The device in question is intended for everyday work. With a weight of just over 2.5 kilograms, you can carry the laptop with you every day, or you can use it stationary. You decide. In any case, the computer will amaze you with its capabilities and speed.

It’s nice to know that with a “specific” load and decent “stuffing” the device operates in the 6-segment battery mode for about three hours.

Design

So, before us is a solid laptop with a matte, pleasant surface, where a pattern consisting of geometric shapes looks beautiful. In addition to the glossy figures, the plastic edging looks stylish.

The lid of the device is held firmly in place by two glossy hinges. Rigid fixation will not allow the laptop to open at the most inopportune moment. The lid does not snap shut in any other way.

If, basically, the surface of the laptop was made of matte plastic, then the working area is almost entirely glossy. Considering the presence of a textured image on the surface, there won’t be many fingerprints left.

The surface of the matrix and the keyboard will not touch, because There are rubber feet around the perimeter of the screen frame.

In general, the device is assembled in good faith. Apart from a slight deflection of the lid, there are no other complaints about the build quality. The parts do not creak, they fit perfectly.

Display

In the Lenovo Y560 laptop we see a 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. The glossy WXGA LED-backlit screen has a cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio, so you won't see annoying black bars around the edges. The display boasts excellent horizontal viewing angles.

The shiny surface of the display, on the one hand, makes the image bright and rich, and on the other hand, you will notice reflections on the matrix from time to time, and sometimes glare.

Despite not high level brightness and clarity, the good news is that the illumination level is adjusted automatically by a special sensor using Ambient Light.

Integrated stereo speakers are located along the entire bottom part under the display. Subwoofer in speaker system no, but even without it the sound is simply magnificent. Despite the lack of bass, the volume is so good that there is no need to connect external speakers.

Having a built-in 1.3 megapixel digital camera will help in video communication at a distance. True, the user will determine the angle of the lid himself, due to the fact that the webcam peephole does not rotate. But with the help of VeriFace user facial recognition technology, you don’t have to enter a password to access the system.

Keyboard and touchpad

The display parameters made it possible to place a full-size input device, with a separate block of numeric buttons. The laptop keyboard has 84 keys. Traditionally for Lenovo models, all buttons have a trapezoidal profile.

For the umpteenth time, in models from the Chinese company Lenovo we are faced with the same Fn key, which is located in place of the Ctrl button. The right column on the layout consists of navigation keys. There are no complaints about the “arrows”; they are large and convenient to use. Function keys are grouped in groups of four and resemble keyboard layouts for desktop computers.

All buttons are matte. They operate with a soft stroke and precise pressure.

The slightly recessed touch pad is located slightly offset to the left. The large Synaptics touchpad area helps with positioning. It is convenient to work with this platform, because... its surface is covered with small relief inclusions. The touch field operates using multi-touch technology. So you can perform image scaling, scrolling, etc.
Below the touchpad there are two keys that can be pressed smoothly.

Processor and equipment

The basic package includes installation of an operating room Windows systems 7 Home Premium, which will help you work with your laptop from the moment of purchase. In case of problems with the system, the company's manufacturers have included an OS recovery disk in the kit.

The basis of the computer is a high-performance quad-core Core i7 - 720QM processor. High-quality processor operation is possible using a clock frequency of 1.66 GHz and a cache memory of 6144 KB. The power of the device is explained not only by the high-speed central processor, but also by those components that, in conjunction with it, allow it to achieve high performance.

An excellent indicator of RAM is in the computer - it is 4 GB random access memory, for which this volume is not the last, the maximum is set to 8 GB. But this is up to you; for some, the built-in 4 GB is quite enough. Data transfer speed is high (module standard DDR memory 3).

What can we say about the capacity of the hard drive? 500 GB is enough for everything you want. On magnetic disks films, applications, programs, photographs, documents - anything you want will be recorded. The SATA hard drive picks up speed at 5400 rpm.

There is no need to worry about the safety of data on the disk, because... In case of a fall, ShockGuard technology will work. It will protect the hard drive platters from damage.

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics system, represented by the video subsystem using its own 1 GB memory, is capable of “showing” a high-quality movie, and the actions of the characters in the game will be almost real. Productive discrete video card will increase the energy efficiency of the system. Despite such a large amount of video memory, it can be significantly increased up to 2234 MB using RAM. The use of Hyper Memory technology will help with this. Generally speaking, the presence of such serious graphics will provide interesting work with video editing, given that the main load will fall not on the processor, but on the video subsystem.

The laptop has the ability to change the card mode from integrated to discrete and vice versa. To do this, press the switch located in front, and it will become clear which controller is currently in use.

Given the above, we note that with such performance the computer will get very hot.

Optical drive, ports, card reader

The set of interfaces in this model is quite “full” for making various connections.
On the left side of the laptop there are two line adapters, gigabit Internet, HDMI and VGA video outputs. There are also two USB 2.0 connectors on this side.

On the right side, except optical DVD drive RW Super Multi, which allows you to record all kinds of disc formats, takes up space with two more USBs, one of which is combined with an eSATA port, an ExpressCard /34 format slot and a power socket.

5-in-1 card reader only, switches Wi-Fi adapter and separate video cores are located on the front edge.
Using the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 module, you can connect wirelessly to the Internet.

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Conclusion

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 laptop for business class representatives will solve most complex problems. The main thing is that the laptop is suitable for use by both ordinary students and business directors.

Lenovo is well known for its rugged ThinkPad laptops and budget office machines. But what about portable device for gamers? ATI HD 5730 video card, Core i7-720QM processor, HDD at 7200 rpm and JBL speakers - and at the same time a fairly low price of around 35 thousand rubles. Tempting?

Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 Specifications:
CPU: Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6 GHz
Chipset: Intel HM55
RAM: 4 GB PC3-10600 Elpida, PC3-8500 Kingston
Graphics card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 with 1 GB of video memory, discrete
Display: 15.6″, 1366×768, glossy
HDD: Hitachi Travelstar 7K500 HTS725032A9A, 320 GB, 7200 rpm
Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington lock, 1 eSata, audio, card reader: SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD
Net: LAN Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000MBit), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/draft-n (b g n), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Optical drive: Optiarc DVD RW AD-7700H
Size: 38.5 x 25.5 x 3.3 cm
Weight: 2.6 kg
Battery: 57 Wh, Lithium-Ion, 11.1 V, 5200 mAh
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Webcam: 0.3 megapixel

Perhaps the presence of excellent performance components and at the same time not exorbitant cost is exactly what most buyers like. Y-series from Chinese manufacturer Lenovo's laptops are primarily focused on performance, and their potential buyers are gamers who choose a computer based solely on its hardware.

Appearance, quality of materials

Anyone who looks at the Lenovo Y560 will see a laptop that stands out from the crowd and is extravagant. The lid is made of matte plastic, and in some places you can see small shiny elements on it. Depending on the lighting, they may or may not be visible. A delicate bronze stripe surrounds the sides of the lid and blends perfectly with general mood laptop.

As for the working environment itself, here we have glossy surfaces in large quantities. And all this very quickly becomes covered with fingerprints, which not everyone will like. Of course, if you work with gloves for fun, then this cup will pass you by. The rest will have a hard time. The only oasis in this kingdom of gloss is the matte keys of the keyboard.

In general, the laptop is quite strong, nothing flexes anywhere. The keyboard is also quite durable - it bends on the right side only when pressed very hard. At the same time, however, a not very pleasant creak is heard.

Display hinges hold the screen firmly in position. The lid itself is not very strong - we easily managed to bend it. Since the lid does not have a lock when closed, it is impossible to exclude the possibility of accidental opening of the display while the laptop is in the bag. There are also a lot of scratches and fingerprints on the lid. The surface of the display is quite durable; when pressed, there is almost no distortion.

Ports

There is no modern USB 3.0 for fast data exchange with hard drives, but there is eSATA. HDMI and VGA are available for connecting external displays or a TV. There is also an ExpressCard/34 expansion slot, which will allow you to add the missing FireWire or USB 3.0 here.

The layout of the ports is not very good - on the right are USB, ExpressCard/34 and eSATA, and if one of them is occupied, it may make it difficult to access the others. For example, the same eSATA cable takes up quite a lot of space. On the left, the situation is a little better - HDMI and VGA are located closer to the back of the laptop, so all the thick cables will be at least more or less hidden from view.

Front: card reader, wireless switch

Left: VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, 2 x USB 2.0, line-in, microphone-in

Rear: Display hinges

Right: USB 2.0, eSATA, ExpressCard34 (over USB), optical drive, connection slot network adapter, safety lock

Input Devices

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 has classic-shaped keys with beveled edges and a small distance between them. The arrow keys are separate from the rest, making them easy to find without looking.

This laptop does not have a separate number pad, which is quite common in 15.6-inch laptops. This made it possible not to shrink the main keys in size. The only thing to note is that the spacing between them is a little smaller than regular desktop keyboards.

The keys have a very clear actuation point, which, of course, makes typing much easier. When printing, however, a slight rattling noise is heard, and this may be annoying for some.

The touchpad from Synaptics is a modern model with multi-touch support. There is also support for horizontal and vertical scrolling, the only pity is that horizontal scrolling is not indicated on the touchpad in any way and is deactivated by default. The touchpad surface is quite large, sensitivity is at the level.

The keys are very good - clear actuation moment, easy to press, no noise.

Display

The panel has a resolution of 1366x768 (16:9), and this is standard for laptops costing up to 1000 euros. We consider this resolution quite appropriate. HD 5730 graphics will still not allow you to play games at higher high resolution. Well, for office applications this is it.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 display has a fairly low contrast ratio of 175:1. This is quite typical for office laptops, but for multimedia laptops it is clearly not enough. However, among the multimedia ones that we tested (mostly entry-level), rarely did anyone have more than 200:1. A good contrast is from 400:1 to 1000:1.

Due to the low contrast, the black levels here are not very good. The glossy panel also produces quite a lot of reflections.

Brightness is below average, with an average of 174 cd/m2. By the way, the brightness sensor above the keyboard automatically adjusts it depending on the ambient light. It works, although not satisfactorily. So we had to adjust the brightness manually. It's a pity that there is no option to deactivate the sensor.

As for the behavior of the display in the sun, everything here is quite predictable. For normal operation, you need a good shadow, otherwise the screen brightness is not enough for a normal image, and, of course, glare interferes.

Light clouds, view from the right:

Light clouds, front view, reflections:

Light clouds, front view:

Typically, high-quality multimedia laptops have wide enough viewing angles that you can watch movies from any angle to the device. The same applies to gaming laptops, where the display generally plays a very important role. However budget models both classes, unfortunately, cannot offer us this. Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 is just one of these.

Horizontal viewing angles are around 45 degrees, after which colors are significantly distorted. Vertical ones are generally very small - up to 10 degrees.

Performance

U Intel processor The Core i7-720QM has 6 MB of L3 cache and power consumption is 45 watts. This is one of the most powerful processors from Intel in 2010. It is produced using a 32 nm process technology, and the letter Q in the name means that it has 4 physical cores. They operate at a clock speed of 1.6 GHz, but with the help of technology Turbo Boost they can be overclocked to 2.8 GHz. Dynamic overclocking is enabled by default and occurs automatically, so the processor starts running faster in demanding applications and games.

Well, the Hyper-Threading function adds a virtual one to each physical core, so that as many as eight cores actually start working. All eight, of course, cannot be overclocked to 2.8 GHz, but to 2.2 it’s easy.

4GB of DDR3 RAM (PC3-10600) is a great help for the Core i7-720QM processor. Our sample had 2 memory modules of 2 GB installed - Kingston and Elpida. Of course, it is best if both modules are manufactured by the same company, but this does not affect performance very much.

The Core i7-720QM is an excellent performance processor and easily outperforms its Core i3 and i5 counterparts. It scored 3.0 in the Cinebench R11.5 test. It turned out to be slightly faster than the Asus G73JH-TZ014V and Acer Aspire 8943G-728G1.28TWn, which have the same processor.

Well, systems with i5-520M generally remained far behind with 2.2 points ( Sony Vaio VPC-Z11X9E/B). The system with Core i3-350M (Asus N61JV-JX012) received 1.9 points.

As for testing calculations carried out using multiple cores - in the Cinebench R10 Multi (64 bit) test - here the laptop received 10.161 points. At the same time, the laptop showed the best result with the i5-520M processor Fujitsu Lifebook T900, but with 8,342 points it is far from the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560, even despite the activated mode of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560, which overclocked the processor to 2.93 GHz.

