Lenovo Ideapad S405 Laptop: AMD A6-4455M 2.1 GHz APU, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 14" 1366x768 LED, 4-cell, Windows 8 $274.99 with free shipping

Quote from QuickStriker : Hmmm.... I'm in a dilemma here... I gotta buy a laptop for my younger sister b-day by next month, she's in 11th grade of high school and I am hoping the laptop I buy for her will last her for 3-4 years... Is this a good laptop that meets that criteria?? Can it last 3-4 years? Or should I wait?? Should I consider the HP Sleekbook that has 2nd gen i3 for around same price? http://www.staples.com/HP-Pavilio...uct_985049 My budget is roughly around 300ish dollars (with taxes, coupon, etc etc).... which seems better, this laptop or that HP? (But the HP laptop, I gotta go with the rebates and etc...) 2nd gen i3 vs A6-4455M... hmm....

Lenovo S405 is a solid built laptop..I've been used IBM to Lenovo...the Lenovo built quality is not as good as IBM ThinkPad..but better than other brands. I also bought S405-A6-4455M for my 12 years old niece for her school work...S405 is very easy to connect to wireless with no complaints....I love S405 wireless card that is much better, smart and compatible with my old router...and fast..It is a cheap and handy laptop 14" w/ 4 lbs..only for $275 even cheaper than I got last Dec (was $299.99)...think about this....too cheap to be true so you don't want to expect it can run as fast as now after 3-4 years...so...just pay another $275 after 2-3 years for i5 or A8/A10..that means you lower the risk of failures of machine and every 2-3 yrs you get a NEW one...good strategy right!!

Quote from icyuo2013 : Lenovo S405 is a solid built laptop..I've been used IBM to Lenovo...the Lenovo built quality is not as good as IBM ThinkPad..but better than other brands. I also bought S405-A6-4455M for my 12 years old niece for her school work...S405 is very easy to connect to wireless with no complaints....I love S405 wireless card that is much better, smart and compatible with my old router...and fast..It is a cheap and handy laptop 14" w/ 4 lbs..only for $275 even cheaper than I got last Dec (was $299.99)...think about this....too cheap to be true so you don't want to expect it can run as fast as now after 3-4 years...so...just pay another $275 after 2-3 years for i5 or A8/A10..that means you lower the risk of failures of machine and every 2-3 yrs you get a NEW one...good strategy right!!

Thanks for your feedback! I like the way you think with buying 275 dollar NEW laptop every 2-3 years lowering the risk of failures and all lol.

Obviously whichever I choose will be an upgrade from her real real old laptop (except this don't have a CD/DVD drive...) and it will be another upgrade in 2-3 years and etc.

I bought one for now for 294 (can you believe taxes are almost 20 dollars? eshhh) and am holding it in sealed box for now until I wait and see if there's going to be any amazing deals this upcoming President's Day weekend. If there is, I'll buy that and return this laptop (as I got 14 days), if not, she'll get this laptop...

I just hope I'm making the right decision of buying this laptop and she'll be happy with it, being that it's an A6 and not some Intel i3s or something...

Quote from QuickStriker : Thanks for your feedback! I like the way you think with buying 275 dollar NEW laptop every 2-3 years lowering the risk of failures and all lol. Obviously whichever I choose will be an upgrade from her real real old laptop (except this don't have a CD/DVD drive...) and it will be another upgrade in 2-3 years and etc. I bought one for now for 294 (can you believe taxes are almost 20 dollars? eshhh) and am holding it in sealed box for now until I wait and see if there's going to be any amazing deals this upcoming President's Day weekend. If there is, I'll buy that and return this laptop (as I got 14 days), if not, she'll get this laptop... I just hope I'm making the right decision of buying this laptop and she'll be happy with it, being that it's an A6 and not some Intel i3s or something...

I took out the CD/DVD drive from old laptop and bought an enclosure case from Amazon (~$6)..if needed, plug it into USB port..as a DVD drive..just make sure the port of CD/DVD drive is IDE or SATA before buying the enclosure.

Quote from mastashake57 : Great review here. Quality is suspect and those concerned with the battery had a reason to be: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Revi...795.0.html

Thanks for the review. The short battery life kills it for me. I like the idea of thin and light but battery free operation is also part of that.

anyone know how to open the case to install new ram and HD? I removed all the screws but can't figure out a way to remove the back cover... I didn't want to force it and break anything..

Quote from rikkus256 : anyone know how to open the case to install new ram and HD? I removed all the screws but can't figure out a way to remove the back cover... I didn't want to force it and break anything..

There are also screws under the rubber feet.

Here's a video that'll help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtXta8csRck

Quote from slckofit : There are also screws under the rubber feet. Here's a video that'll help. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtXta8csRck

Thanks! No wonder the plate wasn't moving at all... Appreciate it.. repped

Quote from rikkus256 : Thanks! No wonder the plate wasn't moving at all... Appreciate it.. repped

Be awarded of voiding the warranty after you unscrewed it...there is a secured label on top of screw.

Quote from icyuo2013 : Be awarded of voiding the warranty after you unscrewed it...there is a secured label on top of screw.

I remove the case but I didn't see any secure label on any of the screws...

Quote from rikkus256 : I remove the case but I didn't see any secure label on any of the screws...

See here..

http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo...d53cb6.jpg

Got this laptop for my wife yesterday. She liked the laptop but hated Win8. So I installed BasicShell on it to give her that Win7 feel. I also spent 30 minutes showing her how to use Win8. She is happy now. Loves the BasicShell. Next up, I will install that program that will allow me to run all the Android apps on it. We have Android tablets, so she is excited about being able to do that.

I would not get this laptop for myself, but my wife, who mostly surfs the net, writes letters and few documents and plays some low level games, seems to be ok with it so far. Maybe too soon to call it, but I think I made a good purchase.

Quote from msanchez187 : Got this laptop for my wife yesterday. She liked the laptop but hated Win8. So I installed BasicShell on it to give her that Win7 feel. I also spent 30 minutes showing her how to use Win8. She is happy now. Loves the BasicShell. Next up, I will install that program that will allow me to run all the Android apps on it. We have Android tablets, so she is excited about being able to do that. I would not get this laptop for myself, but my wife, who mostly surfs the net, writes letters and few documents and plays some low level games, seems to be ok with it so far. Maybe too soon to call it, but I think I made a good purchase.

I'm a complete newbie with Windows 8 and so are my sister who I'm giving this to. What is BasicShell exactly if you can briefly explain it to me? Also, there's a program that can run Androids app on a laptop?!?! o.o

Sorry for the confusion. I meant to write "Classic Shell". You can find more information here:

http://www.classicshell.net/

It basically brings back the start button on the lower left corner with functionality that you see in Win7 or other windows versions.

As for the Adroid apps in Windows 8, you can use BlueStacks. You can get more information here:

http://www.bluestacks.com/getyour...index.html

Hope this clears up your questions. If not, let me know.

Quote from msanchez187 : Sorry for the confusion. I meant to write "Classic Shell". You can find more information here: http://www.classicshell.net/ It basically brings back the start button on the lower left corner with functionality that you see in Win7 or other windows versions.

Thanks for this. I really hate Windows 8. I want to downgrade to Windows 7, but Lenovo isn't planning on fixing the brightness problem so I'm stuck.