Y460P New vs. Optimized vs. SSD

Note: If one video loads faster than the other reload the page, it should more or less even out.

Hey guys!

Received my Y460P (non-RapidDrive) today. I came from a first gen Macbook and have to say that while I think OSX is a more enjoyable computer experience this is by far the fastest computer I have ever owned (nicest keyboard too!). At the same time as ordering the computer I also ordered an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD and NewmodeUS caddy. For your viewing enjoyment are comparison videos on restart speed between a completely stock out-of-the-box Y460P, one that has had Windows 7 optimized, and when I receive the SSD, then a video of that as well.

As far as optimization goes, I ran pcdecrapifier, uninstalled a couple other bloatware applications, ccleaner, and turned of GUI boot. Here is the first installment. Even without the SSD, cleaning up Windows has made quite a difference!

The stock computer is on the left and the optimized on is on the right.

Lenovo Y460P Restart (Completely Stock) vs. Lenovo Y460P Restart (Windows 7 Optimized)

 

Note: If one video loads faster than the other reload the page, it should more or less even out.

Alright, the SSD comparison videos are up! The difference is absolutely incredible. This is by far the biggest upgrade I have ever made on any computer.

Lenovo Y460P Restart (SSD Clean Windows 7 Install) vs. Lenovo Y460P Restart (Completely Stock)

Lenovo Y460P Restart (SSD Clean Windows 7 Install) vs. Lenovo Y460P Restart (Windows 7 Optimized)

 

How are you liking the computer? Mine will be here on Friday. I too LOVE the keyboard. What kind of battery life are you getting?

 

I love it. I haven't done anything really intensive yet (just doing lots of maintenance), but so far it is one of the fastest computers I have ever laid hands on, and easily the fastest notebook....after the SSD install. I have done one battery cycle and it lasted right around 3 hours.

 

The SSD really makes it faster heh. I have recently put some 3/4 inch bottom risers on my Y460, it works extreamly well. You will want to raise it up a bit when your doing intense stuff so it has more room to suck air in from the middle fan. My risers came in a bag that I got which was a thermaltake laptop stand.

 

After watching your great videos, I'm thinking of doing this as well when my Y460p arrives next week. Any tips or things I should watch out for with SSD setup and install? I'm more of a software guy than a hardware/os guy, so a little nervous about messing something up.

Thanks,
Jason

 

So I can put both my 120GB Vertex 2 AND the stock HD in the Y460P? Is it easy to do? Which caddy did you buy?

 

Extremely easy. The optical drive slides out with the removal of one tiny screw.

I was going to get this: http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_7&products_id=253

I'm sure cheaper ones can be found on Ebay, etc.

 

Whichever you use, the disk will need to be defragmented. Windows has a defragmenter. I use Perfect Disk and recommend it. On their web page, you can try it out free for 30 days. It's cheap.

Renee

 

The hardware side of installing the dual drives is actually very easy. The supplier linked above makes a great product, and even has the adapters for you to put the original optical drive's faceplate on to make it look cleaner. Keep in mind that the end configuration you want is to have the SSD where the HDD used to be, and the HDD in the optical caddy. Physically, it is very plug and play.

HOWEVER

In my recent experience, it is the software side of things that made it a little more difficult than I expected. When I first received the laptop (a day or two before receiving the SSD), I configured Windows the way I liked it, as you saw in the video above. I then defragged and used the Lenovo backup software to make recovery disks to install onto the SSD. When the SSD arrived, I removed the HDD, installed the SSD, and booted off of the recovery disks.

THE ISSUE - The SSD is, as expected, unformatted out of the box and unlike a Windows disk, the Lenovo recovery disks cannot format the drive for you, and cannot load to an unformatted disk. So at this point you have three options.

First, you can put the HDD back in, load the SSD into the caddy and use Windows Disk Management to format the SSD, then start over. This was not an option for me as the OCZ SSD did not fit very well in the caddy (but the HDD fit perfectly). I don't know if this would be the case with anything other than a 60GB Vertex 2. I tried keeping the SSD in the main bay and the HDD in the caddy and booting off of the HDD, but the HDD did not show up as a bootable drive in the bios.

Second, you can keep the SSD in the main bay and use a disk tool off of a bootable disk/usb key to format the drive, then use the recovery disks.

Third, you can do like I did, forget the recovery disks and use a Windows disk to do a clean install. Downside of this is that you have to go driver hunting. Also, it may be a little more difficult for some users because the computer does not come with recovery disks. I used a TechNet account to download the .iso and boot off of a flash drive.

So, other than that learning experience, the install was easy peasy.

 

So you put the OS on the SSD and games, videos and stuff on the HD? I'm so use to the snappiness of a computer with an SSD that it's hard for me to use HDs. Do you notice files being slower that are pulled up from the HD.

 

Now that I have everything set up and tweaked over the course of a week or so, I have the OS and most Program Files on the SSD. I figure things like Chrome, Digsby, and Tweetdeck are so small they won't take up a lot of space on the SSD, but the performance difference is appreciated. Data is primarily kept on the HDD now, along with some programs that do not require speed, or are not used often (Vuze and other stuff like that). To address your second question, everything is noticeably slower off the HDD, but the Y460P is such a fast computer it's not much to complain about.

Actually, one of my projects lately has been turning my old P4 Dell into a Windows Home Server, so there really isn't a lot stored on the HDD anymore datawise, either.