The good: Simple, subdued design with solid construction; reasonably priced; light-touch media controls; Dolby Home Theater sound with four speakers plus subwoofer; face recognition software; decent battery life.

The bad: Overly reflective screen; heavier than similar-sized systems.

The bottom line: Though its subdued design may strike some as square, but the midsize Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 delivers a decent media experience for a budget price.

Read full review of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 »

By Michelle Thatcher, CNET.com
Dec 10, 2008

When you're shopping for a low-priced media laptop, the Lenovo brand is not likely to come immediately to mind. After all, the company is best known for its serious, business-oriented ThinkPad line. But Lenovo has been doing some interesting things with its consumer-oriented IdeaPad line, from creating a stunningly beautiful ultraportable to joining the Netbook fray.

With the IdeaPad Y530, the company seems to be combining the sturdy construction and subdued design of the ThinkPad line with a feature set that's aimed at media consumption. To that end, the IdeaPad Y530's boxy black case (with, granted, a linen-like texture on the lid) incorporates both light-touch media controls and a subwoofer with Dolby Home Theater sound. It all adds up to an interesting alternative to similar midsize models from HP and Dell.

Editors' note : This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

In contrast to the curvy edges of many consumer laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 retains the classic rectangular shape found on the company's more business-oriented systems, though with slightly angled front and back edges. The IdeaPad Y530 also bypasses the common glossy (and fingerprint-prone) case finish for a matte-black finish with a linen-like pattern etched into it. A brushed-metal keyboard deck, in a shade somewhere between mocha and eggplant, provides some interest in the otherwise all-black laptop. We like the look, which is clean without being stuffy, though we acknowledge that some will find it boring. Looks aside, the laptop feels solid and well-built, if a bit heavier than the competition.

Lenovo is known for its excellent keyboards, and though the IdeaPad Y530's board isn't the same as a ThinkPad's, it is comfortable. The touchpad and mouse buttons are well positioned and adequately sized. A glossy black strip above the keyboard features a row of touch-sensitive media controls that glow orange. In addition to disc playback and mute buttons, there's a programmable application-launch button and a key to launch controls for the Dolby Home Theater sound. To the right of these buttons sits the orange Shuttle Key, which consists of a volume rocker and a round button. When you press the latter, the light-touch controls switch from media playback to equalizer presets for pop, jazz, dance, and classical music.

The 15.4-inch wide-screen display has a fairly typical 1,280 x 800-pixel native resolution in what Lenovo calls a "frameless screen", meaning the screen surface is flush with the edges of the lid (much like the screen on the recently updated MacBook). The screen looked great, whether we were working or watching movies; our only real complaint lies in the screen's highly reflective finish, which proved particularly distracting when we were working close to a window. We liked the IdeaPad Y530's "kinked" lid hinge, which, when open, holds the screen a bit farther away from the keyboard than on a traditional laptop. On the top edge of the display sits a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, which works with the included VeriFace face-recognition software to let you use your mug to log into Windows.

Tags: Screen, Intel Core 2 Duo, Laptop Computer, Keyboard, Webcam

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