Lenovo Y470 and Y570 Official Owners Thread

Actually, my i7 thermal management is excellent. When doing intensive gaming, my CPU maxes out at about 83C and my GPU is at about 75C (stock thermal paste). Although it may be warmer than the dual core, they wouldn't place them in the notebook if it wasn't made to work. I am also concious about heat and just had a notebook cooler delivered to my home today. Im hoping it will knock off a few more degrees.

In addition, when on battery and browsing the web/typing in word, my fan doesn't even come on... it is much cooler than my previous T61p

Hope this helps you out a bit!

 

I don't know what framerate I'm getting, but Skyrim plays perfectly on my Y570 at High settings. I have no desire to try Ultra-High at this point because High looks pretty damn good already.

My CPU temps spike to the high 80's and my GPU gets to the high 70's, but for those most part they are around 65 - 75 degrees (around 50-60 for the GPU) . I'm just using a basic metal laptop stand. Ambient temperature here is about 23-26 Celsius.

As I've said before, I'm very very happy with this laptop.

 

Pls help me!how much DEDICATED video memory does the Ideapad Y570 08622ju possess with the nvidia gt 555m? I mean when it is checked from the windows control panel.

I want to know ur dedicated video memory cos i want to get the Y570.

Fletchman, What is your the size of ur dedicated video memory?

 

It has 1GB of dedicated memory, but amount of memory doesn't really affect performance.

Also I would think twice about buying the Y570 before you evaluate all other options. The Y570's screen is quite bad compared to other options out there. It's 15.6" with the same resolution used in 12" laptops. Things onscreen are huge. Also, since it's a budget-grade screen, contrast and overall image quality aren't quite as good as they should be in a laptop that costs as much as $800* The screen affects your usage more than any other spec, and the Y570's screen is the worst type of screen you can get in a 15.6" laptop. You should avoid this type of screen unless you have bad eyesight and need large text.

*The Y570, because it only offers a 1366x768 screen, is only a decent market-segment-competitive option if you're getting a $600-$675 model. If you're spending $750 or more, look at the HP DV6t:

Spoiler

HP DV6t with the i5-2430M, the 1GB Radeon 6770M, and the 1920x1080 display for $749
- Start with this saved configuration: HP Official Store — Buy and Customize your dv6 and dv6tse series PC direct from HP
- Don't downgrade the GPU to the 6490M or Intel HD 3000
- Don't upgrade the GPU to the 2GB version of the 6770M because it isn't going to provide any benefit (it's essentially a scam that the 2GB upgrade is offered)
- Don't downgrade the screen to 1366x768. 15.6" 1366x768 screens are terrible because they makes things onscreen big and has bad image quality. 15.6" screens with 1366x768 resolution should be avoided if at all possible, unless your eyesight is bad and you need large text because they make things onscreen huge and they have bad image quality since they're budget-grade screens. The screen makes more of a difference than any other spec because the screen affects everything you do.
- add ~$50 more in upgrades, the deal only works for $1149 as a total price. (Chose between a 9 cell better battery with a spare 6 cell battery or 1TB hard drive). Then at check out apply the coupon code NBS3697 to bring the price down to $749

HP DV6t with the i7-2670QM, the 1GB Radeon 6770M, and the 1920x1080 display for $887
- Start with this saved configuration: HP Official Store — Buy and Customize your dv6 and dv6tqe series PC direct from HP
- Don't downgrade the GPU to the 6490M or Intel HD 3000
- Don't upgrade the GPU to the 2GB version of the 6770M because it isn't going to provide any benefit (it's essentially a scam that the 2GB upgrade is offered)
- Don't downgrade the screen to 1366x768. 15.6" 1366x768 screens are terrible because they makes things onscreen big and has bad image quality.
- At check out apply the coupon code NBH7589 to bring the price down to $887

 

I disagree with edit1754's point of view. There are thousands of people using 1366x768 screens on 15 inch laptops. Not so long ago, that was pretty much the only option available to us, with exception of maybe a couple of models. I believe it is still the default option on the majority of models. Yet somehow humanity survived with it, even those with a good eyesight. As a matter of fact some people find Full HD resolution to be uncomfortable and the icons too small on anything smaller than 17 inch laptop. To me personally, the build quality and performance power are much more important than the resolution of a screen. Lenovo is known to be excellent in both of those aspects. So take any advice given here with a grain of salt, I think that Y570 is a good laptop.

