Lenovo Ideapad U330 User Review

The Ideapad U330 is Lenovo's 13.3" notebook built with Intel's Montevina platform and AMD's switchable graphics technology. The latter feature is unique to the U330 compared to other 13.3" competitors such as the Dell XPS 1330, Apple Macbook based on Intel's older Santa Rosa platform, and even the newer Sony SR series.

The model in this review is the U330-22672AU with the following specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 Processor (2.00GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
• Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1
• 13.3" WXGA (1280x800) LED Backlight LCD
• Intel GMA 4500 MHD, ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB Switchable Graphics
• 3 GB PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 RAM
• 320GB 5,400 RPM HD
• DVD-RW
• Intel 5100 abgn WiFi Card
• Bluetooth
• 1.3 MP Webcam and Mic
• 6-cell Li-Ion 56 WHr Battery
• 1-year warranty, 6 months for battery

Advertised dimensions: 12.5" x 9.3" x 0.9-1.1" (WxDxH), 4.32lb
Actual dimensions: 12.55" x 9.05" x 1.19-1.37" (WxDxH), 4.20lb

Reasons for buying

The U330's main selling points are its combination of its hybrid graphics system, size, and pricing. The hybrid graphics system is a significant feature of the Intel Montevina platform as it allows for the computer to switch between the power-efficient Intel GMA 4500 integrated graphics to maximize battery life and a dedicated ATI HD 3450 256MB graphics card for moderate gaming. Moreover, with its dimensions and weight, the U330 is one of the lightest 13.3" notebooks while costing a few hundred dollars less than its competitors.

As for my own personal reasons for purchasing the U330, I was originally interested in the Thinkpad T400. However, its non-flush 6-cell battery extending an additional inch out of the chassis dissuaded me from picking the T400. The flush 6-cell battery on the U330 in conjunction with its small form factor and attractive pricing sealed the deal.

Where and How Purchased

At the time this review was written, the U330 can be purchased from www.lenovo.com with a retail price of $1,199 to $1,299 depending on configuration. But with Lenovo's perpetual sales and promotions, the U330 can be easily found for less than $1,000.

Only two pre-configured models and a myriad of optional service plans are available for sale. Eventually, Lenovo plans to make the U330 available at brick-and-mortar stores such as Fry's and offer a greater variety of configurations with Blu-Ray, built-in WWAN, and IR media remotes.

Build and Design

For the experts, the U330 was built by the ODM Wistron. Lenovo claims that the U330 casing is built out of a magnesium aluminum alloy. Although the magnesium aluminum alloy does not feel like metal, the chassis of the U330 feels solid with no flexing or creaking. Pushing against the back of the lid does not produce any ripples on the screen. Nevertheless, the lid isn't resistant to torsional strain due to the lack of a solid structure behind the screen like the Thinkpad's rollcage. The optical drive, SD card, and 34mm express card holders sit flush with the rest of the chassis, which reflects the excellent fit and finish of the U330. There is no latch for the lid as it relies on a tension mechanism to remain closed. Rubber pads on the edges of the notebook prevent the keyboard from smearing against the screen when closed.

Aside from the lid of the U330, the entire notebook has a smooth matte finish. On the other hand, the top of the lid features a glossy finish susceptible to fingerprints and scratches. The actual bezel surrounding the screen is covered by an additional layer of glossy plastic to create the appearance of a continuous window, similar to HP's Infinity View. Once again, the glossy finish on the bezels surrounding the screen creates another fingerprint hazard.

The U330 borrows the same hinge design found on the Macbook and XPS 1330. Consequently, the screen can only be pushed back a maximum of 120° instead of the full 180° on notebooks with a traditional hinge design.

