Shout to Y550 ideapad owners

I think that it is true that if you don't have powerful headphones the headphone sound isn't really loud, but I like the quality.

 

Hi, all! I just registered 'cuz I read through all 31 pages of this topic. I'm considering purchasing the Y550. However, I'm trying to figure out if the $1,230 I'm coming up with (including MA tax) is the best I can do with the configuration and accessories I've selected:

IdeaPad Y550 (Ships within 18 bus. days) $983.04
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit
nVidia Geforce GT 240M graphic card with 1GB memory
15.6 HD WLED Glossy, 1366*768 with 1.3M integrated Camera
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz SODIMM Memory (2 Dimms)
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
SuperMulti DVD Recordable (Tray type)
Intel WiFi Link 5100 1x2 (AGN) WLAN
6 Cell Lithium-Ion 2.6Ah
Bluetooth
Color Black painting cover and Grey Palmrest
Base PM45 15.6WLED CP BT-GM45P
Unselected Feature Attachment, Mechanical Grey Keyboard

45J8003 3 Yr At-home IdeaPad Warranty with 3 Yr Accidental Damage Protection $148.62

45J7717 Lenovo 90W AC Adapter (an extra so I don't have to unplug it from my desk setup/docking station when I travel) $33.99

I question it now 'cuz it seems like some of y'all got so much more for less. It's hard for me to pull the trigger on this 'cuz I'd bought my two previous laptops on Dell credit. I'm living credit-free now and this is gonna be straight outta pocket, so I really wanna make sure I get it as cheaply as possible. I've checked for codes and haven't found any that work right now.

I wanted to get something close to the specs of my Dell, purchased in February:

Studio 1537 (refurbished)
Intel core 2 Duo P8400 (2.2Ghz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache
Genuine Windows vista Home Premium
Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web Camera
Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n
320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
4GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMS)
Back-lit keyboard
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
15.4 WXGA LED Laptop Screen Displa with TrueLife
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

I bought it from the Dell Outlet for a mere $650 and a friend accidentally spilled water on it so now the mouse buttons on the touchpad don't work. That's where I got the $1,200 for the new one--quite the investment, huh!?

I know many of you are very happy with your Y550, and I actually can't believe this thread has died out. There seemed to be so many unanswered questions. So MY questions are:
-Should I wait for a better price?
-Will the webcam on the Lenovo really suck compared to mine (2.0 on Dell vs. 1.3 on the Lenovo)?
-Is the resolution going to be THAT bad?
-My sis has a 2-year old touchpad and while not backlight, she does have this little light at the top of the display that illuminates the keyboard--do they still have that?

 

I would recommend you wait lenovo seems to have sales going on all the time if your not in a hurry you can get a great price, I think they release new models in Jan or Feb so they will clear out the old good time to catch a sale.
The webcam is pretty good can't say to much as its the first one I've had but I think the refresh rate is more important the mp's.
The screen resolution isn't bad but could be better, but I'm pretty happy with it (good color, nice and brite)
No backlight or thinklight on the ideapad's.
I have the same setup your looking at and it's been great, gt240m handles every game I've thrown at it, the p8700 is fast and runs smooth, it does get warm but NOT HOT while gaming but show me one that doesn't, and the key board is very good as well as the speakers.
The only complaint I have is the scroll wheel on the touchpad isn't great but works right 75% of the time. Hope this helps

 

Hi All. I just became a member.

After reading through all the posts I can say that I've learned an awful lot. I can't believe how helpful some people can be.

I recently (last week) placed my order for a Y550:

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6600
GenuineWindows 7 Home Premium 64
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M 1024MB
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz
15.6 " HD Wide LED 1366x768
320GB 5400
Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)
6 Cell Lithium-Ion

My ship date is slated for 1/21 and I now await anxiously for my new baby to arrive.

I am pleased to see that Lenovo has been satisfying a huge majority of people, aside from vvaid117, with their orders and some even coming before the ship date. I hope that i am so lucky.

Anyway, I do have a question. While having some spare time waiting for my new laptop, I still keep looking for deals and i found this one. Let me know what you guys think of this.

ASUS N81Vp-D2 Notebook Computer
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9600
4GB (2x2GB) RAM
320GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
SuperMulti DVD Burner
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 Graphics
14" LED Backlit Widescreen Display
Integrated Camera and Microphone
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Windows 7 Home Premium, 5.5 lb

All this for $849.95, plus a $100 Rebate.