 

But the screen still makes more of a difference than any other spec. The biggest reason why many people have deal with less in laptops of this price and in this market segment is because they were never educated on the fact that it makes a big difference to get a better screen. 15.6" 1366x768 screens are bad screens for $800 laptops unless you need big text for bad eyesight, plain and simple. You should not get this type of screen unless you either need one for eyesight reasons, or your budget completely eliminates any available laptop that both suits your needs and has a better screen.

Not so long before that, back in the 16:10 days even budget-grade Inspirons and Vostros offered higher resolutions such as 1440x900 and 1680x1050 in their 15" models.

It is the default option on many, but on many models there is the option to upgrade. And that option should be looked for and taken unless you need big text or have a max budget of less than ~$700.

But the HP DV6t does not by any means have bad build quality. It's on par with many other mid-range consumer class laptops.

No. The screen is more important than the typical differences in performance in similar-category laptops, such as the difference between a GT 540M and the Y570's gimped 96-shader GT 555M, or the difference between an i5-2430M and i7-2670QM (which has very little affect on games) because the screen affects your usage more and because you will notice it a lot more. That type of difference can easily accounted for by lowering graphical settings. It only affects games and differences like that should not be as high of a priority as the screen, which affects everything.

The DV6t has a better GPU than the Y570 anyway, so it is a better option for games. And if games aren't what you want the laptop for, the Y570 should be completely out of the question, as midrange game performance is its only purpose to exist.

 

1) The screen makes more of a difference for YOU, not for everybody. I'd say the average consumer is not concerned with it. I prioritize my upgrades differently from you and it's ok to be different. If someone prioritizes to have a better GPU, a blu-ray or a ssd drive over a higher resolution screen, it's their choice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

2) Check my signature, as you can see I got my laptop in 16:10 days. By the way I think I had an option to upgrade to Full HD and turned it down, because it would have been too small for me. I have a perfect 20/20 vision by the way. It's my preference, and it's also ok. Every upgrade option is worth looking at, including the screen upgrade. How people prioritize over them is a personal choice and there is no right or wrong way to do it. As far as the build quality, HP has good quality business grade models, but their consumer based line is notoriously prone to failures if you look at the statistics.

3) You misquoted me. I said "To me, personally" those upgrades are more important. I think I'm entitled to my own opinion which is different from yours. I also would like some solid proof that DV6T would perform better at gaming than Y570. If you don't have solid benchmark figures I wouldn't make that claim. I think they will be extremely closely matched.

Essentially, what you are doing is coming to the Owner's lounge for people, who bought a certain type of laptop and proceed to tell them, that they made a terrible mistake for buying it. It doesn't matter that they are perfectly happy with their purchase. They are wrong and you are right, no other option is permitted. People come here to ask Y570 owners about their experience with their laptops. They ask for their opinion and not yours, because they have a first hand knowledge on the laptop. They want to hear their opinion, not suggestions for another laptop, leave that for "Which Notebook Should I Buy" section.

 

Wrong. It's not just me. It's a fact that the higher resolution screen makes more of a difference than having a GPU that's an extra 1/5 the speed. The GPU only affects games, and it doesn't even make as much of a difference for games.

Blu-ray: You can always get an external blu-ray drive
SSD: A lot more expensive than getting a better screen so generally if you have the budget for an SSD you have the budget for a better screen as well... and the SSD can always be easily added at a later date
And through my experience in the WSNIB forum, I have found that is very common for people to misprioritize things, including the screen but not only the screen.

If you understood the difference and the tradeoffs and made your decision knowing so, then yes. But you are the exception here, not me. I am the exception, however, in how much I understand the difference, but for most people within the market segment target of mid-range gaming capable laptops, higher-resolution screens are the notably better option. The "resolution" spec should not be ignored.

Those statistics refer to models several years old. The HP DV6 is nothing like any of those laptops. The statistics are irrelevant. Stop quoting them.

