Ideapad Yoga?

Blah! A hot pixel suddenly appeared. Time to do a hard reset and swap it out for another one

Do you guys know if I can do the exchange at any Best Buy or do I have to go back to the one I got it from?

 

Any best buy.

 

I played with the Yoga BB again yesterday. The demo unit has obviously been used a bit now and there is a drawback I noticed...

When using the touchscreen in stand or laptop mode, it kept pushing away from me. Twice in a few minutes I had to reposition the screen because it got pushed too far back.

I think some of your more traditional laptop designs, or something like the Dell XPS 12 is not going to have this particular issue. Waiting for that to hit general release so I can read some reviews!

BTW Thanks for the info re antennas, I cannot imagine them being solely in the palm rest, maybe they are in the screen as well. One would hope...

 

Does anyone know if you can install 2 mSata drives? There are two slots so I would assume it would work. I've ordered a 256GB Crucial drive and I'm hoping to run it along side the original 128.

 

When you get your 256, put it in the second slot to see if it acts as a secondary drive? If it does, then just switch it to the primary boot in BIOS--no need to open it up again if it works.

 

From the picture I see a empty RAM slot. Does that mean that the 4GB is on board and I only need to buy another 4GB RAM to upgrade to 8GB?

 

No, I had pulled the one DIMM out when I disassembled, it is occupied.

 

After reading this Chinese article, I decided to pick up a basic $999 model form local BB and upgrade myself.
Yoga 13 has 2 mSata slots and 1 RAM slot, I will buy a 8G ram and a 256G crucial msata from amason,
The total hard drive size will be 384G.
Next thing I will do is to buy a screw from home depot.

The total upgrade cost is around $250, the $1599 price at BB is unacceptable for me.

 

Same for the msata spare, or can you confirm for sure that we have an empty slot? Thanks again woolooloo, you've been a great resource for us!

 

Wow, when I had disassembled I was in a hurry and was only interested in whether or not I could get to and replace the mSata drive. I completely missed the empty mSata slot - that is most excellent! I'm exploring the other options and don't like any of them except maybe the Transformer Book which has no set release date. I'm trying to get used to the fan but having a hard time with it. I think the fan is one of those sorts of things where some units may be different from others and some people are more susceptible to being bothered by noise at a certain frequency. I have to say that I am annoyed by this pair of fans, I wish it was user upgradable, I'd gladly spend $50 to put in a super quiet fan.

The spare mSata slot gives me an entirely different perspective though, keeping the original 128GB drive as the boot drive and a 256GB for data would solve all my storage issues. Honestly I could even live with the spotty wifi - I'm looking for new drivers now but can't find anything for a Realtek RTL8723a, not even on the Realtek site. Interesting though it says it is USB 2.0 Network Adapter?

 

I don't think you'll find screws like these at home depot, but in my picture it looks like there is already one in the empty mSATA slot so you shouldn't need one.

EDIT - Actually I take that back, looks like an empty hole. I still don't think you'll find one at home depot, I'm going to check amazon and have it shipped with my memory stick. I've decided to hold onto the Yoga, hopefully I'll get used to the sound of the fans and hopefully the drivers improve for the WIFI.

 

Amazon has the 256 Crucial SSD for $207, but they also have a 128gb for $106... if it's a second drive, that may be all I need. Amazon.com: Crucial 128GB m4 mSATA Internal Solid State Drive (CT128M4SSD3): Computers & Accessories

 

I am surfing over all the web to gather information about this new Lenovo Yoga and I can't wait it comes out in Europe (Switzerland). I found this forum and read almost every posts.
However, I haven't seen those few videos (japanese or chinese) where we can testify the ultra fast booting time:

• Boot time - YouTube
• Motion control 1 - YouTube
• Motion control 2 - YouTube
• Touch screen - YouTube

Several people are complaining about the fan noise, but it might be solved with a BIOS update later on, might it not?

I do have one question, if it is possible to get 2 mSata SSD in the laptop, is it possible to configure a RAID0 in the BIOS or is it pretty much limited?

 

I confirmed the fast boot time, well under 10 seconds from hitting the power button to showing the windows startup screen.

