Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 Notebook
User Experience
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Portability
For several weeks we put the Lenovo Y530 though day to day usage scenarios, hauling it to the coffee shop, to the dog park, office, etc.
The laptop was very easy to carry and since it is winter all we had to do was stuff the power supply in a jacket pocket and carry the laptop under an arm if we wanted. We don't recommend carrying a laptop like this for the average user--using a carrying case is always a good idea--but we wanted to experience carrying the Y530 in a worst case scenario.
Video
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The WXGA display proved to be quite consistent, without noticeable artifacts on the edges. It does appear to dim somewhat when not viewed perpendicular to the center due to is viewing angle, but that is the true of most mobile LCD monitors. The 1280x 800 resolution is perfect for 2-up reading modes of Word and Adobe Acrobat.
The HDMI port was a welcome feature. Just plug an HDMI cable from the laptop into an HD TV and you're basically ready to go. One Cable hookup simplifies it all.
Hard Drive Performance
One of the strongest points revealed during our testing is the Hitachi HTS542525K9SA00 HD. This drive offers low power consumption, and relatively strong performance in the benchmarks.
Productivity
During daily work we usually have 10-14 browser windows open, several Acrobat documents, and multiple Word and Excel instances going. The Y530 did not even hiccup and switching between applications was easy and fast.
We'd also like to note, that during the review period of this IdeaPad, Windows 7 Beta 1 came out, and we decided to use this laptop as our test machine. This proved an excellent choice as the installation went smoothly and the Lenovo Y530 ran like a top, and still is to this day. Read more about The Lenovo Y530 in Window 7 Up Close and personal.
