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A 14" 2-in-1 laptop/tablet.
Amazing: Great ports, a great keyboard which retracts when in tent or tablet modes, keyboard spill protection, fingerprint on-chip that Windows can't see, built-in stylus, and the manufacturer has repair videos and detailed troubleshooting/maintenance documentation.
-
-
The listing said it was:
20LD001GUS
(20LD) but it is20LES1M103
(20LE)i5-8250U
but it isi5-8350U
- A comparison make it a significant difference.
-
2024-07-26 - Purchased
Notes / Usage / Troubleshooting ∞
- The touchpad is also clickable.
- The physical buttons are actually really nice. Unfortunately the middle button isn't a
middle-click
but a button you hold to scroll with the TrackPoint. - Matte black and collects fingerprints like crazy.
- TODO - Try overclocking the refresh rate over 60 Hz.
- The keyboard begins to retract when moved back past its flat state; it is fully retracted in tent/presentation or tablet modes.
- The machine type and serial number can be confirmed in the BIOS.
-
The Windows license can be confirmed in the BIOS.
- I read (somewhere) that it can be confirmed in firmware, but I didn't note where I got that knowledge and so I cannot confirm that.
- Sleep mode will have the red
i
in the ThinkPad glow/strobe. It is in the back of the screen (the lid). - TODO - I don't know to hibernate.
-
It can use a Kensington MicroSaver or Mini Saver. The Kensington Security Slot is to protect an employee not a laptop. Some locks are garbage, and some laptops are garbage.
-
Lenovo Vantage is absolutely critical.
Fn
-F12
launches Lenovo Vantage by default (but can be customized within Lenovo Vantage.
- This edition has no NFC functionality; no logo is present on the left palm rest.
-
TODO; get - They have a "Drive Erase Utility"
- ThinkPad Drive Erase Utility for Resetting the Cryptographic Key and Erasing the Solid State Drive.
- Determine if that one is applicable to me or if there's some older version for my Yoga 3rd Gen.
- The memory is soldered on.
- When cleaning the monitor, wipe from top to bottom; I don't know why.
-
When cleaning the keyboard, clean one key at the time to avoid your cloth catching on a key and pulling it.
- Consider retracting the keyboard (e.g. tablet mode) to clean the gaps between keys or to wipe more broadly/freely.
-
A new Trackpad® pointing stick (red nub) can be purchased, and user-installed easily see p.26 of the User Guide.
- I guess you just yank it off.
- Some third-party/clone sellers might call it a "TrackPoint Cap".
-
A camera guard for the webcam on some models, but not mine.
- Instead, infrared for some models like mine, for, e.g., facial recognition with Windows Hello.
- The traditional camera has an indicator light when it is in use.
- I don't know if the secondary infrared camera an indicator light as well. I don't see any physical indication of one and I don't know how to test it; presumably I could use Windows Hello or the like.
- Has a Windows 10 Pro license which will grandfather into Windows 11 Pro if Windows 11 is installed.
FRU
means Field Replaceable Unit; a component which a service professional can replace.CRU
means Customer Replaceable Unit; a component which a customer can fairly easily replace.- Wireless reception is best when the screen is greater than 90° open. I don't know if flat (180°) or tablet (360°) are included.
- Your Bluetooth file transfer speed will be shit when Wi-Fi is on / in use.
- Supposedly an external HDMI monitor is capped at 24 Hz, but mine was at 75 Hz.
-
Supposedly a USB-C monitor is capped at 60 Hz, but mine was at 75 Hz with a basic hub (not a fancy thunderbolt dock).
- TODO - check the refresh of Miracast monitors.
-
TODO; confirm - Only the main display can do DirectDraw or Direct3D
- I don't know what they meant by "main display".
-
To dock and used it closed, you would change your Windows settings to, when plugged in, do nothing when the lid is closed.
