A couple of days ago I bought two Lenovo G550 laptops – one for me, one for my wife. After spending a day browsing all the online shops and driving around all computer outlets in the city, I decided that this is the best option available.
Specifications: Dual-core 2Ghz Intel CPU, 15.6 inch glossy screen (WXGA, maximum resolution 1366×768), 4 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard disk, a bunch of USB ports, HDMI out, DVD writer, WiFi, and all the standard stuff, weighting at around 2.7 kilograms. Battery life is around 4 hours. Price: 500 EUR + 15% VAT = 575 EUR.
Both machines are running Linux (Fedora 12) already, even though they were coming with some Windows pre-installed. I wouldn’t know which one since I haven’t even booted into that once. Fedora Linux installation was straight-forward and everything worked, except for the wireless networking, which needs an extra step to enable those Broadcom drivers. Gladly, the required step is widely covered in the blogosphere. – basically, enable RPM Fusion yum repository, install kmod-wl package, and reboot your machine.
Everything is working find and I really enjoy the laptop, except for a few things that annoy me with its keyboard. The layout is somewhat weird. First of all, I am not used to having a number pad on a laptop keyboard. But that’s OK – if there is space, then why not, right? Well, there is space, but I think it would have been utilized better for Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys. As they are now, PgUp and PgDn are located next to navigation arrow keys and Home/End keys are only accessible through a Fn key, which is really strange. On top of that, Insert and Delete keys are in a different part of the keyboard – on top of the Backspace key. And while I don’t use Caps Lock all that often, some people will notice that Caps Lock indicator is missing, as well as NumLock and ScrollLock. What can I say? That’s one weird keyboard layout.
Other than that though there is nothing that I can complain about. The machine is nice and cool and pleasant to use. My wife seems to enjoy it as well.
Hey, congratulations.
Now tell us if your HDMI has audio out?
I am using ubuntu 11.04 on this laptop. I have audio output through hdmi. You need to choose the output in the hardware tab of the sound preferences.
Thanks Chris. I’ll have to try it out first ;)
I am using Ubuntu 10.04 with this laptop. As Chris mentions, there is no audio out of the HDMI port. I believe it is because Ubuntu currently does not do HDMI audio. It’s still under development.
i bought i new lenovo g550 notebook but the CD icon is missing in my computer. when i put a CD in it doesn’t even show. can u help me restore it back.
ben,
I have no idea what you are talking about. My CD is working fine.
Hi Leonid – I bought the G550 8 days ago. Mine has a 320GB hdd. But I also have the caps light working fine. I wonder y urs doesn't. It's next to the power on and restore button and on it's left is the num lock indicator. I do agree the keyboard layout is weird – but I'm only used to desktop keyboards. This is my first laptop. The only complaints I have is the tacky look & feel of the material used for the palm rest and the touch pad mouse. I bought a USB mouse and I prefer it.
Hi ,
I bought my g550 with the same config mentioned above which came with windows 7.
Every thing is working fine except my usb mouse.
I have change 2 Usb mouses till now which just worked only for one day
And I am vexed up with those usb mouses and gone for bluetooth moude Enter brand made in hongkong
It just worked again for only one day.
I am almost shocked if some cat is inside my laptop
Please let me know which external mouse are you all using comfortaly
Praveen,
this is the mouse that I use. I’ve also occasionally plugged in other USB mice, and never had any problem.
leonid,
does your backspace key pop up at the top or is that just on mine?
Mine is working just fine.
cheers, just wanted some peace of mind before pushing it down if it was a feature :P
So what was it that made you decide the Lenovo was the best option over other laptops?
It sounds like it’s been a good choice but other rands could have been as good.
That’s a personal preference over a few years of experience. I’ve worked in a few considerably-sized companies, where we bought plenty of laptops over the years. I was involved with the technical support – installations, configurations, maintenance, etc. Through that experience I came to a conclusion that there are only two brands that I trust for laptop, desktop, and server hardware – IBM/Lenovo and HP.
Has anyone found the “print screen” button on this wierd keyboard?
The print screen button is in the top row of the keyboard, just above the backspace key on my model
Hi Leonid, I bought a G550 18 months ago in Berlin and while it has a German keyboard…I’ve got used to it (I’m not German).
It’s called a Notebook, not Laptop, hence the number pad.
For info RE: the keys you mentioned above…You have most of them in double.
On the number pad – with the Num lock OFF – 1=End, 7=Home, 9=Pg Up and 3=Pg down.
The Caps lock light is top left of the keyboard just above the F3 key and on its right is the Cap lock light.
Hope this helps.
I really like mine too – ‘cept the speakers are pretty poor for music so headphones or external speakers make all the difference.
Only other 2down” thing is that I’ve just loaded Windows 7 Ultimate and it has really slowed it down. But for another €25 you can up the RAM from its 1 giga to 3 gigas and that should solve that one.
Enjoy!
Stephen King
Hi Stephen,
thanks for the comment.
As for your laptop vs notebook definition, it’s arguable. :) I personally think that laptop and notebook are synonyms these days. Lenovo itself doesn’t have a section “notebooks” on the site – only laptops and ultrabooks, and they placed G550 into the laptops area of their site: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/lapt.....eries/g550
Just saying …
I’m trying to find the model number 4 numbers 3 letters I have torn this thing apart basically still have no idea where it is. I need a screen replacement for it.