Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 comes along with the ad-supported but free Microsoft
Office 2010 Starter applications, the Y580 comes preloaded with a mostly
useful range of software. Good old McAfee AntiVirus Plus will ring your
doorbell during dinner several times, asking for an activation, but other
programs will wait quietly for you to visit: ooVoo video conferencing,
Intel WiDi (for wireless display on an adapter-equipped HDTV), Adobe
Reader, and a few others.
The IdeaPad Y580's discrete 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX660M GPU swaggered
through our gaming tests with élan, easily breaking the 30 frames per
second (fps) playability barrier in medium quality settings while only
falling slightly short in high quality settings. It led the pack in our
Crysis benchmark tests (97fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768
resolution; 13fps in high quality at native resolution) and muscled past
the Envy 17 (88fps and 12 fps, respectively). While the IdeaPad Y580
performed admirably in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark tests (71fps in medium
quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution; 28fps in high quality at native
resolution), it fell slightly short of the Toshiba Qosmio X775 (76fps and
33fps, respectively) as well as the Envy 17 in medium quality settings
(77fps and 28fps, respectively). On the other hand, the Y580 nearly
outshined its entire class in 3DMark 06 (15,486 at medium detail settings
and 1,024-by-768 resolution; 12,720 at native resolution with 4x anti-
aliasing). Despite falling a bit short of the Toshiba Qosmio X775 (15,576
and 11,174, respectively) in medium detail settings.
Lenovo pitches the Y580 as a multimedia entertainment device, and it
delivers. Listening to music in the air (via the JBL speakers) or on
headphones is a pleasure, with well-equalized upper and lower frequencies.
The 1,920x1,080-pixel display is bright and sharp.
At 6.2 pounds, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Y580 weighs twice as much as the typical
ultrabook. Sometimes heft has its perks, though: In this case, the Y580
more than compensates for its meaty middle with power and performance,
loaded with an Intel Third-Generation quad-core “Ivy Bridge” Core i7
processor and Nvidia’s not-too-shabby GeForce GTX 660M graphics
accelerator. Both sound and video are enhanced by the OneKey Theater function activated
by a button above the keyboard, on the right. We found that its "Movie"
mode made black colors notably richer without causing the overall contrast
to dim. Also, it seemed to boost the audio by one notch, likely by
enhancing the bass. There's a separate "Intelligent" mode that sets OneKey Theater to activate automatically when media applications are launched.
- Good Performance.
- Nvidia GT 660M.
- Blue-Ray Drive.
- Nice Key-Board.
- 1080p HD Display.
- A bit Heavy.
- Stiff touch-pad buttons.
Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 comes along with the ad-supported but free Microsoft
Office 2010 Starter applications, the Y580 comes preloaded with a mostly
useful range of software. Good old McAfee AntiVirus Plus will ring your
doorbell during dinner several times, asking for an activation, but other
programs will wait quietly for you to visit: ooVoo video conferencing,
Intel WiDi (for wireless display on an adapter-equipped HDTV), Adobe
Reader, and a few others.
The IdeaPad Y580's discrete 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX660M GPU swaggered
through our gaming tests with élan, easily breaking the 30 frames per
second (fps) playability barrier in medium quality settings while only
falling slightly short in high quality settings. It led the pack in our
Crysis benchmark tests (97fps in medium quality at 1,024-by-768
resolution; 13fps in high quality at native resolution) and muscled past
the Envy 17 (88fps and 12 fps, respectively). While the IdeaPad Y580
performed admirably in our Lost Planet 2 benchmark tests (71fps in medium
quality at 1,024-by-768 resolution; 28fps in high quality at native
resolution), it fell slightly short of the Toshiba Qosmio X775 (76fps and
33fps, respectively) as well as the Envy 17 in medium quality settings
(77fps and 28fps, respectively). On the other hand, the Y580 nearly
outshined its entire class in 3DMark 06 (15,486 at medium detail settings
and 1,024-by-768 resolution; 12,720 at native resolution with 4x anti-
aliasing). Despite falling a bit short of the Toshiba Qosmio X775 (15,576
and 11,174, respectively) in medium detail settings.
Lenovo pitches the Y580 as a multimedia entertainment device, and it
delivers. Listening to music in the air (via the JBL speakers) or on
headphones is a pleasure, with well-equalized upper and lower frequencies.
The 1,920x1,080-pixel display is bright and sharp.
At 6.2 pounds, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Y580 weighs twice as much as the typical
ultrabook. Sometimes heft has its perks, though: In this case, the Y580
more than compensates for its meaty middle with power and performance,
loaded with an Intel Third-Generation quad-core “Ivy Bridge” Core i7
processor and Nvidia’s not-too-shabby GeForce GTX 660M graphics
accelerator. Both sound and video are enhanced by the OneKey Theater function activated
by a button above the keyboard, on the right. We found that its "Movie"
mode made black colors notably richer without causing the overall contrast
to dim. Also, it seemed to boost the audio by one notch, likely by
enhancing the bass. There's a separate "Intelligent" mode that sets OneKey Theater to activate automatically when media applications are launched.
- Good Performance.
- Nvidia GT 660M.
- Blue-Ray Drive.
- Nice Key-Board.
- 1080p HD Display.
- A bit Heavy.
- Stiff touch-pad buttons.
