[Review] Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 SLI Edition

[_neutrino Veteran]

Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 SLI Edition

I got this on the first of March so I figured it was time to write the review.

Sporting some rather nice specs, Core i7 processor, Duel nVidia GeForce GT650M Graphics cards in SLI, 1080p Display, 8Gb of DDR3 Ram, JBL Speakers, 720p Webcam, HDMI Out, Multi SD Card Reader it?s a nice compact powerhouse of a laptop.

Display:

The Display is Very crisp and clean running at 1080p There is a nice wide viewing angle on it which is nice. I am not a fan of the glossy finish on laptops however with proper lighting it makes the display look crisper than a matte finish would.

Audio:

There are 2 JBL Speakers on the top of the keyboard that are black mesh with nice red highlights, running Dolby Home Theatre v4 tech, they are by far the best laptop speakers I have ever heard.

Design:

Overall the laptop is very bland when closed, there is a slight taper on the lid going towards the edges, and a glossy Lenovo logo in the corner, Take a look at the keyboard, and you will find Black keys with Red Edges and the Red Backlights on the keys. The laptop is Very fingerprint hungry though.

Trackpad:

I bring this up because it is very important to note on this laptop. It has a multi touch trackpad that is nicely sized however, it has to be the worst trackpad that I have ever used in my life, the right click button is touchy and can sometimes require precise precision when clicking it, and the texture on the trackpad itself is very gritty and you cannot do much precision with the touchpad itself.

Ports:

You will find a Single USB 2.0 port on the right hand side with the Headphone and Mic 3.5mm jacks, on the left side you will find 2 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and the AC adapter jack. As well as the Lenovo OneKey Recovery Button. You can also find a 6 in 1 Card reader on the front of the device with the Usage LEDS

Performance:

The 2.4Ghz Core i7 processor and8Gb of ram do nicely to push through anything that I have put it through so far. I can play Skyrim at a nice high settings. It comes with a 1Tb hard drive however, it is running at 5400 RPM so you will notice a bit of loadtime issues if you are used to something quicker. Overall The system can do a cold boot from Pushing the button to signed in looking at the start screen in about 10 seconds.

Final Thoughts:

After using the laptop for a few weeks here are a few things I have noticed, The Graphics drivers that ship with the device crash anytime you attempt to use Vsync, And I have yet to find a Driver provided by nVidia that does not have a dll crash issue on this laptop, Lenovo made the graphics cards themselves so it is there version of the card hardware. This is the first Final version Windows 8 machine i have used. After a few days I got used to it and it is actually rather nice to use. The Backlit Keyboard is rather nice addition.

Pros: Decently Powerful, affordable

Cons: Horrible Trackpad, bad Graphics drivers out of the gate

Overall: 8/10

Skyrim Running at Full Res/settings on the laptop.