Y580 Owners Thread

the tv tuner if installed would be a mini pcie, different from the slot to add the msata drive correct?

 

Here is a list of possible tv tuners.
All of them are pci-e minicards.

TV Tuner Module, DMB-T, Geniatech, MM7000DMBT TV TUNER
TV Tuner Module, DMB-T, Yuan, MC163 TV TUNER HYBRID MINICAR
TV Tuner Module, DVB-T, Avermedia, AM H339 DVBT Hybrid TV Turner MiniCard
TV Tuner Module, ATSC, Avermedia, AM H339 ATSC Hybrid TV Turner MiniCard
TV Tuner Module, DVB-T/ATSC, Yuan, MC907 TV TUNER HYBRID MINICAR

 

Does the Y580 allow you to install both a HDD and an SSD without removing the optical drive? I have ordered one with just a HDD, but was looking to reinstall the OS onto an ssd.

Thanks

 

From the review and specs the below one looks like the FHD model with Blu Ray drive

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-209942U-Y580-15-6-Win7/dp/B008C7BOMQ/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

But the listing has almost no descriptions and specs are also written quite vaguely.

But yes after reading couple of reviews and checking the specs like RAM / HDD etc (don't care about GPU as don't play games) i am falling in love with this laptop. I am seriously considering this over the Vaio S15 for the better build quality.

 

There's only one HDD bay, so only one HDD or SSD may fit. However, there's a mSATA slot to the left of the HDD bay. So if you order an mSATA SSD (mSSD), you'll be able to have an HDD and mSSD together with your optical drive.

 

Hi. I'm considering getting this laptop from Newegg and I have a few questions about it.

1. Is the Blu-ray drive in the 209942U model from Newegg really a Blu-ray re-writable drive? It seems pretty hard to find a definitive answer. Mostly everywhere I look is vague information.
2. Would I be able to have a Y580 with an SSD, an HDD and a Blu-ray drive? I know the 20994HU model on Lenovo implies that it is possible, but I wanted to make sure. (Edit: looks like ssri ninja'd me on this one.)

Thanks in advance and I will come back here if I have more questions.

 

I am not sure if this will help but if you read the review on the following amazon link, you will see the person mentioning that it will burn blu rays

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-209942U-Y580-15-6-Win7/dp/B008C7BOMQ/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

Not sure whether he/she tried it or not.

Additionally if you check the bestbuy website for same model, you will see the following ...

Blu-ray Disc-enabled DVD±RW/CD-RW drive
Features full read and write support for next-generation Blu-ray Disc (BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE).

Link -> Lenovo - 15.6" IdeaPad Laptop - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Dawn Gray - 209942U


I too am looking for concrete information about FHD models and specs but amazon seems to have all sort of mismatching information and that is the only website i would be buying the laptop from.

 

You're looking at the wrong computer if you don't care about the GPU. Sure, the specs are good...but there is definitely better build quality. Get a notebook with a worse GPU and a solid state drive. You will LOVE it. The trackpad isn't the greatest, though the keyboard is very nice.

Definitely look into other notebooks that have worse GPUs and buy an SSD with the saved money!

 

I continuously read about people mentioning about replacing the HDD with SSD and all. But i for some reason am not really interested in it. What enticed me with the sony vaio S15 is the 1080p screen and the greater real estate compares to 768p screen. The sony one seems to have not that good build quality. It is lighter in weight but this particular Y580 with 1080p screen seems more VFM.

I am not sure what are the advantages of SSD except the boot time. Never cared to think about that.
Also the GPU might not be useful for me but the screen surely is.

Also i am ok even if the trackpad is not the greatest as i usually use a wireless mouse, feels more comfortable.

 

Hey all, first time posting here. I wanted to find out what kind of aftermarket upgrades I could do to my Y580 (20994HU model off of Lenovo's website) so I talked to a sales rep yesterday to find out. After a bit of a wait I was told that 8GB of RAM is the max for the system and that there are two unoccupied mini PCI-E on the board.

So questions: 1) Has anyone had any luck locating these unoccupied slots (I poked around in the access hatch and found none that were not being used), and 2) Any ideas for fun projects regarding the mini PCI-E slots besides a tv tuner and additional mSSD's?

Thank you kindly.

 

For those that self-installed an SSD into their Y580 - Did you need to use a spacer?

I'm debating on whether or not I need to purchase the Samsung 830 laptop upgrade kit with spacer, or if I can save a few bucks and just get it without it. Thanks!