Display

The U330 features an LED backlight LCD to improve color reproduction while reducing thickness and power consumption. There was no graininess, light leakage, or dead pixels. Horizontal viewing angles are acceptable at roughly 30 degrees left and right from the center. However, vertical viewing angles are nonexistent as you have to view the screen head-on to avoid distortion from the screen's second glossy panel. While plugged in, I find the screen to be too bright, requiring me to reduce the brightness down to 60% for comfortable use. While using batteries, reducing the brightness to 10% to maximize battery life still provides acceptable viewing under indoor lighting conditions. I was able to achieve the same degree of visibility in direct sunlight by turning up the brightness to 50% despite the additional glossy panel on top of the screen. As a result, I don't believe the glossy screen should cause too much difficulty for everyday usage in diverse lighting environments.

Speakers

The U330 has two speakers located across from the left and right hinges of the screen on the base of the notebook driven by a Realtek audio chipset. The sound does not become distorted at max volume. Yet like all other notebooks, bass is nonexistent and volume is weak despite the Dolby Home Theatre label on the speakers. The audio jack located on the front of the notebook does not suffer from interference from its internal components, providing good sound when connected to headphones or external speakers. Finally, a microphone array is located on the top of the screen with the webcam.

Processor and Performance

At 2.00GHz, the P7350 in the U330 is a little slower than other Penryn Core 2 Duos. Nonetheless, the P7350 still provides enough computational power as evident in the SuperPi, wPrime, and MATLAB benchmarks. With notebooks, the graphics card is usually the bottleneck in performance as evident in the 3DMark 06 and Vista Index benchmark scores. The U330 won't be able to run graphically intense games like Crysis comfortably at high settings. But for the occasional game of Half-Life 2, CS:S, or DotA, the ATI HD 3450 with its 256MB GDDR3 RAM gets the job done relatively well. All benchmarks were performed at native resolution.

Synthetic Benchmarks:

wPrime comparison results (lower scores means better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Lenovo Ideapad U330 (Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.00GHz)	39.281s
HP Pavilion HDX18 (Core 2 Duo T9600 @ 2.8GHz)	27.416s
Acer Aspire 6920 (Core 2 Duo T5750 @ 2.0GHz)	44.457s
HP Pavilion HDX (2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9500, Windows Vista 64)	28.978s
Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 (Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26GHz)	34.628s
HP Pavilion dv5z (Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 @ 2.1GHz)	39.745s
Dell Inspiron 1525 (Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz)	43.569s
Dell XPS M1530 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.485s
HP Pavilion dv6500z (Turion 64 X2 TL-60 @ 2.0GHz)	40.759s
Sony VAIO NR (Core 2 Duo T5250 @ 1.5GHz)	58.233s
Toshiba Tecra A9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	38.343s
Toshiba Tecra M9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.299s
HP Compaq 6910p (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz)	40.965s
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240s
Lenovo T61 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.705s
HP Pavilion dv6000z (Turion X2 TL-60 @ 2.0GHz)	38.720s

PCMark05 measures overall notebook performance (higher scores are better):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo Ideapad U330 (2.00GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, ATI HD 3450 256MB)	4,465 PCMarks
HP Pavilion HDX18 (2.8GHz Intel T9600, Nvidia 9600M GT 512MB)	6,587 PCMarks
Acer Aspire 6920 (2.0GHz Intel T5750, Intel X3100)	4,179 PCMarks
HP Pavilion HDX (2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9500, Nvidia Go 8800M GTS 512MB)	6,921 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 (2.26GHz Intel P8400, NVIDIA 9300M GS 256MB)	5,173 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv5z (2.1GHz Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80, ATI Radeon HD 3200)	3,994 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1525 (2.0GHz Intel T7250, Intel X3100)	4,149 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1530 (2.20GHz Intel T7500, Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB)	5,412 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1520 (2.0GHz Intel T7300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	4,616 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks

3DMark06 represents the overall graphics performance of a notebook. (Higher numbers indicate better performance.)

