7 ms·

For people interested in ultrabooks with Ryzen 4800U processors, there is also another model, which for some reason doesn't get mentioned much, which is Lenovo

For people interested in ultrabooks with Ryzen 4800U processors, there is also another model, which for some reason doesn't get mentioned much, which is Lenovo S540 13ARE. It has a 13.3", QHD, 16:10 screen. I bought this laptop after buying a Lenovo Ideapad/Yoga Slim 7 and returning it (because of some QA issues and 14" was a bit too big for me after using XPS 13 for a long time). I made a small review of the laptop here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/ilcw5n/lenovo_ideapad_s540_13are_review_ryzen_4800u/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/ilcw5n/lenovo_ideap...

sandGorgon 6y ago
Oh brilliant. Thanks for this. This is coming soon to India. Do you run Linux on this ? How's the performance. Would love it if you can test with a liveusb of fedora
- ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
  I might try it, I'll let you know if I do under this topic.
- httpsterio 6y ago
  I have the previous model of the S540 with i7. Ubuntu, Pop_OS and Arch all work fine on it. I don't see why the Ryzen model wouldn't either.
  - sandGorgon 6y ago
    that's basically the heart of it - its a different motherboard and CPU architecture and therefore a different bios. this is where things break
ChuckNorris89 6y ago
Unfortunately the machine is not available in Europe outside of the Netherlands for some reason. I tried calling a Dutch retailer to ask if they ship to Austria but couldn't even get pass the "Do you speak English please?" phase :( Like WTF, the EU single market is a thing since how many decades now?! So why the hell do we still have region specific SKUs of the same product with different parts and availability between EU member states?! Imagine the laptop would be available for sale in California but not in Utah and in California you can only get it with a 512 Samsung SSD and a 300nit display and in New York only with a slower 1TB SKHynix SSD and a 400 nit display! /rantover
- ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
  That sucks, one advantage of getting a laptop from Netherlands is that they use ANSI US keyboard, which I prefer over a localized keyboard. Usually Dutch people speak English very well, maybe you can call another store.
  - vazamb 6y ago
    Which also might solve the mystery of why it's only available in the Netherlands? No need to built a different keyboard.
- jmnicolas 6y ago
  You found the ONE Dutch that doesn't speak English? I went there about 15 years ago, everybody I met, including old ladies in the street, were speaking much better English than I can (I'm French).
  - ChuckNorris89 6y ago
    I don't think the guy didn't speak English, I think he was too rude or indifferent to bother offering customer support in English at that moment. You see this in Austria also if you try to get customer support over the phone in English, since lots of employees are stressed from this kind of job so some will just not bother with you with a not my job, I don't get paid to be a translator attitude if you ask in English.
    - ableal 6y ago
      Some people may also be leery of scams in the "hallo this is windows support" vein ...
    - KSS42 6y ago
      That reminds me of when I visited Vienna many years. I went to the information counter at the train station. I didn't want to be rude and presume the information person spoke English. So, I asked if he spoke English. His bemused reply was "Yes, I speak English and 7 other other languages".
FullyFunctional 6y ago
That was a surprisingly great review, thanks. I do regret that the Apple-style half-sized up and down arrows are so common.
bscphil 6y ago
Wow. I'd give anything to be able to get this with a decent screen. I edit a lot of photos, and Adobe: 73% P3: 72% simply isn't acceptable in 2020...
- panpanna 6y ago
  Lenovo almost always uses crappy displays. That said, not everyone need color accuracy. It probably works just fine for my usage.
- ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
  Hello I just wanted to notify you about a new development on display colors. Yesterday, I was fiddling with AMD display settings and I disabled "Vari-Bright" feature just to see what happens. I never tried to disable this before, because I read that it helps with saving battery life by lowering the brightness depending on content on the screen. But to my surprise, disabling it not only changed the brightness but affected colors in a good way too. And now I am much more happy with the colors. I don't know why they enable this feature by default when it makes the colors noticeably worse.
dahfizz 6y ago
I love my Lenovo X1 Carbon with a 14" QHD display. QHD is not a popular resolution but it's absolutely perfect for this size, like you mention. It's better for battery life than 4k and it's much crisper than 1080p. With a 13"-14" screen, you would have to scale a 4k display which is a complete waste in my mind. You either lose out on sharpness by getting fuzzy fractional scaling, or you go full 2x scaling and you lose all the screen real estate of a high pixel density display. 1440p is beautifully sharp without requiring scaling on a 14" panel.
- SahAssar 6y ago
  > With a 13"-14" screen, you would have to scale a 4k display I use a 13" 4k at native scale. I've heard this statement so often and it's always told as a fact when clearly it isn't so for everyone.
  - httpsterio 6y ago
    I'm pretty confident you're in the minority as reading text on that thing will be very straining on your eyes in almost no time. I have a 20/20 vision and sure I could use a 4k on the same size for a few hours but it wouldn't be comfortable.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]

sandGorgon 6y ago

Oh brilliant. Thanks for this. This is coming soon to India. Do you run Linux on this ? How's the performance. Would love it if you can test with a liveusb of fedora

ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
I might try it, I'll let you know if I do under this topic.
httpsterio 6y ago
I have the previous model of the S540 with i7. Ubuntu, Pop_OS and Arch all work fine on it. I don't see why the Ryzen model wouldn't either.
- sandGorgon 6y ago
  that's basically the heart of it - its a different motherboard and CPU architecture and therefore a different bios. this is where things break

ChuckNorris89 6y ago

Unfortunately the machine is not available in Europe outside of the Netherlands for some reason. I tried calling a Dutch retailer to ask if they ship to Austria but couldn't even get pass the "Do you speak English please?" phase :( Like WTF, the EU single market is a thing since how many decades now?! So why the hell do we still have region specific SKUs of the same product with different parts and availability between EU member states?! Imagine the laptop would be available for sale in California but not in Utah and in California you can only get it with a 512 Samsung SSD and a 300nit display and in New York only with a slower 1TB SKHynix SSD and a 400 nit display! /rantover

ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
That sucks, one advantage of getting a laptop from Netherlands is that they use ANSI US keyboard, which I prefer over a localized keyboard. Usually Dutch people speak English very well, maybe you can call another store.
- vazamb 6y ago
  Which also might solve the mystery of why it's only available in the Netherlands? No need to built a different keyboard.
jmnicolas 6y ago
You found the ONE Dutch that doesn't speak English? I went there about 15 years ago, everybody I met, including old ladies in the street, were speaking much better English than I can (I'm French).
- ChuckNorris89 6y ago
  I don't think the guy didn't speak English, I think he was too rude or indifferent to bother offering customer support in English at that moment. You see this in Austria also if you try to get customer support over the phone in English, since lots of employees are stressed from this kind of job so some will just not bother with you with a not my job, I don't get paid to be a translator attitude if you ask in English.
  - ableal 6y ago
    Some people may also be leery of scams in the "hallo this is windows support" vein ...
  - KSS42 6y ago
    That reminds me of when I visited Vienna many years. I went to the information counter at the train station. I didn't want to be rude and presume the information person spoke English. So, I asked if he spoke English. His bemused reply was "Yes, I speak English and 7 other other languages".

FullyFunctional 6y ago

That was a surprisingly great review, thanks. I do regret that the Apple-style half-sized up and down arrows are so common.

bscphil 6y ago

Wow. I'd give anything to be able to get this with a decent screen. I edit a lot of photos, and Adobe: 73% P3: 72% simply isn't acceptable in 2020...

panpanna 6y ago
Lenovo almost always uses crappy displays. That said, not everyone need color accuracy. It probably works just fine for my usage.
ZuLuuuuuu 6y ago
Hello I just wanted to notify you about a new development on display colors. Yesterday, I was fiddling with AMD display settings and I disabled "Vari-Bright" feature just to see what happens. I never tried to disable this before, because I read that it helps with saving battery life by lowering the brightness depending on content on the screen. But to my surprise, disabling it not only changed the brightness but affected colors in a good way too. And now I am much more happy with the colors. I don't know why they enable this feature by default when it makes the colors noticeably worse.

dahfizz 6y ago

I love my Lenovo X1 Carbon with a 14" QHD display. QHD is not a popular resolution but it's absolutely perfect for this size, like you mention. It's better for battery life than 4k and it's much crisper than 1080p. With a 13"-14" screen, you would have to scale a 4k display which is a complete waste in my mind. You either lose out on sharpness by getting fuzzy fractional scaling, or you go full 2x scaling and you lose all the screen real estate of a high pixel density display. 1440p is beautifully sharp without requiring scaling on a 14" panel.

SahAssar 6y ago
> With a 13"-14" screen, you would have to scale a 4k display I use a 13" 4k at native scale. I've heard this statement so often and it's always told as a fact when clearly it isn't so for everyone.
- httpsterio 6y ago
  I'm pretty confident you're in the minority as reading text on that thing will be very straining on your eyes in almost no time. I have a 20/20 vision and sure I could use a 4k on the same size for a few hours but it wouldn't be comfortable.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]