A review of the Lenovo Y50 | i7-4700HQ | GTX860m | 8GB DDR3 | 1TB WD Hybrid HDD | Intel 7260

Introduction

Here are a few of my thoughts on the new Lenovo Y50. In terms of disclaimer, I have used and reviewed dozens of laptops over the last 10 years, and I am pretty obsessive. Some things that bother me, may not bother you at all. I have yet to keep a laptop longer than 6 months, other than work issued devices. My most recent experiences are in my signature, but this is only a small collection of the most recent devices. I currently use a Razer Blade Pro on a daily basis, and it has the same specs as this Y50 (other than hard disk).

First, here are the specs of my particular device. Purchased from newegg for $1149.

Intel Core i7 4700HQ (2.40GHz)
8GB Memory 1TB HDD 8GB SSD (Western Digital)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 2GB (Maxwell)
Windows 8.1 64-Bit
Intel 7260 Wi-fi
Chi Mei N156HGE 15.6" Matte Display (1920 x 1080)
External USB 2.0 DVD-RW (rebranded LG GP60NB50...which sells for about $35 on newegg)

Box and Initial Experience
The packaging is sparse, but sufficient. My initial experience was not positive. Once I removed the notebook from the box and plugged it in, it took over 20 minutes to set up Windows. I got real tired of those colored screens saying "just finishing up"....on the plus side, It gave me a chance to check for dead pixels, and make a cup of coffee.
After it finally did boot into Windows, I was presented with the interface formerly known as metro. Nothing responded to my clicking. Desktop wouldn't come up, couldn't open simple apps like photos, email or file explorer. I finally restarted it, and everything began working as expected.

And by as expected, I mean tons of bloat. I have some pictures later on of what you can expect on the desktop, but everything from McAfee to Ebay makes an appearance. I'll talk more about this in the software section.

Case and Build
The case feels great. I love soft touch / rubberized plastic on notebooks. The edge is comfortable on my wrist while gaming, and is pleasant to hold. I actually wish the lid was covered in this material like the palm rests are, even though they are fingerprint magnets. I wish the matte display didn't have the glossy black plastic as a bezel, but it's not the most distracting I have used. I'm sure it will scratch easily like most other glossy bezels. The matte plastic does collect finger / palm prints quite a lot.


The case is generally good looking, but it does have a lip around the entire proximity of the bottom half. This lip also has a slight gap which actually collects dust and other stuffs (I was eating white cheddar cheez-its, okay?...stupid things are addictive.) This lip is too obvious to be by accident, but it is too subtle to be a bold design choice. It is exactly where the bottom half of the laptop opens, up, but I'm not a fan. My OCD says it's silly, and out of place.




Port selection is great, but my one complaint is how close the USB 3.0 Ports are to each other. I struggle to plug in two USB flash drives at the same time if they have any girth to them...Think Corsair flash voyager and even sandisk cruisers. SPDIF is convenient, and I'm glad there is a USB 2 port on the right side for my mouse (I get better reception for my right handed mouse with the receiver on the right)
Disassembly is easy, and it's also easy to repaste the CPU and GPU, though you may determine it not to be necessary (more on that later)

Spoiler

The power adapter, while large(ish), is actually pretty neat. Its a rectangle design that can be plugged in either direction. It sits very firmly in place unlike many barrel connectors where you wonder if it's going to fall out, or get tugged off.


Stickers. Oh the stickers. Here's my beef with the stickers.
1) If you're going to tell me about the Nvidia GTX I already know I have, can you at least put the sticker on straight so it doesn't bother my OCD?
2) Why advertise that an Ultra HD screen is available as an option? Just to taunt me that I didn't buy it? Seriously, why not advertise your 512GB SSD option as well...didn't buy that either. This annoyed me a lot if you can't tell.


Keyboard
The keyboard and I have some disagreements, but they're mostly minor. I'll start with the good. The backlighting looks great, but I wish it got slightly more dim...the girlfriend commented on the bright red spaceship I brought to bed...(I know...TWSS), so it failed the significant other test there. Key travel is good, and spacing is excellent. Function buttons are helpful, and Lenovo software allows for you to switch them easily with the F1-F12 defaults. The right shift is slightly too small for my preference, but it's a minor problem. Flex is minimal, but does exist if you push hard enough in certain places (like between J-K-I). I don't see this being a real problem.

My real complaint with the keyboard comes from two things. First, this is a media / gaming notebook, yet there is no mute key, or media keys (play, pause, next, etc). I don't need these silly settings / search / alt-tab menu shortcuts on F9-F12...just give me some stinkin' media keys.

Second issue:, I'm missing keystrokes when I don't hit keys directly in the center with purpose. I have a tendency to type lightly, and only hit edges of keys. This is problematic if you hit keys on the corners or the edges and don't push very heavy. Fortunately the space bar does not seem to have this problem, but the C, N, and H keys are the worse offenders for me and my style of typing....in fact I've probabaly missed 30% of all the 'C's I've typed in this review.

The power button is above the keyboard next to Lenovo's backup utility button. Pressing this button allows access to the UEFI and system recovery options. Don't fight with the F2 or delete keys during boot because they won't get you into the Bios. You must use this button.