The Y570 has a gimped version of the GT 555M GPU - not necessarily a gimped version, it's not even a GT 555M at all. It's a rebranded 525M/540M/550M with higher clocks. While it has faster memory than the real 555M, it only has 96 shaders, and that makes it perform significantly slower than the 144-shader "real" 555M.
The real GT 555M compares in performance to the AMD Radeon 6770M. The HP DV6t has an AMD Radeon 6770M.

I'm not telling anybody they made a mistake of buying it. I'm saying that prospective buyers should seriously consider looking for something that has a better screen before buying the Y570, because the Y570 has the worst type of screen available in a 15.6" laptop and because the screen makes a significant difference. For all practical purposes, it is possible that all of the people here bought the Y570 fully understanding the differences between 1366x768 and 1920x1080 screens. I'm not saying the Y570 is a bad option in general, I'm saying that for many people there are a lot of better options out there.

It doesn't matter what they came here for. I'm giving them useful information beyond what they're asking for. It's called "going the extra mile." Saying I'm not right in advising people to buy a different laptop is like saying it's not right to do the same in threads in the WNSIB forum that ask questions like "Which of these two laptops are better for [x]" and only provide two options that are unsuitable for [x]. One could either tell the OP which one is slightly better, or they could put it straight and tell them that neither of them are good options.

 

Ok I'm going to stop the back and forth, right here.

Point of fact; screen resolution preference is subjective, not objective.

Owner's lounges are for... owners. Owners to share their experiences and discoveries to enhance their ownership. Also to answer questions about the system to perspective buyers.

Any other posts where you dissect each others posts paragraph by paragraph will be deleted after this one. So don't even bother to take the time.

 

Thanks about that 2.0. I was about to defend Ellatan argument by argument.

Okay so, I tried to buy the Lenovo Y570 today, but I couldn´t cause we still need to contact the credit card company.

Finally settled on the i5 - 4gb version. I went around the internet reading about the differences and it seems that the i7 - 8gb would just give me some advantage at benching (which i don´t even know it means so i´m assuming i don´t need it) and a bit of an advantage in gaming at hardcore levels or in future games. But since I want to keep an eye on the temperature of the pc as well because i REALLY can´t afford this baby falling apart, I don´t really need. Plus I would be okay with playing mid quality, maybe high sometimes.
Also, since i´m making a trip soon each cent in my pocket counts.


Just wanted to thank you all for the quick responses and straight forward and honest help, which is something i´ve seen rarely in forums of this sort.

One last thing though: In the scenario that I receive my laptop and it has some flaw or starts malfunctioning a few days after, what is it EXACTLY that I have to do to get Lenovo to fix it for free? Because i´ve read something about mailing it or a depto place but I didn´t quite understand it. What are my options in case this happens?

 

It depends on what kind of warranty you chose for your machine. If you have the standard warranty, they will most likely ask you send to the the repair depot to fix the problems. (Takes around a week if the parts are available.) If you have On-site, they'll send a technician to your home to fix it for you.

You can always upgrade your warranty and all work done by Lenovo is free of charge if it's covered by you warranty (Even overnight shipping.) The standard warranty covers you for everything except accidents. You can get Accidental Damage Protection warranty that'll cover accidents.

To get the ball rolling, just contact the support line and they'll help you accordingly.

 

Glad to see you made your decision Kasooie! I know either way you will be happy picking up this laptop.

In regards to AbouthThreeFifty, he hit the nail on the head. It all depends on what type of warranty you have. There are exceptions though. I have the return-to-depot warranty but my mechanical hard drive has the "click of death" right out of the box (not a common problem on today's laptops). I am fairy computer savvy so I asked Lenovo to send me a hard drive so I can replace it myself and they had no issues with that. So even though you typically would have to send your computer to the depot, they may ship out spare parts if you feel comfortable doing it yourself

 

I removed a message that restarted an off-topic discussion already stopped by 2.0. See http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/577494-lenovo-y470-y570-official-owners-thread-43.html#post8163925 if you haven't already seen it.

Carry on(-topic)!

