Lenovo Ideapad Y500 i7-3630M 15.6in GT650M 2GB DDR3 8GB 1TB BT 720p HD webcam Windows 8 Notebook

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I just received this laptop yesterday, I purchased it for my nephew's Graduation, and since I will only have it till tonight, I figured I would review this now that I have it in my hands.I love this laptop! Love the feel of the keys & Illuminating keyboard, which has 3 settings (Off, Low, High). Machine feels solid like all Lenovo's I purchased (to date 4). I think Lenovo's are highly under rated, all machines I bought have been solid performers. This is the 1st gaming laptop I buy, and I'm not disappointed at this point. The SLI'd video cards I'm certain, will give my nephew years of enjoyment with whatever he wants to throw at it. Now, to be honest it's not my laptop, so I didn't test it with games, but I know enough about computers to say this machine will not disappoint. The one minor negative I have to say was the Synaptics touchpad. I don't have the same problem others have complained about (the dancing mouse), NO, my disappointment albeit minor is that Synaptics does not have the option to disable the touchpad when an external mouse is plugged it, therefore forcing you to hit fn +f6 to disable it. It's no biggie, but still a pain to remember to do every time you connect your mouse. Some people would say Win 8 is a negative, but for me it's not bad, YES there's a learning curve, but it's not that hard if you're at all computer savvy. Personally I prefer Win 7, but let's face it, it's only a matter of time before Window shoves their new operating system down EVERYONE'S throat, so better learn it early than later. This review was modfied by poster @ 05-29-13 01:31 PM

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This is quite a brilliant notebook, it's hard to find another notebook that matches its specs that within this sort of price range. There's a new refresh model with GT 750m's, however it's only a 10-15% gain in performance. It comes with a second 650m in the ultrabay for SLi, however it can be swapped out for an ODD or another fan (assuming you want to buy one from Lenovo). The 1080p FHD screen is really nice, as the increase in resolution makes multitasking so much more eaasier. There is glare, but the screen brightness can be adjusted to combat it a bit. The keyboard is very comfortable to type on and there is no flex when typing; the red back light is a nice touch. The trackpad could have been more stable, however at the very least I did not get one of the ELAN trackpads which were plagued with issues at launch (Synaptics woo).The Speakers are just very good considering that they are notebook speakers, they are very clear and also very loud when you need them to be. Quite a surprise, as most notebook speakers are very poor.There has been some quality control issues with the Y500 models, but I'm glad to report that the one I got from NCIX seems to be defect free. I think Lenovo has gotten past most of the problems now.All in all a great purchase, it has a greath 1080p FHD screen and does everything I need to do on a day to day basis; plus gaming. The Y500 has some room for customization, which is also a plus. Great machine for a good price.

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This is a fantastic laptop. The dual 650m (sli) video cards bench higher than a 670mx, and combined with an i7, this laptop can run most games at high settings (1920x1080). Also, there is a free mSATA slot in this model (59359557), so you can buy an ssd and use it as your boot drive (I installed windows 7. All of the drivers are on Lenovo's site).No complaints on this laptop, and is much more portable than a 17.3" laptop.