CB10 Rendering Single 32Bit -2998
CB10 Rendering Single 64Bit – 3687
CB10 Rendering Multi 32Bit – 8407
CB10 Rendering Multi 64Bit - 10161
CB10 OpenGL 32Bit - 6532
CB10 OpenGL 64Bit - 6663
CB R11.5 CPU 64Bit - 2.98
CB R11.5 OpenGL 64Bit – 23.88 fps

Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (minimum result) / N270, GeForce 9400M (G) / ION (LE) - 482
Acer Aspire 5745DG-7744G75Bnks / 740QM, GeForce GT 425M - 8364
Lenovo Thinkpad W510 4319-29G / 820QM, Quadro FX 880M - 8373
Samsung NP-RF710-S06DE / 720QM, GeForce GT 420M – 8401
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 8407
Deviltech HellMachine / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire - 8503
Sony Vaio VPC-SB1Z9EB / 2520M, Radeon HD 6470M - 8565
Sony Vaio VPCF13Z1E/B / 740QM, GeForce GT 425M – 8634
Schenker QXG7 (maximum result) / 950, GeForce GTX 280M - 17062

PCMark 05 - 7218
PCMark Vantage - 6012

PCMark Vantage compared to other laptops:
Asus Eee PC 1018P (minimum result) / N455, Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 3150 - 1053
Apple Macbook Pro 13 2011-02 MC724LL/A / 2620M, HD Graphics 3000 - 6009
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 6012
MSI CX640-i547W7P / 2410M, GeForce GT 520M - 6019
Samsung NP-R580-JS03DE / 520M, GeForce GT 330M - 6026
Dell Studio 1749 / 520M, Mobility Radeon HD 5650 – 6029
Schenker XMG A701 Advanced (maximum result) / 2630QM, GeForce GT 540M - 14285

Windows 7 Experience Index: 5,9
Processor - 7
RAM - 5.9
Graphics - 6.7
Graphics for games - 6.7
Hard drive - 5.9

How good is it powerful processor works in tandem with graphics, RAM and hard drive? This is shown by the PCMark Vantage test, in which the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 received 6012 points - a very high result. However, it was still overtaken by some laptops based on the i5-520M (Samsung NP-R580-JS03DE, Dell Studio 1749, Sony Vaio VPC-B11V9EB). The latest processor is of course slower, but it has some advantages since it belongs to a new generation.

3DMark 03 - 22373
3DMark 05 - 14348
3DMark 06 (1280×1024) — 7282 points
3DMark Vantage - 3809

3DMark Vantage compared to other laptops:
Lenovo Thinkpad X100e - 2876-27G (minimum result) / MV-40, Radeon HD 3200 - 98
Acer Aspire 5742G-458G64Mnkk / 450M, GeForce GT 540M - 3785
Schenker MG7.c/520M, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 – 3786
Packard Bell EasyNote TS11-HR-158GE / 2630QM, GeForce GT 540M - 3797
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 3809
MSI GE600-i5447W7P / 430M, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 3829
Dell Inspiron 17R (N7110) / 2410M, GeForce GT 525M - 3830
Dell XPS 15z / 2620M, GeForce GT 525M - 3891
Schenker XMG U700 ULTRA (maximum result) / 950, GeForce GTX 470M SLI - 16802

HD Tune (Hitachi HTS725032A9A):
Read (minimum) - 49 MB/s
Read (maximum) - 91.4 MB/s
Read (average) - 78.5 MB/s
Response time - 16.4 ms

Inside the IdeaPad Y560 is a fast 7200 rpm Hitachi hard drive with a capacity of 320 GB. In PCMark Vantage, the hard drive scored 4068 points, while conventional hard disks at 5400 rpm the average is 3200.

Gaming Performance

Inside, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 has a discrete ATI Radeon HD 5730 graphics card (DirectX 11 and Shader 5.0 support) with 1 GB of DDR3 video memory. GPUZ showed the presence of GDDR3 video memory, but the performance of this video card and the cost of video cards with GDDR3 so far indicate that this is not it.

The core operates at a clock frequency of 650 MHz, the memory bus is 800 MHz. HD 5730 belongs to the upper segment of the mid-class video cards from ATI. Nvidia GT 330M is a bit slower.

The classic graphics test - 3DMark2006 - was passed with a score of 7282 points. This is almost identical to the result of the MSI GE600-i5447W7P with the same graphics but an i5-430M processor. Nvidia GT330M scored 6545 points (Dell Vostro 3700, 720QM). The closely performing HD 5650 scored 7076 due to its lower core clock speed (550 MHz).

World in Conflict —
1024x768 / High, 2xAA, 2xAF - 36 fps
1024×768 / Medium, 0xAA, 0xAF - 65 fps

compared to other laptops:
Dell Studio 15 (minimum result) / T8300, Mobility Radeon HD 3450 - 4
Schenker MG6 / T9800, Mobility Radeon HD 4650 - 33
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s-NWD4NGE/2410M, Radeon HD 6630M – 34
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 36
Clevo mySN M570RU / T9500, GeForce 8800M GTX - 36
Clevo M860TU (9800M GT) / P9500, GeForce 9800M GT - 37
Clevo D901F (maximum result) / 940, GeForce GTX 480M - 84

Far Cry 2
1024×768 / high DX10, 0xAA - 50.74 fps
640x480 / low DX9, 0xAA - 111.7 fps

compared to other laptops:
Toshiba Tecra A11-125 (minimum result) / 430M, Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) HD - 6.4
Acer Aspire 3820TG-5464G75nks / 460M, Mobility Radeon HD 5650 - 47.2
MSI Megabook GT725/ P9500, Mobility Radeon HD 4850 - 50.08
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 50.74
Cyber ​​System QX18 / T9900, GeForce GTX 280M SLI - 50.8
Packard Bell EasyNote LS11-HR-050GE / 2410M, Radeon HD 6650M - 51.9
Schenker XMG P501 (maximum result) / 2920XM, GeForce GTX 485M - 141.4

Risen
1366×768 / all on/high, 4xAF - 28 fps
1024×768 / all on/med, 2xAF — 37.5 fps
800×600 /all off/low, 0xAF — 67.4 fps

compared to other laptops:
Sony Vaio VPC-S11M1E (minimum result) / 330M, GeForce 310M - 9.78
Packard Bell EasyNote LX86-JO-022GE / 450M, Mobility Radeon HD 5850 - 27.6
Schenker MG7.c/520M, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 – 27.6
Lenovo IdeaPad Y560-M29B3GE / 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 28
Toshiba Qosmio X500-10V/720QM, GeForce GTS 250M - 29
Dell XPS 15 FHD / 840QM, GeForce GT 435M - 30
Schenker XMG U700 ULTRA (maximum result) / 950, GeForce GTX 470M SLI - 114.7

Summarize. In principle, I have already seen HD 5730 graphics in action on the MSI GE600. Well, there is also a quad-core processor here, which has a very good effect on gaming performance, often increasing playability. We can say that the Mobility Radeon HD 5730 is a graphics card with an excellent price-performance ratio, and this is especially important for a laptop with such a low price as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560. Compared to the mid-range graphics of the Nvidia GT 330M, our HD 5730 clearly wins.

Temperature and noise

Naturally, gaming laptops will be noisy. However, we must admit that the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 made an extremely positive impression in this regard. During gaming and performance tests, the cooling system was noisy at 39.8 dB. The noise level was constant, but after the end of the load it returned to its normal state - 35.5 dB. At rest, the noise level is 34.1 dB. The cooling system works constantly, it never turns off.

But we also decided to load the Y560 with a very large stress test - we launched Furmark & ​​Prime95. That's when it started buzzing like a plane taking off - 45.6 dB. It is this level of noise that can be annoying and disturbing. Well, after the load, the fan produced 40 dB after 20 seconds. However, we must still add that we have created a very large load.

While gaming, the bottom of the laptop reached 50 degrees Celsius (on the left, near the speaker). The average temperature is 34.5 degrees, and this is due to the fact that the remaining areas of the laptop remain quite cool even under high load.

It is worth noting that when playing games, it is best to place the laptop on a hard surface, and even a napkin on the table can cause this laptop to overheat. In stress tests, the processor heated up to 90 degrees, and the graphics - up to 88. However, the high temperature does not in any way affect the stability of operation.

Case temperatures under load:

and at rest:

Audio

For those who buy Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 as a multimedia or gaming laptop Of course, its audio system will be important. Lenovo uses JBL stereo speakers located above the keyboard; there is no subwoofer. And we will not scold them (although most often we do this), because the sound is balanced, the volume level is quite sufficient, both high and high are audible. low frequencies. There's even bass that brings a lively and vibrant sound to your games.

Even at high volume levels the sound is not distorted. We only heard better sound quality from the Asus N71JV, but it had Altec-Lansing speakers plus a subwoofer. If you want to connect external speakers, this can only be done through the analog headphone input; SPDIF, unfortunately, is absent here.

Autonomous operation

The IdeaPad Y560 has a 57 Wh 5200 mAh battery, and, of course, it is unlikely to show miracles battery life. And so it turned out - when surfing the Internet through Wi-Fi laptop only worked for 2 hours. If you do almost nothing on this laptop and reduce the brightness to minimum, it will last a little longer - 3 hours and 24 minutes. Naturally, the wireless modules must also be turned off.

When watching a movie via DVD, the results are generally disappointing - 1 hour and 45 minutes. At maximum load on the processor, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 lasted only 50 minutes.

conclusions

Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 is an excellent 15.6-inch laptop with a quad-core Core i7-720QM processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics and a price of up to 35,000 rubles. Perfect option? It may well be. In any case, its price/performance ratio is at a very high level. In addition, the laptop has excellent high quality sound, and the keyboard and touchpad are very comfortable.

But there are also disadvantages. This is loud cooling, especially under load, and also has very short battery life. The case is not particularly strong and durable, and the display is not pleased with the brightness and viewing angles.

By the way, Lenovo IdeaPad Y560 is offered in several configurations, and there are options with i3-350M (2.26 GHz) and i5-450M (2.4 GHz) processors. Their cost is 24-26 thousand rubles. That is, even more attractive. Which option to buy is up to you. We can say that, despite all its shortcomings, the IdeaPad Y560 is still very good.

When preparing the review, materials from the site notebookcheck.com were used

The new generation of Lenovo's line of home multimedia laptops

Recently, the trend of replacing desktop computers with mobile ones began to reach a new stage, when, in addition to mobility and compactness itself, the list of requirements began to include a high level of performance of the central and graphic processors and at the same time not a very high price, around the psychologically important level of 1000 conventional units (i.e. dollars).

This segment has the most buyers, and almost every manufacturer presented its own version home laptop, aimed at a wide home audience. In conditions of intense competition, everyone has to save on fillings and/or appearance, looking for the optimal price/quality ratio.

Lenovo, which is still largely perceived in the world as the new owner of the IBM ThinkPad corporate line, in 2008 introduced its independently developed stylish multimedia line with an emphasis on entertainment - the Ideapad.

The large Ideapad line is divided into several series: S, U, V, G, Z, Y, depending on size and performance. It includes a huge number of models, from small netbooks to large gaming stations with stereo screens (interlace polarization).

The company characterizes the most technically advanced Y series as follows: “Universal wide-format laptops with powerful multimedia functions. Ideal for gamers."

The updated Y line was presented in the summer, and went on general sale in the fall. In this article we will talk about the Y560 model with a 15.6-inch widescreen screen.

Frame

In 2010, the design of the 15-inch model was seriously updated, and now there are no hints of the philosophy and style of the old IBM ThinkPad lines. The main color of the laptop is indicated as “black”, but in reality, both outside and inside it is chocolate or dark brown, depending on the lighting, except that the lower part of the case is made of classic black plastic.

The lid looks very original and interesting: a rough matte finish with the addition of shiny crumbs, on which a glossy intricate pattern of geometric polygons intertwined with hexagons is applied here and there. The lid features powerful hinges made to look like metal, which creates a feeling of reliability, and the Lenovo logo, stylized as chrome-plated metal.

The look is completed by the orange-bronze edging carried over from last year’s line and the lid that is not particularly thick. The edging plays a purely aesthetic role. The first models of the Y series did not have it at all, although there were already many red icons and buttons that appeared on the keyboard as if in defiance of the blue icons on the keyboards of classic Thinkpads.

The futuristic design of the lid resembles a plaque of honor with a complex chemical formula found and the name of its inventor. The design concept may have been inspired by advanced experiments with the two-dimensional allotrope of carbon, graphene, for which this year the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. I would like to believe.

The lid is held in place by two moderately tight plastic hinges, painted metal on the outside, and sporting an abundance of black gloss on the inside, which also borders the screen. There is no latch on the case; you can easily open the lid with one hand to a maximum angle of approximately 135 degrees.

I didn’t really like the flimsiness of the lid when opening “around the corner” and the glossy stain, which will still cause trouble.

In working condition, the laptop is pleasing to the eye - everything is modest, smooth and tasteful, the main design solutions are similar to those that were used in model range last year, although the location of the ports has been seriously changed.

The surface of the upper block of touch buttons, located between the JBL speakers, is made of glossy black plastic, as is the screen frame. And the plastic area around the keyboard unit is already stylized as roughly polished metal, filled with a thick layer of glossy varnish.

Fingerprints remain everywhere, especially on top, near the touch buttons. However, the functions of the touch buttons are duplicated, so you don’t have to use them so as not to dirty the surface. The exception is the SlideNav bar, which we will talk about later.

It is worth noting that fingerprints are visible only when looking directly at the panel; at an acute angle they are less noticeable. There's definitely a lack of true brushed metal inserts like some competitors' models.

Let's move on to the side faces and ports for connecting external devices.

When opened, the screen cover blocks access to the rear edge, where the battery is located, so there is no point in placing connectors here.

Let's see what connectors are on the front panel.

For convenience, here is a diagram of their location.

On the front side, compared to the previous Y550 model, audio connectors and an IR receiver have disappeared. But there are still:

• Slot for media memory cards - SD/MMC/MS/xD. The kit includes a plug. The SD memory card protrudes approximately 2 mm.
• GPU (graphics processing unit) switch - activates the software procedure for changing the video card between Intel HD and ATI 5730.
• Built-in switch for all wireless devices - Bluetooth/WiFi/WiMax. It has two positions - on and off, individual settings are carried out through the utility.

The switches are so small that you can only move them with your fingernail, and they are located very close, which can lead to confusion.

The panel also contains: a white light indicator for the active state of the laptop, duplicated on the power button (flashing in sleep mode), a battery status indicator (The left side looks like this:

Now let's take a look at the diagram to more clearly assess what connectors are presented here.

