GeezBlog

(Image Lenovo)

At last!  Official word from David Hill that the Retro ThinkPad project is a reality.

Wonderful news!

Retro ThinkPad: It’s Alive

Talk about an embarrassment of riches! Another Lenovo laptop has arrived! It’s a pre-production ThinkPad Yoga 370 – an advance sample of one of the new products due to be announced at CES 2017.

First things first: From time to time the nice people at Lenovo send me a gadget. They’re handy to have around – both for my own use and when trying to help out in the Lenovo forums. I do some testing and writing as well. I’m not otherwise compensated, and opinions are my own. I DO NOT speak for Lenovo.

I’ve done my best to gather correct specs here, but please keep in mind that the Yoga 370 is a pre-production unit. It’s not likely that things will change when it becomes available for purchase – but it’s possible. The specs available to me are also preliminary. Please verify anything you read here – about either model – before using it to make a purchase decision.

The TP Yoga 370 is a successor to the TP Yoga 260. Since I also have a ‘260 we’ll follow the same format used to introduce the (non-ThinkPad) Yoga 910 here and compare the two ThinkPads’ specs and features. Of course they’re both Yogas, with the poses, postures, and flexibility that implies.

(Images Lenovo)

Off the top, the main differences are Kaby Lake processors, larger display in a slightly larger frame with reduced bezel size, USB-C/Thunderbolt port, proprietary Ethernet port, deleted OneLink port (in favor of the USB-C port), deleted mini DisplayPort, and deleted volume buttons.

The specific pre-production unit that I received has an i5 7100U Kaby Lake CPU, 4GB of DDR4 RAM (single socket in this version – see below), a 128GB SATA SSD, no fingerprint reader, and a 1920×1080 display. This is at the low-spec end of the option list but reasonably well suited for the way I’ll use it: evening surfing, some media consumption, and writing. The below shows the range of specs, using the documentation available at this writing.

Did I mention that it’s silver? It’s a looker – but this will take some getting used-to. Aren’t ThinkPads supposed to be black? At least it has a TrackPoint. That’s not negotiable. Period. The end. Full stop.

Specifications

12 March 2017 update: TP Yoga 370 specs are now available.  Sales link still pending…

Photos

Yoga 370 on top, 260 on bottom.

Again, the 370 is a prototype. Ports and features may differ in production units, and units with different options.

Front and rear very similar. The 370 is slightly larger.

The size difference is more apparent in side view.

370: “slim” charging port, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, proprietary Ethernet port, USB 3.0/always on
260: “slim” charging port, OneLink+, mini DisplayPort, USB 3.0/always on

370: power button, pen in pen silo, combo audio jack, micro SD card slot, (SIM slot WWAN models) USB 3.0, HDMI, security lock port
260: power button, volume up/down, pen in pen silo, combo audio jack, micro SD card slot/SIM card slot, USB 3.0, HDMI, security lock port

A look at the screens side-by-side, showing the 370’s larger display in a slightly larger frame on the right.

ThinkPad Yoga 370 Links

12 March 2017 update: TP Yoga 370 specs and some documents are now available.  Sales and user’s guide links still pending…

Hardware Maintenance Manual – ThinkPad Yoga 370

PSREF Page

Base Specification

ThinkPad Yoga 260 Links

ThinkPad Yoga 260 (sales site)

(English) User Guide – ThinkPad Yoga 260

Hardware Maintenance Manual – ThinkPad Yoga 260

PSREF Page

Base Specification

Random Observations

Device and Disk Managers, SSD performance: This TP Yoga 370 has a SATA m.2 SSD, not NVMe.

Operating System: this unit shipped with Windows 10 Pro Signature Edition.  It’s my understanding that production systems will also use a signature edition preload.  Signature edition preloads include much less (or no) bloatware.  That’s welcome news 🙂

Like other recent Lenovo offerings, it uses a PBR (Microsoft push-button reset) image.  There is a small recovery partition but it contains recovery tools, not the recovery image.  The recovery image files are incorporated in the C: partition, not in a separate partition.  They get updated when the OS updates, so recovery isn’t to as-shipped state, but to as-shipped if it had shipped with the updated OS.

Linux: Live Ubuntu Linux 16.04.1. No wifi out of the box. SATA AHCI-mode SSD (containing Windows 10) is visible to Linux.

Virtualization: VMWare Player and two VMs. Requires enabling VT-x in BIOS. Two VMs pretty much maxed the 4GB of RAM in this system. Configuring the VMs with less virtual RAM each would help, but it’s not really workable to run both at the same time with the RAM available in this particular laptop. They also consume a fair bit of the 128GB of main storage.

For any kind of serious VM work a configuration with more SSD, more RAM, and perhaps a stronger processor would be appropriate. For occasional/demo/experimental use, this one is fine.

Dongles: The ‘370 uses Lenovo’s proprietary Ethernet port, since the unit isn’t thick enough for a standard RJ45 port. The ‘260 made Ethernet available via the OneLink port – or with a USB dongle as described below.

There’s a Lenovo Ethernet dongle <part number needed> that provides a full-sized RJ45 connector.

