The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Posted this at the new users forums but I think this thread is more appropriate:
U330 arrived a week ago. So far no defects thanks God. I had to threat to sue Lenovo getting print screens of their promise of two weeks even when they know they couldn't deliver in months. Wrote them after the first delay and end up receiving it a week before the second date setup for delivery. If you are stucked with you delivery date do the same... print screen of the two week shipping at their order page and write to your sales person threatening to sue them...write every single day with a print screen for that day, show them you are building your case...of course they have good lawyers and I would not win a sue against them but they don't want the bad press... I'm quite sure if I didn't do this way I wouldn't have my notebook yet.
As for the U330....
Battery life is terrible... most I can get is 3 hours and if I use the DVD for a couple of minutes it will drop to 2.15...with the integrated graphics. I didn't even tested with the discrete one to avoid being so upset and return it.... This machine needs a 9 cell battery even making it heavier. Notebooks are meant to be use unplugged and battery life is fundamental. Lenovo is lying saying you can pump 4+ hrs from it. My X31 gives me half an hour more than the U330 in the same conditions...
USB ports location are terrible... right side at the front... terrible to use a wireless mouse in a crump space... bad design, they should be at least more to the back since they can't be in the rear due to the LCD hinge design...
Wireless was losing connectivity every minute...while my X31 was not...so it wasn't interference and I end up deleting the profile of Readycomm and creating a new one... it has been working since so do not rely on having the wireless configured without Readycomm as the program will keep trying to connect and dumping your connection. Another strange thing with Readycomm is that it first shows my network signal with 3 bars only (happen always) and when I refresh the network it appears with five bars...anoying but survivable. The notebook does not connect automatically to the network.. I have to bring the Readycomm screen and manually click on my SSID... ***?
Last but not least I was used to my keyboard light on the X31... it is great to work in the dark without disrupting wife or the person at your side in a plane...without having to deal with long neck leds or wires.... on a port right near your hand and mouse!!!! Why they didn't include the keyboard led in the U330 is up for grabs... It is a simple but great idea !!!! I miss it a lot...Lenovo, are you listening? Bring back the keyboard LED !!!!!
Ah, the clicks when powering up and down. As long as I could verify the clicks are the hard drive heads parking or leaving the park area. Mine does it too and is working perfectly.
Hate Vista and will go back to XP. Does anyone figured out how to switch graphic cards in XP? Manual says you can't but hei, there are more things between earth and sky than just airplanes...
Other than what is written above everyhting else is fine. The only real problem is the battery life...and the great annoyance the USB ports position.
By the way, I've forgot to say that they end up giving me a 100.00 discount which I applied in an accidental warranty for 3 years. So guys, if they are delaying you... SCREAM and threat to sue them.. it helped me it may help you also.
To all of you having alleatory disconnection from the wireless network and/or no automatic re-connection with it when powering up or returning from hybernate or sleep... Uninstall ReadyComm... it is a crap software and keep interfering with the wireless connection. I can't understand how Lenovo bundles that crap into their machines. I'm still on Vista and now it connects autmatically and does not disconnect each minute as before.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
