Lenovo IdeaPad Y730 Review
This is not a notebook for everyone or anyone. Sure it can run all your MS Office and other applications without any problems, but that’s not what this notebook is designed for. It’s a gaming notebook pure and simple and everything else it does (and it does these things well) comes in second to the gaming experience you will get with it.
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Before going into what makes it so special, let’s have a look at the basic specs:
• Intel Core 2 processor X9100 – 3.06 GHZ
• 17 inch WUXGA TFT display
• Integrated webcam
• ATI Radeon HD 3650 XT graphics
• 3GB DDR3 RAM
• 250 GB x 2 HDDs
• Blu Ray
• 6 cell battery
• Windows Vista Home Premium
Seems pretty good, right? But now let’s get onto what makes it such a special gaming notebook.
The big 17 inch display coupled with the ATI Radeon graphics makes this the best in gaming displays you can find anywhere. Notebook though it may be, the graphics, even the 3D graphics, can match those of any PC. The screen is clear and easily viewed even at extreme angles so there’s no problem if there’s a crowd around the notebook, either participating in the games or just watching. Wherever they are, they should be able to see everything clearly.
Of course, gaming is not all video. Audio plays an important part in the gaming experience – something which a lot of gaming notebook and PC manufacturers don’t seem to understand. The Y730 offers Dolby Home Theatre premium audio with 5 speakers including a sub woofer, all placed for the maximum clarity.
Add these features to the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor and up to 4 GB of Ram, and you have a notebook that can handle any form or video or audio output asked of it. This means that besides the gaming, its great for watching movies – you can get the best of the Blu ray advantages. Or you can just close your eyes and listen to great top quality audio. Maybe calling it a gaming notebook is unfair – an entertainment notebook may be a better name.
The GameZone, located next to the keyboard is a unique feature offering enlarged directional buttons for easy and fast game play. The GameZone also gives you the option of configuring three user defined keys to your own options.
The GameZone interface also has a secondary display that allows for the monitoring of all system settings and operational status displays, including incoming emails, without disturbing the gaming on the primary display.
Also part of the GameZone is a turbo key that gives the option of CPU over clocking for times when the absolute maximum performance is needed. At the other end of the spectrum is a quiet mode that can reduce performance and extend battery life when needed.
Because of its size, you also have full size keyboard (necessary for gaming) at your disposal.
For a die hard gamer, this is the ultimate notebook. The starting price of around $900 may seem a bit high, but the stellar performance makes it worthwhile. And don’t forget, you can also use it for work!