This is my second Lenovo notebook. The first one was a ThinkPad R61 which I liked very much. It got stolen out of the back of my car. So, liking the Lenovo product, I bought a new one. The product I am reviewing is similar to the "item being reviewed," the main differences being that I have a 2.0G processor where this one has a 2.13G processor.Build Quality:
Lenovo is the company which manufactured IBM's laptop computers. IBM's laptops were designed for business users. They were tough enough to be dragged around everywhere. It continues to make laptop computers which are more road friendly than the competition, even in this unit which is "home user" oriented. On most of the competition's laptop computers for school and home use, you can twist the lid/screen and there is a good deal of flex. Not so here. This means the screen is less likely to get damaged or cracked. The rest of the case similarly has little flex which means it is well built. While the keyboard is not up to the quality of the ThinkPad line, it is still very good and does not have much flex or bend when you type on it. It is a bit heavy weighing in at over 6 lbs, but it is worth it to me when I consider that it is less likely to break.
XP Drivers available on-line:
The Y530 comes with Vista Home Premium. Mine has the 64 bit o/s. I hate Vista. It is bloated, slow, overly intrusive, the Start Menu was modified poorly from XP, it is cumbersome to find any administrative tools and it does not work with many pieces of business software. When Microsoft updates their operating systems, it seems that only their software works on the newer o/s. WordPerfect X3 (the better word processor!), Paperport 11.0, older versions of WordPerfect and Legal Solutions Plus and many older game programs simply won't work properly, even when you tell the system to run the program in XP mode. This, I suspect, is the reason about 75% of the business computers still run XP.
Vista Ultimate and Business come with downgrade rights to XP. Here, no such rights exist; HOWEVER, Lenovo provides drivers and software on line so you can load XP!!! (XP is faster than Vista and runs everything I need!) I will be downgrading.
Performance:
I get the following benchmarks with Vista:
Performance Test 6.1: 525.7
PC Wizard (not valid because of 64 bit o/s) = 2047
3DMark 01 = 5193
3DMark 03 = 2269
3DMark 05 = 1199
3DMark 06 = 905
SuperPI calculation of PI to 1M places takes 29.25 seconds.
PLEASE REMEMBER, MINE HAS THE SLOWER PROCESSOR SO THIS SHOULD BE ABOUT 5 10% FASTER!
In short, this machine is not as fast as my 2 year old XP based desktop which has a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo with 2G of memory, an ATI All In Wonder X800XL video card on a Gigabyte 965G-DS3 motherboard running XP. This box is not up to speed for modern gamers. It has good speed as a home entertainment and business/school oriented system. An O/S downgrade to XP would no doubt give you an extra 10% or so of speed.
Appearance and Functionality:
Lenovo still goes with the industrial black look. The outside is plain dull black which is textured so as to make it easier to grip. None of the high gloss colored plastic stuff that is on so many HPs and Dells and Sony Vaios.
Inside, you get a piano black high gloss plastic surrounding the 15.4" screen. The hinge is in the back of the machine, and rather than clamp the screen on the top of the box, the lid is bent and wraps around the computer/keyboard/electronics bottom section. The keyboard is surrounded by a single piece of brushed metal with a black touch sensitive multimedia controls above the keyboard and an orange volume control on the right side of the touch controls.
The box contains five speakers, including an alleged subwoofer which fires downward under the computer. I would look at the Toshibas with the HK speaker systems for a better audio performance.
It comes with a multi-card reader slot, dual layer dvd/CD writer, HDMI output, VGA output, 3 USB ports, modem, ethernet port, built in WIFI, Dolby Digital sound system, microphone and 1.3 megapixel camera in the lid. It includes Veriface software which allows the computer to enter your log-on password using just your image. The Veriface software is very sensitive, and works only from the right distance and at the same angle. It does not seem to be available on XP.
Cons:
Unlike HP, the keyboard has no angle to it, so you are typing on a slightly uncomfortable surface if you have it on a desk or table. There are four small rubber pieces which protect the screen when the lid is closed. Two are right under your wrists and my writs rub against them unless I wear a long sleve shirt. It comes with Vista and a trial version of Norton Anti-virus, which I find ineffective and annoying.
The high gloss screen is a little too high gloss and too reflective under certain circumstances.
Conclusion:
Based on the price to performance ratio, excelent build quality and availability of XP drivers on line, I would not hesitate to purchase this unit again.
