Game on with the Lenovo Ideapad Y510P

What do you get for 77k in the world of gaming? Well, a decent laptop that can play most high-end PC games with ease is what we’d vouch for

Game on with the Lenovo Ideapad Y510P

Lenovo Ideapad Y510P, gaming laptop, high-end PC games, gadget review, technology, Life & Style

The Lenovo Ideapad Y510P (an upgradation over the earlier Y510) might not be the best gaming laptop (when compared with the likes of Alienware or Asus Rog), but if you have a limited budget (80K), and all you need is a dependable machine, this might be a good choice. Here’s our report card:

Design
The Y510P is a conservative-looking laptop but with a hidden wild side. Available in a metal-plastic combination shell, the lid and palm rest are made of metal painted in black, with plastic on the rest of the body. The red lines around the laptop speakers add a dash of style.

Graphics and performance
The in-built 2GB NVIDIA GT 750M GDDR5 is a middle class (generic) graphic card, but 2.4 Ghz Intel i7 4700MQ Haswell processor with its 6MB cache (it can be clocked up to 3.4 GHz) fills up the void. The processing power of the haswell processor combined with the 8GB RAM gives a decent performance while gaming. We tested the performance on Dead Space 3, FIFA 14 and Resident Evil Revelations at 30fps in full resolution 1920x1080 on its 15.6-inch screen without any hiccups. The large screen is great for gaming as well as watching movies. The laptop heats up like any other gaming laptop, but the in-built cooler works well to keep the temperature down.

Other highlights
The backlit Accutype Keyboard not only adds a dash of colour to its formal look, but is also comfortable to use. It sports a separate numeric keypad on the right side. The touchpad doesn’t have any demarcation of left or right buttons, but has easy navigability.

Storage and connectivity
It is packed with 1TB storage space. In terms of connectivity, it has a USB 3.0 port, one “always-ready” 2.0 port, and HDMI, VGA and a LAN port. The HD web camera is generic.

What else?
Those looking to add more juice to this machine could add an extra graphic card using an easy-to-replace ultrabay (in place of the optical drive) from Lenovo, or add an extra fan or more storage option. Though the graphic card option is limited to what’s offered by Lenovo, the choice could come handy.

What we didn’t like
Though customisation is one of the key features, gamers have very little option with the Y510P. Unlike Dell, Lenovo doesn’t offer upgrades in terms of memory, etc at the time of placing an order. The six-cell battery gives around 2.5 hours of gaming (longer in movie playing), and takes around the same time to recharge, which isn’t so great for a laptop of this size. It also comes with in-built JBL speakers, which were a big downer, as the audio was barely audible during movie viewing.

Final verdict
If you are a hardcore PC gamer, you won’t be impressed with the Y510P and its generic graphic card, but the presence of the Intel i7 4700MQ processor makes things easier. To this, add 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard disk space, a 15.6-inch monitor, the portability of a laptop and the option to customise, and you’re good to go.

Game review courtesy: Milestone Interactive

Quick specs

Processor: 2.4 GHz i7 4700MQ (haswell)

Memory: 8Gb (expandable up to 8)

Hard Drive: 1TB (5400RPM)

Display Type: LCD (15.6-inch) Full HD, LED Glare screen

Operating System: Windows 8

Graphic Processor: 2GB NVIDIA GT 750M GDDR5

Ideapad Y510P

Performance: Satisfactory

Value for money: Strictly okay

Design / Display: Sleek