Any Lenovo Yoga 3 14" 940M owners?

I've been looking for a good entertainment laptop for a while and the Lenovo looks great.
Mostly wondering how good the 1080p screen is on this model and if it's nice and vibrant with good brightness levels.
I realize the 940M is a entry level GPU but it can game at 720p at 30 FPS with most games at low to medium setting which is perfectly fine but was also wondering how hot the CPU and GPU get with extended gaming sessions?
Are the fans loud under load?
Thanks!

 

No one !?
Well just read that we might see new a new model with AMD FX-8800P APU , not sure how it stacks up against the 940M hopefully it's a bit more powerful.
New model comes out end of June.

 

Alright ordered and should be getting one pretty soon .
I got the top tiered model (940M - 256GB SSD... ) for a pretty good deal after student discount and a Lenovo web special on sale .
Might do a mini review once I get it , anything you guys want me to test....I will try my best with what I have.

 

I just got my white Yoga 3 14 with 940M yesterday and like you I was curious about the fan speed and heat levels. My initial impressions:

This is exactly the balance I was looking for in such a small (for a gaming laptop) package.
Just playing Diablo 3:RoS did not tax the system, fan was on but not loud nor whiny and there was no noticeable heat from the keyboard, the bottom was warm but did not seem overly hot. It looks like I can certainly game on this laptop without bothering anyone else in the room.

The graphics performance seems to be on par with what the reviews say on notebookcheck for the 940M so it is exactly what I expected in performance and I am pleasantly surprised by the lack of annoying noise or excessive heat.

Looks like the design of this laptop is a good one!

* sidenote: at the same time I got an HP Spectre x360 for my wife (was going to be mine but then decided I wanted 940M graphics). Having owned a Yoga 2 Pro, played with the HP Spectre x360, and now this Yoga 3 14, I can say that the Yoga 3 14 is my favorite... the larger screen alone makes this more useable than the other two, the extra weight is not a big deal for me (it is rare that you use this as a "true" tablet, most of the time you use it in various halfway modes that have it propped up somehow or other). The styling and feel also seem better to me than the x360 now that I have both to play with. For those used to convertible-style laptops, the x360's display is heavier than the display panels of the Yogas, making it seem unbalanced when in laptop mode and trying to use it on your lap, I'm frankly surprised no review I read mentioned this.

 

Should be getting mine soon also, congrats!
Quick question on the screen quality, some reviews say the screen could be brighter/better, exactly how good is the screen? bright enough?

 

Choosing between this and the Asus UX303LB.

Whats the touchpad and mouse buttons like on the Yoga 14? I hear they are terrible on the Asus, which has me leaning towards the Yoga

 

That's the one thing I am noticing... it could be brighter, or the contrast needs adjustment, not sure what the problem is... it is not bad and it only becomes noticeable in games that have dark levels to begin with. it is livable but I also find myself wondering if there will be a bios or graphics driver update, whichever is the culprit.

 

I'm not a big touchpad guy so my opinion here is very suspect: it works, I seem to have less issues with it vs other touchpads that I've used. But cant really tell you if it's good as I use mouse (or touch) whenever possible

 

Good to hear overall it's looking to be a great convertible.
Have you tried to disable auto/adaptive brightness in W8.1

1. Change PC settings.
2. Tap or click on General.
3. Locate Adjust my screen brightness automatically. ...
4. Tap to slide the slider under this option to On or Off depending on your preference.

This sometimes does wonders for a screen, it's usually set to on by default and can help brighten a screen.

 

Just had a look at it.

Touchpad is fine. Left and right click buttons are average (built into the touchpad), but it's not a deal breaker. The Lenovo 3 13.3" Pro was right next to it, and the touchpad was definitely nicer on this model.
Very tough choice between the 14" and the Zenbook UX303LB.
I always thought that the 'yoga' mechanic was a gimmick. But I can just imagine putting it into tent-mode and popping it onto the footrest so I can remote play the Xbox One while my sig other watches Netflix.

 

Kicking myself for not paying better attention to the display. Might swing past again tomorrow.

Its always difficult to get an accurate feel for a device on the display floor.

Quite torn between this and the UX303LB. Both seem quite underrated imo. Minor drawbacks (such as the display on the Yoga), but very nice machines and more than good enough for a bit of light gaming.

