I’ve recently been considering a change in my desktop PC at home. My Dell Zino HD, I love for its compact size but, I have to say, it’s just a bit sluggish these days, mainly because of its mobile processor.
So I got thinking about the specification that I’d need. Again, I want something small that can go on the desk, rather a large tower that you shove under it. In fact, most of the specifications would need to be similar to what I have now, just with a faster processor.
In fact, I should add that I’m only after the base – I already have a very good 27″ Dell monitor.
I think the minimum would have to be…
Intel Core i5 processor
6GB memory
Windows 7 64-bit OS
DVD writer
1TB hard drive
USB 3.0
None of the above should be too taxing. However, it’s my requirement for something small and quiet that seriously restricts the possibilities. I like to have something on the desk, not under, and that’s why I really want something compact and, for this reason, something good looking too. However, it shouldn’t be a big deal – you can get all of the above specification in a laptop which is far smaller than my desktop footprint requirement.
There is something available – the Lenovo H520S. It’s not yet available in the UK1 but a look at the product in the US shows it to be reasonable priced – unfortunately they only have it with a Core i3 processor (the UK site shows that it should be available with up to Core i7 so I suspect this is simply a stocking issue in the US).
When it comes to small desktops that look exeptionally nice then you’d have to go a lon way to find something better looking than the Lenovo Q180 (pictured above). Sadly, it’s only available with an Atom processor.
Otherwise, I’m struggling – small desktop PCs simply don’t appear to be popular, which is odd considering the populararity these days of laptops (so people want small and convenient but not when it comes to a desktop?). Indeed, those small footprint desktop that you do find appear to be intended as media machines – ASRock, for instance, produc e a number of good looking desktops of this type but are expensive because of their 3D media capabilities. In fact my Dell Zino HD is intended as a media PC too.
This got me thinking of what I’d want in my next laptop (not that I’m looking for one right now, I should add). Right now I’d want…
Intel Core i5 processor
4GB memory
Windows 7 64-bit OS
Solid State drive
USB 3.0
13-14″ screen
Built-in webcam and microphone
Good battery life (5 hours+)
Non-glossy screen (optional but nice to have)
I don’t mention the size of the SSD simply because I don’t need anything of any size – 64GB would be more than enough. On my laptop I store pretty much everything in Dropbox in just a few GB. All photo and music storage is on my phone, desktop PC or NAS.
I should also add that I’m also wanting a laptop that looks good too – no black slabs of plastic!
If I thought looking for the desktop was difficult, a reasonably prices laptop with the above specification is even harder!
The problem here is wanting that SSD (which I want for robustness – I throw my laptop in my bag regularly and always worry about that mechanical drive. However, the increase in speed is always welcome too) – most companies are only putting these in their top-of-the-range laptops. As I’m also specifying a sub-15″ screen that means I often end up in Ultrabook territory. And then it gets scarily priced. The thing is, I haven’t asked for ultimate thinness – the specification I mention is quite reasonable.
Looking at both the Dell and Samsung websites my only choice is an expensive Ultrabook (usually £1000+).
The Lenovo website is currently not selling their Edge range (the likely candidates) – I’m assuming because of a change in models. Looking at the US Lenovo site they do have them for sale but they simply don’t anything that matches the requirements of above (again with going to Ultrabook range).
My conclusion can only be that it’s a good job I’m not actively searching for a laptop right now as the only way I could get what I want is to ditch the idea of an SSD.
As for the desktop, I’m still awaiting Lenovo UK to get back to me with whether the H520s will ever be available in the UK. Meantime, if anybody else knows of something that fits my criteria please let me know.
I think I've found it!
It’s always the way – after weeks of searching you submit an article about what appears to be fruitless search. only to find what you were looking for days later!
My desktop of choice would be the Chillblast Fusion Dagger Ultimate. Set in a SilverStone small-form-factor case, it’s designed as a gaming PC. However, ChillBlast allow you to downgrade components as easily as upgrade them. In particular, if you go for the Ivy Bridge i5 3570K processor you’ll also get the built-in HD 4000 GPU. To put this into context, this GPU is much more powerful than the cheapest separate graphics card that Chillblast offer.