Amazon.com: Samsung 830 - Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 256 GB 2.5 Inch SATA III MLC Internal SSD Laptop Kit with Norton Ghost 15: Electronics

 

Hi jloran;

I can't tell you about the inside of the laptop as I haven't open it yet. But I think that the 8GB max capacity is misleading and wrong (I chat with a rep before buying mine and most of his answers were wrong, starting with no backlit keyboard on Y580). The CPU (i7 3610QM) supports up to 32GB (search in Intel webpage). You can buy other laptops with the same chip with 16GB, and if the laptop has 4 slots for RAM up to 32. Therefore I think it supports up to 8GB/slot. In order to enjoy 16GB RAM you need an OS x64 Windows 7 Home Premium or better.

 

no spacer is needed.

 

Thanks for the help.looks like I'll order the basic kit without spacer then!

 

does the video card come already updated from nvidias site or do we have to update it? if we do can someone link me to the download from nvidias.

 

hdd and ssd have the exact same size. i'm not shure for what situation this spacer are made.

 

Hey broncito,
First off, thank you. Second, yea the sales rep seemed pretty spaced out when I talked to him. I knew that the ivy bridge cores were pretty sweet and could take up to 32 GB of RAM, so if it is limited it would have to be some part of the chipset i guess (why they would essentially lobotomize the processor this way is beyond me,) but at the moment 8 GB is just dandy. Anywho, there is another laptop in the house that will be needing a RAM upgrade soon and is capable of 16 GB; maybe I'll pick up two sticks of 8 and see what happens.

Hey titanlord1,
For my setup, as long as I let windows do its thing and install the updates for the first 20 mins of the computer being turned on for the first time it should update them all. To check just go to nvidia's control panel and there is an option to check for updates (including beta drivers).

Cheers.

 

How did you let windows download all the drivers for you? What do you do exactly?

 

If you are on Windows 7:

(This is from memory as I am on XP at the moment)

Start button, in the search box that appears right above the button type "update". Look for something like "Windows Update," click on that and look for something to do with installing. Then I draw a blank from there, but it is pretty straight forward and usually does it for you automatically.

Microsoft link:
Install Windows updates in Windows 7

 

Admin please delete, double post.

 

I believe they use it for laptops that have a 9.5mm HD enclosure, probably those that don't have a thin profile. The spacers prevent it from moving around (I think).

 

i tried using the windows update but another question are the beta drivers good or should i just stick with actual drivers?

 

That I do not know. I tried the beta drivers and didn't notice any difference in gameplay or normal use. I reverted back to the latest drivers last week and still did not notice anything.

I say, 'What is the harm in trying!' For more help on that and more info on the beta driver try searching this forum; I remember a few posts where a difference between drivers was observed.

 

Anyone know the difference between normal and intelligent in one key?

 

Has anyone who bought one of these replaced the screen with the AUO v5 or v7?

 

I started looking around (Google) the max capacity of RAM 'cause I've seen this topic a couple of times around this forum. I learned that another limiting factor of maximum RAM (besides the CPU and OS) is the BIOS. Sometimes manufactures limit the BIOS of the PC, even though all the hardware can handle more. If you can manage to unlock the bios, then you can add more RAM... bottom line is it is possible that they limit the BIOS to a maximum of 8GB. But like you said... the only way we will really know is if someone put two 8GB and see what happens.

 

I just got my Y580, stuck pixel out of box. Red, towards the top, sometimes really hard to see, sometimes it sticks out.

Laptop looks a lot better than I thought it would. Any idea on what I should do with the pixel? Already tried the q-tip, applying a little pressure, and ud pixel.

 

Normal is no enhancement to screen quality and sound system whatsoever while intelligence turns on the enhancement depending on the activity that you're doing. Alternate between playing music and watching videos and you'll see what the intelligence mode is doing.

 

I bought my Y580 and just received it in the mail today, on time with every estimate they gave me. So far i love it. Except the track pad, which I find difficult to type with at times. Instead of reading through 88 pages of this thread, is there anything I should do or know now that I have it in my hands. Any extra drivers or anything.

Mine also doesnt have a TV antenna like other peoples had.. is there a reason why? Do certain models have them and others dont?
Thanks in advance.
Baller

 

Does anyone here use his Y580 with any cooling pad? was thinking to get a Cooler Master Notepal U3 but thought to ask around and see what else is being used?

 

I have the Y580 atop a U3 as I am typing this.
There are only 3 big vents under the y580 so I moved all the cooling fans to those vents on the bottom left corner left side of the laptop. I only have it for when I run BF3.

 

oh cool, how do you rate the cooling pad? does the laptop fit and stay well on it or not? do the vents get blocked by the edge of the pad or the mesh is under the vents? do you recommend it?

