranty. That’s it. No recovery media but you can easily create your own with the software provided by Lenovo or through Windows 7 Home Premium.
Check out the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 unboxing video:
IdeaPad U150 Specs
There are two models. The lower end model (Red) has a dual-core Pentium SU4100 (1.3GHz) processor, 3GB RAM and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for $699. The higher end model (Black) has a Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor (1.3GHz), 4GB RAM, and 802.11n Wi-Fi for $849. Currently there are no configurable options. Check out Lenovo.com for more details.
Specs may vary depending on region.
- Intel Celeron SU2300 (dual-core, 1.2GHz) OR Pentium Dual-core SU4100 (1.3GHz) OR Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.3GHz) Processors
- 11.6” 1366 x 768 display (glossy, 194 cd/m2)
- Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit / 64-bit OS)
- 2GB - 4GB DDR3 RAM
- 250GB - 320GB HDD (5400RPM, 2.5” SATA)
- APS - Active Shock Protection
- Intel GS45 Chipset / GMA 4500MHD OR GMA X4500 Graphics
- 802.11 b/g OR b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (optional)
- Gigabit LAN
- 5-in-1 Card Reader, HDMI, VGA, mic in, audio out (S/PDIF), LAN, 3x USB 2.0 (one is eSATA compatible), Kensington lock
- Multi-touch touchpad (two fingered scrolling)
- 1.3MP Webcam
- Dolby Sound Room, Stereo Speakers
- 6-Cell Li-ion Battery (4680mAh - rated at 7.5 hours)
- 3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg Weight (6-cell battery)
Layout
On the front: Nothing but the card reader and stereo speakers.
On the left: Air vent, VGA, USB / eSATA combo and HDMI out.
On the right: Kensington lock, A/C, LAN, 2x USB, microphone and headphone jacks and a Wi-Fi switch.
On the back: Nothing, though there is an SIM card slot indication behind the battery (I couldn’t actually see any slot though)
On the inside: There are a row of buttons at the top from the left: power, recovery and speaker on/off buttons. There is a single speaker hole to the far right. Status indicators here as well as at the bottom of the touchpad.
Software
I don’t normally mention software because most of the stuff you get on notebooks is useless but it’s worth mentioning a few in the case of the Lenovo U150:
OneKey Recovery - first thing you should do after getting into Windows 7 is creating some bootable media. Windows 7 now has a similar function built-in but I do not know yet if this will restore your whole hard drive including all partitions. The U150 ships with a hidden restorable boot partition which you can activate at any time using the arrow button next to the power button.
Dolby Control Panel - not installed by default, but is installable straight from the control panel. Noticeably improves sound quality using Dolby Sound Room technology.
Lenovo Veriface - face recognition for logging into your IdeaPad U150. Works very well. Other users can leave video messages for you at the login screen which seems like an odd feature. There are a few customizable options regarding the face recognition feature.
Energy Management - this software resides in the dock and controls power saving. You’ve got various settings to choose from: Energy Star, High Performance, Balance Mode, Energy Saver and Super Energy Saver. All these settings give you various configurable options such as setting particular brightness levels on A/C and battery mode to throttling CPU speed (low, auto, high) with the lowest battery setting allowing you to explicitly turn off the sound card, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Wireless and choose a low color mode.
Active Protection System - Will shut off the hard drive in the case of a hard fall or knock. It’s pretty unintrusive, not getting in the way like it did with the Toshiba NB205 (a slight tilt of the machine would bring up a warning message). There are plenty of configurable options and there’s a cool rotating 3D model which mimics and shows your machines actual movements and bumps and tells you when it shuts down the hard drive.
Build Quality
One reason the IdeaPad U150 may not be as good value as some other 11.6-inchers on the market (like the AS1410) is because the build quality is so much higher. I will take the AS1410 as an example: It feels cheap all over with plastics covering almost the entirety of the machine. The U150 on the other hand has much nicer, more solid feeling material all over. The lid and palm rest areas have a nice very subtle texture and pattern etched across their surfaces which isn’t as loud as you might have seen in official IdeaPad U150 promo pictures, which I found pretty ugly myself, but having it person I’ve changed my mind completely.
The palm rest and lid areas do not pick up fingerprints. In my pictures here, I have not wiped the lid and you can barely notice the fingerprints.