Trackpad
The Y500 / Y510 used a synaptics pad that ultimately led me to return the Y510. It was attrocious and numerous reviewers have commented on it's uselessness. Fortunately, the Y50 replaced the synaptics device with an Elan pad. This Elan pad is one of the best I have used on a windows laptop in terms of gestures. I use two finger scroll and three finger swipe (forward and back) all the time, and this pad performs these gestures wonderfully for a windows laptop. It's not mac quality yet, but it is wonderful. Tracking sensitivity could use some improvement, but once the settings are adjusted, it works splendidly. Also, the texture of the pad is probably the best I have tried on a windows laptop, with the possible exception of the 14" Razer blade. It is very smoth, but accurate.
I'm currently trying to modify the registry buttons to change the defaults for four finger swipe. I would like to set a keystroke, or open an application with that gesture, and I'm hopeful It will happen.
If I had to complain about something, I would ask why on earth they put it so far to the left. It's awkward when I'm using the pad and realize I'm barely touching the far right side of it and i'm registering right clicks when I mean to make a left click.

Monitor
Alright, there's been a lot of talk about this recently. It is the same display as the one used in the Lenovo Z510, Vaio X series, M4800 and others. Here is my perspective: It is a very average matte display. Its redeeming qualities are that it's 1080p, and is NOT grainy like a lot of matte displays (think GS70, or GT60). It also gets VERY dim (which is great if you like working in very dark places, as I do on occasion) and I had zero dead pixels or white pressure spots / inconsistincies. The case has minimal flex, and I have yet to see any pressure points on the back of the display that would affect display quality down the road.

The downsides of the display are vertical viewing angles and color reproduction. It is very difficult to get a perfect vertical viewing angle (What I mean by this: in order to get no color shift on the top of the display, you will get slight colorshift on the very bottom of the screen from the same viewing position). Color reproduction has been drilled by several members, and they're right in that it is low gamut and not spectacular. It won't wow you with its colors, but I certainly don't find it complete trash. I have used several other notebooks with what I would call inferior displays for numerous reasons. The colors on my GT60 were great, and viewing angles were better, but the screen was very grainy / sparkly as many matte displays are. My old Sony Vaio S was grainy and very washed out, but viewing angles were great. The HP Probook 14 (2011) has better colors and contrast, but there was ZERO perfect viewing angle on that machine. It always had color shift on some part of the display.
My point here is I actually believe this display to be less offensive than many other TN displays I've tried, even though it is a very average, lower quality TN display. My biggest problem with it aside from vertical viewing angles is the white reproduction which is slightly yellow, but it is only really obvious when you place it next to a superior display.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I'll repeat it here again, because I think it's important.... After playing several hours of Civ 5 and BF4 over this weekend, I have NEVER ONCE thought "I want to go play this on my Blade Pro or my external monitor because the quality of this display is horrible." It doesn't detract from the experience for me.

Even though this is not perfect, here are some comparison pictures between my external monitors (LG 27EA63 IPS) and my Blade Pro. I would buy this again, but I would also pay an extra $50-$100 for a better screen. The AUO display used in Sager's P150xx line is very likely compatible, and if I decide to keep this machine, I will almost certainly swap it out.











Audio
I'll start with the good. The headphone jack seems to be very well powered (if not over powered). Using my Westone IEMs, My comfortable listing level is 12-14 on the silly Windows 8.1 volume indicator. Even at the lowest volume, it is still very audible. With my Beyerdynamic DT990s (250ohm), my comfortable listening level is about 45, but bass is certainly lacking, and I would always use a headphone amplifier / DAC if given the choice anyway.

There is quite a lot of white noise in the headphone jack, probably by nature of it's role as a combo port. I don't have an adapter, otherwise I would test out my theory.
The speakers get reasonably loud, and do not distort significantly at higher volumes. A curiosity about the speakers though, is there is a slight amount of white noise emanating from the left speaker even when nothing is being played. To be clear, it is ONLY audible in a completely quiet room, with my ear down to the speaker, and it only comes from the left speaker. It is similar to what I hear in the headphone jack through my headphones. It does go away when the system is muted, or volume is turned down to zero.

Dolby software is available, but I'm not a fan. It introduces even more white noise (when using the software equalizer) and a lot of the settings just sound unnatural to my picky ears.

Software
After having used Sagers, Razers and Macs for the last several years, I forgot what real bloatware is, and I'm sure this isn't the worst offender. Half of the garbage comes right from Lenovo (who needs lenovo Smartvoice, photos, motion control, or any of this other BS?). With that said, don't uninstall the lenovo setting app. It is hugely functional, and provides some important settings not found elsewhere. Unfortunately, the only fan control setting is for clearing dust out rather than making the fans quieter. WiFi hotspot is neat, though I wouldn't use it, and the video settings (especially photo and cinema mode) can make the display look much less washed out in my opinion.



Performance / Overclocking
Here is where this beast shines. The GTX860m uses Nvidia's Maxwell architecture to bring stock GTX680m performance in a form factor that would have been impossible last year (at least not without SLI...had to add that for the Y500/Y510 folks.)