The laptop is not so definate but certainly appears to be the top contender. The Sony Vaio T series is an Ultrabook at a competitive price. Specifying the base model with an increase of memory to 6GB and a 128GB SSD came to under £770 at Sony (that’s including VAT). For an Ultrabook that’s a competitive price.
Quidco currently give 6% back from Sony (sadly, Chillblast isn’t on Quidco) which is about £46.
I’ve tweeted to Lenovo UK asking them about a UK release but they haven’t responded [↩]
There are a number of USB monitors now beginning to come into the market. The idea is that you plug these into your laptop, as required, to give an extended desktop. The problem with most of them, however, is that their output is usual quite poor, often with reduced angles and low levels of brightness.
The Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 is a 14″ screen with a 1366×668 pixel resolution that connects via USB. A mini USB plugs into the monitor and this runs to your PC as 2 USB cables – one is required for data and power and the other, if required, for further power. Personally, I’ve not needed to use the 2nd cable. With the cover (that you’d be mad not to use) it weighs just over 2.3 lbs and it’s just 0.35 inches at its thinnest, so it slips into a laptop bag easily.
The screen itself has no stand but comes with a hard plastic cover which, when clipped off, the monitor sites on. A “leg” with a rubber foot is then folded out from the back of the screen and this allows you to prop the monitor up at angle between 12 and 40 degrees.
Also on the back of the monitor is a control allowing to adjust the brightness up and down and a power light.
The screen surround is a very traditional Lenovo matt black plastic with the ThinkVision logo in a top corner and a silver Lenovo badge at the bottom.
Included with the monitor is the screen, cable, instruction leaflet and driver CD. The LT1421 connects via the DisplayLink technology and hence the reason for the driver. I never used the CD but, instead, downloaded the latest driver from the Lenovo website.
Once the driver is installed simply plugging the monitor into your computer’s USB port causes it to power on. Both screens will flicker as the current desktop is extended. A system tray icon allows you to specify how the 2nd monitor should work – I usually have it to the right of me and extend it that way so I can drag and drop files precisely from one screen to another. You can also rotate the screen and even just use it as a mirror of your laptop screen (potentially useful in meetings where you want to share your screen’s output but need to be able to view it yourself).
The screen is quite bright with good viewing angles. The colour is a little more yellow than my laptop screen and there’s no method of adjustment. Bear this in mind though – I have no intention of using it for photo work or the like so I’m happy that this is the case.
I struggled to find a UK distributor of this and bought mine via a German retailer on Amazon.co.uk for £145. However, you can now (at time of writing this) buy the LT1421 from the Artiss.co.uk shop for £119.81, including P&P.
Using on a Mac
Drivers are available from DisplayLink for the appropriate drivers for Mac. In use, the experience is better than that on Windows – after installation and plugging in the monitor the display powers up immediately and is automatically configured very well. There are no additional icons – you simply adjust setup via the standard “Displays’ option within Preferences.
An excellent way to extend your laptop screen. It’s not too expensive and has a better screen than the majority of the competition. Combine that with the Lenovo quality and this is an excellent product.
My recent review of the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 tablet revealed that although it’s an excellent bit of hardware for the money it does suffer from some bugs and it would appear that Lenovo are not going to support it very much in the future – certainly not to the point of upgrading the version of Android on it.
Because of this I made the decision to “root” my A1 and install an alternative version of Android on it. CyanogenMod is widely recognised as one the best alternative versions, and even has companies such as Samsung assisting them. The advantage this will give me is that there are a team of developers behind this who will, hopefully, iron out some of the tablet’s bugs that Lenovo appear reluctant to spend time on.
