The Lenovo 209942U is a notebook from the latest IdeaPad Y580 15.6″ entertainment-oriented series.
The 209942U is an above-average consumer laptop when it comes to performance. Packing the 2012 Intel Core i7 3610QM “Ivy Bridge” quad-core processor, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M “Kepler” dedicated graphics, and 8GB of RAM, the notebook is a fairly capable machine, not only for media consumption and creation, but also for gaming as well. The included GTX 660M video card is used in many pure gaming and more expensive notebooks. The Y580 209942U on the other side houses these high-end components in a standard looking gray aluminum chassis, without colorful accents and remarkable curves like on many gaming notebooks. Also, the price of $1,100 is much below many other mobile rigs with similar components, such as the Asus G55 or MSI GT60, priced at about $1,500.
Lenovo’s 15.6-incher isn’t an average machine when it comes to the display either. It’s a full HD 1080p screen, up from usual 720p. The screen brightness is, on the other side, mediocre with a value of 220-nits. In this field, the Samsung NP700Z5C-S01UB does much better with 300-nits.
The list of great features doesn’t end here. The system sports keyboard backlight, making the use of ergonomic AccuType keys easier in the dark, Intel’s Wireless Display technology for video streaming on an external display without wires, as well as Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 3.0 technologies.
Potentially, the main downside of the notebook are its stereo speakers, with a power of only 1.5W each and without a subwoofer for a richer bass sound. Also, Lenovo’s battery life estimation of up to four hours isn’t a good selling point on today’s market, but that’s not something unusual for laptops with such a powerful and power-hungry components.
Lenovo 209942U IdeaPad Y580 Specifications
- Display: 15.6” 1920 x 1080
- Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3610QM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 2GB GDDR5
- Memory: 8GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Optical Drive: Blu-ray Combo
- Webcam: 1MP
- Audio: Stereo speakers
- Network: 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit LAN
- Input: Backlight isle-style keyboard, one-piece touchpad
- Ports and Slots: 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, multi-in-one card reader, HDMI, VGA
- Battery: 6-cell, up to 4 hours
- Dimensions: 1.4″ x 15.2″ x 10.0”
- Weight: 5.95 pounds
- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
- Warranty: 1-year