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Lenovo Ideapad U330 (2.00GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, ATI HD 3450 256MB)	2,040 3DMarks
HP Pavilion HDX18 (2.8GHz Intel T9600, Nvidia 9600M GT 512MB)	4,127 3DMarks
HP Pavilion HDX (2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9500, Nvidia Go 8800M GTS 512MB)	8,791 3DMarks
HP Pavilion HDX (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB)	4,205 3DMarks
Gateway P-171XL FX (2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo X7900, NVIDIA Go 8800M GTS)	8,801 3DMarks
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, NVIDIA Go 8600M GT)	3,775 3DMarks
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA Go 8600M GT)	2,934 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1720 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT)	2,930 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,329 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	532 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks
Sony VAIO SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	794 3DMarks

HD Tune:

Windows Experience Index Score:

integrated GPU score

dedicated GPU score

MATLAB Bench:

In-game Screenshots:

Heat and Noise

While plugged-in, the left side of the U330 becomes almost uncomfortably warm around the vent areas and the hard drive. These areas are warmer when in dedicated graphics mode. The fan is always on, but fortunately isn't too loud as I can still hear the hard drive. Interestingly enough, the fan is more audible in integrated graphics mode than in dedicated graphics mode. As the notebook under review is part of the first batch of manufactured U330s, Lenovo should hopefully fix this peculiarity with future BIOS or software updates. Fortunately, the heat and noise are considerably reduced while running on battery with the bottom and left palm rest not exceeding lukewarm and the fan operating at a whisper. See HWMonitor screenshots for temps under dedicated graphics and battery operation.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard has a matte finish and doesn't have any flex to report of. Individual keys are easy to compress but have a mushy and quiet response similar to Dell notebooks. But this is more a matter of personal preference as I am used to the crisp clickiness of the keyboard on my Averatec. As usual with Lenovo notebooks, the Ctrl and Fn keys are switched, but this is easy to adjust to.

TheU330 has a Synaptics touchpad brand with the same matte finish as the keyboard. Vertical scrolling areas are clearly marked on the right. Horizontal areas are not marked on the bottom but function as expected. The touchpad clickers have a smoother finish and have a quiet response when compressed. Indicator lights for power and WiFi are below the clickers.

Above the keyboard are the power button, Lenovo's OneKey Recovery program buttons, and indicator lights for Num Lock and HD activity. Finally, a touch sensitive multimedia control panel is adjacent to these indicator lights with mute, volume control, DVD playback control, and miscellaneous audio equalizer presets.

Input and Output Ports

Ports are as listed. The U330 has the standard array of ports in addition to a HDMI connection. Having only 2 USB ports seems insufficient in an age where netbooks have at least 3. The hinge design also prevents the placement of input and output ports on the rear, leaving only a cooling vent on the back.

Front side: (from left to right): Dolby Home Theater Label, Indicator Lights, Media Card Slot, Audio In, Mic In, Wireless On-Off Switch

Right side (from left to right): Firewire, 2x USB 2.0, 34mm Express Card Slot, Optical Drive, AC in, Lock Slot

Left side (from left to right): Exhaust Vent, VGA, 10/100 LAN, HDMI

Wireless

The Intel 5100 wireless card is managed by a combination of Lenovo's ReadyComm software and Vista's wireless manager. The wireless card simply just works, with nothing exciting to report on its range or speed. Bluetooth is controlled by a separate software stack.

Battery

Battery life registers in at around 3 hrs 25 min before going to sleep at 10% brightness, integrated graphics, WiFi on, Bluetooth off, while streaming music from the web and typing in Microsoft Word. Power usage varies from 11W to 16W during testing as measured by RMClock. The 90W AC adapter can charge the battery from 10% to 100% in 3 hours. Removing the AC causes the computer to beep, but this can be remedied by muting sound.

Under similar settings with dedicated graphics, the battery life decreases to 2 hrs 20 min with a power draw of 19W. Switching between integrated and dedicated graphics can be done through the BIOS (requiring a reboot) or on-the-fly through software. At the moment, the graphics switching software is exclusive to Vista. Moreover, it requires you to close all graphically intense programs prior to switching and causes the screen to flicker for 3 seconds. Switching graphics cards is not dynamic based on load, but rather based on user input.