I came across a thread on the XDA Developers forum where details on the process were being discussed, but this was pitched at a level of user with some knowledge of the process. I had none. I therefore got in touch with Graham Markall, the person who started the forum thread and has put together the required files and instructions on how to do this. He talked me through, via an IRC chat, the entire process which I have now documented. If you are therefore interested in installing CyanogenMod on a Lenovo A1 then you can follow the instructions below.
To give you an idea of timescales, after already downloading the requisite files and adding them to the SD card, it took me 10-15 minutes to get to the stage where CyanogenMod was installed and working.
If you have any problems then there are some contact details at the bottom.
Installing CyanogenMod 7 isn’t going to fix all those niggling faults with the IdeaPad – you’ll find they occur just the same. The developers do intend to fix all those problems – it’s just taking a while. In additional, CyanogenMod is going to introduce other problems. Here are the post-CyanogenMod issues that I’ve come across…
Probably the most major current issue is that when previewing live images through the front camera the image will appear upside down – when taking a photo, however, it’s the correct way up.
The switch on the side of the IdeaPad that prevents the display from rotating will not work.
Some apps do not like “modded” systems and will not show in the Marketplace. The only one I’ve come across so far is the BBC News app, although the iPlayer appears fine.
Downloads
Here are the downloads you’ll need. Grab them now and install them either on an internal or external SD card. Don’t unzip anything – literally put them on the card as they are.
ClockworkMod – once downloaded, rename is to update.zip.
Google Apps – CyanogenMod can’t be bundled with Google apps, so they have to downloaded and installed separately. Install the latest for CyanogenMod 7.
Step 1 – Install ClockworkMod
ClockworkMod is needed for making backups of your system and for installing different ROMs. Assuming you downloaded it at the first stage and now have it on SD card, here is what you need to do to install it…
Power off the IdeaPad.
Hold down volume down and turn the power back on, keeping volume down held until the tablet boots up to an image of an arrow out of a box with an android (this is the stock recovery).
Wait whilst ClockworkMod recovery installs. The progress bar should fill up.
Once the installation has finished, you should see a green tick in a green triangle and the IdeaPad will power off.
You can now power on as normal to get back to Android, or power on with volume down held to get into ClockworkMod recovery.
Step 2 – Backup your system
Before making any major changes to your system, it’s important to make a backup.
There’s a slight complication, which is due to the fact that ClockworkMod needs to backup four partitions to save everything: system, cache, data, and ramdisk but the version we’re using only backs up system, cache, and data.
However, the ramdisk can be restored by installing it using a zip file from ClockworkMod. There are three or four different versions of the ramdisk. The latest 2643, is available to download from the ClockworkMod link listed above, so if you’re on this version of the stock system then it doesn’t matter that you can only backup three partitions. If you want to go back to stock, you can download the zip for that ramdisk, install it from ClockworkMod the same way you install CyanogenMod7, then restore your backup and reboot.
Start up the IdeaPad in recovery mode – as mentioned above, hold down volume down whilst powering the device on. Don’t release the volume control under ClockworkMod loads.
You navigate around ClockworkMod using volume up and down and the power button to select options.
Select the menu option “backup and restore”.
Once you go into that, you can choose “backup” to backup to your external SD card or “backup to internal Sd card”.
It will now back everything up to your chosen destination – it takes about 5-7 minutes.
Step 3 – Installing the modified bootloader
There is only one kernel on the A1, and if the kernel causes problems (unlikely, but it’s better to save yourself the risk) you won’t be able to boot normally or into recovery. Being able to boot into Fastboot mode gives you a way out of this by allowing you to flash a kernel through USB. Basically, it’s an emergency measure, but one worth protecting yourself with.
Whilst in recovery mode, choose the menu option “install zip from SD card”.
Now choose “zip from SD card” or “choose zip from internal SD card” depending on where you put the update.zip file.
Scroll down to the zip file and select it – you’ll be asked if you really want to install it.
To enter Fastboot mode, hold volume up when powering on. The screen turns red when in Fastboot mode. You can get out of it by holding down the power button for 10 seconds, or running Fastboot reboot. Recovery is volume down as usual.
