Y400 or Y500?

So I am torn between the Y400 and Y500. So for $700 I can get the base Y400. But for $890 I can get the i5 Y500 that has Dual 650M cards. So the tradeoff is the i5 and 6GB RAM in the Y500 vs. i7 and 8GB RAM in the Y400. Also there is the screen resolution. I don't think that the 768p on the Y400 will bother me just on my lap. To actually get an equalivent (i7 and 8GB ram) i5 with the dual 650m its $1025.

So my questions are:
Size, is the width of the y500 noticably bigger than the y400?
Processor, should I compromise on the i5 to get the dual GPUs?
Screen, is the 1080p that much better than the 768p?

Just looking for some advice on what I should do. The $700 vs. $1025 for me is too far apart and I can get the y400 + GPU for about that much, leaving it only about the screen and I think I can live with the 768p. But the $700 vs. $890 (i7 vs i5) is soo close, I keep going back and forth. Also I want to get a mSATA. So I am wondering if the y400 + mSATA fro around $890ish would give me performance to put off the 2nd GPU for a while. I may be overthinking this all but I am coming from a M11X R1 and I kind of got burned on the lifespan of that one. I just want a monster gaming laptop for the money.

 

Personally I would go with the Y400, you get a stronger processor more ram and it is lighter/more portable, additionally, you can buy the second GPU from lenovo, they cost $230 but if you sign up for their news letter you can get it for $210, I have also seen them on sale for around $140 before. Here is the site for Y400 accessories:

Lenovo Accessories, Laptop Batteries & Laptop Accessories | Lenovo | (US)

So, long story short, you can get a Y400 with 2 gigs more ram and a better processor (something which is a tremendous pain to upgrade after the fact, not to mention expencive) for around $30 more than the Y500.

 

I am leaning to the Y400. I can start with the one 650m and see if I need another 650m down the road. Even just with the single 650m its still a great deal for the laptop. And most of the videos of the Y400 the screen looks fine.

 

The only real difference also if you had to decide between y400 and y500 is if you decide to aplurge a little more for the 1080 in the y500. Other than that I agree with the i7 y400 since it's more futureproof if you dont care that much about resolution.

 

Yeah I don't think I need the 1080p screen. Just wanted to make sure the Y400 screen wasn't complete crap. I am set on the i7, so just by going with Lenovo site, I wonder if the 1080p screen in worth $80 along with the size increase.

Also with the screen size bump from 768p to 1080p to play on max settings I might need the 2nd GPU? I want to maximize my game quality so I am thinking the single GPU will be fine with the lower resolution, maybe even saving me a couple of bucks and not have to get the 2nd GPU.

 

In terms of resolution, I am currently using a Y400, so I am a bit biased, that being said, I do not feel like I need a better resolution, the screen is bright, crisp and feels like it has enough room. When it comes to needing a 2nd GPU, you will only need one if you either play games, or run creative software, like Photoshop.

If you do play games, the quality of the game's graphics will determine if you need a second GPU, a game like "Crysis 3" would require the second GPU to run at Ultra settings. Thoug something along the lines of "Team Fortress 2", "Minecraft" or almost anything directly ported from a console will do fine with the single card.

It should also be noted that the single 650m in the system can be overclocked to around the same speed as a GTX 660 without too much extra heat. If you were to overclock 650m in SLI, you could probably achieve performance slightly lower than a a GTX 680.

 

Ask any girl if an extra inch makes difference.