The New Year brought new changes - the Kensington lock, eSATA port and ExpressCard slot disappeared on the left side, and connectors appeared that moved from other sides:

1. Analog video output VGA.
2. HDMI digital video output - audio and video.
3. Ventilation holes.
4. RJ-45 Ethernet port up to 1000 Mbps.
5. Two USB port 2.0.
6. Headphone jack - combined with optical Toslink 3.5 mm.
7. Microphone jack.

The location of the connectors is very good, all ports are convenient to use. I especially liked the location of the audio jacks close to the front of the laptop. The exhaust opening of the ventilation system is very large, with diagonal cutouts of the protective grille.

And finally, the starboard side.

Connector layout:

So here are:

1. USB 2.0 port.
2. eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port.
3. ExpressCard 3/4 slot.
4. DVD-RW optical drive.
5. TV antenna socket (select models only).
6. Power adapter socket.
7. Kensington lock slot.

It is unclear the manufacturer's desire to place permanently occupied ports on the near edge, where they can interfere with the hand with the mouse. It would be more logical to move them closer to the power socket. The power plug is L-shaped, so the wire will immediately go behind the screen.

Finally, let's take a look at the bottom configuration...

and a convenient diagram where all the elements are indicated.

Although it is not customary to look closely at the bottom, the changes compared to the Y550 are quite noticeable here - the area has become more “sleek” and pleasing to the eye, the corners have disappeared, the “nano-subwoofer” has disappeared, and instead of boring and small air intake grilles, large ornamental windows have appeared. Four rubberized pyramid feet securely hold the laptop on the table and prevent it from sliding. For example, when the cord is suddenly pulled out USB laptop will remain in place. The main components remain the same:

1. Spring loaded battery latch.
2. Battery pack (looses a little, there is a feeling of unreliability of fastening).
3. Mechanical battery latch.
4. SIM card slot (select models only).
5. Mini PCI ExpressCard slot bay.
6. Central processing unit (CPU)/memory compartment (RAM).
7. Compartment hard drive(HDD).

To look inside or replace something, such as a memory stick or a Mini PCI-E card, you need to loosen a few screws. By the way, the screws are locked, i.e. a completely unscrewed screw remains in the lid and cannot fall out of it. Thanks to this, it is simply impossible to lose the fastening screws.

Photos with the cover removed:

Access to all important components is open.

The cooling of the processor and video card hangs on a common thermal channel, so under high load, heating will occur together, and over time, temperature records of 90 ° C can become an unpleasant norm. And in the summer, overheating to the point of freezing is possible. You should be very careful about the operating conditions and clean the cooling system from dust from time to time!

The processor hatch has a metal insert and reflective foil under particularly hot spots.

Configuration

Lenovo offers a large number of different configurations of the Y560 model, some of them are presented on, some on the official website, and some are available from retailers. It is very difficult to navigate the huge list of models built on a variety of combinations of components. Moreover, there is little information, but full of confusion and even errors.

In general, it can be argued that the system is built on Intel platform penultimate generation and uses an ATI 5730 video card, other components may vary. You can evaluate different configurations, for example, in

Let's look at specifications the tested model Ideapad Y560A1-i383G500Bwi (59-054380).

Lenovo Ideapad Y560
CPU	DualCore Intel Core i3 380M, 2533 MHz (19×133)
Chipset	Intel Ibex Peak-M HM55
RAM	1 GB DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM (7-7-7-20 @ 533 MHz) Samsung M471B2873FHS-CF8 2 GB DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM (7-7-7-20 @ 533 MHz) Samsung M471B5673FH0-CF8
Video subsystem	ATI Mobility Radeon HD5730 1 GB and integrated video from Intel
Screen	15.6″, LED backlight, glossy, 16:9, 1366×768 pixels Matrix type: LG Philips LP156WH3-TLQ1, 60% color Gamut, 8 ms, 220 nits, 400:1
Sound subsystem	2 JBL speakers, 1.5 W Dolby Headphone certified Two sound controllers: ATI Redwood/Madison, Realtek ALC272 @ Intel Ibex Peak PCH
HDD	Models up to 500 GB (5400/7200) In the tested configuration WDC WD5000BEVT-24A0RT0 (500 GB/5400)
Optical drive	Optiarc DVD RW AD-7700H (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x /24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
Network interfaces	Wired network	10/100/1000 Mbit
	Wireless network	Intel WiFi/WiMAX Link 5150 (802.11b/g)
	Bluetooth	There is
	Additionally	No
Card reader	5 in 1 memory card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS pro/xD), type JMicron JMB386/387
Interfaces and ports	USB	4 (one combined with eSATA)
	VGA Out	There is
	HDMI	There is
	Displayport	No
	eSATA	yes (combined with USB)
	RJ45	There is
	Expresscard	yes, 34 mm
	Headphone output	There is
	Microphone input	There is
	Line output	No
	Additionally	optical output (combined with audio output)
Input Devices	Keyboard	standard
	Touchpad	There is
	Additionally	additional touch keys
Battery	Sanyo L09S6D16 (60653 mWh), Battery life 3.5 hours
power unit	Power supply 90 W
IP telephony	Webcam	HD Webcam
	Microphone	yes, with noise suppression system
Additionally	There is optical S/PDIF, miniPCI-e slot
operating system	From DOS to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Dimensions	(L×W×H) 385×255×20–33 mm
Weight	2.7 kg (weight depends on configuration)
Guarantee period	2 years

The configuration can vary widely, so performance can vary greatly depending on the configuration. There is little information about the screen, but judging by the low resolution, inexpensive matrices are installed in laptops; you should not expect anything good from them.

A nice feature of this line is the two-year warranty on the laptop (except for the battery, which has a 1-year warranty), which is longer than most competitors. However, on the official website for Y560 models it is listed as “One Year”, similar confusion arises on the websites of retailers.

To clarify the situation, we tried to use the “Lenovo Ideapad Information Support” phone number found on the official website. It turned out that specified number It's been disconnected for a year now, currently using another phone. In order not to waste time talking with a soulless robot, you can, if you have a serial number, use the system. As a result of the check, we found out that our laptop was released in September 2010, and its warranty is 24 months from the date of sale. By the way, in the absence of a receipt or other purchase documents, the warranty period is calculated from the date of production.

Testing

Performance, test results

The test results will be interesting, since a powerful dual-core processor is adjacent to a moderately powerful video card.

Let's check the scores of synthetic system performance tests in the packages PCMark Vantage, 3Dmark06 (in brackets are the results of subtests SM2.0, HDR/SM3, CPU), 3Dmark Vantage and Cinebench R10 (performance test 1 core / 2 cores / working in OpenGL), R11.5 (CPU/GPU).

Data central processor in the CPU-Z program:

Similar information in the AIDA64 program:

Automatic reduction of the multiplier when there is no loading allows you to save battery energy:

Results of measuring memory and processor cache bandwidth:

For comparison in test programs, let's take Hewlett-Packard Envy 15, which, although it belongs to a different segment and costs more, is similar in configuration to our guest today. The HP laptop has a more powerful quad-core i7-720 and an ATI Radeon HD 4830 1 GB video card.

In general, the performance is high, but not outstanding; the failure in the memory test is especially noticeable; this may be due to the fact that the bus is 133 MHz, and that the memory configuration is 2+1 GB. Although the end user is unlikely to notice the difference by eye.

Let's look at the results of the PCMark Vantage test (for the Y560, the results are given for running the test in X64/X86 modes).

PCMark Vantage	Lenovo Y560	HP Envy 15	ASUS N81Vg
PCMark Score	5678/5326	5743	4093
Memories Score	4031/3891	4089	2681
TV and Movies Score	-/- *	4184	2711
Gaming Score	4912/4628	6305	3496
Music Score	5463/5396	4496	4118
Communications Score	4459/4318	3836	3720
Productivity Score	4733/4297	4773	2892
HDD Score	3311/3266	3914	2990

* The test fails because Home Basic does not have the necessary MPEG-2 decoders from Windows Media Center. Result VC-1 HD DVD - 26.3 fps

The ratings are quite predictable; the final score shows, albeit a small, advantage of the 64-bit platform over the 32-bit one. There is a noticeable lag between the 5730 video card and the 4830 and the advantage of the 7200 rpm hard drive.

There is a noticeable superiority of the dual-core processor over the quad-core processor in “Music Score” (working with the hard drive and transcoding). This may be explained by the higher base frequency (2.5 vs 1.6 GHz) and the difficulty of parallelizing tasks. The situation is similar with Communications Score, where web pages are also rendered.

Data on video cards is presented by the GPU-Z program.

Results for ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730:

Results for integrated Intel HD Graphics:

Let's see what the graphics tests show:

3DMark Vantage 1280x1024	Lenovo Y 560 / Battery +PowerPlay !	Hewlett-Packard Envy 15
Score	PZ758 / P1396	4164
CPU	P7226 / P7230	9374
GPU	P3240/P1100	3513 *

* A similar result can be obtained by slightly increasing the GPU CORE/MEM frequencies through the AMD GPU Clock Tool, but no more, since the overclockability of the mobile platform is very low.

The results are natural and more in line with reality. The advantage of four cores and auto-overclocking is obvious, and the 4830 is more than 10% faster than the 5730, which in turn is a slightly overclocked 5650 and outperforms it by about the same 10-15%.

To avoid getting low GPU results when running on battery power, you need to disable PowerPlay in the ATI drivers tab! or configure it for maximum performance depending on the tasks.

In addition, a set of more classic tests:

The differences in the results are largely the same and correspond to the level of the GeForce GT 240M for the video card. In the Cinebench R10 rendering test, using all cores more than doubles performance, and in this case the gap between quad-core i7 processors and dual-core i3 processors is even more noticeable - approximately 20%.

Games:

Let's move on to the most popular part of testing using modern games as an example.

STALKER COP benchmark 1366×768. DX10 - middle:

At medium settings, the fps level is often above the minimum playability threshold of 30 frames, but dips to 17-20 guarantee stuttering in the most inappropriate places.

DIRT2 benchmark 1366×768 4xMSAA:

At medium settings, the graphics quality does not suffer much, and playability increases significantly.

FarCry2 1366×768 DX10 Ranch Medium:

In table form:

Based on the test results, we can say that there is a minimum sufficient level of performance in the HIGH and ULTRA HIGH modes, however, turning on anisotropic filtering significantly reduces the performance.

Unreal Tournament 3 HOC benchmark tool - 1366×768:

And separately in the HDTune utility. General diagram of reading from the disk surface:

And a diagram of working with files:

Taking into account the small measurement error under multitasking operating systems, the data from both programs are the same. The performance of this drive is at a normal level for modern models.

The laptop does not have a shock protection system for the hard drive, which would help prevent data loss in the event of an accidental drop. Manufacturers should pay more attention to data security on any line of laptops, not just corporate ones.

Battery life

Before the tests, the battery was subjected to discharge and charge procedures for several days in order to reach its natural level of operation.

Lenovo Energy Manager offers two battery charging modes: longer battery life or longer battery life. By the way, a new battery costs over $70.

Lithium batteries have a fairly high self-discharge rate; recharging starts when the remaining charge drops below 98%. Even if the laptop is constantly plugged in, the battery will discharge below this threshold in two to three days. Constant recharging leads to faster cell degradation and loss of capacity. However, if you often work with a laptop on batteries (even better, if the discharge level is deep), then you should choose this option, since there will be no degradation (more precisely, it will not be higher than the usual level).

If the laptop is constantly running on mains power, then you should choose the optimal battery life. In this case, battery charging will not start until the charge drops below 80%. Less frequent charging helps extend battery life.

Testing for battery life is carried out in two modes: with an Intel HD video card in minimal load mode (reading text from the screen), with an ATI video card while watching a movie, and with an increased load on all laptop systems (stress test). Charging was carried out until 100% was reached.

Tests are carried out in a “balanced” nutrition scheme. The turn-off time for the monitor and hard drive is set to “never”. There are no other interventions in power management (switching graphics, turning off components, etc.), they remain by default. The screen brightness is set to maximum, the light sensor is turned off, and the wireless interfaces are disabled. During testing, the laptop reboots, all utilities installed by the manufacturer are launched (except antivirus program, it is uninstalled before tests).

When the discharge is below 10%, the transition to economy mode is manually blocked in order to force the screen brightness to maximum.

To measure battery life when playing a movie, we used a x264 720p movie with an AC3 audio track. The file was played from the hard drive, the ATI video card was turned on with PowerPlay mode active! "energy saving", Media player Player Classic 1.4 x64, built-in AVC decoder with hardware acceleration DXVA (processor load with a frequency of 2.5 GHz was 3-6%; without DXVA approximately 14-20%; in “balanced” mode the processor multiplier varies from x7-x14), EVR rendering.

* At 5% charge, the laptop went into sleep mode, external power was connected and the system started, but charging did not start for more than 50 minutes! With an ATI graphics card, battery life in this mode is 196 minutes.

** At 4% charge, the laptop went into sleep mode, but due to high load, the hibernation mode was not completed and “ blue screen» STOP 0xA0. After the reboot, the data was lost. Charging started immediately. To fix the error, you need to increase the hibernation file size from the default 75% to 100% using the command “PowerCfg.exe /H /SIZE 100”.

In maximum energy saving mode, the laptop runs for about three and a half hours. For a home multimedia laptop, battery life is acceptable. If you watch a movie, the laptop will last exactly two hours. And in this mode, the battery life is, let’s say, on the verge; it may not be enough to watch a long movie in its entirety. However, the test used a fairly “heavy” version of the video file; if we take a simpler AVI, the battery life may be longer. Under load, the Y560 works for less than an hour. When browsing the Internet, you should expect battery life to be around 1 hour 35-40 minutes.

