Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 and Y400 Announced - Dual Graphics Capabilities

There isn't really any mystery.. the other SLI laptops out now either do not have switchable graphics at all (Clevo models) or they require you to reboot to force the integrated graphics (Alienware). Alienware is only able to do this because it uses a MUX on its mainboard before the graphics adapter outputs to the monitor, whereas Sager/Clevo does not have this option. I really doubt Lenovo would have a MUX on their board so odds are that you cannot use the Intel HD 4000 graphics at all. Hence the fairly poor battery performance. And from what we know it doesn't seem like an ultrabay battery will be available ever so I wouldn't recommend this system if you really need to be away from a plug for a while.

I'm also looking forward to see how the SLI performance is in actual games. Synthetic benchmarks are a really coarse measurement for things like SLI/CF.

 

Backlit keyboard on y400?

 

Does anybody know how i could actually get the second graphics card for the sli and how much itd cost cause i want to see if this ultrabay is actually worth it

 

Many Details about Y400/Y500: IdeaPad Y400/Y500 Service Training

 

That's a bit sad, I would have hoped for more out of SLI. My GTX 460 (Desktop) pretty much doubled up in performance when I bought the second one. Considering you can get about 3200 3Dmarks on a single 650m if you overclock it that score isn't so hot and the lack of Optimus really limits the appeal.

I decided on an Alienware m14x because of build quality concerns on the Ideapad. I'm pretty glad I went this way, it's a great little system.

 

Good and bad choice on the m14x r2. I had it and ended up returning and i'll give you some pros and cons

Good:
- Great performance of ddr5 gt 650m at 900p resolution
- Good contrast ratio and black levels and 900p resolution ( check the bad thing about the screen at the bottom)
- Great lighting fx especially the front grill and alienhead
- Good battery life of around 4-5 hours

Bad:
- Terrible screen, it has a very washout look to it and it lacks color and gamut is only 40% and is not even 75% of SRGB
- Squeaky keys on the keyboard that you won't notice at first then the Enter Key, Shift Key, Backspace Key started squeaking
- Keyboard touching the monitor leaving vertical marks where you have to wipe it everytime you open the lid, also leaves permanent scratches ( can be remedied using a shaggymac microfiber cloth or razer kabuto)
- Very loud fans when gaming or benchmarking and it sounds like a hairdryer or jet engine with a high pitch tone to it
- When idle, the fans are mostly silent/off but even when not doing anything, the fan will come on and off for several seconds or longer and although not as loud as when gaming, the fan can be annoying since it has a different tone to it compared to other gaming laptops or laptops in general.
- It is thick and quite heavy for a 14" laptop at 6.5 lbs

 

That's a BM at stock. SLI scales great, 650m or any other recent Nvidia card. With Kepler thermals you can probably OC both cards and score even more. To early be dissing it IMO.

I like that Lenovo is trying something different. I liked my Y580 and it cost about half as much as an Alienware. After all the problems I had with the M15x and especially the M17x I am done with AW. The only thing I like about them is they have a great warranty, although it can sometimes take a 500 page NBR thread to get them to do what is right.

I'll be watching with great interest for Y500 reviews.

 

i just ordered the sli version. should review overall aspects in a week or two!

 

Guys if taking out the second 650m, and using a single one, can optimus be enabled?

 

I called technical support today and the guy assured me that it has the HD4000 ( he called it " Low power videocard") although i still think this doesn't have it after taking a look at the training video.

After he got tired of answering all my questions he told me to call back after i receive my laptop and ask for a full refund if it's not what i wanted. He made a note in the system so they wouldn't charge me a restocking fee so i told him id happily fill out any survey or satisfactory email.

Anyways at this point id be happy even if optimus requires a restart. My laptop ships on the 28th so it should be here by friday or monday.

 

I'll wait for your answer. And yeah I also agree I rather have optimus enabled through a manual activation a.k.a, restart.

