User experience Lenovo G570 i5-2410M

Here is my little user review if any are interested - I used a lot of time to pick my next notebook:

I have an Acer 5940G i7-720QM notebook baught last year for 777 Euro - by then - less than 12 months ago - rated as one of the fastest notebooks. Just baught this Lenovo G570 i5-2410M at 450 GBP ( aprox 500 Euro ).

The G570 is a little faster than the i7-720QM, runs more cool ( very cool ) , a little slimmer, better battry life, a bit less noise from fan, according to Windows rating, faster access time for HDD, bigger HDD ( 500GB ). Design and build is conservative, solid, and "clean". The HD 3000 graphics card is on par with mid-range dedicated graphics cards.

Many i5 are for some reason sold with a dedicated graphics card, for example the Geforce G310, which is actually slower than the internal HD 3000 graphics card - so plain silly to chose a model with a dedicated graphics card ( unless you are a hard core gamer ) with higher power consumption, more noise, more heat, and which very well may send your notebook to the trash can cause of melt down of the graphics card.

Buttom line is - this is a low budget notebook, but with top specs ( I actualy prefer the G570 over the 5940G ). Unless you put high requirement on the graphics card for hard core gaming - this is more than sufficient for any user, even users like me for data chrunshing. I use the G570 as a desktop replecement, with external monitor, mouse and keyboard. Main use is for compiling code.

i-7 2630QM based machines are on paper double as fast - but I doubt this in real world, the i7-2630 could well be slower, as the application would need to be made for quad core processing - which very few are - the higher clock of 2410M I think will make the difference.

I can also confirm that the HD 3000 integrated graphics card works as it should - remembers the settings when you unplug the VGA external monitor an plug again - very good ! Which is sadly to say the Geforece I had on an old Acer couldnt handle.

I am amazed how much machine you get for 450 GBP today !

Hope this is usefull.

( The Pacard Bell also looks OK )

 

Just want to point out that although most i5 come with discrete graphics cards, they mostly support switchable graphics... meaning they can run both intel HD3000 and the dedicated graphics card.

For example, my Y470, unless I'm gaming, it uses the HD3000 for everything, giving me a battery life of about 4-5 hours. With the Switchable graphics system, although buggy still, you can have your cake and eat it to.

Also... having a discrete GFX won't mean the laptop will suffer a meltdown... that's just a really exaggerated and silly opinion.