Lenovo Y50 Owners and Information Thread

Anybody know where you can download the Lenovo Settings program? I found it in the Microsoft Store, but it doesn't appear to be the exact version installed on the Y50 (though I could be mistaken).

On a positive note, Lenovo created a separate partition on the HDD with the drivers already downloaded. Very useful.

 

Anyone have problems with YouTube not loading videos? Every other website I've been on works except YouTube.

 

I'm basing my opinion in both what people have said and on actual pictures people have taken of the screen. There are multiple instances of the chi mei screen having this gross yellow tint on the whites that it displays. That to me, is indeed atrocious.

No I don't own the laptop, but you're telling me that if I got one with a chi mei panel that I wouldn't have the same opinion even though I've seen user taken photos of it? That somehow that yellow tint won't exist?

Glad it works out for you, really, I am. Those who can deal with the screen, it really is a great buy. Unfortunately, many of us also can't deal with the FHD version and the quality of its screens, and there might be other people that can't either.

 

Glossy bezel looks great on the 4k. I agree it's ugly on the matte screens though. Trackpad is to the left to be centered with the keyboard, not counting the num pad. Most brands do this now.

 

What annoys me the most in these threads are those people who keep on telling "Y50 FHD screen is horrible when compared to my high quality *insert brand* IPS monitor/screen". These comparison to me, is like comparing a GTX750Ti to a GTX780Ti.

 

You don't need to compare it to screens of that high calibor. You can compare it to the Y510p screen and it'll still show its inferiority. That's another part that irks me; the predecessor had a noticeably better screen...

 

It's of course worse than Y510P, but it's no where near "horrible, trash, totally unusable" when you're comparing it to Y510P. My point is, comparing it to a top quality IPS screen and telling how bad it is is simply stupid. Why would you compare a mediocre TN screen to a high quality IPS screen in the first place? They are not in the same class.

 

There are very few people that have stated its trash an totally unusable. My personal opinion is that based on the images I've seen, the chi mei display is indeed unusable FOR ME. I simply cannot deal with that yellowness when something is supposed to look white. I believe the AUO one doesn't have this issue and is simply a screen with mediocre color reproduction, but no yellow tint issue. I would probably find that one "usable" yes.

Furthermore, when something comes out a couple years after something else that is meant to be an upgrade, I expect it to be just that: an upgrade. I don't expect an important part of the laptop to be a noticeable downgrade.

 

downgrade? there are a lot more degrades than you think

1. no more ultrabay
2. lack of m.2 slot (y510p had one)
3. obstructed vents unlike previous gen (big one, the hinge can undoubtedly block the air venting out)
4. tilted keyboard compared to y510p
5. larger screen bezel compared to y510p
6. less ssd cache available for sshd
7. unable to use 9.5mm hard drive

if all those don't annoy you more than the screen does, then I guess you should just find a better panel. swapping a panel is easy, fixing those problems is impossible

 

Can the owners please just respond to the following questions. I had problems with the Wi-Fi and audio and keyboard and was wondering if it's just this laptop or everyone is having these problems? So please just quote this and respond. It will be like a survey. I will try to collect put up numbers/statistics of what owners responded in a chart later on. Like this we have a more general idea of the Y50 instead of just having 2 people report a problem and make it seem like everyone does so here are the questions.

1) Are you satisfied with the Y50 FHD Screen?
A: Yes B: No C: Somewhat
ANSWER:


2) Do you experience problems with the keyboard meaning (do you need to press keys dead center in order to register the key)?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER:


3) Do you experience problems with the Wi-Fi ?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER:


4) Do you hear white noise (or any kind of unusual noise) when using a headset?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER:

 

Can anyone tell me the difference in performance bewteen the hybrid 1tb plus 8 gig ssd and a 512gig ssd.what is the point of lenovo putting just an 8 gig ssd if there is no diference in performance?

