Lenovo's curiously cute IdeaPad Y650 has been
shipping out to multimedia lovers everywhere for just under a month now, but if you've been holding tight until a legitimate review hit the tubes, here's your sign.
Computer Shopper managed to get ahold of one of these 16-inch beauties, and while it was disappointed in the lack of a Blu-ray player and 1080p screen option, it generally had positive things to say. The screen, though limited in resolution (1,366 x 768), was deemed "brilliant," and the gesture-enabled touch pad was also a joy to use. It was found to be "surprisingly light" for a machine this large, and the attractive pricing made it all the more, um, attractive. All in all, it seems the Y650 is a solid choice for those looking for decent power, good looks and a large panel, but gamers and high-def junkies should probably turn their eyes elsewhere.
posted March 9th 2009 3:33PM
Not bad at all.
I really wanted one of these, but the piss poor resolution was an instant deal breaker - I literally don't care how nice it is otherwise.
Actually Leonovo has a great chance to segment - this for more average consumers who just want a laptop with a nice, big screen and then introduce a model above this with 1080p, Blu-Ray and a good graphics card for $1500-2000.
Price?????$$$$$$
Links?
16" of real estate filled with just 1366x768 seems odd - is this machine aimed at the visually impaired?...
Yes it sound like they cheaped out on the display. It should be 17" at 1080p.
There's also a review over at NotebookReview.com that does have pricing.
$1,399 Direct from Lenovo.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/integration.workflow:ProductDisplayItem?IsBundle=false&GroupID=243&Code=418534U&OID=:000000F3:00001A31:&PID=CNETDF418534U&
hmm i like how this looks much more than my hp dv5..... stupid mirror trackpad looks like crap after 30 min use and black scratches in it
That is really expensive, I'd reccommend people to skip this altogether and buy a macbook with NVIDIA graphics
well clearly you would, you Apple shill you.
especially if you want to keep warm on those long cold winter nights.
or of course buy an Apple if you or your mum like sitting at the genius bar.
btw, if you do find that your mum does, you should consider whether you would like a kid in glasses tucking you into bed at night, and having to him/her "Daddy".
Saying this doesn't make him an Apple shill, this is a rip off for the price, especially with that pathetic resolution.
I'm very much pro-Mac but I'm recommending this laptop to my sister. The MacBooks are too expensive for her budget (unless she goes for a base refurbished MacBook) and this one gives a more reasonable screen size, plus the rest of the specifications make it a reasonable fit for what she wants to do. Other options that I've looked at are either Dell (under no circumstances would I ever recommend one) or other manufacturers where either the specification was lacking (Intel graphics mostly) or too heavy.
I'm glad to see some good reviews for this machine.
Hmm, maybe I might rethink the decision - the battery life is rather pathetic and that will be a problem.
IMHO 1399$ is a bit to much for it, noway near attractive, ( coming from a guy that only buys bargains, meaning I won't buy a mac machine) This price is high because of the new hardware put in it like the 105m, however, all else is average, and the 105m and the display+ gimmick touchpad don't justify it. If it had a BD burner the price would be more bearable.
or of course buy an Apple if you or your mum like sitting at the genius bar.
btw, if you do find that your mum does, you should consider whether you would like a kid in glasses tucking you into bed at night, and having to call him/her "Daddy".
I really like the design on the top of it.
That said, if the pricing on Lenovo is to be believed, $1399 is simply an outrageous price for a 16" machine with such an abysmal resolution. The rest of the specs aren't bad, but the resolution is a killer. The MacBook is honestly, unbiasedly a better deal than this.
I'm sort of confused as to how big the market for laptops of this size actually is. Past 15" is hard to consider mobile; then it's just a smaller desktop. That is, assuming bigger screen implies higher weight, as it almost always does.
Portability is all a matter of perspective. Most people I know who have laptops rarely if ever use it "on the road" where a diminutive size would really be important. Rather they want something with a reasonably sized screen that they can use at their desk, or carry it to the coffee table, or the dinner table, or in bed, or to their friends' place. Something that's impractical with just about every desktop, whether it be a mid tower case down to an "all in one" like an iMac. Even for students who have to schlep their stuff every 4 to 8 months, a large heavy laptop is far more practical than a desktop.
One thing I discovered when moving from 15" to a 17" laptop is how much smaller the choice is when it comes to things like bags. If you buy a 13" or 15" laptop then the selection is wonderful but at 17" (or, worse, one of these "weird" sizes) your options become limited. It might not be an issue for you but is perhaps something worth considering if you expect to be carrying it around a lot. If Apple manages to get things like the high battery life and anti-glare screen into their 15" MBP then I think I'll down-grade on my next purchase since I have come to the conclusion that 17" isn't as portable as I'd like.
I think 16'' is not so clear cut on portability it kind of depends on the design/manufacturer. Some of the VAIO 16'' definitely fall into the portable category where as some others really don’t. Looking at the reviews of this one its thin and light for a 16'' so looks good.
More importantly if this has any of the thinkpads quality then I would pay a bit of a premium. IBM/Lenovos are very stable and don’t suffer from premature aging unlike some cheaper brands. That’s why there still used in almost every major corporation.
Though I'm sure there have been others, this is the first Lenovo notebook I've seen that doesn't look like it came straight from the 1990's.
Or better yet, get a gateway fx. 17in with above 1080p resolution and 1gb of discrete gddr3 for its nvidia gpu for 1149.00 at bestbuy.
FYI, the one at best buy doesn't have 1080 p resolution.. it's 1440x900. But I agree, it's a better deal for performance as laptops go. The extra price of the lenovo buys you a more portable chassis and lenovo durability/customer support instead of gateway durability/customer support(?).
If we're comparing to just a regular Macbook, I could Apple's got Lenovo beat so far as portability (including battery life). Looks are debatable.
If we're talking about the MBP, screen resolution and a very very neglible amount of battery life. Of course the price/performance seems to lean in favor of Lenovo.
Of course there's the OSX/Vista debate.
I hope Lenovo comes out with a 14inch version of this. I'd get it in a heartbeat.
Y650 specs: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-y650.aspx?mode=specs
MBP specs: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/macbook-pro-2008.aspx?mode=specs
If this came in a 13-inch and had a good graphics card, I'd grab it in a heartbeat...right now it's a toss up between something like this and the Adamo when it's released, depending on specs. This one is quite sexy though...