Compared to classmates, the results are not impressive, but not disastrous. Let's just say that for this class the level of autonomy is average.

The abundance of intersecting and additional settings energy saving from Win7, Lenovo, ATI and switchable graphics, of course, makes the life of the average user much more difficult, but with successful configuration it can significantly increase battery life.

Heat and noise

Correct temperature conditions are very important for mobile devices, often working in unfavorable conditions. To determine temperature limits using built-in sensors, we used the AIDA utility (stress test mode) with LinX running in parallel, for an ATI video card - FurMark. However, in real life the laptop is unlikely to encounter such a high load. Here, for example, are the AMD/ATI measurement data:

The results at an external temperature of 25 °C were as follows:

	At rest	Under load
CPU	47-50	80-86
HDD	37-39	41-43
Video card	48-52	80-82

If you run FurMark and LinX, then in less than five minutes the CPU temperature will become 88-90 °C and throttling will turn on, the GPU temperature will reach more than 82 °C. At such high temperatures of internal components, there is already a real chance that the laptop will overheat and even freeze. The problem is that the feet on the bottom are too low; if you lift the laptop above the surface, the temperature will drop by more than 15 degrees.

During normal use, the left half of the bottom gets hotter than the right, but it does not reach a temperature at which the laptop would be unpleasant to work with. Even from the ventilation hole, warm and not at all scalding air escapes, as could be expected from the temperature indicators of the processor core and video card. It's quite possible to play modern games while holding the Ideapad Y560 on your lap. [It seems to me personally that if the data is correct, we can conclude that the laptop’s cooling system is ineffective or of poor quality or defective. If the processor heats up to 90 degrees, and the air is only warm, then most likely the system for some reason cannot remove heat from the processor. With the normal organization of the cooling system, this should not happen - approx. ed.]

At rest the fan is almost silent. Under load, it works more intensely and, accordingly, makes louder noise. However, even in this case, the noise is pleasant, without high-frequency components, and the level is quieter than the built-in DVD-ROM.

In a quiet room you can hear that without load the laptop beeps very quietly. high frequency, when load appears extraneous sound disappears. The sound source is somewhere near the hard drive. For users with particularly sensitive hearing, this may be annoying.

Impressions of use

Unboxing

The laptop comes in a black cardboard box with an orange handle. Package size - 450×132×330 mm. All delivery information is printed on one of the faces, including serial number and production date. Box weight 4.36 kg. Inside there is a packed laptop in foam molds and a white box with all the contents:

There is a separate laptop battery (Li-Ion 57 Wh), a thin and light 20V/4.5A power supply with the Lenovo logo, and a power cord with grounding.

The delivery set includes discs with software necessary to restore the system. This is a disk with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic edition; a complete set of Y560 V1.0 drivers for Win7 32/64bit (in addition, there is a copy on disk D); disk with set preinstalled programs: Adobe Reader, Power2Go, CyberLink YouCam, Lenovo DirectShare, McAfee Virus Scan, PlusReadyComm, VeriFace; disk with WinDVD player Lenovo 1.2, which is also installed on the laptop. The list is completed by a brief reminder on the initial setup.

The first impression of the work was unpleasant. The Win7 HB installed on the laptop was quite slow, it froze several times not only when running tests, but also just out of the blue, and the system repeatedly crashed into a blue screen. In addition, there were problems with data transmission via Bluetooth and, most unpleasantly, the touchpad with the multi-touch function of the well-known company Synaptics refused to work properly... It behaved like an old one optical mouse on a mirror surface - the cursor jumped around the screen or did not work at all (the device was lost), instead of moving, buttons were pressed and vice versa! Most likely these are shortcomings specific model, however, this characterizes the level of quality control at the plant. So it’s still worth checking the performance of your laptop before purchasing.

Let's look at the main elements of the laptop's functionality in working position.

1. Built-in camera, used for video conferencing, video recording and in the VeriFace facial recognition system.
2. Built-in microphone with echo cancellation and noise reduction.
3. Wireless module antennas.
4. Computer display with 16:9 aspect ratio.
5. Computer Status Indicators - HDD / Bluetooth / Wireless Network / Num Lock/ Caps Lock/ Touch Lock/ GPU - lights up when the device is active. However, if bluetooth adapter is turned off via Win7, and not the Lenovo utility (Fn+F5), then the icon will remain lit until all wireless devices are mechanically disconnected.
6. JBL sound system.
7. Backlit power button.
8. Button to launch OneKey Rescue System - backup and restore data.
9. Ambient light sensor - can automatically adjust screen brightness when ALS is activated in the Lenovo Energy Management utility, section “Smart Control”.
10. Lenovo SlideNav bar - customizable hot keys.
11. Capacitive touch buttons for launching the Lenovo Energy Management program, the OneKey Theater II screen settings program, and the usual volume control buttons +/−/mute located on the side.
12. TouchPad touch panel with buttons.

All indicators glow a dull milky white color and are not too distracting at night.

Keyboard

The keypad remains exactly the same as in last year's model.

The keyboard is classic, the keys of the over-cursor block are located vertical line to her right. There is no number pad, although it is now appearing in 15-inch laptops more and more often. There are no other modern additional features, such as backlit keys. On top large buttons chocolate-colored white “stickers” with symbols printed in large and easy-to-read font. System functions, which a particular key performs in combination with Fn, are indicated by orange symbols on the lower edges of the keys.

By the way, Fn is located in the corner here, which has a very bad effect on ease of use. If you are using another keyboard in parallel, for example desktop computer, then constantly switching from one to another is torture. If you don’t use other computers, then you can get used to this relative position of Ctrl and Fn, but working with the keyboard will still be less convenient.

The shape of the keys is traditional, with beveled edges. The separating recess between the buttons is slightly lacking (the finger does not fall through) and therefore frequent misses are ensured, for example, on the narrow Enter.

The secondary keys (Shift, Ctrl, etc) are large, which is good. The large convex buttons on the arrow block are especially pleasing. They, in combination with Fn, provide brightness and sound settings (for sound there is separate buttons+/- and mute, and the latter begins to glow white when the mode is activated).

The keys of the over-cursor block, Home/End/PgUp/PgDown, as we have already noted, are lined up in a vertical line on the right side of the keyboard. Above them is an unusually shaped Delete. Horizontally, this key is one and a half times longer than the others. PrintScreen is available as a separate key, but there wasn’t enough space for Ins; this key is made as a combination Fn+F12. In the vertical column I would like to see a block division like the row F1-F4/F5-F8/F9-F12.

The key stroke is soft and does not create much noise during operation, with the exception of Enter and Spacebar, which are noticeably louder. When typing, the keyboard unit bends noticeably, especially in the center. The body also bends and twists easily, like an eraser, and if handled particularly carelessly, there is a possibility of damage to the internal parts motherboard, the appearance of microcracks, etc. Perhaps this is a struggle for weight, perhaps for the final cost. In any case, this is a disadvantage that needs to be taken into account. There is another problem with the Enter key - if you press on its center, swiping from top to bottom, the fingertip rests against the sharp upper right edge of the Shift key, causing unpleasant sensations.

In general, the keyboard is not the worst. For the Internet and games with the WASD block it is quite suitable.

It is worth adding that a similar keyboard is supplied for the English-speaking market, but with a shortened left Shift key, by adding the “\” button in its place, which in turn frees up space for the large “L-shaped” Enter.

Touchpad and positioning devices

The Y560 has a Synaptics touchpad (V7.4) with multi-touch function, available in Win7 by default. Multi-touch functions make working with the touchpad more convenient, for example, it is easier to scroll through a document - just swipe the surface with two fingers. Here it has become larger compared to the narrow touchpad on the previous series, Y550. Physical dimensions are approximately 90x50mm (16:9). To provide feedback The surface of the touchpad is dotted with small bumps, i.e. you can clearly feel how your finger has moved. There is a dedicated vertical scrolling area on the surface; there are no bumps in this area.

The movement on the surface is a little tighter than that of the “Teflon” brothers, but the positioning is clearer, without slipping. Overall, the touchpad's sensitivity is high, and the driver offers a huge number of settings, but it's unlikely you'll need to change anything. To eliminate false positives when working with the keyboard, the touch unit can be disabled by pressing Fn+F6; the indicator between the buttons will light up bright white. In those rare moments when the touchpad worked, I only had good impressions from it.

There are still two buttons, but this time they are copper-gloss and are sure to collect fingerprints. In addition, they are soft, flimsy and wobble a little from side to side, and the absence of the usual hard click makes the work completely nervous.

Additional keys and indicators

The location of the main indicators and multimedia keys was described in the “Case” section, and here we will take a closer look at their functionality.

1. OneKey Rescue System is an easy-to-use app for Reserve copy data from the system partition (drive C) and their easy recovery if necessary. OneKey Recovery can be used on Windows, and OneKey Rescue System can be used without running operating system Windows.
2. SlideNav Bar - thin grooved Touchpad with seven LED indicators. The touch launches a special Lenovo utility in which you can open customizable quick launch items, change the wallpaper with a gesture, hide or reveal the screen (essentially turn on the screensaver), change the workspace by swiping your finger across the panel (however, this function is only available in software that does not come with the laptop ).

The most popular function of launching applications is implemented as follows: having opened the list of applications, slide your finger along it, reaching the desired program, raise your finger, and the selected element will launch. By default, the SlideNav Bar is highlighted. To remove annoying dots in the center of the panel, you need to check the “Disable indicator blinking” checkbox in the settings, and even disable them sound effects won't hurt either. The remaining functions are more cosmetic decorations.

1. The battery icon is a touch button quick access to the power settings, and the movie camera launches OneKey Theater II, a utility for selecting optimal screen settings from preset scenarios: normal mode, movie mode and smart mode. By and large, useless utilities.

In the lower right corner is the final touch to the set of “white stars in a dark sky” - the ideapad logo illuminated in blue, surrounded by a circle of seven stickers. Lights up when the laptop is running and in sleep mode. An absolutely unnecessary way to remind yourself.

Indicators other than the SideNav Bar pulsating dots programmatically cannot be disabled.

The entire top row is dotted with Fn modifiers. Here is their complete list:

	Enable/disable the ability to activate the built-in camera. When the camera is activated, a white indicator next to it lights up.
Fn+F1	Entering sleep mode.
Fn+F2	Turn on/off the LCD backlight. At the same time, the matrix continues to work, and you can even see contrasting objects.
Fn+F3	Switch to another connected display.
Fn+F4	Opens the display resolution settings interface.
Fn+F5	Opening the wireless device configuration interface (turn on/off).
Fn+F6	Enable/disable the touchpad.
Fn+F7	Enable/disable sound
Fn+F8	Enable/disable the numeric keypad.
Fn+F9	Keyboard Pause Key Function
Fn+F10	Keyboard Break key function
Fn+F11	Enable or disable the Scroll Lock feature.
Fn+F12	Enable/disable insert input (function of the Ins key).
Fn+PrtSc	Activation of a system request.
Fn + / ↓	Increase/decrease display brightness.
Fn + ← / →	Decrease/increase sound volume.

Interface network settings Lenovo's (Fn + F5) does not have priority for activating wireless devices. Therefore, to avoid confusion, it is better to use the Intel utility, which hangs in the taskbar.

Switching displays caused the greatest complaints. When you press Fn+F3 (analogous to Win+P), a menu of four items appears: LCD only, duplicate, expand, external screen only. However, the required mode must be selected with the mouse (the buttons do not switch modes cyclically). Therefore, if you select the wrong mode, you will have to look for the switch icon by touch.

There is not enough keyboard backlight, which would fit so well in the screen frame, next to the camera eye.

Screen

The screen is the most important component in terms of user interaction with a laptop. However, when creating new models, almost all manufacturers follow the path of least resistance, trying to use inexpensive “mainstream” solutions. Only occasionally and in expensive models can you see really good matrices.

Home laptops are suffering the most from this trend. First, there was a transition from matte screens to glossy ones. Yes, with long-term use the glossy screen is worse, but in the store it looks brighter and the colors are richer. Then, instead of the 4:3 format, which was more convenient for working with text, laptops quickly began to switch to the 16:10 widescreen format, and when the transition took place, manufacturers quickly abandoned it and switched to the 16:9 format, previously used only in cinema, but now and into televisions, and into computers, and has already supplanted all other options from there.

Finally, the last step is selecting permissions. To save money, most manufacturers supply exclusively low-resolution 1366×768 matrices, especially in inexpensive models. This resolution complies with the HD Ready standard, an option introduced for purely marketing purposes to get the coveted HD logo on monitors and TVs that don't deserve it.

Moreover, if for 12-13 inches this resolution is quite justified, then for 15-inch screens it is already too small; it would be possible to work comfortably in a higher resolution.

The disadvantages of using such matrices, which are also made using TN-film technology, are known in advance - glare, mirror gloss, low desktop height, noticeable pixelation, pronounced degradation and inversion of colors when deviating vertically, incorrect colors and incomplete color gamut, whitish "black". This means that “dark” games, and these are usually all shooters, will be unpleasant to play, and to watch movies too. Sometimes even surfing the Internet will cause increased fatigue. The only advantage can be considered the transition to LED backlighting, although for some reason the brightness of the screens is still insufficient for comfortable work on the street.

According to the technical specifications for the Y560 model there may be:

Each of which may have its own advantages or disadvantages, but, perhaps, N156B6 will be preferable, since, according to the manufacturer, it has a contrast of 650:1 (the real one can be 5 times less).

Our copy from LG Philips has all the features and all the disadvantages characteristic of this class of matrices, and in addition, “dancing pixels” are noticeable on moving windows or objects; the screen attracts dust, which creates the effect dead pixels" But don’t be scared - this is the situation with all matrices on the market, you just need to be prepared for it.

