New Ideapad Y510p

Hey guys, I ordered a Lenovo Ideapad Y510p and I expect it to come in soon (this week/next week). This is going to be my first ever laptop so I am being a little paranoid, but I just have some questions that hopefully you guys can answer. Okay, so when I first get the laptop:

1) Are there any programs/applications that I should uninstall or install right off the bat?

2) Are there any drivers that I should install or uninstall? I don't really know a lot about drivers.

3) I know there have been problems with the touchpad on this laptop. I have heard that you can either use Synaptics or Elan drivers for it. What is the difference between the two and which is better? How do I know which one the laptop comes with?

4) Any general tips on how to conserve battery life in the long run? Also, if I know that I am going to be using it plugged in for a while, should I leave the battery inside or remove it?

5) Anything else I should know???

BONUS: Through my university, I have free access to some Windows software through a program called Dreamspark. This includes Windows 7. Should I downgrade from 8 to 7 or should I just keep Windows 8 and try to learn it? Should I upgrade to 8.1?

Thank you! I know this is a lot but please be as detailed as you can when answering. I really appreciate it

 

1) McAfee/ebay/amazon/MS Office Trial
2) Update drivers, don't uninstall them
3) I don't know
4) Use "optimized battery life" setting inside lenovo power management, it will prevent charging past 60% and the battery is kept away from the hot components of the laptop
5) You tell me

Windows 7 vs 8 is a whole opinion thing, i can't help you with that without sounding biased.

 

Hopefully you ordered one with the 24GB SSB installed so you have the option of upgrading to a 128GB SSD boot drive. Many of the systems without the 24GB drive don't come with the M2 socket (Lenovo being cheap!) so if you want that ability you have to make sure yours comes with it.

As to Windows 8 there is not really any reason to avoid it and several to keep it. First you can always just live on the desktop and never use the tiles. Second, if you want to log into your account on another Windows 8 PC or Tablet many of your settings with stay with you on the other system.

The Lenovo y510p is a nice piece of gaming hardware. I don't use it for anything else so battery and trackpad don't matter to me.

Cheers,

 

Fortunately, I did get the model that comes with the 24GB cache drive, so I'll be able to upgrade in the future
As for Windows 8, would you recommend upgrading to 8.1 or trying out 8 first? I haven't used either at all.

 

I just got a new y510p too, and there's no way I'm upgrading to Windows 8.1 until they figure out all of the driver issues for the graphic cards in SLI.

 

Good to hear you got the right system. I'm amazed they don't provide the connector at all on some models. Windows 8 has been fine on this system. All my games work perfectly. I don't use it for much else except the occasional internet search. I see no reason to upgrade to 8.1

I believe I saw somewhere in this huge thread there was some mention of a fix from Lenovo. Never bothered looking at it since my system works and I really don't know what features 8.1 provides that would make a difference to me.

Cheers,

 

Why would I want to delete the MS Office Trial? Is it considered bloatware too?
Also, even though you'll sound biased, mind giving your opinion on Win 7 vs Win 8?

Okay then thanks! I'm thinking about giving 8 a try and seeing whether I like it or not before switching or anything. Can't hurt to try right?

 

Windows 8(.1) would be my top pick if it didn't try so hard to lock you into all these M$ products.

Running 8.1 atm, i don't wanna bother spending hours and hours redoing my entire laptop's custom config + files by doing a clean install of W7. I'd rather migrate to linux.

 

I see, I have heard that that is a common annoyance with Windows 8. Anyways, looks like I'll try it out and see. Thanks for your help!

 

Hi everyone, after a long research, I am still undecided if I am going to purchase a Lenovo y510p. I have a list of unanswered things that is preventing me from buying this laptop.

1. Can it play the Company of Heroes 2??
Notes: *notebookcheck. com said it will run in 27.1 fps but I am not really sure if this is enough.
*I really like to play this game
2. Is the wifi card of this laptop is really that bad??

3. No turbo boost in the cpu

4. The upcoming touchscreen version in this site Microsoft Store - Free shipping. Free returns. On everything, every day

I hope you can answer these concerns and help me decide in buying this computer. I thank you all in advance..

 

We play COH and COH2 all the time. We use high and med setting not ultra and no AA but it still looks great. We actually prefer the gameplay of the original COH but perhaps it's just a matter of personal preference.

Cheers,

 

Thank your for your response. Can I ask if you can give me the exact settings that you are using if that is okay with you.
Also are you playing it on 2 GPUs or 1 GPU only? I just really want to know if this laptop can play it without having trouble.

 

He said he usually plays medium-high settings. Also, looking at his signature, I'm guessing he has the SLI version (2 GPUs inside).

 

Indeed I do have the SLI version. COH2 doesn't support SLI so they don't even recommend running at 1080. I run it anyway and I don't have an issue but I'm not a big benchmark fan. If I can play it and it's not lagging then I'm fine. That said COH definitely gets better frame rates than COH2.

Not sure I'd bother getting a $2000 laptop just to fit a super powerful single GPU to play COH2 on Ultra.

Cheers,

 

I got your point man. Its just the stat that were shown on notebookcheck really bothers me. Now I'm confident now to buy the lenovo y510p. I'm just waiting
for the right unit at the right price.