It should be possible to address the fan noise (at least to some degree) in the bios, but there are currently no settings for it. Perhaps in a future update although this will probably be aided by us being noisy complaining to Lenovo.

There are also no settings for RAID0 that are obvious when there is only a single disk inserted. In fact the help only shows two modes (ACHI and Compatible), no RAID mode so I would guess that RAID isn't going to magically appear when you insert another drive.

Here are the BIOS screens:

 

I discovered some neat things in Windows 8 (unrelated to the laptop). There is a "Steps Recorder" program built in, you can create a quick guide to send to others instead of making screen shots and throwing it into powerpoint. In the start menu, type "Steps".

It also seems that Microsoft is really thinking ahead. Since most people are getting used to dragging apps from the top of the screen to the bottom in order to close the app, it would only be natural to do the same while in Desktop. So in desktop if you accidentally throw a window to the bottom of your screen, you just move the mouse down towards the very bottom, it'll scoot the window back up for you. Keep pulling the mouse down and it'll scroll up further for you.

 

Unboxing and preview: Video Perspective: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Windows 8 Ultrabook Preview | PC Perspective

 

I should have my 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM by noon (Mountain Time) and I will try to update everyone on how well that second slot works out. I can confirm that there is not a screw in the 2nd mSata slot. It looks like time to cannibalize from the laptop graveyard. I'm debating whether I want to leave the 256 as the second drive or if I want to image the 128 over to it. Does anyone know how to choose the drive Windows 8 apps install to? That would be my only concern about having the 256 as the non-primary drive.

I only used it for a few hours before I opened her up but I didn't notice any fan noise to speak of. It seemed much quieter that the Lenovo Twist which I just returned (because of terrible performance). I'm now a little concerned because I'm normally very picky about fan noise. I'll update on that as well when I put everything back together.

 

I am tempted to Go for Silver - i7 - 8 GB - 128 SSD from Lenovo.com - $1299 after $100 rebate , Any information on when Orange colored ones going to appear or any chance of price reduction any time soon ?

 

Where did you get your 256GB drive? Most places seem to be out of stock. I ordered from MWave today since they said they were in stock and about 6 hours later they sent me a notice that it was out of stock and my order was canceled. s.

I'm thinking about combining the two partitions on the current 128GB drive into a single OS/Programs partition and using the 256GB drive for data. That should be plenty of space for OS/Programs, at least for my needs - not sure about you.

 

256GB, crucial.com
It appears to still be in stock for $206.99 at crucial. I have a tracking # for the one I overnighted yesterday. It's half way here. I'm anxious to put it back together.

 

Keep an eye out on Slickdeals or Fatwallet.com. 2 weeks ago they had the 256 crucial M4 for 179.

 

I checked out the Yoga at a local Best Buy today and was surprised that the fan didn't sound like what I was thinking it would after reading this thread. I put it up to my ear and all it sounded like was moving air (no high pitched frequencies, grinding, or other oddities). I even downloaded and started Prime 95 on the unit to generate some heat for higher fan speeds (I started it, minimized it, and then came back to the unit about 10 minutes later) and even then, it was just the sound of moving air. It actually sounded (volume-wise) like my MacBook Pro did from a couple years back, so the fan seems like it will be a non-issue for me (especially since in my bedroom my desktop is always on and that doesn't bother me). Just felt that I should give my perspective on that since it's been talked about quite a bit so far and was one of the things that kept me on the fence. I can't wait till they release the orange version in mid-November though as it looks pretty good.

 

has anyone tried a clean install on it yet to recover all the space?

 

There's lots of useful information over on the Lenovo forums including a way to recover space but as far as I could tell this method does not amount to a clean install. Read the rest of the thread for info on how to do a clean install - looks you'll need a Windows 8 install disk and from what I can tell no one has figured out how to get rapid start to work.

 

Proper link:
Re: Ideapad Yoga hard disk allocation - Page 7 - Lenovo Community

 

Sorry about that - link now correct in my original post.