One last thing that surprised me is that the screen is extremely thin, and I haven’t noticed this for a long time on any notebook / netbook. To put that in perspective, the lid / screen on the AS1410 has to be twice as thick.
Display
The IdeaPad U150 sports an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display which you will find on all 11.6-inch netbooks. It has good brightness and colors and nothing seems out of the ordinary. I measured a maximum brightness of 194 cd/m2 which is more than enough for indoors. I ended up using the U150 at about 50% brightness most of the time. The screen folds back 135 degrees which I find flexible enough for most situations and there was no situation where I couldn’t get an optimal viewing angle. The below pic shows how far the IdeaPad U150 folds back:
Here’s a comparison of brightness levels between various machines I’ve reviewed lately:
For people who hate glossy displays / notebooks, the screen and surrounding black bezel are both glossy and pick up fingerprints. Luckily apart from only the screen bezel and the part above the keyboard, these are the only fingerprint suspectible areas on the IdeaPad U150.
Keyboard
* Note that I have a Japanese keyboard
When I first started spotting IdeaPad U150 pictures online I was a little worried about the keyboard since there were large enough gaps on each side of the chassis. Lenovo doesn’t take full advantage of the chassis but I’m glad to report that the keyboard size is just large enough so keyboard size is not an issue. The keys are in traditional style, and the keys feel very good and give great feedback. In fact it’s one of my favorite keyboards I’ve used for a long time. There is a big trend with notebooks moving to chiclet keyboards but I sometimes forget how great the traditional style keyboard feels and it’s even better in a lot of cases.
My first gripe is the switched CTRL and Fn keys which does take getting used to if you love doing keyboard shortcuts and it’s especially tricky doing SHIFT + CTRL shortcuts. There is no BIOS option to change this.
My second gripe is that there is no F12 key, at least on this Japanese keyboard. You need to use the Fn key to access it. I don’t recall ever needing to use this in Windows, but when rebooting, I somehow need to use this to activate the DVD burner.
There is a tiny bit of keyboard flex if you press hard enough, but in a normal typing situation it shouldn’t be noticeable.
Touchpad
Update: Reinstalling Windows 7 seems to have solved the jumpy / slightly unresponsive touchpad. I think maxing out the movement sensitivity of the mouse cursor may have attributed to the jumpy scrolling.
The touchpad on the IdeaPad U150 is one of the nicest feeling touchpads I’ve ever come across on any notebook ever. There’s a very subtle texture running across the surface which isn’t as noticeable or unsettling like on the Eee PC Seashell range and the two touchpad buttons are very soft to the touch and are not noisy which is very rare on a netbook at least. The size of the touchpad is large enough and it supports multi-touch gestures.
My first annoyance: Multi-touch gestures on the IdeaPad U150. You can do two fingered scrolling horizontally and vertically but I found it rather jumpy and occasionally unresponsive and it always ends up annoying me so I ended up reverting back to edge scrolling. There is three finger support mentioned in the Synaptics control panel but I am unable to get it to work. It is supposed to bring up an app but it never works for me.
The last, rather minor annoyance is the motion of the mouse cursor with the touchpad. The motion of the mouse cursor is not smooth. The best description I think that fits is of those old ball mice in the early 1990’s which had very low DPI. It doesn’t actually affect the mouse movement and it doesn’t bother me now that I’m used to it but it certainly was unsettling for the first few days. I am hoping a BIOS update will fix this. I have confirmed this is a Windows driver issue because the cursor is fast and smooth under Ubuntu 9.10 and with using the Lenovo recovery program.
Noise
The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 emits low noise from the fan and it’s slightly quieter than the Acer Aspire 1410 at it’s lowest fan level. When the fan level ramps up, after having the U150 on for a while, it seems to be on about the same level as the 1410 though somehow I find it occasionally gets on my nerves sometimes when using it at night in a quiet room. Perhaps it’s the pitch or the fact that it wavers ever so slightly in loudness. In every other situation outside of that, the noise is a non-issue. Bottom line is occasionally wish it were a little quieter when using it in a very quiet room but I can live with it.
Performance
The IdeaPad U150 sports a dual-core Intel Celeron SU2300 processor (1.2GHz). Don’t let the low clock speed figure put you off. The processor is a notch above any netbook out there and handles HD YouTube almost perfectly. I say almost perfectly because a side by side comparison with my desktop PC reveals the SU2300 playback isn’t 100% smooth, but it’s very hard to notice most of the time.