Step 4 – Installing CyanogenMod 7
Whilst in recovery mode, choose the menu option “install zip from SD card”.
Now choose “zip from SD card” or “choose zip from internal SD card” depending on where you put the update.zip file.
Scroll down to the zip file and select it – you’ll be asked if you really want to install it.
When it’s finished installing you need to choose the “wipe data/factory reset” option, because the leftover data from the stock system will cause problems with CyanogenMod otherwise.
Once you’ve done that, you can reboot, and it should boot into CyanogenMod 7.
Step 5 – Installing Google Apps
As previously mentioned, CyanogenMod doesn’t come with Google integration, including the Marketplace and syncing abilities. These will therefore need to be added separately.
Assuming you downloaded the required file earlier and added to the SD card you’ll need (again) to boot into ClockworkMod and install the file as you did CyanogenMod – just don’t do a factory reset afterwards!
This will add the necessary Google integration, although some apps (such as Gmail) you’ll need to download from the Marketplace.
Odds and Sods
You might find the launcher that comes with CyanogenMod 7 a little sluggish (although not as bad as the Lenovo one) – other people like to use Launcher Pro, or Nemus Launcher.
CyanogenMod doesn’t update itself automatically. If you want to update to a later build you have to download a new one and install it from ClockworkMod. If you install a later build over an earlier one though, you only need to wipe the cache partition. Don’t do a full wipe data/factory reset because its not necessary.
Initially apps within CyanogenMod didn’t seem to recognise my internal SD card – for example, the music player. To activate it you need to go into Settings -> CyanogenMod Settings -> Application and then tick “Use internal storage”.
I also had problems connecting the IdeaPad to my computer via USB after installing CyanogenMod. This is because the default is to connect in USB debugging mode. Simply go into Settings -> Applications -> Development and untick “USB Debugging”. Reboot and now when you connect a USB cable you’ll get the standard on-screen options to connect.
Problems?
Let me say now – I am not the person to ask for help! I was guided through the above by someone who knew what has was doing and it worked for me first time. Yes, there were some “issues” but I resolved all of these with liberal use of Google – I’d recommend the same.
For help with ClockworkMod head over to the ClockworkMod forum at the XDA Developer site.
For help with CyanogenMod 7 head over to the CyanogenMod forum at the XDA Developer site.
Lastly, you can brush up on IRC chat and find Graham at the Freenode channel #ideapad-a1.
Updates
26/04/2012 – Added download link and instructions for modified boot loader
As part of Amazon’s Boxing Day specials I managed to get hold of a Lenovo IdeaPad A1 Android tablet. Normally £200, I got mine for £150. Yes, it’s been a while since I got it but I’ve been too busy enjoying it to get around to completing the review (4 months in the writing!)
The tablet comes with minimalist, but still stylish, packaging. A black box is opened to review the tablet on top (in a plastic bag), with 2 further boxes underneath. One (I’m guessing this is the bit they swap out for each country) contains a USB mains charger (and a fast charging one too!), the other a brief guide to getting started and a USB cable. And that’s it.
The tablet itself is gorgeous, I have to say. The satin metal sides and connectors look remarkably like those on an Apple device, especially the speaker grill at the bottom. The rear is a shiny plastic (with only the camera breaking this up) but behind it is a magnesium alloy roll cage. The front shows off a 7″ Gorilla Glass screen, a front facing VGA camera and 3 lit touch sensitive buttons. It’s quite weighty, but in a nice way (it feels rugged and not flimsy). The sides has a lovely curvature to them which sets it aside from the more conventional rounded or square sides. The rear sports another camera, this time 3mp.
Button and connection wise, the bottom has a Micro SD slot , micro USB port and a speaker. On the right is the volume control and an orientation switch. The top sports the power button and headphone socket. It’s relativity minimalist, but has the essentials.