Just wanted to contribute to the debate of the 48 fps cap. If the fhd get to 60Hz and some of you said you would sacrifice resolution for fps, why not go for the fhd with its limited colour depth? Dont forget its a LAPTOP.The "L" stands for limited however impressive it is. Overall this is aput together laptop. Great job lenovo and thank God I didn't but the y500.lol

 

The 8gig ssd cache is only used for commonly programs. There is a boost over standard hard drives but its not too significant. The 512gb ssd will definitely be faster

Displaying whites as yellows doesn't qualify as "limited color depth" to me. Not to mention the viewing angles issue. Furthermore, 1080p is the standard resolution for gaming, and the 860m can't game worth crap at 4k anyway, so its not "sacrificing" anything.

Overall? Yes it is a good laptop. However as I and many others have pointed out there aspects of it that will either completely make or break the package for some. The screen is one of those aspects. If you can live with it, great, more power to you: you've probably got most cost efficient laptop out there besides sagers.

 

Has anyone found a good hard cover/TPU/silicone case for the Y50? Sort of like the following item for a MacBook Air?

SmartShell for MacBook Air Cases & Covers | Speck Products

 

I would say it's horrible compared to the y510p's TN screen. Sorry... It has way worse viewing angles and they took 20% of the colors away. 20% is kinda noticeable. It's not just a matter of comparing to IPS because there are crap IPS screens out there too. Crap IPS screens get just as much flak as this panel is getting. If you want to compare to other TN panels, Dell XPS had a better TN panel. So did Apple and Sager. My old desktop Acer and Asus TN panels had better colors and viewing angles as well. Sure, I can run to Best Buy and compare the screens with more, but I can only compare to what I've seen so far. From my experience, as far as TN panels go, this one is pretty weak. Sure it's usable, and if this was a $600-800 laptop, I would be more forgiving. Unfortunately it's $1200+, so I expect a lot more - especially since almost all of the competition chose better.

 

I had the highest model of the Y50 Touch (1080p) and returned it. The screen was perfectly fine (other than graininess and color inaccuracy, but you don't notice that unless it's right next to a better screen or you're looking at a picture that you're used to seeing on a better screen), BUT ONLY IF YOU LOOKED AT IT FROM THE PERFECT ANGLE. The viewing angle was unforgiving; and movement in my seat or shifting my body or head forward would result in juuuuuuuuuust a liiiiiiiiiiiiitle bit of washed out color or gamma shifting. Just a liiiiiiiiiitle bit. Noticeable. Every. Time. It immediately was unacceptable. I played with it for two days. The laptop was AWESOME and I wanted to live with the display's shortcomings, but I couldn't. And this is coming from someone who's past (and once again, current) laptop was a six year old Dell XPS M1530. The M1530 (not even a full HD display) had/has a much better screen than the Y50, if only for the steady uniformity.

1) Are you satisfied with the Y50 FHD Screen?
A: Yes B: No C: Somewhat
ANSWER: NO.


2) Do you experience problems with the keyboard meaning (do you need to press keys dead center in order to register the key)?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER: No. Had none of the problems some people mentioned, even while attempting to replicate. Honestly, it was the best keyboard I've ever enjoyed on a laptop.


3) Do you experience problems with the Wi-Fi ?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER: No. Had no issues.


4) Do you hear white noise (or any kind of unusual noise) when using a headset?
A: Yes B: No C: Sometimes
ANSWER: No. I was worried about this, given other people's reports. No issues.


I LOVED the Y50 and would have happily purchased the IPS/PLS 4k version to replace the 1080p model, but it sounds like the 4k model limits you to 48fps with a 48hz screen lock. Again, unacceptable.

 

It also have much better cooling and much slimmer design a 1200$ performance/gaming laptop should have. It's a fair tradeoff.

On top of that, you can replace the screen by yourself for about 100$ and have a ASUS N550jk's screen (LG LP156WF4) in Y50, provided if you're willing to put time and effort in it. It's still equal/cheaper and beat many other competitors out there, or at least for its price in my country.

