Ideapad U400

[edhardt]

Hello all.

Does anyone know when the U400 will be release via Lenovo's or Microsoft's website? And does anyone know if it will be different from the one featured on Amazon right now?

If you have any other relevant links to reviews/videos/user photos, please post them! I am having a very difficult time finding reviews of it.


Thanks!

[r0b.t]

I too am very interested in more information on this machine. I have all but given up on the release of the Samsung Series 7 Chronos and hope that, in the U400, Lenovo will save me from having to shell out obscene money on an MBP.

I am particularly interested in the display and GPU performance. Both take a hit in comparison to both the MBP and the S7 but i wonder if they are up to much. I intend to use for moderate gaming, MMOs mostly but other modern games at moderate settings. Does this machine have what it takes?

[k2001]

I would not hold my breathe for Lenovo to fit a decent screen on the u400. The GPU performance will be only slightly better than the lower-end Macbook Pro 15.

[edhardt]

I'm trying to decide between the U400 and the samsung series 7 chronos.


I like the design of the U400 better, although the 7 is nice too.


I think the 7 series has a few things that better the U400, being the backlit keyboard, 'max' matte screen w/ 1600x900, and the 8gb ssd on the motherboard, assuming that makes a significant difference, and possible i7.

The U400 is lower in price, slimmer, and has a better design in my opinion. And to my knowledge the 7 series comes with a 7200rpm standard whereas the U400 is only 5400.

[Thors.Hammer]

I looked at the 15.6" Samsung Series 7 today at BestBuy. I need to see the 14" because I didn't like the big 15.6".

It also appeared the demo unit in BB wasn't working fully. The function keys for screen brightness weren't working so I could not tell how it was set.

I was impressed with the design. It looks pretty cool. The slim bezel around the LCD panel looks nice.

I bet the 14" is killer. I'd much rather have the Series 7 machine over the Series 9.

[r0b.t]

I would not hold my breathe for Lenovo to fit a decent screen on the u400. The GPU performance will be only slightly better than the lower-end Macbook Pro 15.

My thoughts exactly. I'm trying to remain optimistic though. It seems insane to me that only Apple offer the mix of design, style and performance that i am looking for in a laptop. The high end 15" MBP with the hi-res screen will cost around $2000 dollars. I have waited and waited for a suitable Windows based competitor but to no avail. It seems all the Windows machines are doomed to have something not quite right about them and therefore i may just be forced to bite the Apple shaped bullet and deal with the Mac price tag

[RWUK]

I have waited and waited for a suitable Windows based competitor but to no avail. It seems all the Windows machines are doomed to have something not quite right about them and therefore i may just be forced to bite the Apple shaped bullet and deal with the Mac price tag

I know exactly what you mean. Regardless of manufacturer or how long I wait, there's always one thing that throws me off which isn't very insignificant. There really is no perfect laptop. Maybe the mythical LG P330, but will be in MBP pricing territory if it ever is released. In the case of the U series for me, it's the screen. Asus, Samsung, Apple, and Sony are putting resolutions beyond 720p in their note/ultrabooks. I was in Best Buy yesterday manhandling a MBP 13" and can't believe I was momentarily considering one after how much smack I talk about them! In reality it is a very good computer, but it's heavier, more expensive and battery life is worse than the current wave of new ultraportables. Also I have no idea how Linux compatible they are and of course, there's always looking like a complete tool when I take it out in public.

However if you look on Lenovo's pages for the U300 and U400, they show that it's able to be fitted from the factory/retailer with a 32 gig SSD and either a 500 or 750 gigabyte hdd and for the U400, it seems this is all without removing the optical drive. That's pretty sweet.

The 8gig ssd on the Samsung, that's just for caching like in a Momentus XT, right?

[k2001]

The 8gig ssd on the Samsung, that's just for caching like in a Momentus XT, right?

Yes it's indeed just for caching and tweaks that Samsung does to improve the performance of the laptop.

I agree that Apple makes some of the best laptop in the world, I just cannot believe that other manufacturer can't match the experience on their device. Great input device(mouse and trackpad), great out put device (monitor quality), build quality, and form factor.

[edhardt]

However if you look on Lenovo's pages for the U300 and U400, they show that it's able to be fitted from the factory/retailer with a 32 gig SSD and either a 500 or 750 gigabyte hdd and for the U400, it seems this is all without removing the optical drive. That's pretty sweet.

The 8gig ssd on the Samsung, that's just for caching like in a Momentus XT, right?

Where does it say you can configure the U400 with a 32gb ssd? I can't seem to find that.



If the U400 had a higher res screen / matte screen, it would be perfect. Why would lenovo as a business company leave that out

[k2001]

I think a different business division handle that decision. So they are cater to a different market segment. I really hope that Lenovo get rid of the regular HD resolution on all their laptop. I really like most their laptop, but the screen resolution one reason I'm still consider a Mac and the 7 series from Samsung.