 

SLI +50% performance for +50% cost

 

View of the Y500 internals from China:






Here's the external case from China [unboxing thread]:


Here's the backlit keyboard from the Y500 sold in Malaysia [thanks Jabberwocky!] [thread with benchmarks]


As a Y580 owner, the first thing that struck me is the improved HDD placement. Also, I am impressed how accessible everything is on this machine. Color me a little jealous, especially if a FullHD version comes out [sorry, haven't been following the news if it did] [edit: it does from Lenovo's website]

 

So guys, between this and a Gx60?

 

I could not decide whether I should buy the Y580 or the Y500, but eventually I decided two days ago to order the Y500 with the FHD option but only with a single GT650m for a very decent price of 850$. The Y580 has a better graphics card but the awesome design, the ultra-bay option (I have no idea if a separately sold ultra-bay with a second graphic card, fan or battery will be someday available), and the new place for the HDD on the Y500 impressed me more. A relative ordered a Y400, which has unfortunately only the 1366x768 display (the low resolution on the Y400 was also the reason why I ordered the Y500 with the FHD option instead of the Y400).
I hope it will arrive on time

 

I did the same thing. I had placed an order for the Y480, but after seeing how sick the new Yx00 series are, I had to cancel and get the Y500. I think it will have much better cooling, a better back lit keyboard with less bleed, and much better look.

The con of going from the Y480 and 580 to these are
- Less battery life

EDIT: I take that back. After looking, they seem to be the same weight.

 

I got 80% on the quiz! I missed the USB question (the diagram clearly shows 4, and that was my answer) and the microphone one also got me, figured it would be near field.

Does the Y500 allow you to disable Optimus with the one 650GT option? That would be worth the price of admission.

As for the Gx60, if the wife lets me spend 1200 that puppy is mine right now.

 

Yeah, I got the money, I am just waiting for reviews of both the GX60 and Y500 to finally sort it out.

 

Smart thinking on waiting for the reviews, for me it is a question whether it is a good idea to use the money with another little one on the way.

Also might make the jump to 17", shame there isn't nearly as good of options as at the 15" size.

 

Damn, I was just reading about it not having optimus. The similarly speced y580 has it and a better gpu but on battery run down tests lasts on average of 5 hours and 30 minutes. I may have to rethink my order AGAIN. I plan to keep mine plugged in for about 80% of the time, but still.

 

Good thing it does not have optimus like the Asus G75/G55 series because i hate the intel hd graphics messing with my media profile settings and resetting it. For a laptop without optimus and still get 2.5-3hrs is pretty good, and you know the best thing about not having optimus right in case you want to buy a 120hz 3d monitor down the road and view 3d movies or clips is the ability for the hdmi 1.4a to communicate directly to your Nvidia Geforce card and not the intel hd 3000/4000 because 3dvision does not work on optimus systems since you cannot force the nvidia gpu to run it and the intel hd 4000 has full control.

So basically even with Optimus, you would only get 1h to 1.5 hour xtra at best so i'd rather lose about 1h-1.5h and get a 3d ready hdmi with geforce card only and avoid the optimus graphic switching crap.

 

Alright that is true. I was |this| close to canceling and ordering the Y580 for an added $120 dollars, too. If I really think about it, there are only a few times I really use my laptop more than 3 hours without being plugged in. Most time I'm just lounging in the kitchen or living room now that I'm done with college.

And if Lenovo is smart, they will capitalize on UltraBay accessories. I really hope they don't just choose not to add options for it because a slice battery or fan would be my choice.

As for differences between the two, I did a lot more research this past hour and here is my updated list for pros/cons of each:

Y580:
+ Dynamic Graphics Profile (Is this something we can do on the Y500?)
+ 4-5 Hour battery life
+ Matte Display
+ 3 USB3 Ports
+ GT 660M
- Doesn't look as attractive to me
- Gets hot (From what I've read)
- Mas dinero
- No UltraBay

Y500:
+ Awesome looks and backlit keyboard
+ UltraBay
- Weighs more
- Less battery life

 

Incredible body shots up there. Love the red backlight.

 

@ ericc, yep it just depends on your needs, if you think you would require more than 4hours of battery, then go with an optimus machine but to me around 3hours is more than enough especially if it is a 14/15/17inch laptop that has good multimedia/gaming capability. I had the Sony Vaio S13A premium and that one did not impress me even when it came with optimus because i only got 3.5h-4h battery and I was expecting around 5hours or more and i'm not about to add a sheet battery and what pisses me off was that my M14x R2 had longer battery life at around 5 hours.