- TODO - instructions
-
Hibernation mode uses zero power, but can use a little power so that it can be set so that certain events can wake it up.
- Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler -- select a left-hand task folder. Select a scheduled task > Conditions. Power > Wake the computer to run this task
- TODO - check that nothing is set to wake the computer.
- TODO - Coin battery health can be voltage-checked, and there are instructions in the documentation.
- TODO - How do I check the pen battery health?
- TODO - I found another smaller slot which might be used for other storage, but isn't noted in the documentation. TODO - double-check.
- Regarding the pen. While the screen seems to work well with ones palm pressed against it, if there are problems with your hand touching it, then use the pen more upright, touch the tip, and then you can let your palm rest comfortably. The pen/whatever is designed to know to reject other things when it knows the pen is in use.
-
Note that a traditional microphone will not work in the audio jack; it is meant for either headphones or a headset.
- TODO - Will a microphone work with an audio breakout cable?
-
There are lights on the which illuminate when either the speaker or microphone are muted.
- If the microphone is disabled in BIOS, then the microphone key does not illuminate when pressed.
- When charging the battery, its temperature must be at least 10° C (50° F). (User guide p.12)
- The defaults to
right-click
is totap-hold
,two-tap
, ortap
the bottom-right corner. - I don't see a way to
middle-click
with the touch screen. I'm expecting athree-finger tap
. - TODO - How do I calibrate the touch screen? I found touch screen testing in the diagnostics.
- TODO - How do I calibrate the touch screen using a pen? There aren't even diagnostics for this.
Diagnostics UEFI ∞
Holy fuck it has a suite of diagnostics built-in.
F12
on startup-
App Menu > Lenovo Diagnostics
System Information [F1]
:
- Machine Type-Model (MTM)
-
Serial Number
- Also found in the BIOS
-
NVMe serial number
TODO - WAN ∞
- The BIOS lists it as something I can disable.
- I have WAN hardware according to the device manager
- Lenovo Mobile Broadband Activation says "There is not a supported wireless WAN card installed in this computer."
-
The back hatch seems to have some structure to it.
- TODO - Try putting a sim card in there.
-
I don't know how to use it anyway, so I'll disable it.
TODO - GPS ∞
I can't confirm if I have this. There's nothing specific noted in the BIOS or listed Windows devices. I can't recall where I read that if WAN exists, then GPS exists.
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There's something called a "ThinkVantage GPS utility"
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I don't know how to use GPS on a laptop.
BIOS settings ∞
-
To begin setting things up:
- Enter the BIOS by pressing
F1
- Restart > OS Optimized Defaults [Disabled]
- Load Setup Defaults
- Exit Saving Changes
- (it reboots)
- Enter the BIOS by pressing
-
Enter the BIOS by pressing
F1
- Security > Fingerprint > Reset Fingerprint Data
- Security > Fingerprint > Predesktop Authentication Disabled
- Security > Fingerprint > Security Mode [High]
- > Password (all enabled)
- > Security Chip
- Display - Total Graphics Memory [512 MB] [ 1 ]
- Thunderbolt BIOS Assist Mode [Enabled]
- Security > I/O Port Access
-- You can disable the integrated camera, integrated microphone, and integrated fingerprint reader - Security > Anti-Theft > Computrace - Current Setting [Disabled]
- Note that in Startup > Bot, you can use
F5
/F6
to move items up/down - Boot Mode [Diagnostics]
- Restart > Restart Saving Changes
- Passwords are a maximum of only 12 characters.
- Even if the beep is disabled in BIOS, it still issues either while using the BIOS or when entering a BIOS/HDD password.
-
Has SpeedStep technology which can be toggled in BIOS.
- It can likely be further-configured with various Windows 11 settings and further-modified with powercfg, but I don't particularly care.
- The various onboard devices can be disabled in BIOS: TPM, fingerprint reader, webcam, microphone, etc.
-
Can disable AMT
- HOLY SHIT!