To top it all off, there was information on the network that some AUO matrices have noticeable ghosting (an imaginary outline) on the fonts, as if from a bad analog cable, which looks absolutely wild in the era of digital interfaces.

A special feature of the laptop is the presence of a light sensor, which by default constantly strives to excessively reduce the brightness of the screen, even if the laptop is connected to a power outlet and the energy profile is set to maximum brightness! It's all about the activated intelligent ALS mode of the Lenovo Energy Management utility; it is recommended to disable it.

Sound

Two JBL full-range speakers are built into the laptop body; there is no separate bass speaker, and therefore the sound has a ringing and squeaky tone. Compared to the Y550 model, the acoustic window has become elongated, and the pattern has changed to a more sound-permeable one. The intelligibility and volume are high, the acoustics are quite suitable for voices and films without an abundance of sound special effects. For homework, music and games, it is strictly recommended to buy external speakers.

Not nice feature There were loud clicks in the speakers before playing Windows sounds!

The Dolby Home Theater v3 logo flaunts in the corner of honor, but there is no information about this technology in the instructions! On the official Dolby website you can understand that this is a “sound amplifier, identical to natural, with a surround taste,” but again, there is no such bookmark in the drivers! Introductory video is available.

It turns out that the OneKey Theater II button not only changes the image gamma, but also changes the sound properties on the analog outputs! The effect of expanding the stereo base and non-localization of sound sources is felt. However, the add-on only affects analog outputs; digital audio remains unchanged.

I would like to hope that in future drivers it will be possible to configure the effects manually, such as selecting the reference frequency separately for the analog and digital (spdif) outputs.

The 44.1 kHz 16-bit signal passes through an optical cable with slight distortion, so you won’t be able to listen to DTS-AudioCD on an external receiver yet (no noise, no synchronization), perhaps this will be fixed in future drivers. 96 kHz 24-bit tracks are played back without problems, the main thing is to enable the desired setting. However, for other audio formats it is also advisable to leave the 24-bit mode, which will potentially slightly reduce the overall amount of noise. AC3/DTS streaming mode works without problems.

Button Dolby Digital Live (audio encoding in AC3) is available, but is not activated in any way.

The recording from the built-in microphone is legible, but boomy, more reminiscent of conversations using a gramophone in a wooden box. However, you can always buy an external microphone for web conferencing.

In general, the sound performance of this model is not bad, and for more demanding users there are good sound cards for ExpressCard/34 or USB.

Additionally

Mode virtual Wi-Fi hotspot in Win7 was successfully created, but the smartphone Android based I didn't find the point.

The webcam has good quality for a built-in one, but the colors are a little faded. The declared resolution of 1.3 MP (1280×1024) is a fiction and in reality is not much different from 640×480. Through the pre-installed CyberLink YouCam, you can record videos or take pictures with various effects, including tracking the position of the face (hats, masks, stars around the head, etc.).

Problems arose when connecting a display with FullHD resolution via VGA. The bundled driver for the ATI 8.752 video card stubbornly refused to automatic mode(EDID) use full resolution, only the choice allowed to correct the situation manual settings. However, in this mode the video card allows you to select any resolution, including not supported by the screen. Perhaps the installation is more fresh drivers may correct the situation, but there are no updates on the site yet.

Well, here’s the traditional problem: the HDMI connection only works when using powerful ATI graphics, however, this is a technological limitation.

The problem also arose with the SideNav bar - several times when exiting standby mode, the internal handler froze, after which the touchpad did not respond to touches.

Rebooting did not solve the problem; all touch buttons still refused to work, and only after complete shutdown computer functionality has been restored. I am sure this flaw will be corrected in future software versions.

The Chinese call the blinking of little paws “heartbeating”.

And finally - the on-screen menu. When you change the screen brightness or sound volume, corresponding indicators appear on the screen, which you can use to determine the current volume level.

This is what the brightness adjustment indicator looks like:

And here's how to adjust the sound:

And regarding this menu, another impressive stone should be thrown into the garden of Lenovo software developers. Because these on-screen indicators, when changing the volume or brightness of the screen (using the keyboard), switch focus to themselves and some games crash out of full-screen mode. There are no settings that allow you to disable this “bug feature”; you have to manually kill the Utility.exe application (Battery Management Software Ver3.0) in the task list.

Positioning and conclusions

Lenovo Ideapad Y560 belongs to the most common class of home laptops. Such laptops are aimed at the widest possible user audience and are created to please, as they say, everyone. This, by the way, explains such a wide selection of configurations: so that the buyer can choose the configuration for himself and does not refuse to purchase the Y560 because it did not find one suitable for him.

The laptop has everything you need home computer mid-price range - modern hardware, large and fast hard drive, wireless interfaces, eSATA port, HDMI multimedia interface and optical S/PDIF. Power is packaged in a compact package with an attractive design. An excellent set for a multimedia center.

However, it is easy to say and difficult to do. The disadvantages in this case can outweigh all the advantages - the case is flimsy and soiled, a glossy screen with average characteristics, as well as potential problems with overheating can overshadow the euphoria from contemplating the benchmark results of the video card and processor.

Perhaps the main thing in this model is a balanced combination of characteristics, with no obvious weak points.

Recently, the trend of replacing desktop computers with mobile ones began to reach a new stage, when, in addition to mobility and compactness itself, the list of requirements began to include a high level of performance of the central and graphic processors and at the same time not a very high price, around the psychologically important level of 1000 conventional units (i.e. dollars).

This segment has the most buyers, and almost every manufacturer has presented its own version of a home laptop aimed at a wide home audience. In conditions of intense competition, everyone has to save on filling and/or appearance, looking for the optimal price/quality ratio.

Lenovo, which is still largely perceived in the world as the new owner of the IBM ThinkPad corporate line, in 2008 introduced its independently developed stylish multimedia line with an emphasis on entertainment - the Ideapad.

The large Ideapad line is divided into several series: S, U, V, G, Z, Y, depending on size and performance. It includes a huge number of models, from small netbooks to large gaming stations with stereo screens (interlace polarization).

The company characterizes the most technically advanced Y series as follows: “Universal wide-format laptops with powerful multimedia functions. Ideal for gamers."

The updated Y line was presented in the summer, and went on general sale in the fall. This article will focus on the model Y560(*) with a 15.6-inch widescreen screen.

(* IN currently models of the line, an updated version of the Y560, are available in the MICS warehouse. All configurations are equipped with second-generation Sandy Bridge processors up to the Intel Core i7-2630M processor. Laptops are equipped with a hard drive of up to 750 GB and a maximum of 8GB of DDR3 1333 RAM; a powerful video card with 1GB VRAM is used. The Y560p series also features a more streamlined design. The external design of the laptops is based on a combination of polished texture and metallic color. A very nice feature is the technology Lenovo Windows 7 Enhanced Experience, which delivers 33% faster startup times and 50% faster shutdown times. - MICS Note)

Frame

In 2010, the design of the 15-inch model was seriously updated, and now there are no hints of the philosophy and style of the old IBM ThinkPad lines. The main color of the laptop is indicated as “black”, but in reality, both outside and inside it is chocolate or dark brown, depending on the lighting, except that the lower part of the case is made of classic black plastic.

The lid looks very original and interesting: a rough matte finish with the addition of shiny crumbs, on which a glossy intricate pattern of geometric polygons intertwined with hexagons is applied here and there. The lid features powerful hinges made to look like metal, which creates a feeling of reliability, and the Lenovo logo, stylized as chrome-plated metal.

The look is completed by the orange-bronze edging carried over from last year’s line and the lid that is not particularly thick. The edging plays a purely aesthetic role. The first models of the Y series did not have it at all, although there were already many red icons and buttons that appeared on the keyboard as if in defiance of the blue icons on the keyboards of classic Thinkpads.

The futuristic design of the lid resembles a plaque of honor with a complex chemical formula found and the name of its inventor. The design concept may have been inspired by cutting-edge work with the two-dimensional allotrope of carbon, graphene, for which this year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. I would like to believe.

The lid is held in place by two moderately tight plastic hinges, painted metal on the outside, and sporting an abundance of black gloss on the inside, which also borders the screen. There is no latch on the case; you can easily open the lid with one hand to a maximum angle of approximately 135 degrees.

I didn’t really like the flimsiness of the lid when opening “around the corner” and the glossy stain, which will still cause trouble.

In working condition, the laptop is pleasing to the eye - everything is modest, smooth and tasteful, the main design solutions are similar to those that were used in last year’s model range, although the location of the ports has been seriously changed.

The surface of the upper block of touch buttons, located between the JBL speakers, is made of glossy black plastic, as is the screen frame. And the plastic area around the keyboard unit is already stylized as roughly polished metal, filled with a thick layer of glossy varnish.

Fingerprints remain everywhere, especially on top, near the touch buttons. However, the functions of the touch buttons are duplicated, so you don’t have to use them so as not to dirty the surface. The exception is the SlideNav bar, which we will talk about later.

It is worth noting that fingerprints are visible only when looking directly at the panel; at an acute angle they are less noticeable. There's definitely a lack of true brushed metal inserts like some competitors' models.

Let's move on to the side faces and ports for connecting external devices.

When opened, the screen cover blocks access to the rear edge, where the battery is located, so there is no point in placing connectors here.

Let's see what connectors are on the front panel.

For convenience, here is a diagram of their location.

On the front side, compared to the previous Y550 model, audio connectors and an IR receiver have disappeared. But there are still:

• Slot for media memory cards - SD/MMC/MS/xD. The kit includes a plug. The SD memory card protrudes approximately 2 mm.
• GPU (graphics processing unit) switch - activates the software procedure for changing the video card between Intel HD and ATI 5730.
• Built-in switch for all wireless devices - Bluetooth/WiFi/WiMax. It has two positions - on and off, individual settings are carried out through the utility.

The switches are so small that you can only move them with your fingernail, and they are located very close, which can lead to confusion.

The panel also contains: a white light indicator for the active state of the laptop, duplicated on the power button (flashing in sleep mode), a battery status indicator (<30% горит рыжим, при зарядке гаснет каждые 5 секунд) и индикатор выбранного графического адаптера (когда включена карта ATI, он горит белым, при работе с Intel GMA — не горит).

The left side looks like this:

Now let's take a look at the diagram to more clearly assess what connectors are presented here.

The New Year brought new changes - the Kensington lock, eSATA port and ExpressCard slot disappeared on the left side, and connectors appeared, moved from other sides:

1. Analog video output VGA.
2. HDMI digital video output - audio and video.
3. Ventilation holes.
4. RJ-45 Ethernet port up to 1000 Mbps.
5. Two USB 2.0 ports.
6. Headphone jack - combined with optical Toslink 3.5 mm.
7. Microphone jack.

The location of the connectors is very good, all ports are convenient to use. I especially liked the location of the audio jacks close to the front of the laptop. The exhaust opening of the ventilation system is very large, with diagonal cutouts of the protective grille.

And finally, the starboard side.

Connector layout:

So here are:

1. USB 2.0 port.
2. eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port.
3. ExpressCard 3/4 slot.
4. DVD-RW optical drive.
5. TV antenna socket (select models only).
6. Power adapter socket.
7. Kensington lock slot.

It is unclear the manufacturer's desire to place permanently occupied ports on the near edge, where they can interfere with the hand with the mouse. It would be more logical to move them closer to the power socket. The power plug is L-shaped, so the wire will immediately go behind the screen.

Finally, let's take a look at the bottom configuration...

and a convenient diagram where all the elements are indicated.

Although it’s not customary to look closely at the bottom, the changes compared to the Y550 are quite noticeable here - the area has become more “sleek” and pleasing to the eye, the corners have disappeared, the “nano-subwoofer” has disappeared, and instead of boring and small air intake grilles, large ornamental windows have appeared. Four rubberized pyramid feet securely hold the laptop on the table and prevent it from sliding. For example, if the USB cord is suddenly pulled out, the laptop will remain in place. The main components remain the same:

1. Spring loaded battery latch.
2. Battery pack (looses a little, there is a feeling of unreliability of fastening).
3. Mechanical battery latch.
4. SIM card slot (select models only).
5. Mini PCI ExpressCard slot bay.
6. Central processing unit (CPU)/memory compartment (RAM).
7. Hard disk drive (HDD) bay.

To look inside or replace something, such as a memory stick or a Mini PCI-E card, you need to loosen a few screws. By the way, the screws are locked, i.e. a completely unscrewed screw remains in the lid and cannot fall out of it. Thanks to this, it is simply impossible to lose the fastening screws.

Photos with the cover removed:

Access to all important components is open.

The cooling of the processor and video card hangs on a common thermal channel, so under high load, heating will occur together, and over time, temperature records of 90 ° C can become an unpleasant norm. And in the summer, overheating to the point of freezing is possible. You should be very careful about the operating conditions and clean the cooling system from dust from time to time!

The processor hatch has a metal insert and reflective foil under particularly hot spots.

Configuration

Lenovo offers a large number of different configurations of the Y560 model, some of them are presented in Russian, some on the English-language official website, and some are available from retailers. It is very difficult to navigate the huge list of models built on a variety of combinations of components. Moreover, there is little information, but full of confusion and even errors.

In general, we can say that the system is built on the penultimate generation Intel platform and uses an ATI 5730 video card; other components may change. You can evaluate various configurations, for example, in the Hardware Maintenance Manual.

Let's look at the technical characteristics of the tested model Ideapad Y560A1-i383G500Bwi (59-054380).