While battery results are decent, they fall short from the Thinkpad T400's spectacular battery life of 6 hours with a similar capacity battery. I believe that the problem lies with the Ideapad's power management software. The Ideapad power management software is not as comprehensive or aggressive as the Thinkpad's Battery Stretch feature as users only have simple on-and-off switches for parts such as sound card and LAN.

Lenovo also needs to work more with the U330's ACPI as power management goes out the door when booting from hibernation on battery. Power usage spikes to 22W and the fan revs up, effectively killing battery life. Again, I hope this will be addressed in the future with a BIOS or software update.

Operating System and Software

Upon first boot-up, I was greeted with an annoying musical tune at the Lenovo splash screen, which then loaded up to Vista Home Premium SP1, with 72 processes. But I can't seem to find any options in the BIOS to disable the music on boot-up. Outside of the useless trial software, the Lenovo also bundles software to manage power usage, the webcam, and Bluetooth. For example, Lenovo's EasyCapture software allows for users to record pictures and videos with the 1.3MP webcam. EasyCapture also has a feature to apply various aftereffects and borders to the pictures you take, similar Apple's webcam software and photo booths popular in Asia.

But a more exciting and useful feature is the VeriFace software, which enables users to log into their computers by simply having the webcam scan their face. The entire verification process only takes a few seconds, making it a practical substitute to typing in a password.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Ideapad U330 is a decent consumer level notebook featuring a bright screen, switchable graphics, a thin form factor, and light weight. Moreover, some preloaded of software such as Lenovo's VeriFace are actually nice and useful. Nonetheless, the U330 still feels a little rough around the edges as evident through some idiosyncrasies in its power management and fan behavior. But hopefully, these issues should be resolved by Lenovo as production of the U330 progresses. For the enthusiast expecting Thinkpad quality and features, the Ideapad is still no substitute. As for the typical consumer, the U330 is a strong candidate against currently available 13.3" Dell, Apple, and Sony notebooks, especially at the $1,000 price point.

Pros:

• Can be found for less than $1,000 on sale
• Thin-and-light for a 13.3" notebook
• Bright LED screen
• Switchable graphics for graphics power only when you need it
• Cool and quiet while on battery

Cons:

• Only two USB ports
• Warm and loud operation while plugged-in
• Still doesn't feel like a finished product as power management and fan control seems lacking

 

Nice review - I remember you saying on the Lenovo forum that you were going to make one. Thanks!

 

The hyper-reflective screen and bad battery life kill this notebook for me.

 

Thanks a lot for the review.

 

NIce review,thx!

 

Well, in all fairness, the pictures of the screen I took were at 60% brightness indoor lighting, 50% sunshine, 10% sunshine, and 10% indoor, as they appear in the review from left to right. The LCD is much brighter in person than as recorded by the camera.

Increasing the screen brightness to 100% would have taken away 30 minutes of battery life. But the reasons why I picked the brightness settings as described above in the review was that I considered those to be comfortable viewing settings. I guess my LCD was pretty bright.

But ya, the battery life is a disappointment for a laptop based on Montevina. The processor seems to clock itself at 1.6GHz while on battery. I've tried using RMClock to underclock it more, but only two multiplier settings are available (1.6GHz and 2.0GHz). I wonder if this is the norm for other Penryn processors?

My brother's Santa Rosa Penryn underclocks itself to 800MHz while on battery as reference.

 

Seems like a nice laptop but I personally would choose the Dell XPS over this since it allows the consumer to customize the lappy to their specifications.

If you get this model from Lenovo, you pretty much have to settle for an older Intel cpu and whatever else they throw in there including ram and HD.