It’s also possible to use an aftermarket USB-C or USB 3.0 to Ethernet dongle. I tested briefly with an Anker USB-C to USB 3.0/RJ45 mini combo hub. Also a StarTech USB 3.0 to RJ45 dongle. Both worked without requiring an additional driver. I mention them here as examples, not necessarily as recommendations.

Color: Did I mention that it’s SILVER? It’s also available in black…

(Image Lenovo)

Sleek, elegant, and powerful.  This beauty has it all – including one rather irritating problem.  Well, maybe two…

But first: From time to time the nice people at Lenovo send me a gadget.  They’re handy to have around – both for my own use and when trying to help out in the Lenovo forums.  I do some testing and writing as well.  I’m not otherwise compensated, and opinions are my own.  I DO NOT speak for Lenovo.

A year ago we had a look at the Yoga 900.   It’s still one of my favorite consumer-grade laptops.  Lenovo Yoga 900: not a ThinkPad, but not too bad…  It was a real improvement over the ground-breaking Yoga 3 Pro.  The Yoga 910 that recently landed at my front door continues that evolution in all ways:  updated CPU (7th gen Kaby Lake) and RAM, larger and faster SSD, and an optional 4k display.  The very slender bezel makes the most of the available real-estate with most of it dedicated to the display.  It goes without saying that it’s a Yoga, with multiple modes:  laptop, tablet, tent, stand…

The specific unit that I received had an i7 CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM (soldered to the mainboard), a 1TB NVMe SSD, fingerprint reader, and a 4k display.  Yow!

Let’s examine the evolution of the 910 by comparing it to the 900.  Specifications are derived from Lenovo documentation available at the time of this writing.  Please confirm anything you read here before making a purchase decision.  Also note that the Yoga 900 specs are for a -13ISK model.  That has been superseded by the -13ISK2 with an NVMe SSD.

Specifications

Photos

A look at the display and keyboard.

The Yoga 910 uses USB-C charging.  The charger has been tweaked – with the AC prongs at the corner – to avoid blocking both outlets of a North-American duplex, or multiple outlets in a plug strip.  An AC extension cord is also included.  A nice touch.

And now let’s compare the old and new.  The 910 is on top, the 900 on the bottom.  They’re similar … yet different.  The 910 has a USB-C charging port and no card reader among other differences. The details are spelled out in the links at the end of this article.  My apologies for the image quality.  Lenovo hasn’t sent me a phone yet…

And finally, a display comparison.  The narrow bezel of the 910 on the right allows for a larger display in a nearly-identically sized laptop.

Yoga 910 Links

Yoga 910 (sales site)

(English) User Guide – Yoga 910-13IKB, Yoga 910-13IKB Glass

Hardware Maintenance Manual – Yoga 910-13IKB, Yoga 910-13IKB Glass

PSREF page

Base Specification

Sarbin’s Lenovo Forum Spotlight Snap-review: Yoga: The Next Generation – The Yoga 910!

Random Observations

Camera: it’s at the bottom of the screen (as viewed in laptop mode).

Devices, drive layout and performance: as-delivered Device Manager, SSD layout, SSD performance.

Linux: Yes, the Yoga 910 will boot Ubuntu 16.04 live on a USB flash drive.  However – unless the SATA mode is toggled to AHCI in BIOS config the installer won’t be able to see the main drive.  Wifi also doesn’t seem to work out-of-the-box.

Virtual Machines: VMWare Workstation Player (free) and a couple of my VMs copied from another laptop.  Requires enabling VT-x in BIOS.

This is an example of one of the drawbacks of an extremely high-res display.  Older software (like this Solaris VM) don’t know how to scale, and become tiny.  Newer software generally can cope – but some older stuff may be unusable.

The Problem(s)

Well, I guess you’ve all been waiting for this… fan noise 🙁  2-in-1 ultrabooks are a challenge to cool.  Add a high-end mobile i7 CPU and it just gets worse.  Then try to hide the vents in the watchband hinge…

It’s understandable that there’s some fan/air noise given the above.  It can become objectionable if the fan runs too often, runs unnecessarily, or just plain sounds nasty.  All of these have been discussed by unhappy forum members.  My particular unit has a fan whine that I find rather obnoxious.  It’s not clear that they all do that.

Lenovo is working on BIOS and driver mods to address some of these aspects.  Forum members are already doing some testing, with mixed results so far.

Part of the problem is “rogue” processes increasing CPU loading (in the background independent of user activity) and causing the fan to run more than it should.  A major player is Windows Update and the associated Trusted Modules Installer.  With Windows 10 Home (the typical OS on these machines) those processes pretty much run when they feel like it, and can disrupt a quiet meeting room, or just aggravate the user.

It’s possible – likely even – that considerable improvements in fan noise are on the way, at least as regards frequency of operation and RPM.  The “tone” of the fan is another issue IMHO – and a troubling one.  Stay tuned…

Oh yeah, the other “problem”… the right SHIFT key.  Sheesh.  What were they thinking?