You can check out the video of my Acer Aspire 1410 which has the same SU2300 processor and see how it handles HD YouTube:
Thanks to the integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics and Windows 7 Home Premium, you can play certain 1080P video formats straight out of the box without needing any special software. I recommend installing MPC-HC to get the best performance you can get with 1080P video and for those extra codecs you will need.
Check out 1080P HD video playback on my Acer Aspire 1410 which has the same specs:
I’ve used the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 as a desktop replacement for a day or two and I did not notice any huge differences in speed from my desktop machine for my regular workflow which is mostly working in the browser. Things did slow down when processing photos from my digital webcam or having tons of web browser pages open which is a bad habit of mine. I also notice a little bit of lag when dragging around Windows very quickly.
Here are some results using the Liliputing Benchmark set:
I’m comparing the 11.6” Lenovo IdeaPad U150 to my desktop machine and a 13.3” ASUS UL30. It will be updated as I get new data. No real difference between the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 and Acer Aspire AS1410. The U150 has a faster HDD so that accounts for the slightly faster scores for the ZIP and COPY tests.
Here are some results from games:
| Game | Best Settings |
|---|---|
| Warcraft 3 | 1366 x 768, maxed details, fast |
| Zombie Shooter 2 | 1280 x 720, maxed details, fast |
| Half Life 2 : Episode 2 | 1280 x 600, lowest details, playable |
| COD 4 | 1280 x 600, lowest details, playable |
Sound / Speaker Quality
The sound quality from the speakers of the Lenovo IdeaPad U150 are very good but could use more in the bass department. Luckily you can improve bass by using the Dolby Control Center and checking the ‘natural bass’ and ‘sound space expander’ options to improve sound quality (in your start menu - not enabled by default). Sound volume should be loud enough for a small room. Speakers (stereo) are located at the bottom front underneath fancily designed patterns.
Webcam & Speaker Quality
I tested the microphone and webcam in both Skype and Lenovo’s own EasyCapture software. You can easily do 720P video capture quality, though movement is very slow at this resolution. Reducing the size and you can get decent frame rates with video. In dark rooms I can still get a very decent quality image. As for the microphone, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, quality is pretty good and I didn’t notice any background noise with default settings.
Battery Life
The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 should come with either a 3-cell or 6-cell battery. Depending on where you live the 3-cell battery option will not be available. Lenovo gives a 7.5 hour figure for battery life for the 6-cell. The battery specs: 57Wh, 4680mAh.
Here are some battery life figures below (note I have the Celeron SU2300 processor, the higher end processors may yield different results):
| Battery Life | Test |
|---|---|
| 4 hours, 44 mins | Real usage - 30% brightness, Wi-Fi ON, BT ON, HDMI connected to 24-inch monitor |
| 4 hours, 30 mins | Looped 480P video - 30% brightness, Wi-Fi OFF, BT OFF |
| 4 hours, 23 mins | Looped 720P video - 30% brightness, Wi-Fi OFF, BT OFF |
| 4 hours, 6 mins | Looped 1080P video - 30% brightness, Wi-Fi OFF, BT OFF |
And comparing the IdeaPad U150 with the most recent netbooks / notebooks I have reviewed, using the 480P video test (2nd row in above table):
You can expect just under 5 hours of battery life with real life usage which in my case is 80% web browsing (along with you YouTube videos and music filling the next 20%) at 30% brightness and with Wi-Fi / Bluetooth ON. I’m not sure how much power is consumed using the HDMI port and not using it may give you even more battery life.
Upgrades
Underneath the IdeaPad U150 there are two access panels. The large one of the left gives you access to RAM and the HDD. The smaller one on the left gives you access to a half-sized Mini PCI-e Wi-Fi card and an empty PCI-e slot which I couldn’t get to work. Windows 7 would not register anything when I plugged in a Broadcom Crystal HD Player card. I had this same issue on the Lenovo S10-2 (where it worked fine swapping out the Wi-Fi card).
Size & Weight
The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 weighs 3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg. The 6-cell battery weighs 350g and the notebook itself (without battery) weighs 1.1kg / 2.43 lbs.