Lenovo Ideapad Y560
CPU	DualCore Intel Core i3 380M, 2533 MHz (19×133)
Chipset	Intel Ibex Peak-M HM55
RAM	1 GB DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM (7-7-7-20 @ 533 MHz) Samsung M471B2873FHS-CF8 2 GB DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM (7-7-7-20 @ 533 MHz) Samsung M471B5673FH0-CF8
Video subsystem	ATI Mobility Radeon HD5730 1 GB and integrated video from Intel
Screen	15.6″, LED backlight, glossy, 16:9, 1366×768 pixels Matrix type: LG Philips LP156WH3-TLQ1, 60% color Gamut, 8 ms, 220 nits, 400:1
Sound subsystem	2 JBL speakers, 1.5 W Dolby Headphone certified Two sound controllers: ATI Redwood/Madison, Realtek ALC272 @ Intel Ibex Peak PCH
HDD	Models up to 500 GB (5400/7200) In the tested configuration WDC WD5000BEVT-24A0RT0 (500 GB/5400)
Optical drive	Optiarc DVD RW AD-7700H (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x /24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
Network interfaces	Wired network	10/100/1000 Mbit
	Wireless network	Intel WiFi/WiMAX Link 5150 (802.11b/g)
	Bluetooth	There is
	Additionally	No
Card reader	5 in 1 memory card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS pro/xD), type JMicron JMB386/387
Interfaces and ports	USB	4 (one combined with eSATA)
	VGA Out	There is
	HDMI	There is
	Displayport	No
	eSATA	yes (combined with USB)
	RJ45	There is
	Expresscard	yes, 34 mm
	Headphone output	There is
	Microphone input	There is
	Line output	No
	Additionally	optical output (combined with audio output)
Input Devices	Keyboard	standard
	Touchpad	There is
	Additionally	additional touch keys
Battery	Sanyo L09S6D16 (60653 mWh), battery life 3.5 hours
power unit	Power supply 90 W
IP telephony	Webcam	HD Webcam
	Microphone	yes, with noise suppression system
Additionally	There is optical S/PDIF, miniPCI-e slot
operating system	From DOS to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Dimensions	(L×W×H) 385×255×20-33 mm
Weight	2.7 kg (weight depends on configuration)
Guarantee period	2 years

The configuration can vary widely, so performance can vary greatly depending on the configuration. There is little information about the screen, but judging by the low resolution, inexpensive matrices are installed in laptops; you should not expect anything good from them.

A nice feature of this line is the two-year warranty on the laptop (except for the battery, which has a 1-year warranty), which is longer than most competitors. However, on the official website for Y560 models it is listed as “One Year”, similar confusion arises on the websites of retailers.

To clarify the situation, we tried to use the “Lenovo Ideapad Information Support” phone number found on the official website. It turned out that the specified number had been disconnected for a year; a different phone was currently being used. In order not to waste time talking with a soulless robot, you can, if you have a serial number, use the system for checking the remainder of the warranty period. As a result of the check, we found out that our laptop was released in September 2010, and its warranty is 24 months from the date of sale. By the way, in the absence of a receipt or other purchase documents, the warranty period is calculated from the date of production.

Testing

Performance, test results

The test results will be interesting, since a powerful dual-core processor is adjacent to a moderately powerful video card.

Let's check the scores of synthetic system performance tests in the packages PCMark Vantage, 3Dmark06 (in brackets are the results of subtests SM2.0, HDR/SM3, CPU), 3Dmark Vantage and Cinebench R10 (performance test 1 core / 2 cores / working in OpenGL), R11.5 (CPU/GPU).

CPU data in CPU-Z:

Similar information in the AIDA64 program:

Automatic reduction of the multiplier when there is no loading allows you to save battery energy:

Results of measuring memory and processor cache bandwidth:

For comparison in test programs, let's take the Hewlett-Packard Envy 15, which, although it belongs to a different segment and costs more, is similar in configuration to our guest today. The HP laptop has a more powerful quad-core i7-720 and an ATI Radeon HD 4830 1 GB video card.

In general, the performance is high, but not outstanding; the failure in the memory test is especially noticeable; this may be due to the fact that the bus is 133 MHz, and that the memory configuration is 2+1 GB. Although the end user is unlikely to notice the difference by eye.

Let's look at the results of the PCMark Vantage test (for the Y560, the results are given for running the test in X64/X86 modes).

PCMark Vantage	Lenovo Y560	HP Envy 15	ASUS N81Vg
PCMark Score	5678/5326	5743	4093
Memories Score	4031/3891	4089	2681
TV and Movies Score	-/- *	4184	2711
Gaming Score	4912/4628	6305	3496
Music Score	5463/5396	4496	4118
Communications Score	4459/4318	3836	3720
Productivity Score	4733/4297	4773	2892
HDD Score	3311/3266	3914	2990

* The test fails because Home Basic does not have the required MPEG-2 decoders from Windows Media Center. Result VC-1 HD DVD - 26.3 fps

The ratings are quite predictable; the final score shows, albeit a small, advantage of the 64-bit platform over the 32-bit one. There is a noticeable lag between the 5730 video card and the 4830 and the advantage of the 7200 rpm hard drive.

There is a noticeable superiority of the dual-core processor over the quad-core processor in “Music Score” (working with the hard drive and transcoding). This may be explained by the higher base frequency (2.5 vs 1.6 GHz) and the difficulty of parallelizing tasks. The situation is similar with Communications Score, where web pages are also rendered.

Data on video cards is presented by the GPU-Z program.

Results for ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730:

Results for integrated Intel HD Graphics:

Let's see what the graphics tests show:

3DMark Vantage 1280x1024	Lenovo Y 560 / Battery +PowerPlay !	Hewlett-Packard Envy 15
Score	PZ758 / P1396	4164
CPU	P7226 / P7230	9374
GPU	P3240/P1100	3513 *

* A similar result can be obtained by slightly increasing the GPU CORE/MEM frequencies through the AMD GPU Clock Tool, but no more, since the overclockability of the mobile platform is very low.

The results are natural and more in line with reality. The advantage of four cores and auto-overclocking is obvious, and the 4830 is more than 10% faster than the 5730, which in turn is a slightly overclocked 5650 and outperforms it by about the same 10-15%.

To avoid getting low GPU results when running on battery power, you need to disable PowerPlay in the ATI drivers tab! or configure it for maximum performance depending on the tasks.

In addition, a set of more classic tests:

The differences in the results are largely the same and correspond to the level of the GeForce GT 240M for the video card. In the Cinebench R10 rendering test, using all cores more than doubles performance, and in this case the gap between quad-core i7 processors and dual-core i3 processors is even more noticeable - approximately 20%.

Games:

Let's move on to the most popular part of testing using modern games as an example.

STALKER COP benchmark 1366×768. DX10 - middle:

DX11 - middle:

At medium settings, the fps level is often above the minimum playability threshold of 30 frames, but dips to 17-20 guarantee stuttering in the most inappropriate places.

DIRT2 benchmark 1366×768 4xMSAA:

At medium settings, the graphics quality does not suffer much, and playability increases significantly.

FarCry2 1366×768 DX10 Ranch Medium:

In table form:

Based on the test results, we can say that there is a minimum sufficient level of performance in the HIGH and ULTRA HIGH modes, however, turning on anisotropic filtering significantly reduces the performance.

Unreal Tournament 3 HOC benchmark tool – 1366×768:

Preset/FPS	Average
Containment map, aniso8, motion blur	69
Serenity map, aniso4, motion blur	66

Definitely, the mobile version of the ATI 5730 GPU shows a good level of performance, and most modern games will be playable at medium settings.

Finally, let's look at the performance of the hard drive according to AIDA:

And separately in the HDTune utility. General diagram of reading from the disk surface:

And a diagram of working with files:

Taking into account the small measurement error under multitasking operating systems, the data from both programs are the same. The performance of this drive is at a normal level for modern models.

The laptop does not have a shock protection system for the hard drive, which would help prevent data loss in the event of an accidental drop. Manufacturers should pay more attention to data security on any line of laptops, not just corporate ones.

Battery life

Before the tests, the battery was subjected to discharge and charge procedures for several days in order to reach its natural level of operation.

Lenovo Energy Manager offers two battery charging modes: longer battery life or longer battery life. By the way, a new battery costs over $70.

Lithium batteries have a fairly high self-discharge rate; recharging starts when the remaining charge drops below 98%. Even if the laptop is constantly plugged in, the battery will discharge below this threshold in two to three days. Constant recharging leads to faster cell degradation and loss of capacity. However, if you often work with a laptop on batteries (even better, if the discharge level is deep), then you should choose this option, since there will be no degradation (more precisely, it will not be higher than the usual level).

If the laptop is constantly running on mains power, then you should choose the optimal battery life. In this case, battery charging will not start until the charge drops below 80%. Less frequent charging helps extend battery life.

Testing for battery life is carried out in two modes: with an Intel HD video card in minimal load mode (reading text from the screen), with an ATI video card while watching a movie, and with an increased load on all laptop systems (stress test). Charging was carried out until 100% was reached.

Tests are carried out in a “balanced” nutrition scheme. The turn-off time for the monitor and hard drive is set to “never”. There are no other interventions in power management (switching graphics, turning off components, etc.), they remain by default. The screen brightness is set to maximum, the light sensor is turned off, and the wireless interfaces are disabled. During testing, the laptop reboots, all utilities installed by the manufacturer are launched (except for the antivirus program, which is uninstalled before testing).

When the discharge is below 10%, the transition to economy mode is manually blocked in order to force the screen brightness to maximum.

To measure battery life when playing a movie, we used a x264 720p movie with an AC3 audio track. The file was played from the hard drive, the ATI video card was turned on with PowerPlay mode active! “energy saving”, Media Player Classic 1.4 x64 player, built-in AVC decoder with hardware acceleration DXVA (processor load with a frequency of 2.5 GHz was 3-6%; without DXVA approximately 14-20%; in “balanced” mode the processor multiplier changes from x7-x14), EVR render.

* At 5% charge, the laptop went into sleep mode, external power was connected and the system started, but charging did not start for more than 50 minutes! With an ATI graphics card, battery life in this mode is 196 minutes.

** At 4% charge, the laptop went into sleep mode, but due to high load, the hibernation mode was not completed and a “blue screen” STOP 0xA0 appeared. After the reboot, the data was lost. Charging started immediately. To fix the error, you need to increase the hibernation file size from the default 75% to 100% using the command “PowerCfg.exe /H /SIZE 100”.

In maximum energy saving mode, the laptop runs for about three and a half hours. For a home multimedia laptop, battery life is acceptable. If you watch a movie, the laptop will last exactly two hours. And in this mode, the battery life is, let’s say, on the verge; it may not be enough to watch a long movie in its entirety. However, the test used a fairly “heavy” version of the video file; if we take a simpler AVI, the battery life may be longer. Under load, the Y560 works for less than an hour. When browsing the Internet, you should expect battery life to be around 1 hour 35-40 minutes.

Compared to classmates, the results are not impressive, but not disastrous. Let's just say that for this class the level of autonomy is average.

The abundance of intersecting and additional power saving settings from Win7, Lenovo, ATI and switchable graphics, of course, makes the life of the average user much more difficult, but with successful settings it can significantly increase battery life.

Heat and noise

Correct temperature conditions are very important for mobile devices that often operate in adverse conditions. To determine temperature limits using built-in sensors, we used the AIDA utility (stress test mode) with LinX running in parallel; for an ATI video card, FurMark was used. However, in real life the laptop is unlikely to encounter such a high load. Here, for example, are the AMD/ATI measurement data:

The results at an external temperature of 25 °C were as follows:

	At rest	Under load
CPU	47—50	80—86
HDD	37—39	41—43
Video card	48—52	80—82

If you run FurMark and LinX, then in less than five minutes the CPU temperature will become 88-90 °C and throttling will turn on, the GPU temperature will reach more than 82 °C. At such high temperatures of internal components, there is already a real chance that the laptop will overheat and even freeze. The problem is that the feet on the bottom are too low; if you lift the laptop above the surface, the temperature will drop by more than 15 degrees.

During normal use, the left half of the bottom gets hotter than the right, but it does not reach a temperature at which the laptop would be unpleasant to work with. Even from the ventilation hole, warm and not at all scalding air escapes, as could be expected from the temperature indicators of the processor core and video card. It's quite possible to play modern games while holding the Ideapad Y560 on your lap. [It seems to me personally that if the data is correct, we can conclude that the laptop’s cooling system is ineffective or of poor quality or defective. If the processor heats up to 90 degrees, and the air is only warm, then most likely the system for some reason cannot remove heat from the processor. With the normal organization of the cooling system, this should not happen - approx. ed.]

At rest the fan is almost silent. Under load, it works more intensely and, accordingly, makes louder noise. However, even in this case, the noise is pleasant, without high-frequency components, and is quieter in level than the built-in DVD-ROM.

In a quiet room, you can hear that without a load the laptop beeps very quietly at a high frequency; when a load appears, the extraneous sound disappears. The sound source is somewhere near the hard drive. For users with particularly sensitive hearing, this may be annoying.

Impressions of use

Unboxing

The laptop comes in a black cardboard box with an orange handle. Package size: 450×132×330 mm. All delivery information is printed on one of the sides, including the serial number and production date. Box weight 4.36 kg. Inside there is a packed laptop in foam molds and a white box with all the contents:

There is a separate laptop battery (Li-Ion 57 Wh), a thin and light 20V/4.5A power supply with the Lenovo logo, and a power cord with grounding.