 

Now I feel silly, yes that solved the problem and the screen is great now. I knew about this property but I thought I had already disabled it. So now I have nothing but good things to say about this model.

 

for those of you who have had the laptop for more than a week, how is the build quality? A lot of people on Lenovo's site say that this laptop broke very soon after buying it, and even though this is everything I want in a laptop (convertible + graphics card), this is offputting me from buying it.

Also, I don't know how accurate this would be, but sgtpokey if you could take pictures of the maximum brightness with adaptive brightness on, and then off? Or if you could tell me the nits or something I would greatly appreciate it, as I have heard the screen is dim, and it was somewhat dim at full brightness when I saw it at best buy.

Finally, has anyone noticed a yellowish tint on their model of this computer? The screen at best buy had this yellowish tint, so I'm a bit worried about that as well. Hopefully it either was just that model, or it can be fixed.

Thank you!

P.S. Battery life impressions would be great too!

 

Yeah. I think the screen seems fine. Some people are just too picky
However, I am pretty picky when it comes to fan noise (in a similar position to you). Just want to play some D3 and WoW occasionally.

Almost all of the non-940m reviews mention quite a lot of fan noise. I wonder if it's possible that the 940m version is actually quieter (seems unlikely) or that people who buy laptops with dGPU's simply expect a certain level of fan noise with their computers.

Here's the user review (translated from German) on the www.cyberport.de buyer review section:

"The laptop is on the quality and performance actually very good because it has everything you need , but unfortunately not a non-reflective and very dark screen was installed which does not allow the benefit outdoors . Another problem is the very poor fan who almost always run on the one hand ( and can not be controlled by the user ! ) And are driven to others with a PWM with an estimated 16kHz . This leads to a high and very loud whistling ( similar to an old tube TV ) . The whistling is not so high , however, the people over 30 no longer perceive .
In whole it can be said :
When talking about 30years of age ( or a bad ear has ) , and the laptop does not want to use it outside , you get a außgezeichneten laptop .
( Can hear the 16kHz ) for persons under 30 or for outdoor use , the laptop is hard to use ."

 

Alright my buddy got his before mine and had a chance to use it for a little while and so far:
1) build quality is very good as far as I can tell and it looks lovely.
2) screen is pretty good, nothing amazing but overall it's a good quality screen with no yellowish tint , it could be brighter but it's bright enough.
3) Click-pad is OK , again nothing special but it's big and gets the job done. Might be a bit too sensitive but you can play around with the settings and get it to be very usable.
4) fan noise is pretty well managed while you can hear when gaming but it's not that bothersome.
5) temps are great and haven't seen the CPU or GPU get hot .
6) played every game I've tried so far and easily plays most games at medium/high settings at 720p at 30+FPS.
Haven't tried many but played Shadow of Mordor and MGS:Revengence and everything looked and played very good.
Overall very impressed so far can't wait to get mine.
One negative is the bloat ware, I've seen more but still there is a lot of useless stuff to figure out what is needed and what you can uninstall .

 

I played with one of these and the UX303LB back-to-back.

ended up going with the Asus, although I was really torn in two directions.
In the end, the Asus screen was significantly brighter, and I might need to use my system outdoors occasionally.

The Lenovo is a great feeling machine, but that screen really wants to be used in a dark room.

 

After calibrating colors a bit and turning off the auto-brightness feature the screen really improves, everyone is different but now I have no complaints.
The one thing that is starting to bother me is the short power-cord, it should be at least a foot longer.

 

ditto on the power cord, that is now my only minor complaint. It's like it's not meant for business travel. At least I can buy a normal cord and extend it myself.
To also touch on Pegosaurus's questions:
* no yellow tint. I know the yoga 2 pro had that issue but I don't see it on this one
* quality: it feels like a solid build but time will tell: no problems so far
* brightness: sorry I don't think Ill get around to doing detail on this question (sorry), but objectively it looks fine and as good as other laptops I've used. The yoga 2 pro has a better screen, but I'd have to look at them side by side to notice
* battery:sorry I have not yet tried to stress this on battery and it has not yet been an issue (typing this on battery while playing Hearthstone for the last hour, something like 75% battery left)

I will also add that the heat and noise on this 940m seem very reasonable to me and it is not intrusive (so far)

 

Can you use a regular USB cable to charge the laptop? Or does it have to be a notched USB cable?