Here’s a weight comparison chart between my recent reviews of a 10-inch, another 11-inch and a 13-inch netbook and notebooks. Compared to the closest in weight (the Acer Aspire AS1410) I can discern the difference in weight between both, but it’s so close there’s not much practical difference. On the other hand, the bulging 6-cell battery does make it more difficult to slip into sleeves or bags compared to the Aspire 1410 for example.
The size of the IdeaPad U150: 190 mm x 290 mm x 25 mm / 7.4” x 11.4” x 0.98” (w x l x h). So it’s just under an inch thick all along, except if you take the 6-cell battery into account the height at the back reaches 35 mm / 1.37”.
The keyboard size is 258 mm x 101mm / 10.16” x 3.97”. Width of the home row keys (A-L) is 165mm / 6.49”. Touchpad size is 67 mm x 40 mm / 2.64” x 1.57”.
Below, I’ve compared the IdeaPad U150 with some everyday objects:
And some images of me holding it with one hand (pretty easily at that):
The power brick is small which is great and has that velcro to easily wind it up, but the other end is rather bulky and has no velcro. Look at the mess below:
Heat
I left the IdeaPad U150 on for an hour playing HD YouTube video and recorded the following temperatures (note I have the Celeron SU2300 processor, the higher end processors will probably yield different temperatures):
On the top: Left palmrest = 34.1 C / 93 F, touchpad = 35.8 C / 96 F3, right palmrest = 34 C / 93 F
Temperatures on the palm rests feel warm. The touchpad gets slightly warmer than the palm rests.
On the bottom: bottom-left = 42.4 C / 108 F, bottom-right = 37.7 C / 100 F, top-right: 37.4 C / 99 F, top-left = 40.2 C / 104 F .
Temperatures on the bottom get hotter towards the left side. I would say it feels extremely warm.
Exhaust air coming out of the left can get warm at times.
The lid always remains very cool and is always cold when I go pick it up in the mornings.
Linux
Ubuntu 9.10 installed easily enough. Wi-Fi does not work. I connected through Ethernet and proceeded with an update. It didn’t change anything though. Screen brightness applet and hotkeys don’t work either. Neither does the sound control panel, but sound is working. Resume from standby works well. You can probably get around the Wi-Fi by installing another half sized Mini-PCI or using a Wi-Fi dongle. I tried plugging in a Buffalo Wireless N dongle but that wasn’t recognized.
Reader Comments (45)
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- 03/16 a says:
what country make this core celeron chip
- 03/15 Peter says:
According to my battery test, I’d expect about…
- 03/15 Michael C. says:
Looks really cool but too bad the screen is glossy.
… - 03/14 N says:
There are four or five small black screws on the…
- 03/14 Beny says:
Can the Revo be made fanless? Or if not, can the…
Nice man.But i wonder ,do you have any ideea when that Gigabyte Booktop is coming out? It seems the best netbook on the market..
Which model of the Gigabyte Booktop? The 13-incher or the 10-incher M1022M or M1022X with the 1366 x 768 display? The M1022M has been on the market for several months already.
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As always, great review Peter!
Regarding the fn and ctrl keys, by any chance is it possible to change them around through a bios setting?
A couple of reviews i’m looking forward to include:
a) HP DM1
b) Gateway EC14 (its on their official website but I can’t find any place that actually sells it)
Great review, definitely made my mind up on this as the netbook for me. One question - can you swap out the hard disk? I have an SSD that I’d like to put in, but the last time I used IBM laptops (Thinkpad T41), it refused to accept anything other than a genuine IBM spare.
If you could change the hard disk for another and see if it works that’d be great.
Was also wondering about the WLAN card as I’d swap it out for a 5300, but hey ho!
Thanks
Rob, as of yet, I do not see any BIOS option for switching around those keys. I know future ThinkPad series will have this option available so I’m hoping it makes it’s way over to the IdeaPads….
I have the HP DM1 coming tomorrow hopefully, and I will do a 3-way shoot-out!
elf: I don’t have any other HDDs / SSDs lying around so I can test that out. Neither do I have a spare half-sized Mini PCI-e wireless card lying around.
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I’m not sure but i think the 13-inch model ,which has one dock with graphic card integrated. Do you know when it will be the release date and the price? Thanks :)
There is no info on release date / pricing yet for the Booktop M1035.
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The build quality looks really nice, and the other touches might convince me if (a) it wasn’t so expensive, and (b) the multitouch gestures worked properly. I’m particularly unimpressed by (b). This is expected of any laptop or netbook at this point, don’t know why they couldn’t get it right.