 

actually the y50's cooling is only mediocre or even somewhat bad, but it's somewhat better than its competitors factoring in size. I've talked about various places in cooling that lenovo should've done better and they could be done without adding additional cost

many here don't complain on point.
a panel is changeable, and many other issues here don't just have a simple fix. if they are fine with all the other problems, I don't understand how much more they can be bothered with a screen when it comes down relatively easier to fix/deal
either that or just don't buy it if it's just bothering you this much, simple as that

 

Mediocre compared to what? I bought the Y50 because it was the ONLY laptop that provided this performance at this size without burning your lap and/or sounding like a jet engine. In 6 months, the market will be flush with competition but for now there ain't much. You can go up to the GS60 or Razer for better performance but more noise and heat or down to the N550JK for less performance and more bulk.

 

Yeah idk what that guy is talking about.. The Asus N550JK being a lot bulkier gets about the same temps as the Y50 or even a bit hotter (from seeing thermals by xoticpc & gentechpc)... Idk where this guy gets his info but the Y50 has the best cooling out of the thin laptops at the current moment.. Maybe the Asus Gx500 will be better but that's not out yet. The Msi Gs60 is around 5-10 degrees celsius hotter... The Gigabyte p34 g v2 is about the same temps as the Msi Gs60... so idk what this guy is saying

 

Posted my review.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/756525-lenovo-y50-quick-review.html

Question now is: will I keep the Y50?

I don't know yet. For me it all boils down to the screen. I will have to replace it if I keep it. The other problem is that the Shark 3 I have is pretty much the same machine from a specs perspective, but it has a SIGNIFICANTLY better screen. All I give up in exchange is the sexy form factor and build/finish.

Tough call.

 

Check the screen replacement thread. There were recently some posts with pictures of different replacement screens. Pretty nice results for $90.

 

You mean the thread I started?

 

For those not following both threads, here's my review of the base model Y50 that I just received from Klick - I spend quite a bit of space detailing the screen from an average user's perspective, though I will have to own it longer before making a final decision:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/741832-y50-thread-628.html#post9710793

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/741832-y50-thread-595.html#

 

Thanks alot for the feedback. If anyone else can answer the above questions I would appreciate it.

 

Just as an FYI...

I ran a 15-minute burn-in test using FurMark on both of my machines (Shark 3 and Y50)

Max GPU temps
Y50: 63C
Shark 3: 68C

Yes, the thinner Y50 kept the 860m cooler than the twice-as-thick Shark 3 (Clevo W355SS).

Probably due to the fact the Shark 3 has a single-fan setup, and the heatsink on the Y50 seems to be quite a bit larger.

Still, good work Lenovo. I guess Clevo decided to use the extra space to add a secondary HDD bay, rather than use it for a second cooling fan.

 

Any chance you can check the CPU temps? There are very few comps that have trouble cooling the maxwell 860m. Really a good step over kepler

 

Im just deciding between the Acer V7-582pg (1080 IPS glossy) and the Lenovo (1080 TN matte).

I plan to use a lot outdoors.

Will a lack brightness of the y50 make it pretty useless in direct sunlight?

And will the glossy Acer be okay in the sun (as its a better ips screen) as long as the screen isnt reflecting it

 

How did you verify your key with Microsoft? I installed an 8.1 pro iso as well and everything worked but now I can't figure out how to activate windows.

 

Here are some comparative shots of the screen. Y50 on the left, Shark 3 on the right. This was while running FurMark.

Apologies, only had my Note 3 with me, and I'm not a professional photographer.

"Ideal" viewing angle


Viewed from blow the screen (looking up/screen tilted away from you)


Viewed from the right

 

Wow nice kitchen and thanks for the pics!

 

Has anyone installed Windows 7 on this laptop yet? I honestly can't stand Windows 8, and Lenovo seems to have provided Windows 7 drivers for everything in the laptop on their support website. Curious if anyone has done it yet.

 

Some have done it. Search this or the other Y50 thread and you should find the posts.

 

Hey guys, I'm back (temporarily)! I've been playing around with my laptop and screen settings for a while now, and decided to share my results. I've had the laptop for over two weeks and am not seeing it through rose-tinted glasses any more. That said, I still stand by the majority of what I said in my initial review: this laptop is really good and with a few display tweaks (that I will elaborate on) and touchpad tweaks (just enabling some multi-finger gestures and maxing sensitivity), I was able to fix some flaws and make it super great.