 

Tried with a regular USB cable and does not charge, stupid propriety crap!
What I do is take a very small extension cord with me and use it if needed.
Gotta say the more I use this laptop the more I like it .

 

I got my Lenovo 3 Yoga 14" w/ 940M yesterday. A few impressions from early use:

- Fan is constantly on. Lenovo did release an updated BIOS w/ different thermal threshold for previous models, and I'm hoping they'll do the same for this one. Seems like lots of Lenovos have this problem.
- The row of keys on the right side are annoying.
- Tons of bloatware.
- Other than that, a fine machine so far.

 

Hey IKAS! Do you still have the Yoga 3 and use it? Any more thoughts on how it perform?

Yesterday i ordered one myself, a Silver, 8gb, i7-5500u, 256gb, 940m2gb. Got it for 1,215$ (Hope i didn't over pay it lol)

The funny thing is that it said in the spesification that it has Soldered RAM! And M.2 ssd for the 256gb.. But i think this have got mixed up with the Yoga 3 11" which actually have those spesifications.. I would love me some PCIe M.2 ssd, but it will be sent back if that ram is soldered! (Lenovo site really is messed up tho..)

Anyways, how is the ruggedness of this thing? I was in the store yesterday and played a little with the Yoga 2 (Or 2 Pro, not sure) since they did not have the 3, but that keyboard really felt like an hammock.. How is the keyboard on the Yoga 3 14" ? (And the rest of the build?)

I actually ordered it right after i found a "review" disassembly blog, that showed two fans on the 940m config. And even thos the thin machine, i can believe you when you say you get some great temps on it, because this cooling really looks like it works! so quite exited about that Looked alot better that the non 940m version with that, "prostetic" fan thingy.
Connected heatpipe on the cpu and gpu would probably make the system even cooler when idle/browsing the net right?

Here is the link to the semi/disassembly blog/something: http://www.laptopultra.com/guide/lenovo-yoga-3-14-disassembly/



I don't think it will have soldered ram or M.2 ssd tho, but i will take of the back and confirm after i get it!


And about that attempt you did, charging with regular usb cable.. Did you try to use a usb 2.0/3.0 extension cable? Male/Female connector, so you can use the proprietary cable on the laptop? I have a 300cm one and will give it a try!

 

So apparently this is the SSD that came with my yoga 3. must say a bit dissapointed at the write speed.

RTAMB256VBM8EWXL - brand RAMAXEL



The RAM is not soldered and it is not M2 either.

 

@firen. Have you checked what disk it actually is? From what i understand those Samsungs need that Samsung software to work at their "true?" speeds.. 850 Evo/Pro.
(May also have something to do with Windows installed on the disk to?)

 

@Kaozm It is not Samsung or Liteon. I have mentioned the brand earlier. It is some not so well brand called RAMAXEL . Product ID is RTAMB256VBM8EWXL.
Maybe it is some driver problem. Will try to see if i can find some updated driver and retest it.
Meanwhile in my system , the fan is not perpetually on, but rather keeps coming on and off when i am doing some work. Also i do not seem to have any backlight bleeding issue or ghost touch issue till now. Fingers crossed.
I have been able to play War thunder at medium settings till now.

 

Sorry for the late answer but yes I still have it had a USB 3.0 cable and it did not work and yes I tried everything.
Build quality is pretty good and I have no complaints the keyboard is good with not to much flex, love that it's backlit.
Haven't taken it apart yet but I will say I paid about $200 less after student discount, I did get the Black model which was cheaper at the time so that might be the price difference. Still glad of my purchase.

 

Was talking about your ssd "drive" not your ram!

Zero problemo. Mine was sent today so will expect it in 3-4 days.
Did the brightness actually go up after you tweaked the settings for the ips screen, turning off those auto adjust?

Hope i wil get satisfied with it, new hardware etc just arround the corner.. But want to get a portable "console" and get a ps4 controller for all the indie's i havent played on steam

Kinda anxious about how thin it is, i like everything i own feeling like a brick.. so hope this thing will give of a more axeblade feel rather than a softball..

 

Could be brighter but after turning off auto-brightness it's much better.

 

Ofcourse i am talking about the SSD drive too, but the brand name of the said SSD drive is RAMAXEL.

Check this link http://www.ramaxel.com/eng_Products.aspx?ClassIDPath=0,86,

BTW, i have the silver model, looks pretty neat! and feels solid.