 

I will probably get the standard warranty.
"they will most likely ask you send to the the repair depot to fix the problems"
Does this mean I need to re-package the laptop, get it in the mail and send it to Lenovo? How much could this whole process take, since I send it till I get it back? Because I will only be in the US for 4 weeks.

Also, I read the standard warranty comes with something called International service or something along those lines, that you can get a fix of it if you have any problems while travelling. Anyone has used this service? Because it would be great if it was any good, since i´d just repair it from my home country once i´m back.

 

They will mail you a box that you'll put the laptop into along with some paperwork and a return address. Everything is overnight shipping and should take around a week. (I shipped mine off on a Monday and got it back on the Thursday of the same week.) Again, if the parts aren't available, it won't get fixed until the parts are available. Seeing that this laptop is still new and in production, I wouldn't worry too much about unavailable parts.

 

jnorman5, the y570 has a crippled GT 555M, not a GTX 555M, as stated in your sig. The latter doesn't exist, AFAIK.

Hmm... turn out the 555M scores almost exactly the same as the 550M in my laptop.

 

Hahaha I stand corrected ruhtraeel... I guess I got a little too type-happy and started to make up letters

Yeah, from my understanding it has fewer cores but I've read something about it having faster memory than the Dell and Alienware version... I really don't know all the technical sides of it, but I do know that I am quite happy with it

 

I'm running factory 2.08 and can run linux on it.
How to dump ec ?

 

Please! I need help! How to install this bios Y470_Y570_47CN30WW(V2.08)_DOS.rar by DOS (step by step) It is very necessary for me please

 

My wife's Y470 will not indicate the charger is connected when she sets her energy management setting from Best Battery Runtime to Best Battery Health. She has to unplug the charger from the laptop and change the setting back to Best Battery Runtime in order for the laptop to indicate the charger is plugged in. I'm using the Best Battery Health setting on my Y570 and my charger/laptop indications work fine. It shows the charger symbol but does not charge the battery as it should. Her Y470 does not indicate the charger and I do not notice it keeping the battery at the 40%-50% level. Has anyone else noticed or had this problem?

 

Hello all,

I am looking for a portable notebook which can be used for gaming on the go. This is actually easier said than done, as I have been having issues with notebooks throttling down the CPU when on battery power.

So far I saw the issue on the Asus N45SF and the MSI X460DX. Both machines are capable gaming notebooks, but as soon as the AC cord is removed, the framerates go down so much that the games are actually unplayable.

In the case of the Asus, this can be fixed with ThrottleStop, however the battery for this laptop is very bad; I get about 25 minutes of power from a fully charged battery when gaming. The MSI has a better battery, but I will never know how much it would last as it doesn't seem it can be fixed at all.

So basically, before I dive and buy the Y470, would someone be so kind so as to tell me if it suffers from the same "throttling on battery power" issue? And if yes, does someone know if this can be somehow fixed?

Thanks a lot!

 

That isn't really an issue, because all optimus laptops are set like that I believe. I also believe that this is avoidable in every case if you turn the energy savings options to "high performance" instead of "balanced".

 

I'm having throttling issues with the i3 model due to heat(it starts throttling in the lower 80's) and it's really annoying. You should be fine with the i5 or i7 model. On battery mode just set it to balanced as said in the previous post for the y470

 

Thanks guys for you replies.

I am a bit dumbfounded that any company can manufacture a notebook that does not behave as advertised while on the go. The CPU throttling on battery should be written in big red letters on the box. Ok, rant mode off

Yes, unfortunately it seems the i3 has a much lower power rating than the i5 and i7. I'm planning on getting the i5 model; thanks for the advice!

Thank you for the suggestion. However, I know for a fact that this does not work on both the N45SF and X460DX. These notebooks ignore the energy saving options and throttle the CPU no matter what is selected.

Could you please confirm that on the Y470, when selecting "high performance" energy options, no throttling takes place when on battery power? This can be easily verified by launching a demanding game, playing for a minute or so, then unplugging the power cord. The effect is normally immediate, when throttling occurs, the framerate becomes much lower, and rises back as soon as the power cord is plugged back in.

Thanks for your help!

 

Prism,

I'll try this out later this week. I'll charge up my battery and play Skyrim using the different energy options to see how it works out.