The package includes discs with the software necessary to restore the system. This is a disk with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic edition; a complete set of Y560 V1.0 drivers for Win7 32/64bit (in addition, there is a copy on disk D); disk with a set of pre-installed programs: Adobe Reader, Power2Go, CyberLink YouCam, Lenovo DirectShare, McAfee Virus Scan, PlusReadyComm, VeriFace; disk with WinDVD player Lenovo 1.2, which is also installed on the laptop. The list is completed by a 140-page user manual, a brief guide to initial setup.

The first impression of the work was unpleasant. The Win7 HB installed on the laptop was quite slow, it froze several times not only when running tests, but also just out of the blue, and the system repeatedly crashed into a blue screen. In addition, there were problems with data transfer via Bluetooth and, most unpleasantly, the touchpad with the multi-touch function of the well-known company Synaptics refused to work normally... It behaved like an old optical mouse on a mirror surface - the cursor jumped around the screen or did not work at all ( the device was lost), instead of moving, buttons were pressed and vice versa! Most likely, these are shortcomings of a particular model, but this characterizes the level of quality control at the factory. So it’s still worth checking the performance of your laptop before purchasing.

Let's look at the main elements of the laptop's functionality in working position.

1. Built-in camera, used for video conferencing, video recording and in the VeriFace facial recognition system.
2. Built-in microphone with echo cancellation and noise reduction.
3. Wireless module antennas.
4. Computer display with 16:9 aspect ratio.
5. Computer status indicators - HDD / Bluetooth / Wireless network / Num Lock / Caps Lock / Touch Lock / GPU - light up when the device is active. However, if the Bluetooth adapter is turned off through Win7, and not through the Lenovo utility (Fn+F5), then the icon will remain lit until all wireless devices are mechanically disconnected.
6. JBL sound system.
7. Backlit power button.
8. Button to launch OneKey Rescue System - backup and restore data.
9. Ambient Light Sensor - Can automatically adjust screen brightness when ALS is activated in the Lenovo Energy Management utility, "Smart Control" section.
10. Lenovo SlideNav bar - customizable hot keys.
11. Capacitive touch buttons for launching the Lenovo Energy Management program, the OneKey Theater II screen settings program, and the usual volume control buttons +/−/mute located on the side.
12. TouchPad touch panel with buttons.

All indicators glow a dull milky white color and are not too distracting at night.

Keyboard

The keypad remains exactly the same as in last year's model.

The keyboard is classic, the keys of the over-cursor block are located in a vertical line to the right of it. There is no number pad, although it is now appearing in 15-inch laptops more and more often. There are no other modern additional features, such as backlit keys. On top of the large chocolate-colored buttons, white “stickers” contain symbols in a large and easy-to-read font. System functions that a particular key performs in combination with Fn are indicated by orange symbols on the lower edges of the keys.

By the way, Fn is located in the corner here, which has a very bad effect on ease of use. If you are using another keyboard at the same time, for example a desktop computer, then constantly switching from one to another is a pain. If you don’t use other computers, then you can get used to this relative position of Ctrl and Fn, but working with the keyboard will still be less convenient.

The shape of the keys is traditional, with beveled edges. The separating recess between the buttons is slightly lacking (the finger does not fall through) and therefore frequent misses are ensured, for example, on the narrow Enter.

The secondary keys (Shift, Ctrl, etc) are large, which is good. The large convex buttons on the arrow block are especially pleasing. They, in combination with Fn, provide adjustment of brightness and sound (for sound there are separate +/- and mute buttons, and the latter begins to glow white when the mode is activated).

The keys of the over-cursor block, Home/End/PgUp/PgDown, as we have already noted, are lined up in a vertical line on the right side of the keyboard. Above them is an unusually shaped Delete. Horizontally, this key is one and a half times longer than the others. PrintScreen is available as a separate key, but there wasn’t enough space for Ins; this key is made as a combination Fn+F12. In the vertical column I would like to see a block division like the row F1-F4/F5-F8/F9-F12.

The key stroke is soft and does not create much noise during operation, with the exception of Enter and Spacebar, which are noticeably louder. When typing, the keyboard unit bends noticeably, especially in the center. The case also bends and easily twists, like an eraser, and if handled particularly carelessly, there is a possibility of damage to the internal parts of the motherboard, the appearance of microcracks, etc. Perhaps this is a struggle for weight, perhaps for the final cost. In any case, this is a disadvantage that needs to be taken into account. There is another problem with the Enter key - if you press on its center, swiping from top to bottom, the fingertip rests against the sharp upper right edge of the Shift key, causing unpleasant sensations.

In general, the keyboard is not the worst. For the Internet and games with the WASD block it is quite suitable.

It is worth adding that a similar keyboard is supplied for the English-speaking market, but with a shortened left Shift key, by adding a “” button in its place, which in turn frees up space for a large “L-shaped” Enter.

Touchpad and positioning devices

The Y560 has a Synaptics touchpad (V7.4) with multi-touch function, available in Win7 by default. Multi-touch functions make working with the touchpad more convenient, for example, it is easier to scroll through a document - just drag two fingers across the surface. Here it has become larger compared to the narrow touchpad on the previous series, Y550. Physical dimensions are approximately 90x50mm (16:9). To provide feedback, the surface of the touchpad is dotted with small bumps, i.e. you can clearly feel how your finger has moved. There is a dedicated vertical scrolling area on the surface; there are no bumps in this area.

The movement on the surface is a little tighter than that of the “Teflon” brothers, but the positioning is clearer, without slipping. Overall, the touchpad's sensitivity is high, and the driver offers a huge number of settings, but it's unlikely you'll need to change anything. To eliminate false positives when working with the keyboard, the touch unit can be disabled by pressing Fn+F6; the indicator between the buttons will light up bright white. In those rare moments when the touchpad worked, I only had good impressions from it.

There are still two buttons, but this time they are copper-gloss and are sure to collect fingerprints. In addition, they are soft, flimsy and wobble a little from side to side, and the absence of the usual hard click makes the work completely nervous.

Additional keys and indicators

The location of the main indicators and multimedia keys was described in the “Case” section, and here we will take a closer look at their functionality.

1. OneKey Rescue System is an easy-to-use application for backing up your system partition (C drive) and easily restoring it when needed. OneKey Recovery can be used on Windows, and OneKey Rescue System can be used without running the Windows operating system.
2. SlideNav Bar is a thin, grooved touch panel with seven LED indicators. The touch launches a special Lenovo utility in which you can open customizable quick launch items, change the wallpaper with a gesture, hide or reveal the screen (essentially turn on the screensaver), change the workspace by swiping your finger across the panel (however, this function is only available in software that does not come with the laptop ).

The most popular function of launching applications is implemented as follows: after opening the list of applications, slide your finger along it, reaching the desired program, lift your finger, and the selected item will launch. By default, the SlideNav Bar is highlighted. To remove the annoying dots in the center of the panel, you need to check the “Disable indicator blinking” checkbox in the settings, and it won’t hurt to turn off their sound effects either. The remaining functions are more cosmetic decorations.

1. The battery icon is a touch button for quick access to power settings, and the movie camera launches OneKey Theater II, a utility for selecting optimal screen settings from preset scenarios: normal mode, movie mode and smart mode. By and large, useless utilities.

In the lower right corner is the final touch to the set of “white stars in a dark sky” - the ideapad logo illuminated in blue, surrounded by a circle of seven stickers. Lights up when the laptop is running and in sleep mode. An absolutely unnecessary way to remind yourself.

Indicators other than the SideNav Bar pulsating dots cannot be turned off programmatically.

The entire top row is dotted with Fn modifiers. Here is their complete list:

	Enable/disable the ability to activate the built-in camera. When the camera is activated, a white indicator next to it lights up.
Fn+F1	Entering sleep mode.
Fn+F2	Turn on/off the LCD backlight. At the same time, the matrix continues to work, and you can even see contrasting objects.
Fn+F3	Switch to another connected display.
Fn+F4	Opens the display resolution settings interface.
Fn+F5	Opening the wireless device configuration interface (turn on/off).
Fn+F6	Enable/disable the touchpad.
Fn+F7	Enable/disable sound
Fn+F8	Enable/disable the numeric keypad.
Fn+F9	Keyboard Pause Key Function
Fn+F10	Keyboard Break key function
Fn+F11	Enable or disable the Scroll Lock feature.
Fn+F12	Enable/disable insert input (function of the Ins key).
Fn+PrtSc	Activation of a system request.
Fn + / ↓	Increase/decrease display brightness.
Fn + ← / →	Decrease/increase sound volume.

Lenovo's Network Settings (Fn + F5) interface is not a priority for activating wireless devices. Therefore, to avoid confusion, it is better to use the Intel utility, which hangs in the taskbar.

Switching displays caused the greatest complaints. When you press Fn+F3 (analogous to Win+P), a menu of four items appears: LCD only, duplicate, expand, external screen only. However, the required mode must be selected with the mouse (the buttons do not switch modes cyclically). Therefore, if you select the wrong mode, you will have to look for the switch icon by touch.

There is not enough keyboard backlight, which would fit so well in the screen frame, next to the camera eye.

Screen

The screen is the most important component in terms of user interaction with a laptop. However, when creating new models, almost all manufacturers follow the path of least resistance, trying to use inexpensive “mainstream” solutions. Only occasionally and in expensive models can you see really good matrices.

Home laptops are suffering the most from this trend. First, there was a transition from matte screens to glossy ones. Yes, with long-term use the glossy screen is worse, but in the store it looks brighter and the colors are richer. Then, instead of the 4:3 format, which was more convenient for working with text, laptops quickly began to switch to the 16:10 widescreen format, and when the transition took place, manufacturers quickly abandoned it and switched to the 16:9 format, previously used only in cinema, but now and into televisions, and into computers, and has already supplanted all other options from there.

Finally, the last step is selecting permissions. In order to save money, most manufacturers supply exclusively matrices with a low resolution of 1366×768, especially in inexpensive models. This resolution complies with the HD Ready standard, an option introduced for purely marketing purposes to get the coveted HD logo on monitors and TVs that do not deserve it.

Moreover, if for 12-13 inches this resolution is quite justified, then for 15-inch screens it is already too small; it would be possible to work comfortably in a higher resolution.

The disadvantages of using such matrices, which are also made using TN-film technology, are known in advance - glare, mirror gloss, low desktop height, noticeable pixelation, pronounced degradation and inversion of colors when deviating vertically, incorrect colors and incomplete color gamut, whitish " black". This means that “dark” games, and these are usually all shooters, will be unpleasant to play, and to watch movies too. Sometimes even surfing the Internet will cause increased fatigue. The only advantage can be considered the transition to LED backlighting, although for some reason the brightness of the screens is still insufficient for comfortable work on the street.

According to the technical specifications, the following matrices can be installed on the Y560 model:

Each of which may have its own advantages or disadvantages, but, perhaps, N156B6 will be preferable, since, according to the manufacturer, it has a contrast of 650:1 (the real one can be 5 times less).

Our copy from LG Philips has all the features and all the disadvantages characteristic of this class of matrices, and in addition, “dancing pixels” are noticeable on moving windows or objects; The screen attracts dust, which creates the effect of “dead pixels”. But don’t be scared - this is the situation with all matrices on the market, you just need to be prepared for it.

To top it all off, there was information on the network that some AUO matrices have noticeable ghosting (an imaginary outline) on the fonts, as if from a bad analog cable, which looks absolutely wild in the era of digital interfaces.

A special feature of the laptop is the presence of a light sensor, which by default constantly strives to excessively reduce the brightness of the screen, even if the laptop is connected to a power outlet and the energy profile is set to maximum brightness! It's all about the activated intelligent ALS mode of the Lenovo Energy Management utility; it is recommended to disable it.

Sound

Two JBL full-range speakers are built into the laptop body; there is no separate bass speaker, and therefore the sound has a ringing and squeaky tone. Compared to the Y550 model, the acoustic window has become elongated, and the pattern has changed to a more sound-permeable one. The intelligibility and volume are high, the acoustics are quite suitable for voices and films without an abundance of sound special effects. For homework, music and games, it is strictly recommended to buy external speakers.

In headphones with default settings (without equalizers), a lack of detail is noticeable - muttering in the bass with a slight wheezing, the sky

A sound level meter was used for measurements AZ Instruments 8922. The noise level in the room was 27.2 dB, for this purpose all electrical appliances were turned off and the windows and door were closed. It is worth noting that the device used guarantees an error of no more than half a decibel, but only in the range of 30 dB, so the values ​​​​produced by it should be treated only as indicative.

Three modes were used during noise level testing:

• Idle - measurements were taken ten minutes after starting the laptop and when there was no load on it;
• Load - cyclic run of the FarCry 2 benchmark scene at maximum settings;
• Super Load - joint launch of Prime95 in Blend mode + load on the graphics core using FurMark.

The noise level was measured at distances of 10 and 45 cm from the cooling system vent. In addition, a measurement was carried out, named in the table as “In front of the laptop”. In this case, the sound level meter was attached to a tripod and placed in front of the subject at a distance of 40 cm, at the level of the top of the screen frame. The result was a kind of imitation of a user sitting in front of a laptop. It is these measurements that you should pay the main attention to.

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Without load, the cooling system turbine periodically shows signs of life, noticeably increasing speed for a certain period of time. When this happens, you can hear the laptop a couple of meters away, and when the rotation speed decreases, the main source of noise remains the hard drive, but for this you need to listen.

Under average load, the noise level from the Y560p is not very annoying, just like under maximum load. But as soon as the temperature of the CPU or GPU passes the mark of 95 degrees, the last (maximum) rotation speed of the CO turbine turns on. I did not enter the received data into the table, so as not to frighten people who only look at pictures every now and then. For those who like to read – 54.6\44.7\44.3 dB. This is already a serious claim to “success”, because such a noise level is really annoying...

