Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Lenovo Ideapad Z580

I got this new laptop for my work one week ago. So far - so good. I'd like to share some thoughts about it for anyone who is considering buying this model. 
Here are my specs:

CPU:                     Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM CPU @ 2.10GHz × 8
Memory:               8GB (2x4096MB) DDR3
Video:                  NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 2GB DDR3
HDD:                    1 TB SATA 5400 rpm
Monitor:               15.6" HD (1366x768) gloss display
Optical:                DVD+RW
Network:              10/100Mbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Interfaces:

 - 2хUSB 2.0
 - 2хUSB 3.0
 - HD webcam
 - VGA (monitor or projector)
 - HDMI
 - speakers output/mic in
 - 5 in 1 memory reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS pro/XD)

Battery:                6-cell LI-ION that lasts 2 hours 45 minutes(tested by me, playing videos and multimedia with no display settings reduction)
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Ups: 
1. Fast! Definitely fast. The dual-quad core processor from the awesome Intel i7 family is fantastic. 8GB memory works awesome for my 64-bit Windows/Ubuntu Linux. 
2. Display. The display this laptop has is very good. For its 15.6" the HD gloss display gives you the comfort of colors and high contrast you would otherwise look for in the desktop PCs. I played some HD videos (no lag, no sound delay) and they look awesome. Of course it has all the dimm/display sleep power saving energy reducing stuff every modern laptop should have. 
3. Sound. Dudes... it's awesome! I don't know if it is any big-famous-mainstream thing, but "Dolby Home Theater" gives me loud, clear and bass-ish sound. It gets even better... I have those random "A4Tech" headphones which usually sound like someone is trying to put a screwdriver in your ear when I plug them in my desktop PC. I plug them into the laptop (nothing special just a single way in, no setting up, no software or effects) and i'm like "what sorcery is this?". The sound is freakin' awesome! Bass, treble, mid sound everything is awesome. I found some Metallica HD live concerts on youtube I've watched with my headphones and I can tell you I am using headphones at this moment (Marilyn Manson though).
4. Games. Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft - No problem! I have Battlefield that i'm eager to try on, but this will happen next weekend. 
5. Work
  • Windows 7, 64bit with MS Office 2010 - awesome. Adobe Photoshop CS5 - amazingly fast. 
  • Ubuntu 64bit 12.04. This is the first time i DID NOT install or reconfigure or rebuild any drivers! As many of you use opensource OS and software i'm sure you hated the nvidia setting up or sound drivers? Alsa-config? OSS stuff no man! I installed latest Ubuntu 64bit downloaded on a normal cheap CD from their website and everything works. Bluetooth, sound, video, Wi-Fi, Lan, usb recognition, webcam, everything. Running large python code -  insane fast. Having multiple ssh connections doing stuff from lots of cronjobs - no problem. Everything from the office suite (LibreOffice) works like a charm (not crashed yet and I have some large sheets). Multimedia playback is great, no lagging HD videos, no crashing anymore. All the function buttons plus the hardware buttons for sound and video just bellow the display work and did not took any setting up. 
6. Silent. There is something called "Smart fan, noise control" and it actually works. The laptop doesn't make noise even when it's under pressure.

Downs:

By my experience so far with the Lenovo Ideapad Z580, I found one thing that is insanely annoying. That is the touchpad. Yes it has "Intelligent touchpad" and software that allows you to rotate, enlarge or zoom things, but seriously, the surface on the 2 buttons is actually moving your cursor when you try to press the damn button. One more problem I've encountered was that after multiple "sleep", "hibernate" modes - the touchpad gave an annoying bug. It was moving my mouse cursor from left to right like crazy! Both windows and linux. I've tried restarting - no good. The only way it was fixed was by shutting down the computer and then booting it up again. Very very annoying. 



Conclusion

This is an amazing laptop. Extremely fast, competing with most desktop PCs over performance. Absolutely awesome display, video capabilities and sound. One annoying thing is the touchpad but when you get used to it, it might actually turn out to be good. And most of all this laptop is not expensive at all! I got mine for something like 700$ with international warranty. 