Nice review btw

 

Thanks for the review...appreciate it...I hope certainly hope Lenovo would fix the BIOS problems like you have mentioned...I would still go with this laptop anyway despite its below average battery life when compared to the T400 (unless there's another unacceptable delay in my shipping again). BTW...sorry to point this out....but the graphic card memory is typed wrong (258MB) on the specification listing

P7350 is not an older Intel processor but in fact one of the newer ones that Dell has not offered in its XPS line yet.....RAM is DDR3 and its either 2GB and 3GB......and HD is 320GB or 250GB at 5400rpm (norm speed for laptop HD).

 

That is a nice spec for under $1000.

Much better value IMO than the Asus N10 people seem to be excited about.

 

Great review! Makes me wonder if I should go back to buying a T400. Especially since you say the speakers are not loud and the battery is around 3 hrs. I was so disappointed with the T61's screen and battery that it made me lean towards the u330. But now I'm not sure given the LED backlit T400 and 6 hr life on a 6 cell. Decisions decisions. Guess my u330 got pushed back even more. Was 9/30 on the website, cust rep told me 10/6, website now reporting 10/12 ship. Argh

 

I have never found a need for more than 2 USB ports for a laptop.
Can anyone tell me an instance where they needed more than 2 ports?

 

For a portable computer, I don't necessarily see where more than 2 ports would really be crucial...However
I use my current laptop (Hel 80) as a desktop replacement...there are 3 ports, and most of the time they are full.
I just ordered a Vaio Z, and it probably will take the place of my Hel 80 as a desktop replacement...So if you are using your portable as a desktop replacement I can see why it is more practical to have more than 2 usb slots..
I realize that you can use usb hubs...and I do, but I use a lot of ports...
I plug in a mouse, a keyboard, a printer, I have 2 external hard drives, I have an mp3 player (a cowon D2) which I usually just plug in at night for charging, and my girlfriend occasionally plugs in her ipod or iphone to my computer.

Again, if I were using the Z just for class, really the most I would probably ever plug into it is a thumb drive, and MAYBE mouse.

 

My mistake, but i wish they allowed customers to chose which proc like the P8*** or even the T9*** series processors and of course higher clock speeds.

While what u say is true for most consumers in terms of specifications, personally i go with the smallest ram size and hd size to lower cost. I like buying my own components and especially now that 500gb for the notebooks are available...i'd rather have that. Ram, even the ddr3 are cheaper at to buy online.

 

I'm really curious to see whether the E6400 or the U330 has better build quality? Can you comment on that more? I know you said it was solid, however you mentioned that the Lenovo said that the case was made of alloys? Can you maybe compare it to a regular old Thinkpad (in terms of build quality)?

Thanks!
Eric Huang

 

Can you check the clockspeed for the dedicated HD 3450. 3D Mark scores seem to be higher than other notebooks with HD 3450. Maybe you can post GPU-Z screenshot here.

 

Great review!

Good competitive with T400!

Thanks for the comparison.

 

Was the loud fan issue while plugged in noticed before the stress test? If my computer was being used for word and internet while plugged in would it still be an issue?

As for the "mushy" keyboard do you find it adequate or comparable to the thinkpad series? Quietness is important as my computer will be used in class most of the week.

 

Fan is always a whisper under normal use. It might turn off if it can cool down below its threshold temp, but my room is always in the high 80s *F. Maybe I can give you a clearer answer in the winter. But since a whisper is a relative term, I can definitely tell you that the HD access noise (which isn't loud at all) and my ceiling fan are much louder. It's only loud (as in you can actually hear it) when you're stressing it out with games or benchmarks.

The keyboard feels like the ones from a Dell. I don't have much experience with Thinkpad keyboards, so I cannot give you any feedback on that. It does make noise, but it depends on your typing style. It has a distinctive click to if you're forceful and quick. But if apply a reasonable amount of compression, I don't think you'll be ticking anyone off in class.

Unless you're willing to lend me either of those notebooks, I can't really give you an informed comparison. The E6400 would most likely have the edge as it is part of Dell's business line. As I said in the review, if you're expecting Thinkpad quality, you're going to be disappointed. Still, it feels solid, minus the twisting of the screen due to lack of a piece of metal behind it (a la rollcage). This is a consumer notebook, and for a consumer notebook it's actually pretty good. It still can't compare to anything from HP's, Dell's or Lenovo's business line in terms of sturdiness.