Thanks for the review Peter. Lots of detail as always. I think I’ll probably go for an Acer, maybe the 1810 given their lower prices…
Fanfoot.. I’ve reinstalled Windows 7 and it seems to be working properly again.. I think one cause for it was increasing the mouse sensitivity.
There’s no two fingered swipes for going back and forth in the browser which is a shame.
Thanks for participating!
Any idea of battery life under linux? Thanks.
I was unable to continue using Ubuntu because I could not get Wi-Fi working, either the built-in Wi-Fi or a Wireless N dongle I have. That meant I couldn’t test out battery life, at least properly.
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I just ordered a U150 based on your very well presented review. Subsequently, I ran across this thread on the Lenovo forums, and now I’m terrified.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-Y-and-U-series-Laptops/poor-battery-life-on-U330/td-p/54142
Apparently for other U series laptops there’s a serious and well documented problem with the batteries. In the time you had the U150, did you notice any significant degradation of battery capacity?
Thanks.
I only had the IdeaPad U150 for a month which wouldn’t be enough time to notice any degradation.
Isn’t that a problem with all Lithium-Ion batteries anyway?
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Not as described in that thread—20% capacity loss within a week of use.
Order canceled. The U150 looks greate, but I’ll wait for more data.
Thanks for the reply!
Dear Peter,
Thank you for the review. It helped persuade me to order the Lenovo over the weekend, though I sent for the core 2 duo. Can you give us some pointers on how you went about installing Ubuntu—and do you have any thoughts about a distribution like Jolicloud perhaps would work over wireless?
Mark
Hey. Awsome review. Lenovo typically makes quality stuff, and toghether with the US model being $636 with free shipping instead of $850 + shipping makes me wanna buy this. I was curious, you mentioned in person the texture doesnt look so sharp from the promo pictures, i was concerned as well with it being too “loud”, especially on the palmtop. In the video the texture on the palmtop looks nice and subtle, but i cant tell from the video quality. How would you rate that? Ive decided between this or the new gateway EC with similar specs….but id rather go with the lenovo if it looks nice
Pete:
that’s pretty shocking! I plan on getting a U150 again for keeps this time, so I will have to keep an eye on that.
Mark:
I installed Ubuntu 9.10 via a portable DVD burner. I can’t verify if Wi-Fi will actually work as I don’t have the U150 anymore.
Evan:
The texturing is much more subtle in real life - Lenovo’s press shots apply all sorts of filters to make the images look nice - but it’s overdone. I’m not really a fan of designs / pictures or textures on my laptops, I like a clean look, but this doesn’t bother me in the least.
Thanks for participating!
Pete—
Very good review. I have decided to get the model based on the SU7300 CPU because it enables virtualization.
Could you post the model of sleeve you were using in the “impressions over the first few days” video? It seems like it has a nice snug fit.
Thanks.
The sleeve I used was a ZeroShock 3 Case. I don’t remember the exact size but it would have been a 10-inch sized one because I got one way before any 11.6-inchers came out. I see there are 11-inch sized ones though so that’d be a better fit. The one I had was a wee little too tight for comfort.
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I am one of the first people to receive the Lenovo Ideapad U150 in the US and I have to say….I LOVE IT!!!!
I am an engineer and know technology.
I ordered the ASUS thin and light UL30A - X2 with major defects (wifi quality with Atheros netword card and terrible touchpad) made the laptop unusable for browsing the internet.
So I researched and stumbled upon the Lenovo Ideapad. I have Lenovo Thinkpad T61 for work and know that Lenovo is a realiable brand. After researching with Consumer Reports, Lenovo is rated #1 in laptop reliability (least repairs). So I knew that the odd are better with Lenovo.
However, I could not find a single user review other than this one from Japan.
Finally, the UPS (aka Santa) delivered by Christmas present. Here are my impressions:
1) 11.6 inch is perfect size to carry on a plan on your lap. The screen is just big enough that you don’t continuously scroll like the 10inchers.
2) The keyboard and touchpad feels sooooo good. It’s easy to type on and scroll with the touchpad. The ASUS was so unusable that I had to connect it to an external device in order to do basic internet browsing.
3) The looks is very cute and nice. Great looking machine.