 

Hi everybody;

I've installed CPUiD and HWiNFO64 and none of them give me the option to select the nVidia GTX 660m... Is this normal? I haven't play with my GPU settings. Does the laptop must be using the nVidia in order to be detected by these programs?

I have other programs, such as MATLAB, that do recognize the GPU.

Thanks in advance

 

Hi guys, been reading here a bit and obviously cant get through it all but for someone using this as a university/college notebook with some light gaming and coding would you guys reccomend the Y580 or the Asus N56ZM ? Mostly concerned about build quality screen and keyboard for typing while programming.

Thanks

 

From what I've read so far, the laptop is not ideal for carrying it around in a bag on a daily basis.
Feel free to prove me wrong.

 

Yeah from what I've read they both quite bulky, that's why I'm more worried about the actual feel of the notebook, which will feel like better quality and give the best viewing experience on the screen.

 

I happen to be having the same dilemma though. Can't decide between portability vs performance. On one hand I want the sony s13p because it's superb for dragging it to courses all day. On the other hand I want the Y580 because gaming on that machine would be a lot better. Also considering the S15, though I don't like the orangegate problem and the necessity to overclock it to reach 650m level gfx. Even if overclocking is easy, it can't be healthy in the long run, right?

 

Huh? Don't you see this in CPUiD?

 

The Asus isn't really more portable apparently, well not much but offers better warranty but weaker graphics but I won't game much so that's why its up to build quality for me really.

 

Hi hlight;

No, not at all... this is what I have. Pictures are HWMonitor, CPU-Z and HWiNFO64, respectively.



Thanks for looking into this

Update: However, I just downloaded TechPowerUp GPU-Z and it does recognize both the Integrated and the GTX 660M

 

The problem with Hwmonitor not showing gfx card is because it is not executed with the discrete graphics card by default. Change that and you'll be fine.

 

Alright, you might want to check device manager and see if the graphics card is there.



If you don't see 660m but instead standard VGA display adapter, try restarting your computer and look up device manager again. I noted in this thread some pages back that the 660m will disappear if you run temperature monitoring programs after sometime.

 

He stated in his post that he saw it using GPU-Z. In other words, everything is fine.

 

Yes, my 660M is working... I just wanted to know if there is something I need to do to be able to see the 660M in those programs (CPUID and HWiNFO64). Like select the 660M as the default video card or something similar.

Thanks everyone for the comments

 

One way to see it in HWiNFO64 is to run GPU-Z first and, while that is running, open HWiNFO64.

 

It's actually very high quality. It's machined aluminum and the fans clip anywhere you want on the surface area bottom. It's got a very soft grippy rubber strip on the top and bottom that keeps the laptop well secured. Although, when it comes to cooling in my vents i say it does a good job since you can put them over your air ducts. Frys had a ton, and from the ones I saw I really didn't know which ones to pick sI chose this for it's custom fan placement. The U2 had a huge fan under it I actually wanted that for some reason. I'd recommended it, although it's a little big if your into the size factor.

I have to push the laptop up a little higher so the vents and then fans mesh better because my fans area at the lowest area to place them.

 

Or you can place custom risers (3M sticky pads for me) in the front to prop up the cooler to allow more clearance
for fan placement underneath. What is also nice is the fact that one can add customized fans (described here) that are quieter and more powerful. When the hideous rattling noise comes--all coolers that employ sleeve bearing fans experience this after several months or so--one can simply unscrew the metal grill, detach the fan and re-oil the shaft (sewing machine oil has been recommended) to fix it. I used 3-in-one from one site's recommendation but I have been reading that sewing machine oil is the better alternative.

 

You nailed it! All the programs (HWiNFO64, CPU-Z and HWMonitor) recognized it.

Thanks

 

I'm very interested to know how much cooling the cooler is providing. Did you try to run any intensive programs (BF3, D3, Skyrim, etc) and check the CPU/GPU/HDD temperature with and without the cooler?

I'm still deciding if I should invest in one since the most graphic intensive game that I'll be playing in the near future is GW2 and max temp on CPU was only 76C during the last beta. And well, we have a pretty hot summer this year.

 

Thanks for the response. I think U2 is small for this laptop and the edges of the Y580 will hang outside of the cooler, which can block the vents.

I was going to build one myself but I thought for the amount of effort I need to put in and buy materials, its better to just get the cooler master.. I am low on free time because of work.

Have you tried and see how much of battery it drains running 3 fans? I will probably install custom switch to be able to turn each fan on/off individually .