 

Thanks a lot! Much appreciated.

Skyrim is actually what I'm trying to play... what a game, 40 hours in it and I feel like I'm just starting the main quest. At 2 hours per day in the train, I should be done by the summer

 

Has anyone succeeded running Nvidia under Linux on Lenovo Y470? I tried to install ironhide+nvidia drivers, but it was unsuccessful.

 

Regarding the "throttling on battery" issue, I found in a previous post from this thread that at least the Y570 is suffering from it; there is no reason why the Y470 would not, being smaller and all. It seems that power options will not change anything, so don't lose your time on this, Fletchman1313. Thanks for the help though!

Unfortunately it is not clear from the post and follow-ups whether or not the issue can be fixed (with i.e. ThrottleStop). At least the throttling seems to affect only the CPU (the NVidia chip remains at full speed); however it would be worthwhile to know if the CPU throttling comes from the multiplier falling back (as I've seen on the Asus N45SF) or from undervolting the CPU (as is the case with the MSI X460DX). In the first case, normally the CPU can be cranked back up to normal speeds, while in the second, it's not possible,as far as I know anyway.

If any technically-oriented mind on this forum has a few minutes to spare, I would love to know if using ThrottleStop on either the Y470 or Y570 allows to maintain the CPU at high usage even on battery power.

Thanks all

 

I have the i7 y570 and I was wondering if my gpu/cpu is overheating. When I play skyrim the temps go up to like 95 degrees. Should i be concerned?

 

Well 95 seems very high... although I haven't played skyrim, I have played various games that are CPU and GPU intensive and my max temp w/o a cooler is 85 degrees for the CPU and 75 for the GPU... with a cooler it knocks off about 5 degrees... This is on a Y570 with an i7 quad core processor.

What fan mode are you in when playing? You need to make sure you are in "Standard" or "Efficient Thermal Cooling" mode... sorry if the names aren't exactly correct, on my work computer right now and not in front of my laptop.

 

Just wanted to thank you all. I had been deciding on a laptop for around $400-$500 and decided on this series.

I shopped on the outlet and got th Y570 w/ i5, 750GB, 4GB Ram, Blu_Ray model for $470 shipped.

 

Awesome deal wildcard! I hope you're as happy with yours as I am with mine

 

eric632,

Assuming that RealTemp is accurate, my Y570 CPU temps will spike to the late 80's (around 87-89, maybe 90) but usually runs in the mid 60's to mid 70's depending on what's trying to kill me (and how many there are... and what they're trying to kill me with). The GPU maxes at around 75 and usually cruises at around 60.

All I'm using is a basic metal laptop stand, and the ambient temperature is between 23-26 degrees Celsius.

I think if it's spiking to 95, it might be ok. If it's maintaining at 95, then I'd be worried though.

Did you check the settings that jnorman5 mentioned?

 

Mine does not throttle anymore when on battery mode(well i think it doesn't). I had changed some options and have it running on balanced. I forgot what I had done though. I'm sure the answer is somewhere around here. I think the issue was with the max and min processor setting was at 100 with the "high performance" option and changing the min and max setting to a lower value or changing it to "balanced" would fix the issue.
Iv'e got to try throttleStop out XD....Sounds like what I need for my i3

 

The 95 degrees is sustained and I am on "Efficient Thermal Dissipation" and I'm using a notebook cooler. Well, this sucks. What should I do?

 

I'm going to try throttle stop for the i3(i hope it works). Is it possible to change the temperature at which it throttles or does it shut off throttling completely?

 

This may or may not be an issue... if you can show that the performance of the system is going down due to the temperature, I am thinking you may have a reason for warranty work from Lenovo. Also, you may want to replace the thermal paste on the CPU/GPU, however I am unsure if that will affect your warranty with Lenovo.

Although 95 degrees is hot, it is still within design limits so you need to be able to call Lenovo and say that it is affecting your performance... the chips will start to throttle themselves if they get too hot.

Let us know how it plays out and what you decide.

