Lenovo IdeaPad Y530

Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 Review

Today we bring you the the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530, the predecessor of the Y510, with quite a few improvements. This 15.4" widescreen IdeaPad was designed with intent to reach out to the mainstream consumer looking for multimedia focus. In that regard, this computer looks very pretty, displays quite nicely, and has a couple key features that will have you showing all the YouTube or Hulu videos at any laptop party. Our Y530 came with a 2.00 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 (Centrino 2), 2 GB of RAM (upgrade option to 4 GB), 250GB 5400 RPM hard drive, and an NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS. The IdeaPad includes a 1.3 M pixel fixed camera, an integrated array microphone, a 6 in 1 multimedia card reader, 802.11n wireless capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, a Dolby Home Theater and super speaker system, and some convenient software to help keep it safe which we'll get into later.

Design

The look of this Lenovo is not all that like the ThinkPad lineup except maybe that it’s all black. This stylish laptop comes in a colorful Lenovo box that just begs to be opened and once pulled out looks quite elegant. The top at first glance is a smooth black finish but upon further inspection one can see a "light weave texture" that I assure you looks really nice in person, especially with the slick silver Lenovo Logo protruding at the top center. The back side of it curves down away from the user giving it a solid grounded feel wherever it is to be placed and at the front the IdeaPad has a slight incline almost parallel only helping with the elegance. Upon opening the Lenovo, both hands are required to move the screen away from the keyboard and the case certainly feels as solid as it looks. The glossy "frameless" screen is a clean dark black and as one can tell from just opening, is quite sturdy and well protected. This 15.4" Frameless VibrantView LCD screen certainly does its job in looking and displaying pretty. The screen when looked at from straight on is definitely bright and vibrant.

Size and Weight
One thing to keep in mind is that this laptop isn’t exactly tiny. At 14.2 x 10.3 x 1.4 inches and 6.6 lbs (2.96 kg) the Lenovo Y530 is a tad bit on the thicker and heavier side especially for a 15.4" screen. That's not to say you can’t carry it around or take it with you while traveling. No, this laptop is sturdy and still maneuverable. Interestingly the thickness only helps annunciate that it feels like a solid box, but a carrying case works just the same. At just over 6.5 lbs, one would expect some heavy features or heavy duty battery. Oddly enough, the Y530 came with a 6 cell 5200mAh Li-ion battery which for a multimedia purpose machine meant to last, did a…ok job.

Keyboard
With plenty of room on the base of the IdeaPad the center contains a full size ergonomic keyboard that, like the ThinkPad linuep, is soft to the touch and quite pleasant to type on. The base itself is a very unique design of mainly black and orange. At the top center above the keyboard is a glossy black finish on which lays the touch sensitive buttons. From left to right across the way orange glowing touch buttons are: mute, a button for self defining programs, the device manager and 4 buttons for multimedia control (play/pause, stop, backwards, forwards). To the left of the glossy touch area is the OneKey Rescue System, and the orange glowing power button. To the right of the touch area is the swap button which converts the multimedia control touch buttons to Audio default touch buttons (and to the right of that, the volume control). These buttons all lay on a lighter metallic non-scratch surface which to the left and right of the keyboard holds 2 of the home theater speakers. The touchpad below the keyboard is wider than your average touchpad and is smooth and accurate to the touch. Simple and Sweet, great job with this Lenovo!

Display Quality
The Lenovo Y530 is meant to be mainly a multimedia machine. So while it may not be meant for heavy processing, it is meant to display nicely. The 15.4 inch WXGA (1280 x 800) res. isn't the highest resolution but certainly looks good on the frameless VibrantView LCD display. DVD's play smoothly, online videos (Hulu, youtube) look as good as they can and output to displays such as LCD TV's had no problems whatsoever. The only problem I had with the display was darkness from side viewing angles. At minimal side angles the screen begins to very noticeably darken as if someone turned the brightness down and the gloss does allow for minor glare. But as for all else, the brightness and colors are vibrant and the visuals look great. On an interesting side note… the screen is quite glossy… so much so that when the laptop is off the screen practically turns into a mirror. Check you out…

Connectivity
The case isn't small and does come with a good assortment of connectivity.