Highly recommended if you are looking for extremely fast-performance, multimedia and good price!

Here you can find the drivers for Lenovo Z580 laptop

Please share your thoughts and experience with this model in the comments section.

12 comments:

  1. How did you dual-boot Ubuntu on your Z580, I have been trying, but to no avail, to find tutorials, for this on the web, and I'm wary of putting the laptop into Legacy mode, in the setup menu.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you need any more detail help, post here. I'd be happy to help.

      Delete
  2. Hey CalvColl,
    I did a partitioning 484gb EXT3 partition and a 16gb LINUX SWAP partition, the other 500gb I left for my NTFS Win7.
    Booted from Ubuntu 64bit install CD (always download from ubuntu.com)installed it absolutely smooth with no problems Linux on ext3 and using swap. Ubuntu installation uses GRUB loader which installs automatically on your primary hdd and then you can choose which OS to load. Since then, I have installed Debian, OpenSuse and MINT absolutely the same way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, I have a question on installing Ubuntu if you don't mind.
    Did you format the drive and made the 3 partitions? or did you resize the original install NTFS partition? If so how did you resize it?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey A.B.,
    When I got it, I installed an NTFS 500GB Win7(My laptop did not came with any pre-installed OS). So I created 500GB, Installed Win$ and few days later installed ubuntu. If you already have windows installed and you are wondering how and what to do, use some of the free partition editors.
    If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi,

    Did you get your right-click on the touchpad to work on Linux?
    I haven't been able to on Arch, but 2 finger click works just as well.

    I am impressed with the machine, but agree with your gripe with the touchpad.
    It is also a bit to big and my left hand ends up touching it while typing.
    (which sometimes ends up selecting a chunk of text which gets deleted)
    I'll probably enable the setting to disable the the pad while typing and live with the spit second delay when using it.

    Another thing I have not done yet is the installation of Bumblebee to make use of the Nvidia card. The Intel card is more than adequate for me, but it would be nice to get everything working 100%

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Rakesh,
      to be honest I don't know how to make the right click on windows like it is by default in linux. It is way more comfortable for me when you touch it with 2 fingers for the right click. I am not that good with Arch, but in Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, OpenSuse it has default nVidia drivers that fully support 3D acceleration. If you want (of course) you can update with official and new version from nvidia.com And I highly recommend for you to use the full capacity of the videocard as it doesn't use that much of the overall resources. About the accidental selection of the text - I feel you man... :)

      Delete
  6. I totally share your anger towards the trackpad of the z580. Its the worse trackpad I've ever put my fingers on.
    Everything else ranges from just fine to superb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah. I got used to the trackpad to be honest. Not that much of a problem nowadays. Everything else, as you say, is just awesome. I've worked with a DELL XPS laptop recently and to be honest it can't compare to the Lenovo. Same class processor and RAM but when you run a game on it (Dota2 was tested on maximum graphics) you can pretty much make steak and fried eggs on it. Not to mention that the Z580's multitasking during graphics pressure wins with a mile. Hope you love yours!

      Delete
  7. 6. Silent. There is something called "Smart fan, noise control" and it actually works.
    How did you get this to work? I got the i7, Win8, but where and how to operate this feature? fans are quite noisy

    ReplyDelete
  8. So this computer has integrated graphics and an nVidia card? Does it have it nVidia Optimus drivers? I've found when using other computers running Linux and the Optimus drivers for nVidia the core temp gets very hot. To remedy this I've had to install Bumblebee. Do you have that problem with the Lenovo Z580 when using Ubuntu? Just curious because I'm thinking of buying one. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, I am using the default nvidia drivers in linux (as I am using it only for work), And the latest Nvidia drivers from nvidia.com on windows. Never had it getting temp too hot. Although I am using this stand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZFLHUmROE

      Delete

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