Can The Lenovo Y580 Be Beaten For The Price?

[Clippersfan86]

According to graphics card benchmarks the 660m in this system can run Witcher 2 and other extremely high end games on high and get 25-30 FPS and can run medium-high mix at max FPS. I'm looking at buying one off their website now (their absolute best one) and it's on sale for 1,200 bucks. So basically my question is... is there another laptop with these specs that also has bulletproof reliability for this price? I'm thinking it has zero competition in it's class. Also is there really any gaming boost from getting the SSD option?

CPU: Intel Core i7-3610QM
Graphic card: Intel HD Graphics 4000 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 2048 MB GDDR5
RAM: 8 Gig (SODIMM DDRAM3, 1600 MHz)
Storage: 750 GB SATA 5400rpm
Optical drive: Blu-ray/DVD-RW
Battery life: 5 hours
Resolution: 15.6" 1920x1080 (FullHD) , FHD LED Glare Wedge.
Weight: 6 pounds (Very light compared to others I reviewed)
Hard drive: 1TB 5400RPM+32G SSD
Network card: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200BGN
HD camera: Yes
HDMI out: Yes
3D capable: Yes
Backlit Keyboard: Yes

[Iron Dan]

YUP... check out HP Home & Home Office | HP® Official Store and customize an HP dv6tqe.... i think it's an even better value... esp if the 33% coupon returns (it will, but when?)...

CPU: i7-3610qm
Graphics card: nvidia Geforce GT 650M ddr5 1 or 2GB (i recommend 1 and 650m is a lower clocked 660m)
Ram: 8GB 1600mhz
Hard Drive/Storage: 1TB 5400rpm w/32GB mSSD or 750GB 7200rpm Hybrid Drive
Optical Drive: Blu-ray/DVD combo
Battery life: advertise "up to 6", my experience on 6-cell is about 4 or so and 9-cell 6-7 hrs
Display: 15.6" (upgrade) 1920x1080 anti-glare
Weight: starts at 5.5 lbs... should also be around 6...
Network: Intel Wireless 802.11b/g/n + bluetooth 4.0 option
720p webcam (5.7mp still)
HDMI out
Backlit KB option
Current coupon: JULY4SALEHP for an extra $100 off... 33% off msrp should return soon...
I got the config in my sig for under $1000 before tax... I believe this is the best deal out there for $1000 right now

[Clippersfan86]

YUP... check out HP Home & Home Office | HP® Official Store and customize an HP dv6tqe.... i think it's an even better value... esp if the 33% coupon returns (it will, but when?)...

CPU: i7-3610qm
Graphics card: nvidia Geforce GT 650M ddr5 1 or 2GB (i recommend 1 and 650m is a lower clocked 660m)
Ram: 8GB 1600mhz
Hard Drive/Storage: 1TB 5400rpm w/32GB mSSD or 750GB 7200rpm Hybrid Drive
Optical Drive: Blu-ray/DVD combo
Battery life: advertise "up to 6", my experience on 6-cell is about 4 or so and 9-cell 6-7 hrs
Display: 15.6" (upgrade) 1920x1080 anti-glare
Weight: starts at 5.5 lbs... should also be around 6...
Network: Intel Wireless 802.11b/g/n + bluetooth 4.0 option
720p webcam (5.7mp still)
HDMI out
Backlit KB option
Current coupon: JULY4SALEHP for an extra $100 off... 33% off msrp should return soon...
I got the config in my sig for under $1000 before tax... I believe this is the best deal out there for $1000 right now

Can't I overclock the 660M just the same? Besides HP ranks dead last in reliability when I checked which is one of the key things I listed. I mentioned which other laptop has this much power, for the price WITH a great reliability. I was looking into your laptop and heard A LOT of bad things regarding reliability. I hate the bloatware that comes with HP.

Do you like the gaming performance? Have you tried anything hardcore like Witcher 2?

[Clippersfan86]

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Here's what I use to get graphics card comparisons and how well they run for each game. Just select the games to test for and click restrict. The 660m without overclock can run Witcher on 27 FPS on high settings where as 650m shows up as being unable to run it on high. On games they can both run on high there is a difference of 5-10 FPS. I guess you're right they aren't too far apart though.

Can I overclock the 660m?

[Bill Nye]

The 650m is definitely NOT a lower clocked 660m.

[Clippersfan86]

The 650m is definitely NOT a lower clocked 660m.

I think I read the 660M has two or three times the memory speed of the 650M. Not sure what effect that has though. Bill can you or anybody else tell me about the reliability difference between Lenovo/IBM and HP? I was reading HP and Acer are bottom two reliability. Where as Lenovo ranked number 1 in reliability this year on this report I just saw.

[shorty920]

What reports are you seeing? I'm curious to see them myself. HP's quality has improved a lot recently by word of mouth but I'd like to see some actual data. People knock on HP for their past reputation.

[Clippersfan86]

What reports are you seeing? I'm curious to see them myself. HP's quality has improved a lot recently by word of mouth but I'd like to see some actual data. People knock on HP for their past reputation.

2011 Computer Reliability Reports: Lenovo, Asus On Top | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

HP has no doubt improved quality a lot from previous years but it's still outclassed by the top brands.

[coolguy]

The Y580 has a glossy FHD screen. This is the reason I didn't buy it during the July 4 sale when it was $936 (thru Barnes and Noble gold login), you can't beat that price for the hardware. If you are okay with the glossy screen, go with the Lenovo.

Just create an account here, you will get up to $60 off the posted prices.
http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary...arnesnoblegold

[shorty920]

2011 Computer Reliability Reports: Lenovo, Asus On Top | Connecticut Consumer Advocate Protector Watchdog | Ct Consumer Complaints |Ct consumer Protection | Ct Advocate | Ct Consumer

HP has no doubt improved quality a lot from previous years but it's still outclassed by the top brands.

Thanks for that.

I'm interested in what the sample sizes are, and what lines they tested. I mean HP and Lenovo covers the consumer to the work laptops. If they tested a lot of Thinkpads and a lot of cheap Pavillions then obviously you will see a certain result. Nowadays when people ask me about brands, I tell people to ignore that and focus on what specfic model or class of laptops.