This one's got me thinking a little.

Any suggestions?

dogaza

 

^Now that's a deal (really good processor, but the t series tend to consume more power than the P, although if you have multiple chargers that doesn't matter)

Although if you were to get that I would suggest a 12 cell battery because your options all consume more power than a y550
I prefer my baby though (my y550 is so clutch ), even if it has the 130m and not the 240m

Is this the year-round price for this or just for this time of year, because I didn't know an ASUS could be just as cheap or a little cheaper than a y550 with similar or better specs

and alisadm, this thread hasnt died out I usually check on this at least once a week

It would be nice to have the OP back too

But back on topic, the camera on this isnt amazing, but it's suitable. Also, I like the screen resolution personally, this is a bit better than a 1280x800 or something like that, but its not full HD (then again, I have only seen one full HD screen and I don't remember it too much

 

Ryan02
Think I'm sticking with the Y550. Just found a review and the Asus has only 2-2.5 hr battery time.

Is it possible to put a 12 cell into must ant laptop?

 

wow! I just got an email that my Y550 has shipped. That's only 1 week from date of order with a holiday thrown in. Now I'm really getting excited.

 

I'm not sure if y550's have 12 cell batteries, probably not, but you still get 4-4.5 hours of battery life.

Nice that your y550 shipped though!

 

undervolted with energy star on getting every bit of 4hrs of battery life browsing the web and lite processes, enjoy your new laptop

 

Have anyone tried to play Final Fantasy X with pcxs2 on it? I don't know whether the laptop specs can handle it.

 

Guys, can anyone post temperatures of the Y550 / 550P?
CPU, GPU, on load and idle. Thanks

 

@ dragonN, I'm not sure, but it plays Crysis well, and so therefore I'm guessing it could handle that too

@at kashing92, I'm not sure on specifics, sorry

But I do know that the idle temps are like room temperature, and the load temps are warm but not even close to hot {this is for the 240m and the p series CPU's, not the T series (which I think isnt hot anyway as well) or i7 cpus(which I have no idea on)}

 

Thanks anyway Getting mine this week, hopefully...

 

i'm logging normal activity on a p8700/240m/148hd/2gb so later on i'll post details.

 

half way thru i was browsing fb, youtube and playing music background. i had idm, yahoo, hwmonitor pro, microsoft secuirty and energy management set on balanced on icon tray running win7. cheers.

 

damn, this is great, I played FFX through pcsx2 full speed and the laptop isn't even warm, though the cpu usage is 65%...... oh well that's normal for gaming anyway. CHEER!

 

yeah i game on team fortress 2 default video settings and get around 62-65.

 

Anyone using a labtop sleeve with their y550 been looking online and can't figure out which one to go with, thought I'd check here and see what you all use or recomend for a good fit.

 

My Y550 came last nite and man is it great. This is my first owned laptop, (used one from work a number of years ago) and so far I am truly impressed.
On this small usage I only have 2 very minor complaints, it appears that it will be picking up fingerprints quite easy and the speakers seem a little weak. Again, these are very minor flaws and there are just toooo many pluses to mention.
Looking for a router now - thinking about D-link Dir655, any suggestions?
Also, anyone using the Veriface? Mine is working great, just wondering how secure it is.

 

@blazein5, I have no idea, sry

@dogaza, have you tried using movie mode with the speakers? They can get quite loud for laptop speakers, at it utilizes the sub-woofer

 

thats ok I'll just have to take it in town and try some out
anyone know how to mute or at least lower the volume for the low battery beep, made the whole class jump yesterday its so loud

 

I first read about it on Newegg. Awesome tip!

Here are the details on how to do it.

Search for the program Realtek HD Audio Manager, or go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound. Select the Speakers tab and on it is a tab called Waves MaxxAudio. Click Cinema and the power button on the corner right.

 

Curious to know if anyone has put an SSD in there Y550 (with GT240M & one of the faster CPU options). I'd like to know how you are satisfied with performance in gaming. I put a SSD in my Y550 but have GT130M which is a decent card but can't really max out settings in most modern games.

 

The Y550 with the GT 130M won't be able to win framerate awards with high end games at high settings. An SSD won't be the answer either.

I just got my Y550P yesterday and I like it. Won't win a beauty pageant but it is not the ugliest thing you could buy. Stepped up from a 5 year old Acer. I would love to put in an SSD to replace the slow 5400rpm drive. How is your boot time now?

