Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p 59385820 15.6-Inch Laptop (Dusk Black)

Lenovo Y510p Amazon ReviewDisclaimer: This is my second PROPER PC I've had in my life. I'm coming from a Dell XPS M1530 (2008 - @ 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, Geforce 8600mGT GDDR3, 6GB DDR2, 320 GB @ 7,200 RPM, 1680 x 1050) and this review is heavily based on it.Overall: 4.7/5Edit: Owning it after 3 months: Full Review. Rating untouched. ;)Heat: The heat is great and bad at the same time. Great, because even when overclocking, the machine won't go past the 75°C. Bad, because the vents can bother you a lot, since they are positioned exactly at your right and left hands. Meaning that when you are using mice to play games, you'll feel a very uncomfortable wind blowing to your thumb. Left handed people are the most affected, because the main card is positioned at the left of the computer. There are also small vents underneath the computer, and thanks to the lateral ones there isn't much air flowing through them allowing you to carry the computer to your lap, although doctors do not recommend that. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to putting the computers on a soft and puffy surface when playing graphical intense games.Also, it is important to note, that extreme demanding games like Crysis 3 can get the number pad of the computer running warm-hot.Screen: Anti-Glare 1920 x 1080. On outdoors, you can appreciate 80% of the screen. In my opinion is amazing. I can finally lay down and watch a movie, read PDFs, browse the web, or do some word processing outside. Yeah, gaming too. It also has vibrant colors.It has a huge glossy bezel. It can get some fingerprints marked out, if you touch it too much. Furthermore, it will grab all the dust flying around. Fortunately, it doesn't take much to get rid out of the dust.Contrary to Amazon's spec-sheet, the computer comes with 2 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0 (The latter one, allows you to charge devices even if the computer is on sleep mode).The keyboard is incredibly comfortable. It has spaced keys and feels good while typing. It has a cool red backlight with two intensities.The camera works O.K. It's not that you won't be getting grainy images over Skype. You'll do, especially on dark places.The Core i7 4700MQ allows me to encode a 25 min 720p video in just 6 mere minutes using MeGUI with all 8 threads. It's incredible fast (compared to my Core 2 Duo) and it won't bottleneck any of your games.Battery Life is amazing, at least for me. Grabbing 3 full hours of full HD video using MPC-HC with MadVR enabled is an overkill for me. You can grab much more hours if you remove the Ultrabay port and install Intel's HD 4600 Drivers. Afterwards, install Optimus and you'll be bumping some more hours of battery life.The Hard drive, can become a huge bottleneck in performance when doing some data transfer work (since it's 5.4 KRPM). It doesn't come with an mSATA port, so you'll have to look for an SSD, and put the original hard drive on an external case (or other computer).Trackpad is horrendous. It gets better if you can do the workaround, which enhances its usability and stability. FPS is almost impossible, because it doesn't allow you to right click and left click at the same time (There are people claiming that they could, I just haven't done enough research to do that). There are also many times in which the trackpad would stop working for a couple of seconds; I would have to wait around 15 secs for it to react. Do not know why that is. No, it doesn't have native middle click. You can assign it through the driver page.Windows Experience Index (Win 8.1 using Winaero WEI Tool): Overall: 5.9Processor: 7.6RAM: 7.8Graphics: 7.9Gaming Graphics: 7.9Primary Hard Disk: 5.9Gaming: Such important part. Most demanding games run at the highest settings with ~40 FPS.There is something VERY VERY important to note. The computer WILL NOT RUN at its maximum potential while it's NOT plugged in. It matters not if you put the laptop at high performance, if it isn't connected to an AC outlet, forget about gaming semi-intense - very intense graphical games.Games I've played, their settings and FPS:1. Crysis 3:High Settings with 2X Anisotropic Filter and SMAA @ 2x:: 35 - 41 FPS. 1080p. Can Throw 26 - 29 FPS @ Ultra Settings With 16X Anisotropic Filter and SMAA @ 2x.2. Assassin's Creed Revelations: 1080p With Max settings and max filters - 60 FPS.3. Assassin's Creed 3: 1080p With Very High Settings. And Very High Filter 33 - 48 FPS.4. Titanfall Beta. Only a single card has been enabled. I can throw 26 - 33 FPS at Insane settings. I believe that the textures aren't finals, and that the game will hog down the PC. So better wait for official framerates.5. League of Legends. Single 750m GT can throw over 75 FPS.Sound is loud and clear. It's a pity that it doesn't have 3 headphones jackets, which would have allowed support for 5.1 or higher surround sound with that output. Even though, It does support 7.1 DTS via HDMI. The speakers have very high volume levels, so you won't be having problems listening to music far away from your PC.Feeling of the machine: As others have said, the machine feels sturdy, durable and well built. The only minor thing is the trackpad that feels cheap plastic.Computer chasis and layout: The layout can be improved. It does have the ventilation over the sides, which lots of people like. It has the big disadvantage that it blows hot wind through them, so you'll be needing to put the laptop on a place if you'll be