 

That's where I ended up ordering it last night. They were out of stock when I first checked a couple days ago. MWave was cheaper at $199 plus no tax, but that doesn't help if their damn inventory system is wrong and they cancel the order. At least they updated the webpage to show it is out of stock now. As dkjlmnop pointed out, these drives had been cheaper, not sure why there is a sudden shortage and price spike just as I needed to buy, but if you can hold out, you can get a better deal. John, please post your experience adding the new drive, hopefully there are no gotchas using the second slot - including it possibly running at a slower speed. Mine will be here tomorrow.

 

How much battery life will be lost due to an extra msata SSD?

 

Instead of two SSDs, you could install a wifi card in one of the mini pci slots. Not sure how difficult it would be to setup the antennas though.

This is a great wifi card, reasonably priced: Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW Ultimate N 633ANHMW Wireless Adapter Mini PCI Express

 

Looks like it probably won't work

 

Why won't it work?

Possible solution for the antennas: Amazon.com: Tyco Wifi & Bluetooth Antenna

*edit*

I didn't see that your post contained a link. Thanks.

 

Hi, coming back.

I am glad that yoga takes two ssd drives. Can anyone show with simple pictures how easy is to do this?

Also, could someone post the benchmark results from windows 8?

 

Can mSata SSDs be configured as a RAID?

 

Great idea about replacing just the antennas... Do you think we have room though? Where would you mount the ends? Obviously not up through the screen, I'm guessing.

 

So, I broke down and bought one at my local Bestbuy... couldn't stand waiting until mid-December for Lenovo.com order fulfillment.

In short, I love it!! It is a good bit thicker than the U300s, but the screen is Amazing, about twice as bright and crisp. I've had it less than 24 hours, so I can't speak to the wifi problems... so far, in my small Condo it's been fine. The fan is certainly on all the time, just as others mentioned. Mine has no tone though, just sounds like air moving... it's noticeably louder than the U300s, but something I'm certainly willing to deal with.

It doesn't fit in the neoprene sleeve I purchased for the U300s (bummer)... how are the rest of you carrying this around, outside, etc.? The Yoga is about 3mm thicker and nearly a half inch wider than the U300s. ...that one was so slim.

 

No, check back a page or two.

 

I was able to upgrade to 8GB and add a second (256GB SSD). Everything is working great. I will have to take this into a quiet room but in my office I can't hear it at all without putting my ear up to it.

 

That is seriously awesome. Thank you for keeping us posted. Can you tell a difference in heat or battery life yet?

 

Here is a PDF file of the Yoga 13 manual.
http://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/ideapad_yoga13_hmm_1st_edition_oct_2012_english.pdf

One can see on page 58 that the wifi antennas are very close to the front of the laptop (not in the screen)

 

Did you have any issue reseating your keyboard? Mine still seems a little wonky. One of the tabs along the back is not catching well.

 

Do you think that 16gb of ram is possible?

 

Hard to say until 16GB SO-DIMMs exist. I'm not aware of any currently available. Could require a BIOS update when the time comes.

 

Something like this? Corsair Mac Memory

P.S.
Sorry, my bad. It is 2x8GB

 

Thanks so much for being so thorough on this. Overall it is really good to know that parts can be removed and added at will. I've always worried about buying an ultrabook and not being able to switch out the battery, etc. Thank goodness that this laptop is easier than many others, to take apart.

By the way, how does the laptop feel now that it's been put together. Are there any tolerance issues? Loose areas, potential gaps, or broken snap hinges to consider?

 

My keyboard seems to be sitting fine. I also wanted to mention that I took the Yoga into a quiet room and I can hear the fan noise but it's not enough to bother me and I'm usually pretty sensitive to fan noise.

 

I haven't noticed any fitting issues or any breaking of snap hinges. To me the only tricky part was getting the keyboard off before I had the maintenance manual. It all went back together very easily other than the keyboard ribbon cable was a little tricky (make sure it goes all the way in until the line on the cable is hidden).

 

Where did you get a screw for the SSD John566? Also the manual states that screws are single use only

.

 

Has anyone figured out what kind of glass protects the screen? I can't find any promotion material or data sheets that state the glass is at least scratch resistant. Not good.

 

My yoga's finally landed in Australia.. wonder how long customs will take.
In other news I was wondering whether anyone bought the slot in case for the yoga, and whether you think it is worth it?
Not sure if I want to spend $40 on a case when I could just buy a sleeve for $5