 

It throttles the gpu because it gets too hot. Even on low the temperature is still 95 degrees...ugh. Does anyone else get this problem feedback would be nice. Also is there anything else I can do to lower the temp? I already have a notebook cooler and fans are on full throttle. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info. At any rate from the post I mentioned above it seems that the throttling is minimal (i.e. 10%) so maybe it just makes no difference in games in a way. For instance, I tested Skyrim at a multiplier of x18 with ThrottleStop on an X460DX which I am about to return, and the visible performance is very close to what I get without throttling.

I am more worried about battery consumption though, the GT550M must be pulling a lot of power; do you know how long the battery lasts when full-on gaming?

Yeah, this will probably help. Still it's a shame that we have to downclock our CPUs because of heat, it seems to me that with the new wave of CPUs notebook vendors will have to put more effort into designing the cooling solution than in the past, heat is starting to be a major issue as more and more people want discrete graphics in their small form factor notebooks.

 

The Y470 doesn't get hot on the outside, but boy does it get hot on the inside. It gets to low 90's while playing BF3.

Keep in mind that the game you play will affect how hot it goes, as I noticed other games like SC2 where the CPU/GPU didn't go as high. BF3 seems to make it the hottest to my experiences

 

I will be joining the Y470 club shortly as I just ordered the i5 version from the Lenovo Outlet site. Thanks to everyone who participates in this thread as it was very helpful to me in deciding which laptop to get.

I see that some people have issues with the CPU reaching fairly high temperatures while gaming. Do you think it is necessary to get a notebook cooler to use while playing Star Wars The Old Republic? Is there any specific cooler that is designed particularly well for the Y470?

 

Well, I tried it out a little tonight. I saw no difference in the game while playing on battery. If there's any throttling, I couldn't notice it.

My settings were set on "Balanced." after about 30 minutes of playing (and one slain dragon), I quit the game and the battery meter said I had 28 minutes of battery left. Of course, now it says I have 2 hours and 22 minutes left since I'm only browsing the web now. Maybe I'll try another unplugged session later.

I forgot to turn on real temp though, so I don't know if my temps were different or not.

 

Thanks for running this test. If there had been any throttling you would have noticed immediately in Skyrim (which I assume is what you were playing, with dragon slaying and all). On both the N45SF and X460DX the effect was immediate when unplugging the power cord; the game would become essentially unplayable.

Also, looks like you'd get a whole hour on battery while gaming, which is quite acceptable. The more I look at it, the better this little machine looks!

Unfortunately I was not fast enough to grab myself an Y470; this notebook is not distributed in my country (only the Y570 is), only one shop sells them online (they import them from abroad) and they're now out of stock. As I don't want to buy abroad (for warranty reasons) I had to fall back on another machine, I got myself an Acer 3830TG. I'll be testing it in the next couple of days; if it doesn't cut it, I'll wait for this shop to resupply the Y470.

Thanks again

 

I was looking into buying this laptop and was wondering if any you would be able to offer your 2 cents. I'm basically looking for a laptop with great battery life/light-weight for school that can also game pretty well. These laptops look like a great deal, but I'm worried about the overheating issues I've been noticing through the thread. My current laptop (a gateway M-6864FX) had a lot of overheating problems and I had to do a case mod to stop it from throttling. I'd like to avoid a laptop that has a lot of overheating issues if possible.

quick edit: btw, I'm looking more at the 470 as I was thinking a 14" will be a little more portable than a 15

 

Abe,

Well, first of all you should post in this thread:

What Notebook Should I Buy?

That'll give you a general point of view (and probably a bunch of people telling you to buy an HP).

From a Y570 owner's point of view, gaming wise this machine rocks (my laptop specs are in my sig). I've been playing Skyrim on high settings with practically no problem at all. I'm not experiencing any temp problems (CPU temp spikes at around 90 but stays at around 65-70 for the most part) although there are people who have reported issues.

Battery-wise, I haven't "field tested" it yet although I just played Skyrim with the battery last night and the estimate is about 1 hour of gaming time on "Balanced" mode. Jnorman5 says he can get close to 9 hours when just web surfing and doing Word documents.

Portability-wise, this thing is pretty big. The Y470 might be a little smaller, but the Y570 is pretty heavy.

The screen resolution on these machines are also relatively low (1366 X 768) and that could be a factor if you need a lot of windows open at the same time.