The version I’ve bought has 16GB of internal memory, along with 512MB of ROM. It has a single core 1GHz processor powering it all. The screen is 1024×600 pixels, which makes it 170 pixels per inch (ppi). This ppi value makes the display sharper than even that of the Apple iPad 2. Text and apps that take into account the pixel density look superb, but many of the standard graphics look fuzzy and washed out as a result. The screen is particularly bright (and, thankfully, has an option to be set automatically) but has poor viewing angles.
Connectivity wise you get b/g/n wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is on-board BUT (and essentially) it has full Google connectivity, including the Android Marketplace, which many similar tablets lack. It’s not on Honeycomb or ICS because of it’s relatively low specification.
The rear camera is okay. Not brilliant. There’s no flash and images were often dark and noisy. The front camera is quite sufficient for Skype, though, and I think people look a little stupid holding up a camera to take a picture so the average quality of the rear camera is not an issue for me.
Battery wise, it seemed to last for ages initially, but then I had problems with syncing and wifi not working with the tablet in standby. Recent firmware upgrades have resolved this and battery life has plummeted. Never-the-less, except to only have to recharge every few days with light use1. Sadly, the battery is not replaceable.
Boot time is sluggish and the default launcher is equally so – I’d recommend installing a 3rd party launcher and front-end. There’s little “crapware” installed though – a Lenovo shop app and a front screen widget which provides quick shortcuts to 5 applications. They have, however, installed a number of apps that are freely available from the Marketplace to get you started – all of these can be uninstalled if needs be.
However, there are a few cut corners…
The aforementioned Android 2.3 – the processor is a single core 1Ghz version and you get very little in the way of graphical oomph. The result is not sluggish but it explains why a higher (and more powerful ) level of Android is not available.
The capacitive screen lacks a little in the way of sensitivity – it’s no Galaxy S2 in terms of response.
The GPS is rubbish. At first I thought it was broken but then I read in forums that everybody else was experiencing the same issues, with locks outside taking up to 8 minutes each time. A recent firmware upgrade has made it better but it’s still very slow.
There were also a few problems I came across, but many have been fixed with recent firmware upgrades. If you buy one of these make you sure update it as soon as you can!
However, there is an outstanding issue with the rather “buggy” (the words of a developer!) causing the tablet to reboot every-so-often. I’ve also had a number of instances of the device not wanting to come out of standby. The screen didn’t want to come on and plugging in the power cable didn’t cause the charging light to come on either. When it first happened I thought it was a dud and I was going to have to replace it – after a short while, though, I realised that holding the power button down long enough causes it to, eventually, power off. You can then restart it and will boot back up as normal.
One final niggle – the 3 touch sensitive buttons at the bottom (menu, home and back) aren’t permanently lit and only come on when pressed (and then all 3 light up). This is at odds with when you do need it to be lit – when you’re looking for where you need to press! And you have to be precise with where you touch as well to get them to light – it would have been far better for them to light whenever anywhere on that bottom bar was touched.
I think it would also be remiss of me not to mention the fact that Lenovo in the UK appear to have no interest in this product – they don’t sell it and they don’t have any support information about it on their site. I find it best to visit the US site for further information. Indeed, this is probably the biggest issue, as apart from a few firmware upgrades, don’t expect many of these bugs to be sorted and it’s certainly almost certain that the tablet will not receive Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Summary of Lenovo IdeaPad A1
An incredibly well built tablet with a superb resolution screen at a bargain price. A lack of long term support and a number of niggling bugs is the only let-down
Reviewed by David Artiss on 3rd April 2012.
the official battery life is 7 hours of normal use. CNET got 4 hours out of it playing video [↩]
From now until March 19th (so only a few days) you can save 10% on any Lenovo Think products: ThinkPad laptops, ThinkCentre desktops, ThinkStation workstations. Free shipping is also included.
There are a number of USB monitors now beginning to come into the market. The idea is that you plug these into your laptop, as required, to give an extended desktop. The problem with most of them, however, is that their output is usual quite poor, often with reduced angles and low levels of brightness.
Top
Is there a desktop and laptop out there for me?