 

I like this machine a lot but I love the t400.

My friend has one and its hard to beat that for the price. i mean really its cheaper than this model because the discount is not as steep on this one

 

Thanks for the screenshot. It seems Ideapad's HD 3450 runs on DDR3 500/700 compared to HP and Dell's HD 3450 which runs on DDR2 500/500. Nice score you got there for an HD 3450. Almost close to a 3470 and 9300M GS.

 

DDR3 RAM is actually not cheaper to buy online (when I was configuring the DDR3 RAM for T400 and looking up online)...but it will be soon before that time....I agree that we should have more choice on the consumer line laptops like HP and Dell gives....but Lenovo does not have a very good supply-production line which leads to lots of supplies issues....so they can only offer pre-configured models to make the supply issue a smaller problem.....imo, they probably will offer more options as time pass by....

Anyone with any info on how much the P8xxx series under clock when on batteries?

 

I am not quite convinced that the glossy display won't be a problem when used in well lighted areas. I can see a reflection of the reviewer taking a photo in 3 of the 4 pictures!

 

You got one incomplete sentence in the review, under the "Reasons for buying".

"The flush 6-cell battery on the U330 in conjunction with its small form factor and attractive pricing"

 

If you read carefully, everyone here will make some grammatical errors in their reviews...a reviewer don't have all that time to sit down and proofread....any corrections with the numbers or specs would be ok....so avoid commenting on the grammatical errors as most people reading this review would sure understand what he meant.

 

man is lenovo the only pc maker moving to full DDR3 ram? If so this is where i wanna go for my portable laptop i've gone to DDR3 and i CANNOT go back.

 

The hybrid/switchable graphics on this model seem fairly pointless to me. I have 3450 graphics in my Studio 15, and it really doesn't cut the mustard as a gaming card. I have to dial most new titles down to 800x600 to achieve decent frame rates. 10x7 at low/med if youre lucky.

The HD 4500 does a more than adequate job with HD video, both 1080p and 720p, and is fine with Vista and it's visual effects.

Video editing performance is largely governed by CPU/HDD/RAM performance. So what's the point here?

I could see the sense if they had put something like a 8600gt or 3650 class GPU in there.

The ony time I've ever been interested in this switchable GPU technology was wth a Rock laptop in the UK which allowed you to switch between the IGP and an X700 card, which was fairly powerful in terms of notebook class GPUs at the time.

 

This laptop is a 13.3" laptop....its not meant for gaming....at best for light gaming.....people buy them for portability and some graphic performance.... putting HD 3650 or 8600M GT would make the battery life of this laptop worse....not to mention the heat problem due to the size of its case....if you need more battery life and graphics performance....you should look at the work station Thinkpads like W500 or W700.....or maybe the T500

 

I can confirm that the frameless LCD *does not* cause unbearable glare outdoors. I sat outside in full on sunlight with the screen at 80% and was very pleased with visibility.

 

Thank you. I already dumped enough time onto this already. I've fixed the issues as reported on the post, but I can't change the site. School, job, research lab ho!!!

As for the brightness, I said it was usable on the settings described, and I took pictures under the settings described. There's still plenty of leeway on turning up the brightness to increase visibility. And the camera does accentuate the problem more than it really is. But whatever, your right to make a decision, and quite frankly, your loss.

 

My current laptop is also glossy screen, although there's some problem in the outdoor....increasing brightness would certainly help with the visibility.....I doubt I would have any problem with the U330 screen at all with its screen being a lot brighter than my current laptop.....the shots by the camera tells you nothing about the visibility but rather how reflective it was all around the screen.....I find glossy screen to be more enjoyable when watching movies....but hey, it's people's preferences....that's why they still offer matte too.....and they are also as nice with less problem outdoors.

