LENOVO IDEAPAD Y650 REVIEW

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 is a multimedia notebook with a 16 inch screen. It is thinner and lighter than most other 16 inch notebooks and has enough power and storage capacity to be your primary PC. Prices start at $1,299.

System configurations for the laptop under review

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8700 (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Display: 16.0 "TFT Widescreen display with LED backlighting (1366x768)
Memory: 4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz System Memory
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce G 105M graphics with 256MB discrete memory
HDD: 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

Build and Design
The IdeaPad Y650 looks distinct from other IdeaPad notebooks. In build quality it is as sturdy as the business class ThinkPad notebooks. In looks it will easily beat Apple MacBook.

Display
The 16-inch display is simply great. Colors are bright and vivid and there is excellent contrast. Horizontal viewing angles are extremely good. So you can share a movie with a friend or two without any trouble.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Large notebooks will usually have larger keyboards. But this is not true of Y650. Lenovo has used a small keyboard on this machine. On the bright side, the smaller keyboard makes more room available for the massive touchpad. The keys are of reasonable size and the keyboard is quite comfortable to type on. The touch sensitive media bar which is located above the keyboard gives quick access to several programs.

The touchpad is Synaptics-based. It uses multi-touch controls. It has good sensitivity and accurately tracks finger movement.

Ports and Features
The port selection is basic. There are 2 USB ports, a 6-in-1 card reader, a smaller ExpressCard/34 slot, an eSATA port, headphone and microphone jacks and ethernet. There is no FireWire.

Performance
Y650 performs much better than other IdeaPad models. This machine will exceed the expectations of an average user. Boot times are fast, so is web browsing. You can easily perform your day-to-day tasks and enjoy high definition video. Gaming is where it falls behind other multimedia oriented notebooks. At a little over 3 hours, the battery life is average.

Conclusion
Overall the performance is good. The Y650 is thinner and lighter than any other 16-inch notebooks in the market. This is not a high-end gaming notebook. But if you are looking for an attractive entertainment notebook for your family, this is the one to buy.

Pros:
Good build quality
Great touchpad
Great sounding speakers

Cons:
Limited selection of ports
Small keyboard