Buying a new laptop or ultrabook - high end/business grade

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nathan

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#792202 3-Apr-2013 11:24

blair003: The laptop itself (not the extras) arrived today. First impressions are good. I was worried about the screen but it's a sweet resolution and perfect for its size.

Keys on the keyboard have heaps of play, but what is up with putting the Fn key where the Ctrl key should be? Maybe I need to use functions more and I will find this more useful, at the moment it just means I keep wondering why ctrl-c and ctrl-v are not working.

Also notice the surface shows oils etc from hands. Keen for the dock to arrive so I can start using my external monitor, but so far it seems like a good machine for what I was after.

Lenovo laptop?

You can swap the Fn & Ctrl keys in the BIOS

its a historical thing with IBM

Krishant007

1403 posts

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#792203 3-Apr-2013 11:25

nathan: It's bizarre that power converter adapter is not orderable. I've heard that before myself.

I think it is because he ordered the slim adapter? The standard one comes with the laptop but the slim one is an extra accessory.

lapimate

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#803330 21-Apr-2013 21:47

blair003: ... USB 3 Dock ...

So how do you find the USB 3 Dock in practice? It does not look as convenient as the old UltraBase 3 dock (eg for X220) because it does not have a power connection feed-through to the laptop and requires cables to be plugged in. Also there are reports of problems with external monitors etc: Customer reviews for Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Dock

blair003

557 posts

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#803464 22-Apr-2013 09:12

I read the same reviews. I have no experience with other docks so can't compare, but you are right you still need to use the separate power cable.

I haven't had troubles with the external monitor myself -- I run one external at 1920x1080.

Originally the mouse was jerky for me as well, but I fixed it now. I can't recall exactly what I did to fix it. Might have been an updated version of the software, also the USB 3 port is on the right. Now that I have it setup correctly it works fine, except occasionally I have noticed the mouse will still stop working for a second.. but it hasn't happened often enough for me to bother looking into why it is doing it yet.

nathan

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#803466 22-Apr-2013 09:13

if you're running Windows 8? DisplayLink recently updated their USB Video software to improve the sluggishness/jerky video through the USB dock

blair003

557 posts

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#803467 22-Apr-2013 09:15

Yeah. I think I may have downloaded the driver/software directly from the DisplayLink rather than using the Lenovo version..

lapimate

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#815507 10-May-2013 21:54

blair003:... I run one external at 1920x1080. ...

I connect a Lenovo X220, SSD, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit (also dual-boots Linux Mint 13 64-bit), 3G (Telecom XT) w. GPS (GPS reception not good cf mobile 'phone) via the UltraBase 3 DisplayPort to a Samsung SyncMaster S27A850D 27inch 2560x1440. I particularly like the "pick-up & go" aspect of the UltraBase 3 with no external cables to unplug. For me, the other advantage of the X220 (superseded by similar X230) is the ExpressCard slot. I use only a 4-cell battery (smallest) in X220, so the total weight is about same as X1 Carbon 1.4kg but the X220 has a smaller screen 12.5in Premium HD 1366x768 cf X1 Carbon 14in HD 1600x900 (both are anti-glare).

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