using kb/m combo. The USB ports aren't spaced correctly. The 2 USB 3.0 are too close to each other, they could have separated them a little bit more, so you can plug bigger USB devices in them. Spacing is similar to Macbooks. The headphones jack are on the right side front-most part of the computer. It comes with the big inconvenience of creating conflict with your hand when having a mice at your right hand and have a reduced space. It will bump most of the time with the cable. The same happens with the USB ports and you're using a mice next to them. It can conflict with you a lot by bumping to the device's connector (If you are placing the laptop on a reduced space). I believe the same happens on the left side.Power Brick: It's huge. That is because of the two video cards that it needs to support. The size is similar to a 30 Slim power brick, but a little slimmer. So you'll be thinking twice before throwing everything together to the laptop.Software: What I really liked about the bundled software was the dust removal and the battery manager. The first one will spin as fast as possible the built-in fans to remove inside dust. The second one will give you the option to stop charging your battery at 60% (Perfect for days that you won't be moving around much with your laptop) and the battery will live for longer.Wireless connectivity: CRAP! Yes. The Centrino N2230 suffers from sudden wireless drops. There is a way of flashing your Bios to support other cards, but I'll encourage you to wait Intel for a newer AC card.RAM: Usually stays around the 4GB due to Windows' nature. Never had RAM problems, and the max it had gone, has been around 8 GB.Conclusion: Excellent machine, well built, powerful settings and a bargain for the price. Nice screen. It does attract dust and fingerprints, but they are easy to remove. Keyboard is comfy. Gets warm to hot during intense graphical demanding sessions (Especially on the number pad when the game runs SLI). Hard drive is crap for data intensive tasks.Should you buy this PC now or wait? That's a decision you'll have to make. Nvidia will be releasing its new video card lines around May. Intel around June. So it's up to you waiting or not before making the jump. This is a very good PC and will game you for this year and the next with decent graphical settings. But, buying a better computer model from this year is much better than buying last year's.There is also the thing with "External Video Cards". Google them for more info. I had totally forgotten about them when I purchased this laptop. They could help you save several hundreds of dollars and bag weight if you decide going with the External route.Old Review here:This is a beast in terms of performance (Please see the hard drive part for info). Almost everything I've thrown to it, has been able to play it at max settings without much of a hassle. The screen is an Anti-Glare Display Full HD - 1920 x 1080 with vibrant colors and excellent backlight. It does pretty well outdoors. Contrary to the specs, it does come with 2 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0 (The last one enables you to charge devices without turning the computer off). Battery life, for me, is amazing. I get 3 hours of watching Full HD videos with MadVR enabled in MPC-HC, power management in balanced and screen at mid-brightness settings, and SLI disabled. (This PC does not come with Optimus, but there are Internet workarounds for that)Hard drive, can become a huge bottleneck in performance when doing some data transfer work (since it's 5.4 KRPM).Trackpad is very tedious to use with DEFAULT drivers. There is a workaround (Look for it below) which enhances its usability and stability. FPS is almost impossible with this trackpad, so it's better having an external mouse with you. Speakers are loud and have nice bass effect.The computer can get warm to hot in demanding gaming sessions.The ports layout can be very uncomfortable; USB ports are positioned very close to you from the sides, meaning that your hand can bump USB connectors when using miceDetails:Processor: The processor is an Intel Core i7 4700MQ 4 cores Clocked @ 2.4 Ghz. Coming from a 5/6 year old Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 GHz, the performance increase is astounding. I'm able to do lots and lots of tasks without the computer going down.Windows Experience Index (Win 8. Win 8.1 deprecated this): Overall: 5.9Processor: 7.6RAM: 7.8Graphics: 7.4Gaming Graphics: 7.4Primary Hard Disk: 5.9USB Ports:M.2. Sata port:Video Card.GamingHeatKeboardUSB 3.0 ports.SpeedTouchpad:- Cumbersome without proper tuning.-Power BrickNetwork Adapter and disconnectionsBios VersionDisplayInitial State and Crapware:The computer comes with Windows 8 64-bit (Non Pro version) and a plethora of programs (most of them crap/bloat ware or programs that you don't need and that occupy space)Hard Drive:- Will do mediocre work in heavy data operations:o VM will slow down the computer when performing installation tasks such as installing the OS or installing a gazillion updates (Did this with Win 7 64-bit on Virtual Box).Small details:- I have started to really appreciate my old laptop. At least on its hardware features. You see there are these details that aren't necessary for your daily life, but it will help a lot during certain scenarios:1) It does not have a playback pad. This means it does not have dedicated buttons or function keys which enable you to play/pause videos. It DOES have a function key for turning the volume up or down. It DOES NOT have a function key to turn the volume off.