So I got thinking about the specification that I’d need. Again, I want something small that can go on the desk, rather a large tower that you shove under it. In fact, most of the specifications would need to be similar to what I have now, just with a faster processor.
In fact, I should add that I’m only after the base – I already have a very good 27″ Dell monitor.
I think the minimum would have to be…
None of the above should be too taxing. However, it’s my requirement for something small and quiet that seriously restricts the possibilities. I like to have something on the desk, not under, and that’s why I really want something compact and, for this reason, something good looking too. However, it shouldn’t be a big deal – you can get all of the above specification in a laptop which is far smaller than my desktop footprint requirement.
There is something available – the Lenovo H520S. It’s not yet available in the UK1 but a look at the product in the US shows it to be reasonable priced – unfortunately they only have it with a Core i3 processor (the UK site shows that it should be available with up to Core i7 so I suspect this is simply a stocking issue in the US).
When it comes to small desktops that look exeptionally nice then you’d have to go a lon way to find something better looking than the Lenovo Q180 (pictured above). Sadly, it’s only available with an Atom processor.
Otherwise, I’m struggling – small desktop PCs simply don’t appear to be popular, which is odd considering the populararity these days of laptops (so people want small and convenient but not when it comes to a desktop?). Indeed, those small footprint desktop that you do find appear to be intended as media machines – ASRock, for instance, produc e a number of good looking desktops of this type but are expensive because of their 3D media capabilities. In fact my Dell Zino HD is intended as a media PC too.
This got me thinking of what I’d want in my next laptop (not that I’m looking for one right now, I should add). Right now I’d want…
I don’t mention the size of the SSD simply because I don’t need anything of any size – 64GB would be more than enough. On my laptop I store pretty much everything in Dropbox in just a few GB. All photo and music storage is on my phone, desktop PC or NAS.
I should also add that I’m also wanting a laptop that looks good too – no black slabs of plastic!
If I thought looking for the desktop was difficult, a reasonably prices laptop with the above specification is even harder!
The problem here is wanting that SSD (which I want for robustness – I throw my laptop in my bag regularly and always worry about that mechanical drive. However, the increase in speed is always welcome too) – most companies are only putting these in their top-of-the-range laptops. As I’m also specifying a sub-15″ screen that means I often end up in Ultrabook territory. And then it gets scarily priced. The thing is, I haven’t asked for ultimate thinness – the specification I mention is quite reasonable.
Looking at both the Dell and Samsung websites my only choice is an expensive Ultrabook (usually £1000+).
The Lenovo website is currently not selling their Edge range (the likely candidates) – I’m assuming because of a change in models. Looking at the US Lenovo site they do have them for sale but they simply don’t anything that matches the requirements of above (again with going to Ultrabook range).
My conclusion can only be that it’s a good job I’m not actively searching for a laptop right now as the only way I could get what I want is to ditch the idea of an SSD.
As for the desktop, I’m still awaiting Lenovo UK to get back to me with whether the H520s will ever be available in the UK. Meantime, if anybody else knows of something that fits my criteria please let me know.
I think I've found it!
It’s always the way – after weeks of searching you submit an article about what appears to be fruitless search. only to find what you were looking for days later!
My desktop of choice would be the Chillblast Fusion Dagger Ultimate. Set in a SilverStone small-form-factor case, it’s designed as a gaming PC. However, ChillBlast allow you to downgrade components as easily as upgrade them. In particular, if you go for the Ivy Bridge i5 3570K processor you’ll also get the built-in HD 4000 GPU. To put this into context, this GPU is much more powerful than the cheapest separate graphics card that Chillblast offer.
The laptop is not so definate but certainly appears to be the top contender. The Sony Vaio T series is an Ultrabook at a competitive price. Specifying the base model with an increase of memory to 6GB and a 128GB SSD came to under £770 at Sony (that’s including VAT). For an Ultrabook that’s a competitive price.
Quidco currently give 6% back from Sony (sadly, Chillblast isn’t on Quidco) which is about £46.
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