Oh, I was also finally able to replicate the keyboard problem some of you noticed, but only on my 'X' key. Specifically, when I was playing Metroid Prime and charging my gun beam (by holding down 'X' with my key config), the shot released early just because I had moved my finger closer to the top/corner of the key - the key was still down but did not register until I shifted my finger back to the centre. I then tested every key on my laptop and the rest reacted perfectly no matter how I pressed them; since 'X' is hardly a key that is used often and it still perfectly registers for me 99% of the time or 100% of the time if I am deliberate about pressing it, this is an extremely tiny flaw. I now believe that some of you have had this sort of problem with some other keys but honestly I think the issue has been exaggerated. It really isn't that bad. That or I just got lucky; I dunno.

Now onto the display! After using the computer for a while with the default display settings, I did start noticing that the colours were a tiny bit pale. At first I just tried lowering gamma but then the display felt too dark. And increasing contrast too much destroyed detail and made everything look unnatural. Nevertheless, I was finally able to find a configuration that works really well (for me, anyways)!
In my opinion, my display looks nicest by far with the following settings:
1. Video mode (accessible through the Lenovo Settings app) set to cinema. A lot of you guys suggested photo/picture mode, but subjectively to me it makes the colours look overly saturated and really artificial. And objectively it causes massive black crush and removes details from images, making the screen not even seem like a FHD panel. Meanwhile, the normal and music modes (which seem exactly identical to me) are indeed sort of pale and bland like some people have complained. Cinema mode is right in between and hits the sweet spot, in my opinion.
2. Brightness set to the default 0. Higher or lower values looked too pale or dark to me, respectively.
3. Contrast boosted up a bit to 52 (instead of the default 50). Any higher starts causing black crush and ruins the natural look of the colours.
4. Gamma set to the default 1.0. Slightly higher values seem to boost picture detail but they also lower how much black text stands out on white backgrounds. Since I do a lot of reading and writing on my laptop (like most people, haha), it's not worth it to me. 1.0 gamma is pretty good and still shows a good amount of detail on cinema mode.
Keep in mind that I have the Y50 Touch with the AUO36 screen panel. You guys can try my display settings on the matte display and see how they look, but no promises that it will be better than previously suggested settings. Since my panel is glossy it looks vivid enough on cinema mode but maybe on the matte display photo mode is indeed best. I dunno: try it out, haha.

I fixed my Google Chrome text blurriness by going to the .exe, clicking Properties, and selecting "Disable display scaling" for it. I believe this can be done globally as well but some programs actually look better with it: Internet Explorer is particularly well optimized. Anyways, if I run into problems with different programs I can change this setting for them on an individual basis.

Oh yeah, I've read about the 48Hz cap on the 4K models and am super glad I got the Touch model instead, lol. I'm actually pretty happy about it because it means I have zero regrets, though I know that's selfish, hahaha. The 48Hz cap is just totally idiotic and almost completely ruins the point of having a graphics card like the Nvidia GTX860 in the first place. A ton of weaker computers like the Asus N500 or Dell XPS 15 or sometimes even the rMBP would be able to provide better framerates...That just sucks. Maybe Intel will release a driver update that fixes everything or maybe not. Anyways, who knows when both that will happen and Lenovo will add Touch capability to the 4K Y50s - maybe never, lol. My screen is nice enough and definitely has no problems with IPS glow, image retention, or crappy refresh rates. I can live with poor vertical viewing angles.

Finally, I can again say that the touchscreen on my laptop is awesome and really cool to use. Cooling is well designed and my laptop has never gotten hot so far, regardless of what I've thrown at it. And the design and build quality are really outstanding. As I see it, for this price point there really is no competition. The screen isn't as nice as on a rMBP or Dell XPS 15, but after the adjustments I made I really like it. Touch is cool and colours are pretty vivid. Some of the keyboard complaints are indeed legit but they only affect a few keys max and are only a small effect anyways. Overall, the keyboard is really great regardless of this; typing feels really good and the backlight and numpad are awesome. And everything else about this laptop is pretty much a pro.