-Screen will not stay on to watch a movie, wants to sleep even if I set the power setting for the screen to never turn off, both on 'plugged in' mode and 'unplugged'.-LOADED with crapware - this computer comes with the job of removing software that comes on as a 30 day trial.- Mousepad is touch sensitive on the lower part that serves as the mouse button, this means that when you click on something your cursor will move.- Windows 8 of course sucks, can't blame this computer for that.-When it goes to sleep or even when it is off, the LED light on the power button will annoyingly blink.- screen just went to sleep while I was trying to think of how many things I can list here in my review before people will dismiss my review as a crazy person rant.-The fitting for the power cord plug is so tight, it takes two hands to take it out. You have to really anchor this laptop in place while you wrestle the plug out, or you will just be dragging your computer around.

Pros - First off let me say this thing is lightning fast. It has run anything I've thrown at it no problem. It wont run Battlefield 4 on ultra, but not much outside a $400 + graphics card will. This keyboard is by far the nicest keyboard I've seen on a laptop. The feal is fantastic, and the illumination is absolutely beautiful.Cons - Battery life, but that goes without saying for a laptop this powerful. I can get 3 hours with LIGHT use, and I mean light. 2, maybe 2 and a half with heavy use. I would suggest having the power chord handy at all times. The touchpad is terrible, but still works. Tap the pad, don't bother clicking if you don't have to, it's annoying. The hard drive works fine, I wouldn't recommend it considering they way it is worded you get an 8gb ssd. YOU DO NOT. What you're getting is a 1TB SSHD, that means its a hybrid drive. This is seagates newest 1 tb SSHD. It take your most used programs and stores bits of it on the ssd part of the hard drive. It does feel faster than standard hard drives but it still is rather slow given that it's a 5400 rpm drive. If you are like me this isnt good enough. I bought this with the intention of putting a 128 gb ssd AND a 1 or 2 tb hard drve. But as I found out later, this thing only has 1 spot for a hard drive (i thought it had a separate 8 gb ssd). If you're buying the $1,049.99 version like I did, you CANNOT HAVE TWO HARD DRIVES. The motherboard has an M.2. NGFF slot there labeld SSD but DOES NOT come with the connector where you would actually plug the ssd into. Pretty stupid considering it's a 3 dollar part. Either way, this was the largest thing I did not like about this laptop. Solution: I bought a $260 ADATA 512 (480gb) and replaced the SSHD. As of now, holy crap this thing is fast, MUCH better with an ssd in it. I also got rid of windows 8 and threw 7 back on. The last con is the network card, it does drop connectivity quite often which is pretty sad considering this is a laptop. Luckily I already had a pretty expensive usb network adapter from my pc so I just carry that around with me.All in all, this is a GREAT machine. It's faster than my recently built desktop at a reasonable price (1300 with the ssd upgrade). The lack of 2 hard drive options is very frustrating to me which is he main reason I gave it 4 stars. The network card and the touch pad are minor issues with easy fixes.