Stock means a completely stock system. No over clocking on the GPU or undervolting on the CPU. Drivers: 337.88

Stock:
3DMark Firestrike Score: 3517
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4700HQ,LENOVO Lenovo Y50-70


Stock Temps:
Max CPU on 3 consecutive runs: 75
Max GPU Temp on 3 consecutive runs: 59


Overclocked and Undervolted
+135 core and +500Mhz (1000Mhz effective) vRam, and CPU undervolted by -70mv. Drivers: 337.88
3DMark Firestrike Score: 4101
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3291412?


OC Temps
CPU: 73
GPU: 60

Civilization 5 Performance
Maintains a near constant 60fps with everything on high settings, even at turn 300. There is a little dropping to low 50s when zooming out and panning across the map for the first time.

Battlefield 4
64 man Gulf of Oman, I played for half an hour, both inside buildings and out...in vehicles, and blowing them up with my mad SRAW skillz. High settings, no AA. GPU is overclocked since at this point, I don't see a reason it shouldn't be... It stays so cool.
I left V-sync off to tax the GPU as much as possible, even though I normally play with it enabled.

AVG FPS: 62.2
Min FPS 48.6
Max CPU Temp: 83
Max GPU Temp: 66

Noise and Temps
I really wish I had better control over these fans--They are always running. Even when the notebook is Idling at the desktop with nothing to do and undervolted by -70mv, they still run constantly, but at least they are only slightly audible in a silent room..only barely over the sound of the HDD. They also fluctuate quite a bit with the temperature, which is mildly annoying, but again, only really apparent in a silent room. While I have been writing this review and surfing notebookreview, not a single core has gone over 45C, and core 2 stays at 39-40. Even with Spotify playing, I still have yet to see 50c. Without the undervolt, completely idle temps were 44-46C, but I don't see a reason to not use intel XTU to find a safe undervolt for your processor.

The fans kick it up a slight notch once it hits 51C, but it is still very reasonable, and 51c was never hit while I was writing this and surfing the web (ambient temp is 75). This is pretty incredible to me, but then again...the fans are always running. I would love to trade some RPM (or even deactivate the fans) and get 50-55c idle with a more quiet system.
While benchmarking and gaming, it is fairly quiet in comparison to my Razer, and especially my rMBP. The combination of Maxwell and Lenovo's cooling have done a great job of keeping temps in line. I don't think we yet comprehend the types of systems we will be gaming on when Maxwell gets a die shrink and Broadwell is finally released. Cool, quiet, and super powerful.

But Dat Hard Drive Tho...
When I first turned the machine on, I thought to myself, "this HDD is a nightmare." I was mostly correct, and chalked it up to windows indexing and downloading updates, etc. I left it sit for a couple hours an it was still sluggish, but I did a hdd benchmark anyway. The results were not impressive.


A day later, things seem to have improved. Perhaps indexing took longer than expected, but it is a bit more snappy. If I keep this machine I will certainly replace the HDD with a 1tb 840 Evo. A screenshot from initial boot shows what the partitions are like, and how much space is available. The second partition includes the original software and drivers, which is convenient.


Wireless Performance
The newegg variant uses an Intel 7260 wireless card rather than the 3160. On my N66u Router I maintain a 550mbps connection on 5ghz at 30-40 feet...It improves to 700mbps or so when 8-10 ft away. My wireless speed test was sending the windows 8 ISO to a NAS plugged into the router--where it struggled to maintain 20MB/s at 30-40 feet, but went up to 25-28MB/s at 8-10 ft. This is less than what I had hoped for, and about a third of what I get when plugged into Gigabit Lan (~75MB/s).
For whatever reason, my latency does vary, regardless of whether I'm directly next to the router or not. I've seen as low as 15ms and as high as 85 randomly. It is frustrating when playing a game, but I have very limited samples where I've noticed it, so I'll keep an eye on the problem and report back. I can't rule out another network abnormality.

Battery
Not the big selling point of this device unfortunately. I've completed two battery cycles, from 100 - 5%. Here was the general usage scenario:

First run: Light office tasks, internet use, WiFi on, but backlit keyboard off. Brightness at about 60%. Power saver mode.
Second Run: Light office tasks and internet use again with WiFi, but with the backlit keyboard on, Brightness at 80%, playing spotify through my IEMs. Balanced power mode.

First run: 4h 20m
Second: 3h 45m

Conclusion
I really like this machine, but unsure if I will keep it or not. It's half the price of the Razer Blade, even after I drop a big SSD in it, and the Lenovo otherwise has the same specs. For $1150, it's a bargain. The closest comparison is probably the GE60 Apache, which has louder fans and cheaper build materials for $100 more. Honestly, if you were really concerned about the cost, Newegg sells this same machine with a dual-core i5 and no external DVD-RW for $150 less. You will get lower FPS in games like BF4 that love eating CPU cores, but otherwise, it is a phenomenal performer.

If you're looking to game on a budget ($1000-1200) I think the Y50 is a great option. The other real 'budget' gaming notebook with this type of specs is the GE60 barebones and the NP7358 / NP7338 (if you like 13.3") sold by a few of the resellers (XoticPC and the like.) They start at about $1000 and lack the 1tb hybrid drive, Intel 7260 wireless and OS, but may be more to your taste. Overall, I would recommend this notebook, but consider the glossy / touch variants if they are determined to have better screen quality.