Now if it was a 13inch or smaller laptop that weighs under 4lbs then obviously i would want the optimus or at least the intel hd 4000 and i want more than 5 hours out of it since it will be used as an on the go laptop but I have my Ipad mini for that lol

 

Im sad.... They pushed back my order to 12/2 and won't be in my hands until 12/7... I thought I had free expedited shipping from blackfriday? 5 day shipping is expedited? ohwell maybe that would give me more time incase i find a laptop i like better.

 

I just stopped by Frys and played around with the Y580 with the 3630QM, 8GB RAM, FHD 1920x1080, and 660M. I actually wasn't that impressed with the build quality. I don't think it has any metal on it like the Y500 supposedly does. I also did not like the touch pad. My finger swipes were not recognized many times. I'm not sure if that's a Windows 8 thing or Y580 issue, but it was definitely annoying. The speakers were decent. The display is awesome. I paid $886 for my Y500 w/ 1080p shipped so all in all.. definitely satisfied with my decision now.

The only thing I am slightly concerned about is Skyrim @1080p with the 650M. Anyone here have experience with that game running on the same GPU and resolution?

 

I have a clevo w110er with gddr3 gt 650m, game runs great on 1080 high external monitor and i think textures can be put on ultra, since you have a gddr5 one and can potentially have 2 you should be in good shape.

 

I have to update my situation yet again.

Dealing with Lenovo via phone is one of the worst experiences I have had to date. Their system is a complete mess, hold times are upwards of 45 minutes, and once you finally get ahold of someone it's like they can't wait to put you back on hold. I've had my order declined (Lenovo's fault) 3 times now and to make matters worse, they double charged me this most recent time.

After that whole mess and how poorly my experience had gone, I figured I'd ask and see if I could upgrade to the SLI'ed version of the Y500 for door buster price of $1245. I felt that seemed fair and I was flat out told no. I spoke to a supervisor who also told me I should have listened to what the sales representative said.

TLDR: Lenovo lost my money and now I'm buying an NP9150 with the new Kepler 675MX. Better battery life, superior card vs 650Mx2....but not nearly as attractive.

EDIT: I just now, after 20 minutes, got connected with Lenovo Chat. I ask to cancel my order and this is the response I get:

"You may contact Post sales team. The contact number of our Post Sales Support team is 1-866-428-4465. Their work timings are 9AM - 7PM EST. They are available from Monday - Friday only."

 

Just ordered my y400 today.

Apparently the 650m sli slot bay is available in Asian markets. The bay comes with a beefier PSU apparently.

Hopefully the release it here soon.

In the meantime, the 650m should crank out Guild Wars 2 and BF3 at highest settings on a 720p screen no problem.

 

Honestly if you are going to spend that much money on a bloody laptop (NP9150) i dont see why you dont just get a desktop that will perform way better than it for an equal or lesser price if you go bargain hunting.

Personally I just sold my rig that had a 2500k and a gtx 670 in order to get a laptop because i need it for school and having a powerful machine sitting in my room is really distracting when all you want to do is play it.

I've decided on ordering the Y400 because its 14" not as giant as a 15 incher so i will have some portability. I also like how it does not have a number pad which i think is useless on a laptop it just crams in the keys most of the time and makes the enter/backspace keys smaller -_-. Lastly the specs that it comes with for $800 its a great overall deal, not to mention how nice it looks cosmetically. Having the option to add in SLI later on is also a huge plus when more demanding games come about.

Though at 720p a GT 650m will play games just fine on high or max with 30+ fps. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with the choice you go with.

 

Anyone know when the 650m slot bay will be available?

 

You make a very good point and I did consider building another gaming rig. The 3 main reasons I chose not to go that route were..
It will take me time to plan out, price find, order, and build that I just won't have time for.
I do like to be able to relax at coffee shops with friends or other places and do a little gaming.
Trying to build a budget rig is no fun. I know myself and I'll end up with another $2500-3000K monster

As for what you bought, please do a review or something for it. They are so much sexier and attractive than these boring Sagers. I wish Clevo offered a nice aluminum or metal design. Maybe someday. And the back lit keyboard of the 9150 cannot compete with the Y400/500. It doesn't look evenly lit from the pictures and no chiclet love.