 

How are the colors of the screen?
Battery time impressions?

 

Colors are fine but and I get about 7-8 hours battery time depending on use.

 

Looking into getting one of these to game on a series of long flights. Does the 940m model have the 65W power adapter, like the models with integrated graphics do? Just want to make sure it'll charge from the in-seat power (75W limit).

thanks!

 

Pretty sure they use the same power adapter, I could be wrong but most laptops no matter what configuration always have the same power adapter.

 

Thanks! That's what I figured. Can't seem to find a laptop with a 950m or higher that doesn't require 90-130W, so was worried the 940m might pull too much too. Although, the zenbooks seem to also be 65W now that I looked into it.

 

Someone experience ghost touch or some other bugs?

 

Not exactly sure what you mean?
But overall problem free.

 

which color do you have?
If you can to upload picture of the laptop especially some of the screen in full brightness it will be just great!

 

They apparently fixed the ghost touch issue afflicting some machines:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo...inch-Touch-Screen-Issues/td-p/2034547/page/34

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht103512

 

FWIW Dell uses 90w in their 840 equipped latitude notebooks. Either way though, even if the airplane adapter only outputs 75w a larger wattage charger should be able to provide up to 75w and although it may not charge the laptop, I would assume that it would still keep it going if you aren't using the nvidia card and just going off the integrated graphics... its not like you are going to play an intense game in the airplane seat. I have not tested this, just going off what I would think would happen... if you know better, please quote me, I am kinda interested as to what would happen.

With all of this said, I really think the Yoga 3 14 with the 940 is a winner. It reminds me of the Thinkpad 14 but without all of the bulk of being a rough and tuff thinkpad.

 

I forgot about this

I received the laptop (long ago lol) and it was fine! Ram not soldered on, and the expected 2.5" Samsung SSD.

So first ting I did after I got it was to take off the back cover, and that was really not as easy as I had hoped, with clips all around. I used a credit card to pull around carefully to get it open, and be very careful because the clips on that back is very, VERY flimsy! And thin.

The screen lid was kinda soft tho.. Pushing on it while the laptop is closed show it moves up and down like an hammock because it is kinda soft. Rest of the laptop when assembled is very well built! And screen itself did not wobble or anything, felt solid!

I have sent it back because I am not used to thin laptops following with SUPER thin actuation points on the keyboards.. That was kinda a shock to be honest, but I am used to Thinkpad keyboards tho. I was however pleasantly surprised over how "hard" the keyboard was, pushing on the middle of it hardly made it "bend" at all. Key's also felt good and solid even though the actuation is 0.1mm???? (Is 1mm actuation but damn!)

I have now ordered a Thinkpad yoga 14, that also comes with the brand new Thinkpad Active Pen (pro) which i'm really looking forward to try. and i got it for a 1100$ so happy with that!

Here is some pictures of the internals.

 

which color do you have?

 

You can see it one of the pictures i uploaded. It's the Silver model. I have returned it tho.

 

I'm thinking to get the white model. can it get dirty?

 

All laptops can get dirty
Personally I think the White looks great but it will start to look dirtier quicker just because the color contrast.
Just wipe it more often.

 

Well, white does show less fingerprints! Was the reason i wanted it, but went for the silver because the white was sold out.. I would take White or Silver over black.

 

Does the SD card sticks out?

 

Yes it will with a full size SD card.

I was eyeing shorter SD cards on Amazon.com but was not sure which depth to get, I can measure it when I get home. With a 2TB SSD I don't really need a permanent SD card anymore.

Picture:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_P1020832_d9b377d28d.jpg

From this article:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-Yoga-3-14-Convertible-Review.138000.0.html

 

Thank you for the info.

2TB SSD?! Holy S**T!!

How is the battery life? How long does it last in normal use (surfing the web, office, songs).

 

I also just upgraded to 16GB ram too It was less than half the cost through an ebay seller!

I haven't ran it down enough times to give an accurate estimate but I would "guesstimate" around 4-5 hrs normal usage, maybe 7-8 hrs idle and 1-2 hours gaming. I would refer to review articles for better estimates.

I tend to keep mine charged to only 60% using the battery conservation setting since mine is plugged in most of the time. So many times I'm starting from 60% anyway when I'm around the house and don't need a full charge.

 

You don't have a laptop you have a BEAST!