Update:
I took my specific machine apart today and discovered a few things.

The noise I was attributing to the fan was actually a noisy hard drive. I removed the HDD and replaced it with a SSD temporarily, and the whole machine is much quieter at idle. I struggle to hear it even in my silent office with the laptop docked in the corner and the lid closed.

Also, as we know, there are two fans in this machine. They both will actually be disabled assuming the temps are low enough (~35C, which I only saw with the back panel off so far) and the second fan turns on at about 51C.

With the back off, I also identified a couple other things.

- I had hoped the 8GB DDR3 would be in one dimm, but alas, I have 2x4GB Samsung Dimms.
- There is some manner of coil whine coming from between the memory and wireless module. It is very difficult to hear through the case with the back on, and impossible to hear with a traditional hard drive installed (it drowns it out.)
- The display will be very easy to remove, and does not appear to require removal of the motherboard.
- The battery is easy to swap if / when the time comes.

With the Heatsink removed here are some observations
- The stock thermal paste was not a horrible job, but can be improved upon
- The GPU uses Hynix memory (H5GC2H24BF4-T2C), which probably accounts for its great response to overclocking up to 3000Mhz (6000Mhz Effective)
- No surprise, but nothing is socketed or replaceable.
- Heavy use of thermal pads on the vram
- Replacing the thermal paste with NT-H1 right now...We'll see how things change, if at all. Stock was pretty good.








Update on Hard drive Compatibility
So I didn't have the specific Black² drive, but I did have a 9.3-9.4mm agility 3 ssd lying around. First off, a 9.5mm will easily fit in the case. The bottom of the case has 4 sets of pads designed to prevent the 7mm drive from moving in place. When I put the 9.3mm agility 3 in the case, it just compressed these pads slightly more than what it otherwise would have with the 7mm drive in place.

You will NOT fit a larger drive than this (~9.5mm) in here though without removing these pads. If you placed some thin felt on the bottom of the case instead of the pads, and were okay with reduced shock protection, you may be able to get 12mm drives in this location, though 15mm, like WD's 2tb green would likely still not fit.

 

Do keep us updated if you decide to keep the laptop and replace the screen.

 

Finally a thorough review! Good job on this one.
I must say its impressive that even on OC the temps are still the same.
Pity about the screen though. Really hoping they have an IPS panel for the 4K variant.

 

I'm seriously VERY impressed with the thermal performance of the Y50.. Great job Lenovo.. That smokes my previous Asus G750JM with 860m.. And they are huge chassis's with massive fans inside.. Wonder what Lenovo is doing here.. I'm willing to bet they are finally using some Artic Silver-like paste and doing it right this time.. Sounds like they took all the complaints from the previous Y550 to heart and decided to turn a new page.

 

For clarity: was yours the one with the 7260 or was yours the 3160? Do you recommend buying the compatible 7260 variant as an upgrade?

Also, did you upgrade the thermal paste or leave the stock in?

 

Nice review good Job!

 

I updated my 3DMark Firestrike results to reflect new drivers. The overclocked score rose from 4009 to 4101 with 337.88 Drivers.

 

Mine is the 7260. I do not have any experience with the 3160, so I won't comment on it.

I have not upgraded the thermal paste. While it would be a very easy job to do, I'm not sure how much benefit there will be to doing it. I am completely happy with these temps...but I do have some Noctua NT-H1 and MX-2 sitting here in my desk...we shall see. I'm leaning more towards keeping this and selling the Razer (given the $1400 price difference)...if I decide to do it, I'll probably repaste it just to see if it changes.

 

Is the lenovo y40/y50 basically the Y420/520?

 

No, it's a brand new chassis.

 

ooo... that new settings application looks nice. Is there an installer for that located somewhere in the backups partition by any chance?

If there is, would you mind uploading it? I would like to install it on my y410p.

 

I'll PM you in a bit.

 

I took my specific machine apart today and discovered a few things.

The noise I was attributing to the fan was actually a noisy hard drive. I removed the HDD and replaced it with a SSD temporarily, and the whole machine is much quieter at idle. I struggle to hear it even in my silent office with the laptop docked in the corner and the lid closed.

Also, as we know, there are two fans in this machine. They both will actually be disabled assuming the temps are low enough (~35C, which I only saw with the back panel off so far) and the second fan turns on at about 51C.

With the back off, I also identified a couple other things.

- I had hoped the 8GB DDR3 would be in one dimm, but alas, I have 2x4GB Samsung Dimms.
- There is some manner of coil whine coming from between the memory and wireless module. It is very difficult to hear through the case with the back on, and impossible to hear with a traditional hard drive installed (it drowns it out.)
- The display will be very easy to remove, and does not appear to require removal of the motherboard.
- The battery is easy to swap if / when the time comes.

With the Heatsink removed here are some observations
- The stock thermal paste was not a horrible job, but can be improved upon
- The GPU uses Hynix memory (H5GC2H24BF4-T2C), which probably accounts for its great response to overclocking up to 3000Mhz (6000Mhz Effective)
- No surprise, but nothing is socketed or replaceable.
- Heavy use of thermal pads on the vram
- Replacing the thermal paste with NT-H1 right now...We'll see how things change, if at all. Stock was pretty good.