4) Performance is great with playing videos however, playing 1080p HD video is slow because of the download (perhaps it’s the internet connection speed)
Here are the Cons:
1) The brick for the battery is a monster. It does not allow the laptop to be perfectly flat and flushed. It’s the only unattractive thing about this laptop.
2) Gloss screen is too glossy. When the brightness is not 100%, it’s hard to see the screen in a brightly lit room. Viewing from the side is not as clear.
3) The cover is in black, the same color as all of Lenovo’s Thinkpad computers. While they offer red in the lesser featured U150, I wish they offer another color for the U150 higher end version. Perhaps white, silver, etc… Something cooler to match the quality of the computer.
(For readers just coming to this review, check out the companion piece comparing the u150 to the Acer Aspire 1410 vs HP Pavilion DM1 which contains extensive discussion of the u150 CPUC options and other u150 issues.)
I agree with LaptopDreamers comments (my black u150 arrived yesterday).
Peter’s review complained about the Fn key being to the left of the Ctrl key which confuses him. I just note for better or worse that Lenovo has the same key arrangement on the Thinkpad T400.
Some very preliminary impressions of the u150 (black).
The battery is large and protrudes from the back bottom of the laptop making the back of the laptop more than twice as thick as the front. Lenovo lists the depth at 1.35”. However that was a selective and misleading measurement. The depth from the top of the closed laptop to the main part of the battery is 1.35”. However, the battery has two “legs” - small rectangular nipples (clearly visible in the photos at the beginning of the review), that lift the battery off the surface and add about .15” to the depth, making the total depth 1.5”. This becomes important for trying to fit the u150 into a case, particularly a hard-shelled case which all seem to be made for thinner laptops. I have a Pelican Hardback 1080 CC case designed for 11.6” netbooks with the specs on paper to hold it easily. Well I can barely the u150 in, and only if I remove ALL the foam cushioning from the case.
Currently I am using a Rosewill Black/Red 13.3” Vertical Messenger for Netbooks and Portable Notebooks Model RBG-13301MS which works fine other than the fact it is larger than I need and would wish.
Switching from my normal 24” monitor to 1366 x 768 on my u150—quick the reading glasses- the print is tiny! Zoom, zoom!
(I think I’m going to post any further comments under the original u150 review on this site.)
Laptop Dreamer and JimS, thanks for your thoughts on the U150.
Seems like the biggest gripe is the protruding battery adding to the height and making it more difficult to shove into a 11-inch sized case.
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Looks like Lenovo has upped the shipping, I ordered on 12/14 and it arrived at my door on 12/16 ... shipped from Noth Carolina.
Anyways very good build quality, better than Gateway or Acer 1410 versions and the keyboard and mousepad are best that I have used on a 11.6 or 10 inch netbook
To fix the Mouse jerkiness, just bring up your synaptics mouse properties, there is an option called Momentum under the device settings tab ->settings->Pointing, set the Glide distance to short (smallest) and click on apply. After that the mouse pointer glides like butter.
Okay I have now found out the real reason the mouse was jerky. The Windows Experience Index for Windows Aero was 2 with the factory drivers. I upgraded to Intel’s latest driver from Intel’s website to 8.15.10.1986 and the Windows Experience Index for Windows Aero jumped to 3.2 and programs feel more snappier now. The mouse now redraws faster and not jerky when moved. If you enable Momentum option as mentioned in my above comment then it becomes buttery smooth and glides even more nicely.
The battery doesn’t bother me, it gives the laptop a nice incline to type on. Also I’m almost certain a 3 cell battery will be available soon, that will make this laptop 0.75 inch thin which will be perfect.
Awesome thanks for those tips on the mouse course Immier. When I get another one I will have to test that out.
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Immier - thanks for the tip about adjusting the Momentum glide setting. I am confused about your updating the “driver”. The Synaptics driver version on my black u150 is: 13.2.4.12 (July 14, 2009). Was that the driver you updated?
My black u150 showed a 3.2 Windows Experience rating out of the box, limited by the graphics parts of the rating. (The other scores are: Processor - 4.1; Memory RAM - 4.8; Hard disk data transfer rate - 5.5).
I updated the Intel Graphics driver from Intel’s website. I have the black version too but there was something wrong as mine Windows experience for Aero was 2 out of the box, when I re-ran the Windows Experience again it always failed after the first attempt. After I upgraded the graphics driver from Intels website, everything is fine now, I now get a Windows Aero and 3D graphics experience of 3.2. You may not need to upgrade but if you want to try the new drivers, they are here.
