Roundup: 8 Laptops : Lenovo IdeaPad Y650
6. Lenovo IdeaPad Y650
The Screen
This screen has a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. This sounds odd for a computer, but it's a relatively common feature on HD Ready televisions. What does it change when you're using a computer?
On a 15.4'' screen like this, two other resolutions are more common: 1280 x 800 and 1440 x 900. The first of these has almost exactly the same number of pixels as the screen on the Y650 (1, 024, 000 instead of 1, 049, 088), but the second has 23.5% more.
As a result, you'll have a few more pixels along each side with the first, and with the second, details will be 15% sharper but the same elements will appear smaller.
The use of a TN panel, known for narrow viewing angles and a dominance of blues, does affect image quality but the screen is reasonably responsive and has average black levels (0.23 cd/m² for 196 cd/m² of white).
Lenovo divides its laptops up into two ranges, ThinkPads and IdeaPads. While the former is aimed at business users, the latter collection, which includes this Y650, has the consumer market in its sights. It has powerful multimedia capabilities thanks to its 16'' HD Ready (1366 x 768) screen.
Handling
The Y650 is very nice to look to at; the outside is thin, with some restrained colored trim with a sobre feel overall. The areas around the outside of the keyboard and the monitor are in glossy plastic, but the rest is matte black.
In the Y650, we've finally got a non-Apple laptop with a large multi-touch trackpad that's big enough to use comfortably. Above the keyboard is a row of touch-sensitive hotkeys for launching applications via a special Lenovo interface that pops up on screen. Volume controls are off to the right-hand side of the keyboard.
The keys on the regular keyboard are light to the touch and relatively quiet. There's no numeric keypad, so if that's a deal-breaker for you, you might want to look at the MSI EX620 instead.
We 
were disappointed by the quality of the webcam, which stretches the frame into a strange aspect ratio and leaves face tones looking pale. The microphone does a little better, as long as you're careful not to type while you're using it because of how close it is to the keys.
Around the sides of the laptop, Lenovo has made room for plenty of connectivity options, including two USB ports (three would have been better), an e-SATA link, VGA and HDMI video outputs, an RJ45 network port, an input for an external TV antenna, a pair of mini-jacks and a memory card reader. The Y650 isn't missing much, but a FireWire port and a few extra USB connections would certainly be useful.
Turning the laptop over, there isn't any easy access to the component parts. You'll need to remove more than 20 screws to get inside.
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| e-SATA, Express Card slot, RJ45 and the TV input | Memory Card reader, USB and audio ports |
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| HDMI, VGA, USB | Lenovo's custom application launcher |
Processing Power
Windows Experience Index: 4.3. CPU: 5.3 - Memory: 5.9 - Graphics: 4.3 - Gaming Graphics: 5.0 - Hard Drive: 5.3.
The Y650 performs very well in this section and gives our current reference, the Fujitsu-Siemens Xi3650, a run for its money when it comes to getting the most out of the CPU. Overall, though, it was 14% slower than its rival because it struggled with 3D graphics, which is something we'll look at in a moment. More disappointing was the Y650's performance at compressing files, where it was 20% slower than the Xi3650.
When watching Blu-ray quality video, the CPU load is 50% and the computer needs 48 W; turning on graphics acceleration allows a fall to 15% CPU load and a power consumption of 38 W.
Gaming
This really isn't the Y650's strong point. Taking our test games for a spin, Crysis was very jerky at its native resolution and we could only get Race Driver: Grid to run at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. World in Conflict did a little bit better by turning down the quality, but even in 'normal' mode you'll need to compromise with slower gameplay.
Sound
Lenovo has fitted the Y650 with JBL speakers connected to a Realtek chipset, which seems like a safe bet. The speakers themselves perform well, but they cause the plastic case of the laptop to vibrate producing irritating background noise. Three conflicting pieces of software are at play, from Microsoft, Dolby and Maxx.
Portability & Battery Life
5.6 pounds for a 16'' screen is very impressive. In general, 13'' laptops generally weigh in closer to 4.5 pounds, so adding an extra pound in exchange for 3'' of screen real estate seems very reasonable. That said, 5.6 pounds is quite a lot to carry around on your back all day.
The battery life is average, and the Y650 lasted for just 1 hour 53 minutes of video playback (with the screen at 100 cd/m², headphones plugged in and the WiFi turned off). Putting it up against the 13'' form factor again, plenty of the smaller laptops can last for 3 hours or more, or even 4 hours 15 minutes, like the exceptional Samsung X360.
| Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 | |
|---|---|
| Pros | Cons |
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This is a laptop aimed at users who are keen on multimedia--but not mobility. And when we say multimedia, we mean movies and photos, not gaming, as the graphics card just isn't powerful enough.
Could put up a list of hardware for comparison, for ease of user to compare those product not by points but by hardware parts.
High points does not mean high expectation in other user eyes.
Otherwise would like to see more laptops comparison next time (HP, Acer, etc.)
I read in a local magazine that the Dell XPS 13 would run very hot during normal usage, especially on the "leather" part.
Is that something you noticed?
I'm allergic to fan noise. That it is quiet is for me by far the most important parameter, but it's rarely discussed. Does anyone know if the Dell Studio 17 is completely quiet under normal usage, such as word processing, surfing the internet or watching mp4 movies.
I don't really dig the 5 star system. It always seems like not all the hardware is compared equally as there never seems to be any direct comparison between one model to the other. I think all models should be weighed by features, performance and price point.
I don't really dig the 5 star system. It always seems like not all the hardware is compared equally as there never seems to be any direct comparison between one model to the other. I think all models should be weighed by features, performance and price point.
Hi Warezme--
These products aren't "directly" compared to each other. That's because each one hit the market at a different time. We couldn't compare the performance of a laptop that came out in May to one that came out in July. Each product's review was written at the time that laptop was received by us.
Thanks,
Rachel Rosmarin
Editor, Tom's Guide
That's an old Macbook Pro, what about the new one with the SD card & without the expresscard slot.
-ND
I would never buy those piece of garbage lenovo's
Worst ever laptop review, each page didn't even clearly describe spec such as cpu, chipset, HD, battery size... only subjective rating. Pathetic!
Yeah full specs should always be listed, especially when the laptops weren’t even compared head to head.
Take a look at the Dell 17 inch Studio, it seems one of the major critiques is the battery life. But when ordering that laptop you have several different CPU’s to choose from (CPU’s that differ not only in speed but also in power consumption) so depending on what the review sample was equipped with it could either spell doom for certain configurations or be less of an issue with others.
WTF no alienware!!!!!!!!
I can't believe you didn't list battery life and heat output.
I can't believe you didn't list battery life and heat output.
I need edit button.
The big Acer Aspire 18.4" would of been a good review to add.
I also would of liked a hardware comparison table with screen size, options, and comparative price.
I've got one of those MBPs. I used it today at a conference and my battery lasted for a good 5 hours. Of course, the newer MBP with SD slot is meant to be even better. As for the glossy screen, seriously, I don't see a problem with it. People complain about glare in glossy screens but, in my experience, the glare from a light source behind you is far easier to deal with than the washed out effect that a matte display has. The colours are also truly superb.
Strange there aren't any HP laptops. Or, for that matter, any Gateway, Acer or Sony laptops, considering these companies put together make up around 40% percent of the market.
I also find it strange that more advanced benchmarks were not used, considering the suite other parts go through here.
1) No specs, wtf?
2) No pricing, ehhh... (i.e. that 15" macbook costs $2000... definitely would raise a red flag for most people)
3) Some laptops are in completely different categories (gaming, portability etc.)