The Lenovo Y560p has no audible squeak/whistle from the CPU power subsystem. I really hope that all subsequent laptops from this company will be just as silent. I don’t know whether the second generation of Core I influenced this, or whether it was due to an improvement in the element base, but such changes cannot but please.

Energy consumption

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The included six-cell battery has a nominal capacity of 57 Wh (11.1 V, 5100 mAh). During tests, the actual value was 61.8 Wh.

For charging, a massive 120 W power supply (19.5 V, 6.15 A) is used.

The BatteryMon utility was used as a means of monitoring energy consumption, with a polling frequency set to every second.

To determine the level of energy consumption, six operating modes are used:

• Idle (minimum) – idle mode with minimum screen brightness;
• Idle (maximum) – idle mode with maximum screen brightness;
• Burn 800 MHz CPU Power (minimum) – processor load using Prime95 (Blend), minimum screen brightness;
• Burn 800 MHz CPU Power (maximum) – CPU load using Prime95 (Blend) + GPU load via FurMark, maximum brightness;
• Burn Max CPU Power (minimum) – processor load using Prime95 (Blend), minimum screen brightness;
• Burn Max CPU Power (maximum) – CPU load using Prime95 (Blend) + GPU load via FurMark, maximum brightness.

The results obtained are presented in the table:

During testing, a pleasant surprise was the low power consumption of the laptop in idle mode and light load. And this is with four physical CPU cores and a mid-level discrete graphics card. Intel did their best, because now you can’t help but worry that since Quad-Core is installed, it’s better not to leave the outlet. With new Sandy Bridge processors, laptops will last noticeably longer with the same batteries. The main thing is to set everything up correctly...

As expected, you won’t be able to enjoy the full power of the high-performance hardware when running on battery power. In games, results drop three to four times, and heavy software systems noticeably slow down. The system simply limits the maximum frequencies of the CPU and GPU. But even in this case, the laptop can consume up to 61 Wh.

In order to fully evaluate energy consumption, I had to connect the power supply and take measurements using a wattmeter Velleman NETBPEM3. The numbers have clearly grown (in the tables they are indicated without taking into account efficiency), and productivity has increased significantly, which was noticeable even without any thorough tests.

To estimate the operating time of a laptop, I do not use the well-known Battery Eater test package; preference is given to manual measurement and calculation. This approach allows you to independently determine working applications and the sequence of their execution. The result of this work is an imitation of real work on a laptop.

During a certain sequence of actions, a log file was recorded for each of the measurement modes. Subsequently, it was processed using Microsoft Excel, with the help of which the average value of energy consumption during the actions taken was calculated. Based on these data and the actual battery capacity, the theoretical operating time was calculated.

Four types of load were used:

• Reader - open and briefly work with Word and Excel documents, view pages on the Internet using Google Chrome, Wi-Fi on, 50% brightness;
• Classic – combining reader mode + background music at 50% volume, watching several videos on Youtube;
• Load – FarCry 2 benchmark at maximum graphics settings, 100% brightness, 100% volume, Wi-Fi on;
• Watching a movie - watching BD-Rip 1080p, 100% brightness, 100% volume, Wi-Fi on.

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The laptop also performed well in tests that are closer to real-life tasks. In the first two modes, the new Core i7-2630QM demonstrated power consumption at the level of dual-core Core i3\i5\i7 first generation. Even when watching a movie, the result is practically indistinguishable from them. But when compared with the first quad-core models, the obtained figures are at least 50% lower, which once again confirms the energy efficiency of Sandy Bridge.

The specified value in the “load” line was obtained while playing a test scene in FarCry 2 while the laptop was running on battery power. When connecting the power supply, the electricity rater showed a figure twice as high - 85 Wh. But productivity has also increased. As a result, it can be noted that the laptop distributes energy resources very cleverly and even a rather weak six-cell battery can provide three hours of continuous operation on Quad-Core and Radeon HD 6570M. Now this is not fantasy, but quite a reality :).

From the obtained values, you can safely subtract 5-7%, which is often required when the laptop goes into hibernation (deep sleep mode) to save data at an extremely low battery level.

It takes just over two hours to fully charge the capacious battery. The initial charge power is 37.1 Wh, and as it approaches 90% it drops to 25 and below.

Specifications

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Lenovo IdeaPad Y560p is affordable for many - the company offers modifications from the simplest with dual-core Core i3 and i5 to relatively expensive with quad-core Core i7. All of them are built on the new HM65 system logic set and second-generation Core I processors (Sandy Bridge). Let's look at the main innovations.

First of all, it is worth noting the change in the designation index; now it is four-digit, which will prevent them from being confused with the previous Core i. Central processors based on Sandy Bridge architecture are entirely manufactured using the 32 nm process technology. Now the computing cores, cache memory, integrated graphics core and northbridge are integrated onto a single silicon substrate. Such innovations have made it possible to increase performance and reduce heat generation and energy consumption.

New processors support Turbo Boost technology version 2. Now the frequency can increase not only for one or two cores, but for all at once. If over time (from a long load) the heat dissipation exceeds the maximum power design (TDP), then the frequency is reduced to the base values.

The processors introduced a new set of instructions - 256-bit Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), due to which Intel had to implement a new method of working with Physical Register File (PRF) data.

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The Core i7-2630QM processor used in the Y560p operates at a nominal frequency of 2 GHz. Under load, Turbo Boost technology comes into play, allowing you to increase power to 2.6-2.8 GHz, depending on the number of loaded cores. When idle and in Power Saver mode, the processor frequency is reduced to 800 MHz.

The third level cache is 6 MB for all cores. In addition to the above, the CPU supports the already familiar Enhanced Intel SpeedStep, Idle State, Execute Disable Bit, Intel Virtualization (VT-x / VT-d) and Hyper-Threading technologies, which allows each core to process two data streams. As a result, the system sees eight “processors” of data. Core i7-2630QM contains an extended set of SIMD instructions: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AES instructions.

The Y560p laptop has two DDR3 PC-10700 (1333 MHz) memory sticks manufactured by Samsung with a total capacity of 6144 MB. Modules of different capacities (2048 + 4096 MB) operate at the nominal frequency with timings 9-9-9-24-1T and a voltage of 1.5 V.

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From the buyer's side, this decision looks very strange. Some will think that a laptop must have three memory slots, while others will think that the indicated 6 GB is an error in the description. Everyone is used to seeing numbers - 2, 4 and 8. Six is ​​exotic for the local buyer. It would be much more logical to install two identical 4 GB modules, since their cost has long since dropped sharply.

The Core i7-2630QM processor includes a new generation of integrated graphics - Intel HD Graphics 3000. This solution, in preliminary tests on another laptop, has very similar performance to entry-level discrete cards from NVIDIA and AMD. But, alas, in the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560p laptop it is inactive due to the lack of graphics switching technology. And therefore I will not dwell on its features and capabilities (some other time).

The main source of graphical “power” of the tested model is the discrete Radeon HD 6570M adapter, which belongs to the latest generation of AMD mobile video cards. The graphics core is manufactured using a 40 nm process technology and is an almost complete copy of the Radeon HD 5730M. The solution contains 400 stream processors and uses its own GDDR3 video memory connected to the GPU 128-bit bus. Using Hyper Memory technology, the volume can be increased to 2.8 GB using free RAM. Versions of DirectX 11 and OpenGL 2.0 are fully supported.

Performance

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The built-in Windows 7 performance test again failed to satisfy the hard drive.

5.9 points is the maximum that any hard drive, including hybrid ones, is capable of (in terms of this test). For other “items of income” everything is much better. As you would expect, the Core i7-2630QM scored higher than the previous generation Core i7, and the AMD Radeon HD 6570M graphics core turned out to be weaker than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M gaming accelerator.

The AIDA64 Cache & Memory benchmark results showed a noticeable increase in memory bandwidth compared to laptops based on the previous generation Core i. I won’t judge the speed of the cache memory, because everything here strongly depends on the processor frequency.

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No delays due to hardware conflicts were detected using the DPC Latency Checker program. Lenovo IdeaPad Y560p can be used to play streaming audio-video content without any problems.

This model is so far the only laptop I have tested based on the latest Sandy Bridge architecture, and therefore it is not surprising that it has surpassed its ancestors in almost all tasks. A direct comparison should be made exclusively with two laptops from the table with Intel Quad-Core - Lenovo ThinkPad W510 and ASUS G73JW. Depending on the task, the increase ranges from tenths to 30-40%. But here it is worth taking into account the difference in clock frequencies, both when all four cores are active, and in TurboBoost mode when one or two are running.

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In 3DMark tests, the laptop showed itself to be a great performer. The new Radeon HD 6570M graphics adapter allows you to achieve relatively high performance for little money. Compared to NVIDIA GPUs of the same class, AMD's solution shows slightly better performance. Tests from the PCMark Vantage package once again confirmed the advantages of the new generation of Intel processors. The productivity increase (as in the previous table) was 20-35%. The only weak link in the laptop was the hard drive. It clearly does not have enough speed to catch up with its competitors with high-speed HDDs.

Thanks to full support for DirectX 11, the laptop was able to pass all gaming tests * . In all of them, with medium graphics settings, the minimum number of frames per second did not fall below 30. When the load on the GPU increased due to high settings, the comfort of the game decreased sharply, and the fps level sometimes dropped to 20 or lower. If you don’t make too high demands on graphics quality, then on a Lenovo Y560p laptop with an AMD Radeon HD 6570M you can play the latest games for a couple of years, albeit at minimum settings.

* All laptops tested undergo gaming tests at their native screen resolution. Accordingly, you can compare laptops with each other only if the physical resolution matches. You can compare the power of graphics subsystems using the results of FutureMark tests, in which the resolution is fixed at standard application values.

conclusions

I have been familiar with Lenovo IdeaPad series laptops for a long time, and I can say that the Y560p is undoubtedly an extremely successful continuation of the line. The manufacturer is gradually making small improvements, continuing to hone the quality of its multimedia models. A very good imitation of the aluminum surface on the top cover, a well-assembled case, easy access to all system components, an additional SlideNav control panel and an excellent speaker system from JBL - this is how Lenovo takes care of users.

In fact, the IdeaPad Y560p can claim to be an entry-level gaming laptop. Unlike most multimedia laptops, the manufacturer did not skimp on a discrete mid-level GPU. Thanks to the latest Radeon HD 6570M graphics adapter, you can run any modern games on your laptop, although to improve the comfort of the process you will have to reduce the graphics settings, even if not to the minimum.

The glossy case turned out to be not so easily soiled. I don’t deny that it perfectly collects dirt and dust, but (due to some of its properties) all this is visible only under certain lighting. If you're not picky, you won't have to wipe your laptop every half hour. Perhaps we can thank the dark brown body for all this.

If we think about the price, then the Y560p can be forgiven not only for the lack of USB 3.0 (although this is still very strange), but also for problems with case heating and CO noise. Cooling powerful hardware in a case that is the same size as laptops with a built-in video card is not an easy task. And what other models with the latest quad-core Sandy Bridge and Radeon HD 6570M class graphics can be purchased for 30 thousand rubles? Are there many competitors for the simplest in the line with the same video card and dual-core Core i3-2310M at a price of 22 thousand rubles? There are either few of them or none at all.

It is precisely because of its aggressive pricing policy and excellent technical data that Lenovo IdeaPad laptops continue to win the hearts of customers, and each subsequent model is better than the previous one. The new IdeaPad Y560p fits perfectly into these statistics and therefore clearly will not disappoint its owner.

Pros:

• Excellent build quality;
• Presentable appearance (while the laptop is closed);
• High-performance filling;
• High-quality sound system;
• Comfortable and practical keyboard;
• Variety of installed interfaces;
• Display with 82% sRGB coverage (progress visible);
• Additional SlideNav panel and sound control key block;
• OneKey Rescue System with remote activation button;
• ExpressCard slot 34 mm;
• Two additional mini-PCI-E slots;
• Good battery life (taking into account the installed hardware);
• Relatively low price.

Minuses:

• Excessive glossiness of the body;
• Lack of USB 3.0 even in the top version;
• Relatively loud cooling system;
• Low display brightness and poor backlight uniformity;
• Very strong heating of the bottom under maximum load.

Subjective impressions, explanations and wishes:

• The glossy plastic used does not get dirty as much as similar materials (also glossy) from many other manufacturers. Fingerprints are also not so visible, although this may simply be due to the color of the case;
• Battery life will definitely increase after laptops switch to Sandy Bridge processors. Just look at the almost identical power consumption of the Core i7-2630QM compared to the previous generation dual-core Core i3\i5 in many everyday tasks. So what can you expect from SB Dual-Core then? Fantastic…
• Although the installed screen does not have good viewing angles, its color gamut is wider than that of the new Lenovo ThinkPad X220 with an IPS matrix. 82% versus 68%. So much for TN+Film vs IPS;
• Unlike many laptops based on the previous generation Core I, the Lenovo Y560p model with Sandy Bridge does not suffer from the problem of squeaking/whistles from the CPU power subsystem. I really hope that this will happen with all laptops with new Intel processors;
• Unfortunately, it is not possible to install 3G and GPS in the two free mini-PCI-E slots due to the lack of additional antennas;
• Working with the SlideNav panel will take a long time to get used to. This task can be complicated by its lack of responsiveness and unclear response when changing the applied force. With a light touch it didn't work for me at all.

We would like to thank Fleishman-Hillard Vanguard for providing us with a laptop for testing. Lenovo IdeaPad Y560p.

You can leave questions, suggestions and suggestions for the next articles, as well as find out about the progress of testing new laptops at my