1)value for money in the price range below 800$
2)if you like glossy screens...well this one is very nice. And yes, it's very reflective but it doesnt cause any problems even with some strong spotlights in the background. I was a little afraid that it would reflect everything and disturb actual scrren images but everyhings good.
3)4 speakers really do their job...much better than standard 2 speaker buzzzz:)
4)all the ports are located on the sides (better availability then at the back)
5)design (presonally i dont care about that in a computer but you might:)
6)external battery life indicator (nice!)
Cons:
1)Vista (but i am too lazy to undergrade)
2)screen protection rubbers are under your wrists while you type (not painful, just annoying)
3)touchpad buttons could be a little more sensitive (somtimes you need a double double-click for some things to work..or is it just Vista?:)
4)loads of unnecessary programs from lenovo, norton ect.
Overall i recommend this laptop for home and not hardcore(quite big and heavy) mobile use.I bought this computer primarily for entertainment purposes and it's handled everything I've thrown at it. I splurged for the nvidia dedicated graphics card which means I can play games like Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines and The Witcher on full res with no lag (even with environmental details like rain). Besides gaming, streaming Netflix and Hulu is a breeze and the screen is an excellent size for watching movies. As far as speakers go, the Dolby surround (which really works) plus the subwoofer is worth the extra weight, they sound better than many external speakers, and can get pretty loud if that's what you're into.
I thought that I wouldn't like the reflective screen but it really hasn't been a problem, the colors still come through bright and crisp.
For everyday use (work/school) this computer is a bit heavy to lug it around all day (but it's doable). I am using it for some basic bioinformatics (sequence alignment, etc) for which it is perfectly adequate.
What else? The 4GB ram means that the computer is fantastically fast, but as the other reviews have mentioned, Vista is a pain and eats up a full 2GB, you'll want to downgrade to XP(or upgrade when windows 7 comes out). If you decide to splurge for the Nvidia card like I did you should check for driver updates, mine were not up to date and it makes a difference performance-wise. The computer also came with "free trial" software including unregistered versions of Microsoft Office, so I had to spend a good 2 hours cleaning up my hard drive.
All in all, once I got the computer set up it has been smooth sailing with very few issues, none of which are related to the hardware itself.Lenovo is known for making excellent products, and the Y530 is no exception. I have gone through various OSes on this laptop, including:
*Windows Vista HP (included w/laptop)
*Ubuntu 10.04 (for about a month; ran very well, just don't care too much for Linux)
*Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (my last operating system, which I had for nearly 2 years)
And now I'm on Windows 8 Consumer Preview 64-bit, which runs EXTREMELY FAST on this laptop! All OSes have run very well, but Windows 8 is probably the fastest system I've ever seen run in my life.
The build quality, hardware quality, and aesthetics are all top-notch... My laptop looks better than many of today's new models. I especially like the crosshatch pattern on the lid, as well as the fluid hinge. The screen's "glass" display is also a head-turner and looks spectacular when watching high-res movies. Oddly enough, my computer doesn't have the metallic finish around the keyboard like some Y530s. It is a strong, black plastic like the rest of the notebook.... Thank goodness, as the metallic finish is pretty ugly. The orange lighting complements the black color
The surround speaker system is freaking amazing. 4 speakers surrounding the keyboard (2 near the screen, one on each side of the keyboard) and one subwoofer on the bottom. The speakers are deep, not tinny like most laptops' speakers, and even have some bass. From Trivium to F.E.A.R to Avatar, the speakers produce sound like I've never heard on a 15' laptop.
My only issue so far was heat on the palmrest. As I found out, though, dust had been gathering inside of the internal fan ports. My home has lots of old carpet and a shedding dog... Recipe for disaster! I took the fan apart, which was very easy, and removed the thick layer of dust from the fan exit port. Now it runs at normal temperature.
I also got this laptop at a deeply discounted price from Lenovo ($750 w/free shipping), as they were discontinuing the Y530 for the Y550 back in early 2009. For the included hardware (top-of-the-line with a TV Tuner, Nvidia 9300M GS, Centrino 2, and 4 GB RAM), it was one of the best deals that I've ever been lucky enough to purchase.I've owned my laptop for over 2 yrs now. I use it everyday and take it everywhere. I am giving it a 4 only because of the hinges that have now failed and it is a common problem with these laptops, but they are available. It has the old school look and build and is built like a tank, other than the hinge issue. I have dropped this laptop a few times and it still works. NEVER an issue with the hard drive or screen. I just bought a used one off of ebay "cheap" with a failed motherboard (due to a water spill) and I will use it for parts to fix mine. I like it and plan to fix it and keep it going!
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