Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 Help Before Buying

[ImSeriousAboutGaming]

Hello all,
I am currently in the market for a laptop, but am completely oblivious to the Lenovo brand. The Y500 fits my budget and has the hardware I am looking for, but is it a reliable choice? Lastly, can I use a desktop 2.5" ssd to replace the stock HDD for faster performance. Thank you for your replies in advance!

 

[Nichola Ginovaef]

I think Lenovo has had a good reputation of building pretty solid laptops at nice prices, it`s a good buy.

 

[chugot9218]

I think Lenovo is actually one of the only PC makers that has had increased, if not then steady, sales in light of the overall decrease in PC sales. I have heard good things about them, and have used my Dad's on a light basis, works well, he hasn't ever complained.

 

[ImSeriousAboutGaming]

Awesome guys thanks for the quick replies. I think I will go ahead and give them a shot while they have this mother day sale going on. Any idea about replacing the hdd with ssd?

 

[olin9]

The Y500 is a nice laptop. Fast, plays all of the newer games on high.
Yes your ssd will fit. If you get the one with the 1 TB \ 16 GB ssd it will boot in 8 to 20 secs.

 

[ImSeriousAboutGaming]

The Y500 is a nice laptop. Fast, plays all of the newer games on high.
Yes your ssd will fit. If you get the one with the 1 TB \ 16 GB ssd it will boot in 8 to 20 secs.

Awesome great information, thank you! That's perfect that the SSD will fit b/c I have 2 corsair gt's just laying around and those booted my desktop super rig in about 5 seconds. How good is battery life with just a single 650m?

 

[olin9]

With 2 GT650 SLI playing games you will have 1.5 to 2 hours battery.
With 1 GT650 playing games you will have about 3 hours battery.
With 1 GT650 emaill and browsing with power saving set to max will have about 4 hours battery.

I always use the Power cord while playing games.

 

[ImSeriousAboutGaming]

Hmm yes that is respectable for what it is. Ya, same here I always just have the charger plugged in on a constant basis while gaming. I am just torn between the single 650 or getting the 650 sli model. What you think?

 

[olin9]

This is a nice review and has some pics of the SSD bay\section.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Y500-Notebook.87585.0.html

 

[olin9]

If you get the SLI one it will come with a 170w Power Brick. You can then order a DVD-RW for the ultrabay for about $80us.

If you get the single GPU it will come with a DVD-RW and a 90w power Brick. Then if you want to add a 2nd GPU, on sale it will cost $137 and off sale $224. You do not have to have the 170W power brick ($90) to run SLI, but it is recommended.

It is cheaper in the long run to get the Y500 SLI and order a DVD-RW.

Always check Lenovo website for some nice sales. and the newer SLI GT750 are out now. They are GT650 with a 22% higher clock.

But you can OC the GT650 with a script(takes a lot to get it to work).

 

[ImSeriousAboutGaming]

If you get the SLI one it will come with a 170w Power Brick. You can then order a DVD-RW for the ultrabay for about $80us.

If you get the single GPU it will come with a DVD-RW and a 90w power Brick. Then if you want to add a 2nd GPU, on sale it will cost $137 and off sale $224. You do not have to have the 170W power brick ($90) to run SLI, but it is recommended.

It is cheaper in the long run to get the Y500 SLI and order a DVD-RW.

Always check Lenovo website for some nice sales. and the newer SLI GT750 are out now. They are GT650 with a 22% higher clock.

But you can OC the GT650 with a script(takes a lot to get it to work).

Awesome well that information just provided with stuff I would have overlooked. I am going to buy the SLI edition so that I don't have to worry about the power brick down the road. Kinda just want to buy it all at once and be done. Thank you for the help and fast responses. Much appreciated!