 

2500-3500 for a desktop i couldnt even imagine what that would be like. I spent $1500 a year ago for a rig, monitor, kb, mouse. Had the 2500k, 8gb ram, GTX 570 etc. Then upgraded to the GTX 670 and shorty after had to sell it as i started my freshman year in college. For 2500+ i imagine you would have pretty much the top of the line CPU, SLI GTX 680s, and so forth.

I will definitely consider doing a review on my Y400 when i get it if someone hasnt beat me to it. I just ordered it earlier today. Knowing how last time it took Lenovo 3-4 weeks to actually ship my laptop i cant make any promises. I hope to get it before the 10th at least.

As for the other poster asking about the 650m slot bay i suspect it will be available sometime in January, maybe late December. I cant really say for certain. Lenovo work like snails. I know that all the stuff is available in the Chinese market. Maybe you could find it on ebay to order, but i doubt it and if you do it may be incompatible.

 

DDR3 or GDDR5 on GT 650m????

 

I was looking at the Y500 Specifications from Lenovo and saw that the Processor range included the i7-3820QM Processor. Does this mean that the Y500 allows Plug n Play CPU upgrades right out of the box? I've seen an online video of the Y400/Y500 disassembly and it showed that the CPU pops right out after turning a simple screw! I just ordered the Y500 with SLI GPU from Lenovo and now I'm just playing the waiting game. I would love to be able to upgrade to the i7-3820QM Processor down the road. Anybody have more info on this?

 

DDR5, my friend.

 

hey can you link me with that? i cant find it.

 

Really? i thought it was ddr3! sweeet

 

I saw the specs off a .pdf file from Lenovo and the disassembly video also from Lenovo...I've attached screenshots of both. I really hope that the CPU is upgradeable

 

aww that would be sick, cause i just got an sli version and am not too pleased with the current processor. Do you know the clock speed on that?

 

The Intel i7-3820QM is a Quad-Core Laptop processor and has a maximum clock speed of 2.70 GHz, which is also capable of an over-clocked speed of 3.70 GHz. It has 8 MB Smart Cache and uses 45 W Power (TDP). Socket Compatibility: FCBGA1224 & FCPGA988. You have a Y500 with SLI configurations? Have you used it enough to give it a review? I just ordered mine and can't wait to get my hands on it!

 

Hey, I was looking at the tech specs listed here: and it states the y500 has optimus. One of the appeals to me was that it did not have optimus. Can someone with the single 650m do a quick test to see if it has optimus? Thanks.

 

hi guys ,this is the review from me in y500 sli
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/698731-lenovo-y500-sli-review.html#post8971251

 

Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Why would you upgrade your CPU? the i7 3630QM is ranked #9 out of the available Laptop CPUs and thats plenty enough power. I wouldnt spend $200+ on a CPU just for a couple hundred extra points that wont matter at all except in benchmarks.

 

Youre right. I dont think i would do it, but it would be a nice thing to have. and no i havent received it yet. should be getting it in the next few days!

 

On this german site the y500 SLI version is priced €300 lower than the blu-ray version. How is that possible? Everything else is the same.

Lenovo LIFESTYLE STORE Deutschland | Suchergebnis



The Belgian (I'm from Belgium) site prices the blu-ray version at €1000 and there is no SLI-version, only an i5 version.

Lenovo LIFESTYLE STORE België | Zoekresultaten

 

very bad price, just for new case :\

 

So does it have Optimus or not? I don't like Optimus since i don't like that intel graphics thingy glitch and i already have a lenovo x230 and ipad for my on the go battery life needs.

 

My Y400 was delayed 4 days, I'm furious, I'm going to hold my breath and stomp my foot repeatedly!!!

ok, no really.

 

Same, I just got an email from Lenovo saying it is delayed when it was suppose to be shipped yesterday or today and now they are saying they have no estimation of when it will ship so i requested a cancellation because the plan was to have it by this weekend and now that is not going to happen.