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Paul A.

Paul A.

Joined on 04/21/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

A good machine with a couple of quirks

Lenovo Laptop IdeaPad Intel Core i3-2370M 4GB Memory 750GB HDD Intel HD Graphics 3000 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Z580 (215123U)
Lenovo Laptop IdeaPad Intel Core i3-2370M 4GB Memory 750GB HDD Intel HD Graphics 3000 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Z580 (215123U)

Pros: This is a speedy machine, at least compared with my previous laptops. The keyboard is very comfortable and the keys are nicely contoured. The aesthetics of the case are very nice.

Cons: 1. The machine inexplicably lacks a disk activity LED. This may well be the first personal computer I've encountered that didn't have one. And I miss it. The disk activity LED reassures me that the machine is actually working when it seems to have gotten stuck. A very unfortunate omission. 2. The machine comes with four primary partitions preinstalled. That makes installing an additional OS such as Linux very challenging. I managed to do it by saving the contents of #3 within #2, deleting #3, installing an extended partition in its place, and reconstructing #3 within that extended partition. Then I was able to create additional logical partitions. But I shouldn't have had to do that.

Overall Review: If Lenovo had taken advantage of the UEFI capabilities that the machine already has, they could have avoided those partitioning problems.

Most Critical Review

Can't get it to work

TRENDnet TEW-421PC 802.11g Wireless PC Card
TRENDnet TEW-421PC 802.11g Wireless PC Card

Pros: Cheap, especially with the rebate.

Cons: I cannot get it to work on my Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop, despite trying to follow the advice in earlier reviews. Flyboy's review recommends getting the Libertas drivers from the Marvell website, but a search on that website reveals no Libertas drivers. I cannot establish a connection either with the included driver/utility or by letting Windows do it.

Overall Review: I have a Linksys card that works perfectly on this same machine, so the problem is neither with my wireless router (a Dlink) nor with my laptop.

Wouldn't work for me

Zonet ZEW1501 802.11g Wireless LAN CardBus Adapter
Zonet ZEW1501 802.11g Wireless LAN CardBus Adapter

Pros: Inexpensive, and works for many other folks. You can actually reach Zonet tech support and they try to be helpful.

Cons: Does not work in my configuration, a Dell Inspiron talking to a D-Link wireless router. My Linksys card works fine, however.

Overall Review: I tried configuring the card both through Windows and through the driver provided with the card. Neither worked. I could get a connection but it kept switching on and off. No idea why.