 

Can I just take a moment to gush over this laptop? I fully understand why you'd be upset with the display if you bought one of the $1300+ models. Maybe I just have low standards, but I'm in love with mine. The screen isn't great, but it's far from bad. The speakers are amazing, the keyboard is way better than my old Asus G53SW keyboard, it's thin, quiet, portable, awesome build quality, looks sexy and has a maxwell GTX860M! All of this for $1029CAD. I did install a spare SSD I had and did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 pro with Classic Start, but in Canada there were not a lot of comparable models around the same price point when I was shopping around.

 

Calling people's legitimate complaints "whining" won't make you any friends. Not only that, I'm pretty sure it could be considered inflammatory, and therefore against the rules of the forum.

Just saying.

Other than that, glad to hear you're still enjoying your Y50. Mine's sitting on the counter while I decide what to do with it. Nice device for sure, but that screen is just awful...Not unusable (as I touched upon in my review), but most certainly bad. The matte display also doesn't have the advantage of the glossy display to help make colours more vibrant.

 

It certainly is a good device overall. The only comparable device from a specs perspective I managed to find was the Shark 3 I also bought (in Canada, anyway).

That's really a matter of opinion, and seems to be the determining factor between people who like and keep the laptop, and those who return it. The fact certain people have returned it solely because of the screen says that for some, it really is that bad. That others (like yourself) find it adequate means that for them, it isn't so bad.

 

Well, yeah, of course it's a matter of opinion. Obviously I can't speak for anyone other than myself, so I was just giving my opinion.

 

Were you able to activate your copy of Windows 8.1 pro? If so, how? I got mine installed but I can't get it to activate.

 

The procedure may be different for Enterprise, but I did a clean install of Win 8.1 Enterprise and was able to activate by entering the volume key. No different than any other time I installed it.

 

I thought the same when I read that "whining" remark in an otherwise good post. It is one of those little language twists that can indeed be inflammatory and cause a furor (even if not intended) and which are best avoided. @arcturar if you want to edit your post to rephrase that, I think that would be nice. The same goes for the copy in the Y50 pre-release thread.

Otherwise the discussion has been great here

The other issue I want to mention is the cross posting between this and the Y50 pre-release thread. Cross posting is NOT permitted on NBR (or most any internet forums) but I understand the dilemma perfectly, and I am not accusing or blaming anyone. We don't have a magic wand to fix this classic problem of overlapping discussions -- other than to close one of the threads, which would be quite heavy handed when there is such lively discussion in both.

As I posted earlier, it would be ideal if actual owner's experience and information sharing could migrate to this thread, so that newcomers don't have to plow through the 6,000+ posts in the pre-release thread, most of which were made before the first Y50s shipped. General chat and speculation and where-to-buy discussion (which is valid, it's just different) could continue in the other thread until it fades out.

But this forum belongs to the members, so it is up to you to make that migration happen. The pre-release thread has served a useful purpose while we waited for Lenovo, and it has had some great discussion (and still has). But its size makes it unwieldy unless you have followed it all the way.

If you have other thoughts on this, please let us know.

 

Hmm. Why enterprise? My y50 has yet to be shipped, but I was under the impression they come with Windows 8.1 pro? Or am I wrong about that?

 

I edited them to say "noticed" instead. Better?
I agree about the multiple threads; I just post long reviews to both because I'd rather have as many as possible read them and hopefully get something out of them. But some people are probably unaware that there even are two threads (three if you include the screen replacement one) and even worse the old Y50 thread still seems to be the most popular. I would be in favour of locking the previous thread to direct all traffic here instead. Now that the 4K Y50 was also released, there really isn't much to speculate about.

 

Anyone got any input for the UHD vs touch model? In particular the screens.
Debating between the 2 and hoping to buy soon.

Sent from my SGH-T889V using Tapatalk

 

The relative pros and cons of the Touch and 4K models have been discussed quite a bit already, but I'll give you a summary.

Similarities
-Both panels are 15.6" on the diagonal.
-Both panels have a glossy finish. Although the 4K screen does not have the extra digitizer on top, from reports both are equally reflective, more or less. This also means both have more vivid colours compared to the matte Y50.