 

Same here, that software looks interesting.

 

Thanks, was thinking about applying some arctic silver but it looks like the stock stuff is pretty good and applied in correct amounts. I'll save myself the work and leave it alone. At least they didn't slap on a ton of goo like the way Dell did with my old laptop.

My RAM came with a single 8GB stick. Where did you get your unit? I ordered directly from Lenovo.

Makes me laugh and gag every time I look at the goo on my old Dell.

 

I agree thus far...no real advantages yet to changing the thermal paste.

 

So a brief disclaimer before this post: I do not recommend doing what I am about to explain unless you are very familiar with laptop hardware. It may potentially lead to component failure if you do not know what you are doing.

With that said, I need to take back my earlier comments regarding no real advantages to changing the thermal paste. I obviously can not attribute this to just the thermal paste (as I have done a couple of other things as well) but I am sure it contributed to my improved temps. After changing the paste, I went into Intel XTU again and undervolted just a little bit more until I lost stability. At -90mv I started getting crashing, so I pulled it back by 10mv, and left it at -80mv on the i7. Between that and the repaste, my Y50 has been idling between 35 and 40c for the last hour while doing some surfing on powersaver mode. Now, as I mentioned earlier, one of the fans remains off until about 51C (the larger of the two). The other fan (smaller one) stays on until you get to below 35, which almost never happens during regular use (with the back of the case on). My benchmarking tests for temperature have been remarkable thus far, so I was curious what this machine would be like if I just completely turned off the smaller fan that runs constantly....so I unplugged it.

This is probably a little crazy, but that's why I put up the disclaimer. The results are pretty interesting. The machine now idles at 45-50c constantly, but between the fan turned off and the 840 Evo i put in, it is completely silent, even when browsing the web or watching a youtube video. Once you start up something a little more intense, the larger fan spins quietly until temps drop back down to 50. My bigger concern was how it will perform during benchmarking or gaming, so here are some numbers.

I started off going easy on it by running 3DMark Firestrike 3 times in a row, and then played Civ 5 for 30 min....

Max CPU temp: 83
Max GPU Temp: 68

Keep in mind, this is with only one fan plugged, the GTX860m on stock clocks, and an -80mv undervolt on the CPU...and it is still cooler than my Razer Blade Pro doing the exact same test.

I'm going to try and monitor it while doing something a little more intense like BF4 that pushes the GPU to the breaking point, but thus far...I'm pretty impressed.

Just to be clear, I in no way find the fans horrendously loud when they are both plugged in...I just wanted to see if I could make it completely silent and if so...what the repercussions would be to temperatures.

 

Played 64 man Gulf of Oman again (BF4) with the smaller fan disabled, and no overclock. Once again, BF4 becomes a killer, but not so bad that it becomes completely unsafe.
CPU Max: 97
GPU Max: 81

Once the GPU hit 81 it reduced the boosting clocks back to 1020.

 

FYI, the AUO B156HAN01.2 is more or less a drop in replacement for the Chimei N156HGE-EA1. I did the swap in my Elitebook with a used one that I got from ebay for about $120. It is a ~90% sRGB AHVA panel with 80 degree viewing angles in any direction, pretty nice upgrade from the Chimei panel.

Very nice review by the way. Very detailed! The Y50 seems like a very promising gaming notebook. Probably one of the best price/performance this time around from what it looks like.

 

Hi, thanks for your detailed writeup. Can you please elaborate / confirm the above - were you able to remove the screen without removing the heatsinks + MB like the service manual suggests?

 

Could you please give us noobs a step by step on how to remove and apply the paste? There are different methods and I've never done it before...
And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

 

I'm thinking I'll try and buy one of those auo screens and replace this myself. I'll do a write up of course. The monitor can absolutely be removed without taking the motherboard out. The monitor cables are super easy to remove and the wifi antennas can be taken off pretty easily too. It will be easier with the heatsink and fan assembly removed which isn't a big deal...takes 3 minutes max to remove them.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2p6Hk4IfqI that video gives a pretty good intro to thermal goo replacement.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf that's a good written documentation from arctic silver on how it's done.

Let us know how that goes. Kinda curious how much a replacement would cost and how much it would improve the overall laptop.

 

How do you check that chi mei is the manufacturer of ur panel? I'm wondering if the touch model is also the same panel except it's glossy and touch enabled.

 

Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Displays -> Generic pnp monitor properties

Details Tab, and hardware ID...

For example, Mine reads: Monitor\CMN15C4

(Which is a lower quality Chi Mei N156HGE Monitor...also used in the Lenovo T540p, Dell M4800 and 15" Vaio T series)

 

Liked and profiled.

They seemed to have improved some aspects of the Y510/Y500, yet fell down on some others.

Better:
- Wi-Fi
- Port Placement
- FHD on the 14''
- 860M
- Subwoofer
- Better access to the internals

Worse:
- Battery life (compared to non sli Y510)
- Cant add a second hard drive/disc drive
- More bloatware


For the lack of mute button, i just remapped my menu key (the one next to right Alt) to act as a mute button.