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Default.aspx?lang=eng
You will need to get the 64 bit Windows 7 home premium drivers for Mobile Intel 4 Express chipset family of drivers. You will see them after you set the filters in above download link.
There are newer drivers for the Synaptics touchpad at synaptics website (v14) but I have not experimented with those as the glide setting works pretty good for me now. Also I have now figured out the multitouch capability of this laptop, at first it was frustating but now it works consistently once you know were to place your fingers for single, two or three finger swipes. I love the circular finger motion to scroll web pages forward or backwards. Under the wheel tab of the mouse properties I set the wheel notch from 3 to 1 to make web pages or documents scroll more smoothly when using the touchpad to scroll.
JimS,
I posted a detailed message with a download link to the driver but my message got rejected, saying it may be spam and would be moderated before posting.
I updated the Intel GMA graphics driver and not the synaptics driver. Hopefully my detailed reply is not lost and Peter can post it after looking at it.
Your post is up now! Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks for participating!
Thanks for the clarification about the Intel graphics driver. As received by me, my black u150 showed a driver 8.15.10.1872 dated 8/13/2009. When I pressed the “Update driver” button, I got a response that the driver was up to date. So, I’m not going to worry about that.
I just installed the 64 bit version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.6 on laptop, and preliminary indications are that it will run fine on this, even if the screen is a bit wee for photo aps.
If anyone is looking for carrying cases for this laptop, I have found some that are perfect fit.
For Sleeve, the Targus 12” A7 slipcase fits it pretty good. This sleeve has very good protection. Targus also makes a slim 12” version but you loose some of the protection that the A7 provides.
For cases, for a very small and light case I have found the Samsonite model #938390 fits it very nicely. Although this case says it’s for netbooks upto to 10.2”, the case has a compartment of 11.5 x9 x1.5 which the U150 slides nicely into it. It has a detachable shoulder strap and two zippers which can carry the power brick and cable and a back pocket for tickets and boarding pass and other small things. I found this case at office depot , although their website does not show it. If I google, this model, it does not show up, but if you google “samsonite 938395”, there is a few hits and you can see the picture (BeachAudio seems to carry some). This is the smallest case I have found that can fit the U150, its power brick and cables plus a few other things like SD card, pen etc. The case is also slim that you can through it into a larger case when travelling.
I would like to know what cases you folks are using?
I am a newcomer to this site, and many thanks to excellent work by Peter! I stumbled upon it (and the lenovo U150) quite by chance when I googled “CULV computers”. As has been written, elsewhere on this site, there have been virtually no reviews of the U150 Other than peter’s) and a ton of info on Acer Asus etc
Like many, I suspect, I have talked my way up the ladder from a $400 netbook, to a ultra light or ultra thin computer, and have done the same with leaving the Atom processor behind (even the Atom 450) and moving to the Core 2 Duo ULV SU7300 processor. Whether I need NOW the extra power is debatable , but I would like to have the flexibility going forward. (I am not constrained by an additional $50 or even $100 - this is a many-year investment)
Over weeks, I have looked at: Asus 1201N and UL 20A, Acer 1810T, Samsung N510, HP mini 311, and Lenovo S12. As one poster said, it would be nice to have the Nvidia ION graphics coupled with the Core 2 Duo but one with 11 -12inch screen doesnt seem to be available now. (probably will be announced in January at CES, bur for delivery when ??)
Of all the above, I had settled on the Acer 1810T, priced at $600, but not available for immediate delivery anywhere on the internet. then I came across Peter’s site, and the discussion of the U150 (which is now available with discounts for only $50 more than the 1810T) and the Lenovo IS available, it seems
I am not that computer-savvy, but using common sense in comparing the specs of the two, it seems that the Lenovo equals or exceeds the 1810T in ALL areas. (Example: Memory DDR3 for U150 vs. DDR2 for 1810T) I don’t know how important the differences are but at least, the Lenovo seemingly has the some advantage everywhere (except for a 4-in-1 card reader vs 1810T handling xD picture card as well)
So…I would like the U150 but am wondering about why lenovo hasnt greater market penetration. What am I seeing and otehrs are not? Why are Acer and Asus getting so much more fine reviews? Am I missing something being a newby? Does lenovo not pay the major reviewing web sites? The above is even more puzzling because of the U150s better build , so it seems. Are there support issues with Lenovo??? Are there design flaws?
