Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p review

When the IdeaPad Y510p arrived at the PC Pro office, it was clear its focus is high-performance gaming. With a pitch-black chassis and blood-red backlit keyboard, it’s reminiscent of Alienware’s intimidating range of dedicated gaming laptops, yet its price of £1,000 brings it more in line with mid-range desktop replacements such as the A-listed Asus N550JV.

In fact, the similarities don’t end at the price. Like the N550JV, the Y510p has a 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 Haswell processor, a 15.6in Full HD screen and discrete Nvidia graphics at its heart. The Lenovo has a slight edge, though, with a more advanced GeForce GT 755M GPU, 16GB of DDR3 RAM – twice the Asus’ capacity – and Condusiv’s ExpressCache system, which utilises a 24GB SSD to accelerate the loading of commonly used applications.

This line-up of components led to a score of 0.9 in our Real World benchmarks, a 5% improvement on the Asus N550JV. The big advantage, however, came in the gaming tests, with the Y510p achieving an average of 39fps at native resolution at High quality settings in our Crysis benchmark. That’s very impressive for a desktop replacement – the N550JV scored 27fps.

Clearly, it’s a quick performer, but Lenovo hasn’t neglected the basics. The Y510p’s keyboard is excellent, sharing the crispness of its ThinkPad cousins and giving a soft but palpable (and audible) snap with every keystroke. The intensity of the backlight can be adjusted easily by holding the function key and tapping the spacebar, although in standard office conditions we found it unobtrusive, even at its brightest setting. The only problem is the smaller-than-average backspace key, but in general the keyboard is ergonomically sound. The wide, buttonless touchpad works well, too, and its matte finish gives it a tactile texture that lends itself well to Windows 8’s gestures.

The Y510p’s screen isn’t as impressive. Peak brightness and contrast are perfectly acceptable – 280cd/m² and 700:1 respectively – but colour accuracy is merely average, with washed-out skin tones, a problem exacerbated by the panel’s narrow viewing angles. We prefer the Asus’ IPS display, which reaches a brightness of 335cd/m² and delivers a 780:1 contrast ratio, better viewing angles and a far better colour performance. Considering the Y510p isn’t encumbered by a light-obscuring touchscreen layer, unlike the Asus, it’s a disappointing performance.

Inevitably, heavy-duty hardware running this fast is going to take its toll on battery life. The Y510p lasted 5hrs 18mins in our light-use battery test, which isn’t bad for this kind of machine. Even so, the Asus N550JV squeezed two more hours from its battery. In our heavy-use test, the Y510p held out for 1hr 43mins.

The Y510p isn’t a laptop you’ll want to carry with you very often, weighing in at just under 3kg. It’s a seriously bulky machine, and you’d be better lugging it around in a sturdy rucksack rather than a slender shoulder bag.

Thankfully, it makes up for this with a decent selection of ports and connections: there’s a sleep-and-charge USB 2 port, two USB 3 ports, HDMI out and a 6-in-1 card reader. There’s also the bonus of a Blu-ray drive.

Sadly, wireless networking only includes single-band 802.11bgn, but there’s Bluetooth 4. Sound quality is good, too. The JBL-branded speakers produced crisp top-end vocals and a nice, weighty feel to bass and percussive sounds. The volume doesn’t reach ear-splitting levels, but it’s plenty for casual gaming and movie-viewing.

Overall, we like the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p: it’s attractively designed, with top-quality ergonomics; it’s a swift performer with a decent specification; and it doesn’t cost the earth. However, the Asus N550JV – with its touchscreen and superior display – edges it in this price bracket.

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