Overall, a decent successor, but to be honest, GPU aside it's STILL not much of an upgrade over the FHD Y580. (Early 2012)

 

Does anyone here have a touch model? Nobody replying me in the Y50 thread.

 

I have the touch model that came today to me

Enviado desde mi SM-N900 mediante Tapatalk

 

I hope I don't take too much of your time but could you check ur hardware ID for your screen panel? I would like to know if it's exactly the same as the non touch versions?

 

I have checked and i thing is different.....
AU Optronics:AUO36ED
AUO B156HTN03.6
Year of manufacture 2013

thats all the information i had

Enviado desde mi SM-N900 mediante Tapatalk

 

65% sRgb

Nothing amazing about this display either.

This review shows essentially the same display
Review Toshiba Satellite P50-A-11L Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

awwww... Is it possible to change screen for the touch model and still have touch effect? I just hope it's not worst than my current monitor

 

That's my big money question as well. Also, here's a video of the color disparity: Lenovo Y50 Another Color Monitor Comparison - YouTube

My Y50 comes in next Tuesday; the display has me feeling forced to return it, since my wife does design work. If I knew I could replace the screen and retain touch, that would be great.

 

Really great review, thanks a lot. I thought it did a very fine job of covering the machine's strong and weak points.

My problem with the Y50 is not that it's a cheap machine with some problems, but rather that it's supposed to be a budget product, yet sold pretty expensive over here in Denmark.

For a bit more money I could get an ASUS ROG instead, which I assume is better quality...

 

I totally agree with your assessment. It is a great machine at the 1000-1200 price point, but If you're going to spend 1300-1600, I very much believe there are some better options.

My ultimate conclusion: this is a great budget gaming notebook, but it's not for everyone. The screen leaves a bit to be desired, and the keyboard and I can not get along. I tried 3 other examples of this machine (a newegg replacement of the same thing, a friend's Y50, and a demo at a local enthusiast shop). Each of them missed keys with my style of typing. I know one of the other threads got dirtied up with talk of the keyboard, but I really think it's specific to an individuals typing style. I can't use the Y50 keyboard without missing strokes. My buddy uses one with almost no problems (he does miss the 'B' key on occasion...just barely hitting the top right of the key with his right pointer finger.) I don't see this being a manufacturing fault as much as I see it being a design fault that affects people in different ways. You may have a problem, or you may not.

I've purchased an MSI GS60 and have to say, I like it quite a bit more, and see myself using it for quite a while (probably 6-8 months for me) The Lenovo was excellent value for money, but the MSI has a much better screen and build quality...space for 2 SSDs + 2.5" drive, is lighter, thinner, quieter (with the fan mods), provides displaylink out and has a usable keyboard for my style of typing. It was a better fit for me, but the Y50 may be a better fit for you.

 

I agree (even though you're quoting Sandbag, I think you hit some points that make a lot of sense). I was looking for a laptop that had a Maxwell 860M that had a touchscreen (which I've been using A LOT when I don't use my mouse, surprisingly); I would have gotten the N550JK without thinking twice if it had a better GPU. Portability was also key, which ruled out the Clevo/Sager. Despite my concerns for the screen, the Y50 Touch was too good of a value for me to pass up for less than $1200, and I have no regrets so far.

As for keyboard issues, I'm a pretty bad typist to begin with, so I have my own problems with any keyboard, so for me it's not a Y50 thing.

 

I'm with you on the N550JK. I probably would have bought one if it had DDR5 on the 850m and an unlocked vbios...Maxwell just overclocks soooo nicely that I'm certain you could get it beyond stock 860m speeds.

I wish I could see a Y50 touch right next to a matte.

 

How much did the MSI cost you?

 

$1750 for the lower end Ghost Pro. $600 more than the Y50 in this review, but $800 less than the Blade Pro I had.

Just to clarify, I don't think the Y50 competes directly with the GS60... The cheapest GS60 is $1600 and comes standard with a lower quality (Kepler) GPU compared to the Y50. If, however, you do feel like shelling out a couple hundred dollars more for some extras, its a good option in the next tier up for a highly portable gaming machine.

 

If youre going to get the 860m version of that gs60 I see no reason to not get the p34g v2 over it tbh. Almost a full pound lighter and just barely a smidgon thicker. It is also cheaper by about 200 dollars AND has a maxwell 860m. The only reason for a gs60 would be if you want the 870m version for the higher performance, IMO.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Unless you prefer a 15.6" body with 10 key, clickpad, displayport out instead of vga, fans that can be modified to shut off, or two ssd slots instead of one. I had the p34g v1 but had some serious problems with the fan noise, coil whine and awful mouse buttons. It's a nice enough machine, and agree that the gs60 should maxwell, but I would still probably choose the gs60 non-pro over it given my experience.

I have been itching to get my hands on the p35w v2, but haven't had the pleasure....yet.

