“Lenovo makes that!?” This was our reaction when we saw the IdeaPad Y510 for the first time. Breaking from its staid corporate offerings, Lenovo’s first consumer notebook sports a new, albeit polarizing, look compared with the ThinkPad line and has plenty of compelling features, including Dolby 5.1 Home Theater speakers, a one-touch energy-saving/recovery mode, and facial-recognition software. Although we’re not fans of the finicky multimedia controls, the IdeaPad Y510 is one of the better 15.4-inch systems under $1,000.
Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 Build and Design
The Y510 looks different than every other notebook on the market, with its distinctive linen-weave texture on the lid, boxy chassis, frameless 15.4-inch screen attached with a unique beveled hinge, and orange accents inside. At 14.3 x 10.3 x 1.4 inches, the 6.5-pound machine is on the hefty side for a mainstream notebook. It did, however, feel comfortable in a backpack.
The IdeaPad designers could have done a better job of continuing the attractive exterior under the lid. The smooth, black interior is offset by pumpkin-orange media buttons, LED lights, and a volume rocker. Unfortunately, the orange reminds us of the buttons on a 1970s Atari. You won’t find Lenovo’s ubiquitous red pointing stick on the inside, but its very responsive touchpad feels soft and has little friction. Fans of the ThinkPad keyboard will be pleased to find that Lenovo included a similar setup; the matte keys have an excellent, cushioned response, and the full-size layout feels spacious and comfortable.
ThinkPad fans should note what they’re not getting with this value-priced notebook. For one, the keyboard is not spill-resistant. The IdeaPad is made of ABS plastic instead of the high-end materials used in the business notebook line. It also lacks an accelerometer and a shock-mounted hard drive.
Glossy Display, Sweet Speakers
The glossy 15.4-inch glass screen is gorgeous; its lack of a physical frame allows for a very sleek, unified look, especially when the system is off, as the glass reaches all the way to the edges of the notebook. The 1280 x 800-pixel panel was crisp, and colors were vivid. Watching Borat on the standard DVD drive looked quite good; colors were bright, and we saw no motion blur. To our disappointment, vertical viewing angles were poor. Moving just slightly off-axis caused a substantial reflection shift. In addition, the screen is extremely reflective; with a dark desktop background we were able to check for food in our teeth.
What makes this laptop a serious multimedia contender is its impressive Dolby Home Theater audio system. The speakers are positioned above and to the sides of the keyboard, and the subwoofer is on the bottom of the notebook. When we cranked the system, we were able to hear Chris Brown’s “Run It” from over 40 feet away, with a nice thumping bass. You can change the Dolby equalizer presets via the touch panel, along with the different modes, such as Pop and Classical, which complemented the music nicely.
Finicky Multimedia Keys
Above the keyboard you’ll find the IdeaPad’s multimedia control keys. Unfortunately, the design gets in the way of function. You can change which hidden buttons appear on the touch panel by hitting the Shuttle key to the right; one setting shows all the standard music controls while the other lets you tweak the Dolby sound settings. Pretty cool, but it takes more pressure than it should to activate the touch control’s functions, so you’ll find yourself pressing a button twice to get the result. We finally got the hang of the touch controls by angling the pad of our index finger to lay directly on the touch surface. More responsive is the plastic volume rocker.