Y50 Touch Pros
-Touch capability, obviously. I was kind of skeptical about it before I tried it, but it is honestly pretty cool. Not mandatory by any means but a fun input option to have.
-Normal 60Hz refresh rate, allowing everything to run at 60fps instead of the idiotic 48fps cap the Y50 4K imposes. In my opinion, this is such a bottleneck that both the rMBP and Dell XPS 15 (not to mention the upcoming Asus NX500) look like more attractive options than the Y50 4K. Both have ultra high-res screens too and are honestly better buys. The Y50's main advantage over those laptops is a far superior graphics card but the 48Hz limit really ruins it. Games are definitely still playable at 48fps but why would you pay for a super new graphics card like the GTX860 and then not even be able to run WoW or Minecraft at 60fps like even old laptops can do?
-No IPS glow.
-No image retention problems whatsoever.
-Slightly lower power draw, so the laptop will last a little longer on battery.
-No scaling problems with programs like Adobe suite. I'm sure most things will soon get optimized for 4K; it's inevitable. But until that happens you'll have some annoyance once in a while.

Y50 4K Pros
-Significantly wider colour gamut than the Y50 Touch. The difference is noticeable, though I don't think it is so extreme for non-graphics professionals. The colours on the Y50 Touch look good for casual users after some tweaking. But the ones on the Y50 4K are admittedly better.
-Much, much better vertical viewing angles. Seriously, if this is really important to you I wouldn't get the Y50 Touch; the vertical viewing angles on it are indeed pretty bad. I don't mind angling my monitor a bit though, so it doesn't really bother me.
-Slightly better horizontal viewing angles. On paper the difference seems bigger but since the horizontal viewing angles on the Y50 Touch are decent and sufficient for pretty much any task, in practice there is only a small benefit.

Basically, if you can live with an average glossy screen and bad vertical viewing angles, go for the Y50 Touch. Otherwise, go for a rMBP or Dell XPS 15, in my opinion. Or get the Y50 4K and hope Intel and Lenovo lift the 48Hz refresh rate cap.

 

Ran some Prime95 on both machines.

Max CPU Temps
Y50: 81C
Shark 3: 78C
Ambient temp: 23C

 

Ugh , those are some good temps. Better than the p34g v2 which is around 90+ on CPU which worries me. I am ever so closer to just saying screw it and getting the 4k version, and praying to Intel that they give 60 hz drivers . The shark 3 or clevo w230ss is just a bit too thick for me and 13.3 inch is also too small IMO.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I like that much better, thank you

Again, I do understand why many are cross posting, given the overlapping discussion between the two threads. This was not an attempt to slap you or anyone. And I must admit we have not made a strong campaign to encourage the migration. NBR mods are unpaid volunteers, squeezing in time when they can, and this will take a rather concerted effort -- unless we simply close the old thread.

Although that option has been discussed, I have favored keeping the old thread open, so that we don't force over current traffic that has little to do with owner's experience (where to buy, how much discount, etc). But you are right there is increasingly less of that and more owner's experience being posted there, such as the reviews from yourself and others. So maybe the time is nearing.

Until then, you can all help by posting your reviews and other significant contributions here, and posting links to them in the pre-release thread. That will BOTH avoid cross posting AND continuously raise awareness of this thread.

Thanks again. And happy 4th for those of you in USA. It's party time

 

Another note on the screen (AUO version):

The colour shifting is really mostly noticeable on dark backgrounds. If you spend most of your time looking at lighter-coloured images, you won't notice is as much. And switching the mode to either picture or cinema does help make the colours more vibrant.

That being said, on dark images, the colour shifting is really bad. As an example, if anybody plays D3, the following screenshot should be familiar to you.



Well, on my Y50, a good portion of the statue in the top-right corner is colour-shifted when I'm viewing the screen dead-on.

 

XPS 15 maybe, but rmbp is a huge no no. not to mention how overpriced apple is, rmbp has incomparably bad cooling and power limitation. you think thermal throttling is bad? apple gets you something even better - power throttling. just the fact that they are giving people an 85w adapter for a machine with i7-4960hq and gt 750m is just unbeatable. likewise you can criticize MSI for giving you insufficient power adapters, but at least they don't give completely insufficient ones.

southbridge temps comparison please