All in all, I'm happy with the Y570.

 

Well my refurbished Y570 came in and my goodness...such an awesome laptop. Everything works great, and BF3 loads my CPU to 82 max after a long playing session. Cannot be happier.

 

Hi Fletchman, thank you for the review. I did actually post in that forum which is what led me here http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...27945-student-notebook-notes-some-gaming.html I would only care about battery life when doing web-surfing and word processing really (school related stuff), so 9 hours is definitely good. The temp seems alright, but I thought 70 and above was fairly hot for a cpu to be running at, is that not really the case?

 

Well, I think 100 Celsius is considered the max for the current processors, but I'm not totally sure.

I'm going to try playing Skyrim in "airplane mode" and see how much battery life I get with it (and how well it plays). I'll report later on the results.

 

Yep, you're right. About an hour of Skyrim on a fully charged battery with "Balanced" settings. I started my stopwatch the moment I hit the power button (26 seconds to boot, btw), had the wireless off, and bypassed Veriface (a really cool way to log in). It took me about 8 minutes to figure out how to use Steam in offline mode (at which time I actually had to turn the wireless back on for a brief moment... thank God I tried this before getting on the airplane otherwise no Skyrim), and then I started playing.

According to Steam, I played 49 minutes before getting a 6 minute warning. So not quite an hour.

I forgot to turn RealTemp on again so I don't have any temps to report this time, but the game ran perfectly. I couldn't tell I was on battery. I did spend 10 minutes trying to kill another dragon but ended up running away because a cave bear and a sabretooth cat decided to join in the fun.

I'll try one of the more aggressive power saving settings tomorrow. Time to recharge!

 

I am getting the Y470 pretty soon. Should I buy 3 years warranty since they only give 1 year warranty? Also, what other problems can I expect to have? Is the SSD + RapidDrive worth buying at all?

I use a laptop primarily for web browsing purposes, but I also play Skyrim and many other games, so I had to get a laptop with decent graphics and CPU. The Y570 is too big for me to carry out because it is 15.6" - it doesn't fit into my bag, so I decided on the Y470. Before this I was considering 3 other laptops Asus K43SA-i7 and Acer Aspire 4830TG, both are 14", as well as HP Pavilion dv6 which is 15.6". Here are the specs of the laptops sold at the IT show in my country

Asus K43SA-i7
CPU i7-2670QM
GPU AMD 6730M 2 GB DDR3
8 GB RAM 750 GB HDD
3 years warranty
$1298

Acer 4830TG
CPU i7-2640M (2.8 GHz)
GPU Nvidia 540M 2 GB DDR3
8 GB RAM 750 GB HDD
2 years warranty
$1498

HP Pavilion dv6 (there're 2 types)
CPU i7-2760QM
GPU AMD HD 6770M 1 GB DDR5
4 GB RAM 750 GB HDD
1 year warranty
$1499

CPU i7-2760QM
GPU AMD HD 6770M 2 GB DDR5
8 GB RAM 1 TB HDD
3 years warranty
$1699

Lenovo Ideapad Y470
CPU i7-2670QM
GPU Nvidia 550M 2 GB DDR3
4 GB RAM 750 GB HDD
1 year warranty
$1299

Lenovo Ideapad Y570
CPU i7-2630QM
GPU Nvidia 555M 2 GB DDR5
8 GB RAM 750 GB HDD
1 year warranty
$1699

I'm quite confused as to why the Y570 uses an inferior CPU as compared to Y470. The promoter told me the 2670QM allows hyperthreading while 2630QM does not. Other than that, I'm quite satisfied with the Y470, except that I must pay more if I want 3 years warranty. The Acer still looks quite good since most people I've asked said that Skyrim runs on 2 cores only, and 4 cores would not help. The 2 cores that Acer laptop runs on is quite fast too... but it costs more than Y470. Another thing I'm puzzled about is that only the Y470 (out of all the laptops listed above) runs Windows 7 Professional, the rest runs Home Premium. Which would be better for me, taking into account that I'm a high school student.

I hope to have made the right choice in buying this laptop, so pls address my queries. Thank you.