Anyhow, that got long-winded. I would appreciate any thoughts fellow posters have. I would like to go with the U150 but would sure like to be convinced by facts, confirmed by other readers
Thanks for sharing (and listening)
After having posted the above, I saw mention of a pending debut of the Thinkpad X100e, with specs very similar to the U150, and a similar launch price, it is rumored
Can someone explain the differences?
Dear Jim F,
I work in high tech and a proud owner of the Lenovo U150 (Laptop Dreamer review above).
I also use a Lenovo for work and every time I travel, every other business person uses one for work. According to Consumer Reports, Lenovo is rated #1 in laptop reliability.
I too bought an ASUS and returned it after 3 weeks of terrible build quality and clueless, poor customer service. Acer is in the same league.
The reason Lenovo is not widely known in the consumer market is that they are a brand that started with a business market focus. So naturally, they are not as strong in the marketing department for the consumer space.
You should go with Lenovo. It is a high quality machine in every way.
Thanks, Dreamer.
It seems that the ‘experts’ on Thinkpads feel very differently about Thinkpads and Ideapads. See this site and info exchanged. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432195&page=6. these people are quite disparaging about Ideapads, stating that in build quality, the U series is no better than the lower priced Acer and Asus. (please dont blame me for those remarks - I am a messenger)
So…if there is any truth to those statements, the Thinkpad X100e may be a better choice but I know we have to wait until the actual specs are released. Do u or others wish to comment on this Thinkpad X100 at this stage. I am intrigued about this can squeeze itself between the U150 and X200
Also, I did some checking on IWS (international warranty service). It seems the U series is not covered. see here http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=LOOK-IWS#sw
I have always disliked the looks of thinkpads compared to the competition. The design is very boring and has not changed much externally ever since I layed my hands on one in the 90’s, today they still look the same. I tried a T500 the other day and I was thinking all the time, man this is one ugly laptop.
I was very hestitant to get the U150 at first, but after I saw the pictures and this review I gave it a shot and I’m very happy with my decision as their consumer line seems to try different design’s than the normal Thinkpad line. If the Thinkpad X100e is anything like the spy pictures on the net then it is very ugly. The photos also show chicklet keys on the x100e, I prefer the non flat tactil keys of the U150.
I have tried the Acer 1410 / 1810TZ - u2300 / u4100 processor version, its a nice laptop for the price but compared to the U150 I find the build quality of Acer to be less and they seem to use too much plastic. The U150 (black version) seems more professional and business looking with sharper looks.
Great review.
Have you tried swapping out the wifi card and placing there the Broadcom Crystal HD? Maybe the second mini pci-e is not a full slot with all the lines (accepting only 3g modules and usb ones)
Kurosama: The Wi-Fi PCI-e slot is half sized so I couldn’t fit it in.
You could be right about the second PCI-e slot. I have no idea why it doesn’t work. I experienced the same thing on the IdeaPad S10-2 as well.
Thanks for participating!
First of all, thank you for your great reviews! I enjoy reading them a lot!
Well, I was wondering if there were any major differences between the Lenovo U150 and the U350 model apart from screen size (and battery life). I’m particularly interested in build quality, as I’ve seen some reviews where people complained about the U350 in that regard.
Keep up your good work!
I haven’t even looked at the U350 to be honest, so I don’t have any opinions on it. I don’t cover notebooks larger than 13-inch which is why I haven’t looked at it.
Thanks for participating!
All right! Thx anyway!
Well I just realized that the Lenovo U350 has a 13.3 inch display like the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T and you did a review on that. Can we expect a comparison between the U150 and the U350 some day? That’d be neat!
Thanks for the great review. I bought the U150 during the winter sale and got something comparable to the Asus variations for a best value buy.
Is your ZS3 sleeve the 10.8 or 11.4 inch sleeve?
I measure my U150 across and it’s around 11.5 inches as spec’d.
So did you really buy a 11.4 inch sleeve or is there enough wiggle room in a 10.8 to accomodate 0.7 more inches in width?
Hey Peter,
Not sure if you know information like this, but I was wondering if you knew if this laptop is expected to be released in Australia anytime soon?
Cheers,
Robin