Update 2017.01.27  My Yoga 910 has gone back to Lenovo for analysis, and I’ve received a replacement.  The replacement still has a fairly “active” fan, but doesn’t screech like the first one did.  It’s a very different experience, even before making the Lenovo-suggested BIOS and driver changes in the link below.

My guess is that one fan vendor’s product that has the severe noise problem – and that’s on top of whatever excess fan activity is caused by BIOS, drivers, and general Windows 10 background activity.

For reference, the thread on the Lenovo forums:  Yoga 910 crazy loud fan even when CPU at <35%

The same old boilerplate:  From time to time the nice people at Lenovo send me a gadget.  They’re handy to have around – both for my own use and when trying to help out in the Lenovo forums.  I do some testing and writing as well.  I’m not otherwise compensated, and opinions are my own.  I DO NOT speak for Lenovo.

You’d think the humble mouse was fully evolved by now.  Nope.  Lenovo has managed to find ways to refine even the venerable rodent.

Behold the ThinkPad X1 Wireless Touch Mouse.  It’s a highly capable and innovative gadget.  The “buttons” are touch-sensitive, with the actual “click” located on the bottom.  It’s also quite compact.   Perhaps a little too compact for all-day use on the desk in my big paws, but an excellent companion to my ThinkPad X1 Yoga on the road.  Maybe an even better companion to the TrackPoint-absent non-Think Yoga series like my 900 where a small external mouse really makes a difference.

Please note that the X1 mouse supports Bluetooth 4.0 and won’t work with older laptops like my ThinkPad T420 that use an earlier Bluetooth version.  For those cases use the mouse in RF mode with the included USB dongle.

Lenovo’s specs and some images below, but first, here’s a nice bonus: a discount code for the Yoga Mouse. A somewhat different critter than the X1 and looks very nice in its own way. (I haven’t had a chance to try it myself.)

Lenovo YOGA Mouse(Black)-NA

Note: discount code currently for North American customers only.

Part number:
Lenovo YOGA Mouse(Golden)-NA – GX30K69569
Lenovo YOGA Mouse(Black)-NA – GX30K69565
eCoupon : INFLUENCER
% off : 25%
Start date: 10/25/2016
End date: 12/31/2016

Lenovo X1 Mouse link, specs and images:

ThinkPad X1 Wireless Touch Mouse

Dual wireless: Bluetooth 4.0 and 2.4GHz
Rechargeable internal battery (380 mAh)
Multiple LED battery life indicator
Capacitive touch scrolling
Touchpad presenter
1000 DPI

After 31 October 2016  OEMs will no longer be allowed to ship computers with Windows 7 Pro. What better way to mark the end of an era than a series of articles about installing Windows 7?

14 November 2016 Correction:  OEMs are able to ship Windows 7 preloads after 31 October if they have an inventory of previously-purchased licenses.  Lenovo, for example, still has Windows 7 machines available as of this date.  Apologies for the misinformation!

I’ve gathered some information here based on my recent experience with a Lenovo X1 Yoga.  I wanted to purchase it while Windows 7 was still an option.  Even though it would have downgrade rights (as explained in an article linked below) I wished to have an actual Lenovo ‘7 preload to archive in case it was ever necessary.  True, Windows 10 makes much more sense on a touch-enabled laptop, but the Win 10 forced update policy is nearly intolerable.  I wonder how many trains, buses, and dentist’s appointments have been missed when a laptop decided to do an update instead of just shutting down?

Full disclosure: I’m running ’10 on the X1 Yoga now.  The group policy editor allows setting the update policy to notify only, but that’s a story for another day.

Lenovo machines shipped with Windows 7 Pro preloaded via downgrade rights come with a coupon for a Win 10 Lenovo image that can be downloaded.  With the Lenovo ‘7 recovery image created and archived, the Lenovo ’10 image downloaded and archived, and a clean Windows 10 downloaded from the Microsoft site, I’ve got all the bases covered – I hope.

Back to Windows 7: this seemed like an opportunity to test a clean Windows 7 install on the X1 before going over to the dark side and installing ’10.  Below are 4 little articles on installation hacks (plus a bonus on fixing Windows update) that came up as I tested a clean install.   They’ve been covered fairly extensively elsewhere but I’ve gathered them here in one place for my own information. Hopefully yours too 😉

Convert Windows 7 Install Media to All-Version  Take a single version install medium (Pro only for example) and enable the other versions hidden therein.

Windows 7 UEFI Installer on Flash Drive  Modify Windows 7 media to allow a UEFI-mode installation from flash.

Activating a Windows 7 Downgrade  Windows 8.x Pro and 10 Pro include downgrade rights to Windows 7.  Activation is tricky.

Adding USB 3.0 and NVMe Drivers to Windows 7 Install Media  Lack of USB 3.0 drivers will result in the dreaded and confusing “A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing” error.  An NVMe SSD target drive will be invisible to the installer without proper drivers.

Fixing Windows 7 Update Hangs  Bonus: it’s becoming more and more common for Windows 7 Update to spin for hours (or days…) on “checking for updates“.  It can and does happen with new installs, newly purchased OEM preloads and recovery images, and even otherwise fully-updated machines. There are many “fixes” on the interwebs.  This one worked for me.