 

Hey! your time was worthy... to most people like 10k+

and how do you feel about your U330 so far?

I wonder if it's gonna make Thinkpadder miss their legend keys.

 

That's exactly the point I was making, it's not a gaming laptop. So why put in a very weak discrete GPU in addition to the very capable HD4500?

If you're looking at Battery life, portability, heat and doing some light gaming on the go, the 4500 is more than adequate. I have a laptop with x3100 graphics, and even that ticks al of the above boxes.

Can you really do much more with the 3450 than you can with the 4500?

It's interesting technology, but I would argue that's it would be better served when switching between power hungry GPUs and an IGP.

 

Well, HD3450 gives you 3Dmark06 or 2000+ while a 4500HD would give you at most 1000....that's twice as great in score.....I agree that it does not give that much more performance in terms of graphic for a gamer.....for me.....4500HD is not enough for my definition of light gaming (maybe in the future when integrated graphics is much better with the multi-core).....HD3450 will do it.....and I dun have to use it all the time with the switchable graphic......AND the U330 is still too small for the bigger power hungry GPU anyway (heat and space and weight).

 

hd4500 is an intergrated video card, how can u play games on an intergrated?

 

Very easily. Modern IGPs such as ATI 3200 and Intel 4500 can handle light gaming very easily. I can play a fairly smooth game of far cry when I'm on the go on my macbook with an intel X3100 IGP. Medium settings at 10x7. COD4 at 800x600 med settings. It doesn't compare to playing on my 360, but it certainly passes the time when I'm on the train or at the airport.

 

I take your point that it is, on paper at least, twice as poweful, but remember that you are starting from a very, very low baseline of performance.

Having first-hand experience of the 3450, I can tell you that the difference between IGp and 3450 when playing COD4 at this laptop's native resolution at med settings would be playing at 10-15 vs 15-20 fps.

I didn't mean to get into a debate around the 3450 as a graphics card. I simply thought that the hybrid technology was very interesting concept, but perhaps a little wasted in such a setup.

 

surprising, an intergrated video card can play games at over 10 fps.
anyway i dont own u330, but the specs sheet is the best on the market for a 13.3".

 

i wouldnt trust the 3dMark scores as far as Intel graphics go; they absolutely suck at gaming, especially older games: for example i can play cs:source but cant play cs 1.6 with playable fps, something having to do with fillrate/ vertex shading; an HD3450 is VASTLY superior to the x4500, more so than
3dmark06 would have you believe

notebookcheck has these scores

x4500 3dmark 05 - 1468
HD3450 3dmark 05 - 3783

3dmark 05 i feel is a better representation of the games that most people will be playing on these cards, and the scores show the huge gap in performance

 

Thanks for this, great review.

 

I'm not commenting on his grammatical error.

He probably forgotten about it, and I purely reminded him about it.

 

I am just saying you are pointing out a grammatical error in his review...and that nobody really cares about it

 

Wow... you actually spent the time to point out a a single grammatical error without commenting on any other aspect of his review?

You also made a grammatical error in your response, "You got one..."

Admlam, I appreciate the review greatly and thank you for addressing my questions. My order has shipped and now that I don't have to deal with customer service I look forward to using my U330.

 

Cry me a river.

And oh -- as for battery extremes, I've clocked in at 4 hr 25 min (10% brightness, wifi on, bt off, just web browsing 10-13W power draw)

 

At such a mode, what is the fan noise like?

 

It wasn't not even on. It only rev'd up once to whisper and turned off after 5 minutes.

 

Is that a software/program? Do you have a link to procedures and info? Thanks in advance

 

I'd like to get some information on this as well.

 

Uh... no, it was just having the computer on with simple web browsing and reading pdfs. Nothing special about the power management.

As many of you might have figured already, we can't play with the voltages or multiplier settings yet as RMClock doesn't support Montevina. Tsk.. tsk..

 

I was hoping you found some other way to undervolt.

 

Any other things beside these things that could be done to help with battery life through the undervolting processes?