 

Yah I know, I've had the laptop for 4 months now. I knew the SSD wasn't going to make the laptop a beast but it definitely makes games load a lot quicker and boot times are really fast. Windows 7 boot time was about 3.5 seconds with a OCZ Vertex Turbo.

 

Drooool! I would love to get one but I cannot afford it.

 

nice
I would love to change my 130m to a 240m using my warranty, is that possible?

 

pfft, i wish! It's built on to the mainboard so no way to swap it out.

 

update ended up getting a built ny bumper 15' neoprene sleeve found one on clearance at office depot its a tight squeeze but fits and has good protection when stuffed in a backpack

 

I got one for 5 dollars from Target...

 

I think this is equivalent as the one-key theater except it doesn't increase the screen lightness.

 

btw, why is everyone getting the discrete video card?

I don't game at all, will that card buy me anything?

I got one with 4500mhd, but am thinking return/rebuy if the video card actually helps in video playing

 

The 4500MHD is quite capable of video playback. Most people got the GPU since it allows to game.

 

yea, I agree with serg, I got it to game as well as to do work (although the 4500 MHD is more than capable to play video, do work etc. but not for serious gaming, which wasn't what you do anyway). It does positively impact battery life though, as opposed to the discreet option.

 

thanks for the reply, guys.

love my y550 so far. except the top lid is a bit on the soft side, especially the part above the hinge, battery...

 

What do you mean jor?

 

Does it really looks that bad? I haven't been able to see on in person, but photos online make it look decent and a bit attractive.
</br>Can someone provide some Y550P photos? Maybe outdoors to see it in natural light?

 

when the lid is closed, there's a big gap between the lid and the body at the back,the place where the battery is.

just like the official review here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/shared/picture.asp?f=48317

apply a bit force on the lid there, the gap is gone, but I think either the lid is bent or the hinge is pushed down.

also, the hinge isn't strong enough to hold the lid. if you shut the lid, turn the laptop so that the front is facing up, the lid will open half an inch also.

 

Strange...is that too serious? If so, contact Lenovo and explain them you want that fixed ASAP.

 

I thought it's the same for all Y550. You don't have this problem??

 

I have had the odd gap on one side at the back since day one, was hoping that these hinges will last a few years until I end up buying a new laptop.

 

I have a gap on one side too, but I kind of like it, makes it unique. Its not even a problem for me personally.

On a positive note, my y550 130m plays mw2 max graphics 4x AA (also max I think) no lag except when you go in smoke, so people with the 240m should definitely have no problems

I think the laptop looks nice though, people always tell me that this looks nice, and ask me how much this laptop costs, and are astounded when I tell them only $945.

 

I shouldn't really be thinking about new laptops already, but in 3-5 years, my first choices of companies would be Lenovo or Asus, since they both make great but cheap laptops

I would probably stick to Lenovo though unless Lenovo doesn't change gpus into the really good ones with similar power usage to the ones in y550s right now. Unfortunately for them Asus has powerful gpus on Lenovo right now (although the 240m is pretty powerful IMO. But, 3-5 years is a while away!

Anyway, enough of me rambling.

 

I found a fix to the loud low battery beep. Have to flash Bios with driver version 34

http://consumersupport.lenovo.com/en/DriversDownloads/drivers_list.aspx?CategoryID=207087

I thought this would be useful for those who didn't know

 

just ordered the i5 Y550p

 

nice, hope you enjoy it

 

The gap in my right side hinge is getting even bigger, hopefully there is no need to send it back.

 

anyone here have the 4500mhd in there y550 with the latest drivers from intel, or does lenovo have some lock/customization on there integrated graphics chipset, ive been trying got download the latest driver from intel for it and during installation the screen just goes blank and doesn't come back on even when i reboot, i have to go back into safe mode and roll the driver back. i have this problem on both vista and 7, anyone else run into this issue?

 

I have no idea, as I have the 130m, sry :\

 

Have you tried uninstalling the older drivers (all of them) and installing the new ones? Supposedly that could help (for my ATI GPU on my Envy 15). I had some problems with drivers too, as they were not recognizing the GPU and crashing everything.

Other option is going thru Lenovo's website and search manually for those drivers...

EDIT: I don't own this laptop, I am an HP Owner, but what I am proposing is rather "standard"...