- Can disable the TPM chip.
- Can enable Intel TXT
- Can enable VMM if the OS supports it.
- Can enable VT-d
- The
Fn
andCtrl
keys are positioned incorrectly, but can be swapped in BIOS. -
Thunderbolt must be enabled to let the pre-OS use it for booting.
- Enabled by default.
- TODO - Can increase the graphics memory to 512 MB, but Windows doesn't seem to give a shit and makes it shared from all remaining available memory (almost 4 GB).
- TODO - Boot time extension is to delay things to allow external monitors to wake up. This might be essential for docked/closed mode.
-
Can disable UEFI Flash update by end users.
- I did the update once myself, and then locked it down.
- Has bottom cover tamper detection.
- Has Computrace
- Has Intel SGX
-
Can have a nice traditional bootup screen.
- Pressing the pause button (
Fn-s
) has not been tested. This startup can be delayed to wake up an external monitor.
- Pressing the pause button (
-
p.76 notes beep errors. There is a diagnostic app.
-
Does not let give battery info or let you change its percentage cap. I don't know what happens if no OS is installed. Perhaps a reset to default BIOS settings will set the charge cap to 80%?
TODO - Improving battery life ∞
TL;DR: Perform a complete depletion and complete charge.
Note that these instructions are specifically for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga 3rd Gen. I do know that recent batteries for more recent devices recommend you do not do this or you will damage your battery. I do not know if doing this repeatedly will damage the battery in a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga 3rd Gen.
TODO - These instructions are not obvious! I know about:
- Check your battery health using Lenovo Vantage
- Unplug it
-
Windows low power settings
- Set to do nothing
-
Windows critical power settings
- Reduce to 1% and set to do nothing.
- Within Lenovo Vantage, change your upper battery charge limit to 100%
-
Consume power and let it drain down
- Turn the brightness to max
- Consider running benchmarking tests to consume power
- Wait for it to turn off.
- Theoretically it could also be set on a shelf at 1% and allowed to drain on its own.
- It should not turn on when the power button is pressed.
-
Plug it back in.
- The LED on that side will illuminate orange.
- Wait until that light goes white
- Wait longer; I don't know for how long, because white means 80% I think (TODO - documentation). Try waiting overnight.
- Boot up
- Check your battery health using Lenovo Vantage
- Adjust your Windows low power settings to your preference
- Adjust your Windows critical power settings to your preference
-
Within Lenovo Vantage, adjust your upper battery charge limit to your preference
- Note that permanently keeping it at 100% to overcome the previous health-erosion is valid but will continue to degrade your battery life over time.
Function keys ∞
Result | Function key | |
---|---|---|
Break | Fn-b |
|
Scroll Lock | Fn-k |
|
Pause | Fn-p |
|
SysRq | Fn-s |
|
Home |
Fn-left [ 2 ] |
|
End |
Fn-right [ 3 ] |
|
sleep | Fn-4 |
To wake, either press the Fn key or the power button. [ 4 ] |
Note that there is no Fn
key for pageup
/pagedown
; you must use the dedicated keys.
How to do the accelerometer interactive diagnostic tests ∞
This series of tests has instructions which are extremely difficult to understand.
Links ∞
-
Product Speficiations Reference - (PSREF)
- ThinkPad X1 Yoga (3rd Gen) Platform Specifications
- Setup Guide
- Hardware Maintenance Manual
- Repair videos
-
20LE Services (probably empty, as it's unsupported)
Shopping ∞
Last updated 2024-07-29 at 17:22:00
Footnotes
- Windows doesn't seem to care about this total graphics memory setting [ ↩ ]
- Arrow keys [ ↩ ]
- Arrow keys [ ↩ ]
- Note that if you swap the
Fn
andCtrl
keys, you will still need to press the key labelledFn
to wake [ ↩ ]
- Added manual accelerometer test instructions
- Added a significant amount of notes