The keys' red rim and speakers' red highlighted grille downright scream for games. However, the manufacturer's ambitions quickly become evident as soon as the laptop is opened. Only the wide vents that blow out waste heat toward the (mouse) hand hint at the device's purpose. The dark color and rather basic design do not exactly indicate potent hardware. The IdeaPad Y500 looks rather unimposing in a closed state. Both laptops have Windows 8 64-bit in common.Ĭan the 15-incher attain a place among the premium gaming laptops? Our test shows whether the daring idea is successful or Lenovo goes belly up with it. Various complaints about the American version were made not long after its release (useless touchpads, non-functional power supplies, etc.). The processor, screen and hard disk capacity are identical. The 100 Euros (~$135) cheaper family member sports a single GPU and a still fully sufficient eight GB of DDR3 RAM. This bundle's price: 1100 Euros (~$1481).īuyers who do not want to spend more than 1000 Euros (~$1346) could opt for the MBG2JGE. The glossy-type LED screen unsurprisingly has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Its four cores can clock with 2.4 to 3.4 GHz in load.

Intel's popular Core i7-3630QM takes care of CPU calculations. The model we tested is dubbed MBG3DGE and sports 16 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz), a 1000 GB, 5400 rpm HDD and a small 16 GB mSATA SSD, which serves as a cache and cannot be used directly. The other components can also compete with the contenders. While the 15-incher places itself in the midrange with a single GeForce GT 650M, the laptop is propelled into the high-end range when using an SLI configuration.

Lenovo relies on a well-tried DirectX 11 accelerator from Nvidia for the GPU. System fan modules (better cooling for 20 Euros/~$27), a hard disk module (750 GB HDD for 90 Euros/~$121) and a DVD/CD burner module (70 Euros/~$94) are also offered in Lenovo's German shop. In simple words, it is a special drive compartment that can optionally harbor a second graphics card. The IdeaPad Y500 is not just a copy of the devices from MSI, Asus or Samsung, but a unique product that in many ways treads new, or at least different paths.įor example, the UltraBay mentioned in the introduction is unique.

Lenovo and gaming? Does that match at all? The manufacturer, mainly known for its office laptops, now also wants to make a name for itself in the gaming sector. For the original German review, see here.

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