 

Hmmm I'm little surprised that You swaped Y500 to GS. Is Y50 really bad? Now it looks that almost every other laptop is better than Y50 :/ I don't knoiw whether GSs are worth to pay so much more. Reading reviews it looks that Y50 is better from temperatures point of view. It looks that GS are much more hot and throttling normally occurs.
Someone even said that it's better to buy ROG from Asus. But it depends what You are looking for. ROGs are not most mobile laptops. There is only 17" version and they are really huge. I had JS version for over a week and I returned because my main device is PC and laptop is only alternative for trips So I decided that it will be a big waste to have such good laptop in wardrobe If I was looking for my main gear I'm quite sure that I would have choose JS.
So @alaskajoel in my situation (i'm lloking for gaming alternative only when I go to my wife's parents hous fo weekend from time to time) is it bad choice? Could You advice me?
And one more thing. For proffesional work in graphics are not good all laptops MSI GT/GS etc. Asus ROGs (screen is worse than year ego) and cheaper Aliens because those laptops haven't got premium displays only tn with poor quality. Reading reviews it looks tha anyway MSI got best display comparing to others laptops from it's price range.

 

How about the MSI GE60 Apache PRO? Same specs for the same price as the Y50.

 

I've been looking at that laptop for alternative to y50 but after I've read some forums about the the heating issue when gaming, it makes me think twice. Although its really a good alternative to the y50 considering it has a PLS screen,good keyboard and 2 extra mSATA slot. I think its just underrated laptop compared with the y50. Right now I am more considering the y50 because it has a "better temps" in gaming but after alaskajoel traded his with a gs60 it made me think twice again.

 

My opinion is that if you think about gaming first you should look at performance and temps. In situtaion when your laptop during gaming is boiling and you got throttling better display is not so impoortant. Unfortunately you have to meet half way if you decide to buy gaming laptop from low to high-mid range. Manufacturers don't give us anything for free. They have to make some savings to introduce laptop in some price ranges.
I wonder what will reply alaskajoel to my post

 

So a few things I think are relevant:

The best laptop is the one that fits what you need. You're absolutely right--if its too heavy to take with you, it might as well be a desktop. Only you can judge what is too big or heavy. For me, a 17" razer blade pro was just a bit too big, but 5lb 15.6" are a great compomize. 14" is just a bit too small for me to get heavy programming and excel work done. The GS60 is almost a full pound lighter than the Y50 (5.3lbs vs 4.36lbs) and I've really felt it when holding it in one hand and moving it around.

I think the Y50 is a great machine, but it depends on what you are used to when it comes to keyboard and display...what have you used in the past? You mentioned you had the ROG (I assume G750JS)...that machine is almost exactly twice the weight of the Lenovo! What you can ask yourself however is what did you think of its display? The Y50 display will have slightly worse vertical viewing angles, and comparable horizonal viewing angles. The 750JS covers 80% of sRGB where the Y50 only covers 66% (going off of notebookcheck's numbers for the z510 which has the same display). My point is: if you were dissatisfied with the display on the Asus, you will be dissatisfied with the display on the Y50. Even if you were on the margin for the G750 display...expect the Y50 to be worse. MSI does have better displays generally (though the GT60 and GT70 TN displays drive me nuts) and the displays in the P34g / P35 are much better than the Y50 too. It's just a compromise you have to decide is worth it or not.

In terms of cooling, you're right that the GS60 does get very warm and the GS60 Pro will throttle under stock conditions. With that said, I have an undervolt on the GTX870m, and It no longer throttles--even after an hour of Crysis 3 or Battlefield 4. If you feel comfortable flashing a new vbios, the throttling will not be a problem for you. I have also been unable to get it to throttle when using vsync in BF4 or Crysis, but not everyone likes to use vsync...even with vsync it will approach 90c on the 870m.
Yes, it does get hot and you can't play games on your lap without something underneath it, but this is not a deal for me. It works fine on my lap when I'm in office work, and it's actually completely silent with the fan mod and working in office / web browsing...something the Lenovo was not (though the Lenovo is hardly offensive when it comes to idle fan noise.) Temperatures only bother me when they becomes unsafe for the hardware or my body. The GS60's keyboard is never offensive to me, and the hardware stays within tolerances. The Y50 is much cooler (maxwell is awesome) but what does a difference between 65c and 85c really mean? If I don't feel it or hear it, I don't really care that much because the hardware is still within tolerances. (I've had a 9800GT and i7 920 overclocked to within an inch of their lives for years and they're still running strong. If its not throttling or burning me, I'm usually okay with it.

Last thing--keyboard. I really wish the Y50 was in more stores already so people could try it out. What I've found is that if you type very fast (over 90wpm) you are not likely hitting keys in the very center, but rather hitting them on the corners. For me, this didn't work. I could get the keyboard to function properly if I slowed my typing to 45wpm and was very deliberate, but that's a deal breaker for me. The G750 has a great keyboard in my opinion. The feel is very comparable, with the Y50 having slightly more flex, but it's really the missed keystrokes on the Y50 that get me, and not everyone has the problem (but I am also not the only one!)

My buddy has a G750. I think of it as a relic of times when gaming notebooks had to be big, heavy, hot beasts. It cools incredibly well (better than the Y50 even) but it is huge. It's begging for an IPS/PLS display.

Everything else about the Y50 is incredible. If you have experience with other laptops that you want to see if I can compare the screen and keyboard too, let me know. I've used tons of different machines.