The right side of the unit holds a headphone, and microphone port, one USB 2.0 port, FireWire, DVD-RW/CD-RW, and a modem jack.

The left side of the Y530 holds two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI, Ethernet, S-Video, VGA, and the power chord port.

The front comes with a sensor for the optional remote, the wireless on or off switch, an ExpressCard slot and a 6-in-1 memory card reader, and holds 3 LED status lights of blue, orange and purple (power, battery, wireless).

In the back of the Y530 is a 5 bar orange glowing LED of which shows the battery status. Interestingly enough this can also be seen from the front when the screen is extended all the way.

Upgrading
Our Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 only came with 2 GB RAM but you’ll be glad to know it is possible to upgrade to 4 GB of DDR2 or DDR3 (1066MHz memory). Also while ours only had the 250GB 5400 RPM harddrive, it supports 320GB 7200 RPM. Another graphic card option upgrade is the NVIDIA GeForce 9500M G 512MB as well and would probably be worth it.

Features:
The Lenovo Y530 definitely has some unique and fun features. HDMI, Bluetooth, and some nice software to boot, but among the top two are the touch sensitive buttons and Veriface technology using the 1.3 M pixel webcam. The touch sensitive buttons which are located above the keyboard are a light glowing orange that when pressed brighten and glow for a nice effect. Another point is Lenovo’s Veriface facial-recognition technology. The software is easy to find, set up and use. It took only minutes to create a password and log my face and only seconds to log onto the computer using Veriface. While it doesn’t seem to be the most secure way to protect your computer, I couldn’t fool it. I tried hats, hoods, not shaving, still it recognized me. So, I then tried my friends and photos and proudly they were still locked out! The IdeaPad also comes with Lenovo’s Easy Capture software which is essentially the PC version of iPhoto and with only the 1.3 M pixel camera is ok at best. ‘Still’ photos look decent but videos and motion is choppy and blurry. Another nice piece of software included is Lenovo’s OneKey Recovery which will automatically reset the C drive to the factory default and leave the D drive untouched.

Performance and Conclusion
If you would like to read more about our testing methdology, please see here

Windows Vista Experience Score

Processor	4.9
Memory	5.8
Graphics	3.5
Gaming Graphics	4.8
Primary Hard Disk	5.2

With the lowest score being 3.5 and all others well above 4.0 its clear this is not a poor performance laptop. Solid high score of 5.8 on memory and the low score on graphics.

PCMark Vantage Pro

Lenovo Y530	2872
Lenovo T400	3746
HP HDX16	3320
ThinkPad X301	3308
VAIO FW270j	3235

The Y530 ran PCMark Vantage with a score of 2872 performing at only an average rate for a multimedia PC.

3DmarkVantage: NA

We were unable to run 3DmarkVantage on this laptop. Although it can run a 1280x800 resolution, it could not generate the 1280x1024 resolution the benchmark required.

Worldbench 6

Lenovo Y530	70
Lenovo T400	91
Toshiba E-105	83
HP HDX 16	80
VAIO FW270j	74

Running multiple instances of WorldBench we kept getting the same result. A mere score of 70. The firefox test however could not run properly and it is possible it would have scored slightly higher with it.

Battery Life

DVD Playback

Lenovo Y530	135
Toshiba E-105	210
VAIO FW270j	101
HP HDX 16	80
Asus G50	80

It seems DVD’s don’t have a huge affect on the battery life compared to regular use as it drained the battery for a score of 135, that’s 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Regular Use Battery Life

Lenovo Y530	165
Lenovo T400 (Integrated)	334
ThinkPad X301	235
VAIO FW270j	181
HP HDX 16	156

We ran the daily battery test strain using a constant stream of audio files and video files as well as basic word documents and internet browsing. It actually stayed alive for a decent time with a score of 165 equaling 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Conclusion
At a price under $1000 the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 definitely covers your basic needs and looks pretty while doing so. It has some cool features like the ability to look at yourself every time you login or lock your computer - and isn’t too heavy or big to carry around.

Bottom Line
If you want a laptop for basic browsing and nice media displays this Laptop is worth the dough. If you want something that processes quickly and can handle a lot of computing this may not be the laptop for you. The 15.4 inch widescreen Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 is a fun, unique laptop that overall looks nice and has some fun features.