 

@alaskajoel - Thank You for your reply As You know I looking for laptop with decent performance and temps as alternative for my PC when I out of home. It won't be my main machine So in this case would You recommend Y50? I don't want to spend a lot money of course. In my country (Poland) price it will be questionable anyway because prices are much higher than e.g. in USA :/ As all people know Poland is much more richer than USA

Backing to your complains
1) Display - I saw few materials on youtube and it wasn't so tragic. There is even more because it looks that there are mounted two types of display what people reports in Y50 thread. It looks that there are mounted Chi mei and AUO. The same situation is with Asus G750JS. IT looks that AUO is better but it's hard to know what display is mounted before You turn on the laptop :/
2) Keyboard - the main issue is when You typing fast? In normal usage is OK? How it works in games?

 

I don't find the display that awful, but just know it is lower quality. It is a bummer you don't know which display is installed before buying, but neither of them are great performers. I have never had a problem with the keyboard in games...but my fingers are typically right on top of a-s-d-f or w-a-s-d so I'm always hitting the keys directly on the top.

I really wouldn't hesitate to recommend this laptop to you or anyone looking for a good value gaming machine at USA prices....I don't know what it costs in Poland (and how that compares to other brands.)

 

I can do nothing with prices :/ If I want to buy laptop I have to pay for it in our prices :/ Y50 with the same spec as youre except gtx860 which is 4GB version cost about 1440 USD. MSI GS70 Pro with 4700HQ, 8GB, 128BG SSD, 1Tb HDD and Win 8,1 costs about 1940 USD.
As You can see prices are tough here :/ But as I saw normal price for Y50 with this configuration was 1500 USD in USA.

 

I have no extensive experience with laptop or desktop displays. The nicest display in my home is the one on my Dell Venue 8 Pro. But my 5 year old laptop, a Dell M1530, has a more tolerable display than that of the Y50 Touch I am currently typing on. From the right, precise viewing angle, the screen looks great (in terms of average displays you might see at Best Buy) albeit perhaps not with as vivid or inky colors as you might like. The problem is that the display is as unforgiving as the 3D mode of the Nintendo 3DS. I just can't deal with that, having a slightly different viewing experience with every shift in my chair; a slightly lighter shade of orange in the bar above this Quick Reply window, for example, if I shift forward in my seat or raise my chin. It doesn't sound like much, but I know that it would eat at me after a month or two.

Here is the review I posted in the other two Y50 threads:

Well, here I am, finally typing on my Y50 Touch (#...1835).

Pros: everything but one thing

Cons: the one thing everybody keeps talking about.

First of all, I think it's worth mentioning that the keyboard is glorious. It is the most comfortable and accurate-feeling keyboard I've ever used on a laptop. That's a big deal, to me. Some people complained of missed keys but that hasn't happened to me, even when I try to replicate by lightly pressing only a corner. Just fantastic. Wow.

The trackpad is ok. Took me awhile to understand that it's built around "touch" functionality, and is meant to be tapped, rather than clicked.

The speakers, for a laptop, are mind-blowing. They are easily better than most cheap home stereos; obviously won't replace any real sound system or something expensive, but they are punchy, crisp, and loud, which is something I've never experienced on a laptop.

The temps are cool, even when gaming. I ran Saints Row 4 on max settings, 1080p for 30 minutes and didn't experience anything more than a mild warmth in the gaming key area (note the word "warm", not "hot"). Gameplay was smooth as silk, out of the box, other than some screen tearing ("max settings" = everything cranked to max but v-sync off). I don't own Crysis 3, Watch Dogs, or Metro Last Light (although I thought about the last one, given the Steam sale today).

Performance is fantastic, best I've experienced on a laptop (I've never owned any raid-stacked Alienware monstrosity). This, despite the stock hybrid. The hybrid is pretty good! Not a throw-away component at all, though certainly not as fast as an SSD. All for $1408 after tax, minus another $90 as compensation for having to wait a month.

And yet...sigh...I think I'm sending it back tomorrow or the next day

In fact, I already have the shipping labels, so I'm pretty sure I'm forced to return even if I changed my mind. The display is just that bad. It works, and it even looks nice (average nice, not top-end nice) if you look at it from a precise and unforgiving angle. Outside of that extremely precise viewing angle, the colors wash out and shift, and the legibility of everything (especially in terms of the whole gamma/brightness/contrast thing) is compromised. It is a mild nuisance that I do not want to put up with for YEARS. My old laptop, a five year old Dell M1530, has a better screen than this and it isn't even 1080p! I'm currently sitting just right, with the screen tilted back just right, and everything positioned just right, so that the screen looks really nice, and I'm sitting here wishing that it looked this nice without much fuss. If the screen had been a good TN, I wouldn't have even cared about IPS. It's just not something I want to deal with for an extended period of time.

I'll keep my eye out for a good deal on the 4k Y50 Touch, because I will truly miss the performance and style of this machine.

For what it's worth, I do not own a nice desktop monitor to compare to this, and I can't see much of a problem with color accuracy (then again, I don't know what to look for; I'm guessing this is sort of an audiophile kind of thing, where casuals don't see a meaningful difference without having screens right up next to each other) but the washed out viewing angle problem, where the optimal experience requires unforgiving steadiness and precision, is a deal-breaker.

But this keyboard though sdfkjsghiughpi;hsdo;kldmsfjkvndfvsd ahhhhh nom nom nom