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The Y50-70 extends Lenovo’s touchscreen emphasis to the mobile gaming crowd. But a entertainment-oriented notebook still has to game. We run this one through its paces to determine if the compact form factor is still packed with ample performance.
Gamers looking for portability and value should view P/N 59420895 as a starting point, examining the various configuration options of alternative Y50-70 models before making any final purchase decision.
Reasons to buy
+
Lenovo’s P/N 59420895 Y50-70 Touch combines somewhat high-end gaming capability with a slim chassis and competitive battery life. The touch screen might be useful for some users, as are Lenovo-specific features such as gesture control.
Reasons to avoid
-
Lenovo’s P/N 59420895 Y50-70 Touch is slightly heavy for its size, or perhaps a slightly undersized battery for its weight. Better internal configurations (such as dual-channel memory) are now available in the same chassis for slightly less money.
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Slim And Sensitive, Or Lean And Touchy?
Lenovo's push into the touch-oriented market goes back at least to its CES 2013 launch of the world’s largest production tablet PC. Today, we see the focus across several models of traditional notebooks, too. Rather than question the value of a touchscreen in the enthusiast gaming market, or any other place where you really need a mouse still, we’re going to look at how this slim gaming notebook stacks up in the areas of slimness, gaming and being a notebook. To most of us, a touchscreen on a non-convertible notebook is an added feature rather than a necessity.
For around $1200, Lenovo adds an aluminum-wrapped chassis filled with Core i7-4700HQ processor, GeForce GTX 860M and 1TB hybrid drive to that 1920x1080 ten-point touch display.
But wait a second. Didn’t that last link (above) show that the -70 version packs a 4K display into the Y50’s diminutive dimensions? Who’s right?
Everyone is, actually. You really need to look at the part number to figure out what you have, as dozens of these indicate anything from a slight production deviation to a full-fledged overhaul. That’s why I’m forced to pepper this article with product number 59420895, even though a search for that string on Lenovo’s own website produces no results. You can find it on Amazon.
Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 Transceiver on Wireless Combo Card
Gigabit Network
RTL8111 10/100/1000Mb/s Ethernet
IEEE-1394
None
Telephony
None
Peripheral Interfaces
USB
1x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0
Expansion Card
Not Available
HDD
(USB-only)
Audio
Headphone/Microphone Combo Jack, Digital Out
Video
HDMI
Power & Weight
AC Adapter
135W Power Brick, 100-240V AC to 20V DC
Battery
7.4V 7400mAh (54Wh) Internal
Weight
Notebook 5.9 lbs, AC Adapter 1.1 lbs, Total 7.0 pounds
Software
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8.1, OEM
Service
Warranty
One-year labor, One-year parts
Price
$1200
Lenovo ditches the optical drive in favor of thinness, which makes some sense since most games are now downloadable. It was only able to squish the Y50-70 down to 1.1”, since that discrete GPU requires additional cooling.
Lenovo similarly rid the design of a battery bay, opting instead for a power source that can be replaced only after removing the bottom of the Y50-70’s chassis. The battery itself is also smaller than what you'll find on many gaming notebooks at 54Wh, and both the CPU and GPU favor slimness by not having a socket or slot. Both are BGA.
The company even slims its warranty down to one year, compared to the two to three years of some competitors, along with the boxed extras, including only the required 6.1” x2.5” x1.2” power brick. Now that we’ve covered the specs, let’s take a look at what else the Y50-70 Touch 59420895 gives its buyers.
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I fail to be impressed with gaming notebooks, a GTX 750 ti attached to a $500 OEM desktop with $200 for a monitor, speakers, nice, etc. will beat this for about $800-$900, with the ability to upgrade. I know some people need to be mobile, but these $1200 machines don't even have an SSD.
I have a very similair laptop but without touch screen, bought half a year ago, and can say that I am very statisfied wiht the product. It plays the games that I want to play well, and is otherwise a very silent and nice everyday working laptop. I actually find that the battery lasted longer then i expected (in comparison to the old Dell laptop that i had, which barely managed 2.5 hours when it was new) Sitting in the living room, casually browsing and reading it can go for a whole evening, and that is basically all I need the battery for.
Two comments about the things about it that I do not like:
1. The SSHD. It is basically just a hdd but with a small ssd part added to it, but that part is way to small to have any significant performance difference. They would have been better off just installing a better quallity hdd, that would have been a much better investment (or an ssd for that matter, although that is quite more costly)
2. The trackpad is completely smooth, I would have liked some physical indication when you move your finger to one of the button positions. a little annoyance, but something that could be easily changed i think.
I would recommend this laptop to anyone wanting to buy a gaming-capable laptop for mid-range prices. I definitely found it to be a great bang-for-the-buck-machine when I bought it, and it probably still is.
I fail to be impressed with gaming notebooks, a GTX 750 ti attached to a $500 OEM desktop with $200 for a monitor, speakers, nice, etc. will beat this for about $800-$900, with the ability to upgrade. I know some people need to be mobile, but these $1200 machines don't even have an SSD.
To even mention laptop and desktop in the same sentence is just wrong. WRONG I tell ya!
Lenovo Y series have serious problem = Cooling. The lack on cooling in this type of notebook post a serious problem after u use a while. After sometime the dust accumulated which is going to make the notebook cooling insufficient. Cutting the warranty down to 1yr only further shows that lenovo wasnt confident about the cooling reliability. Dont get me wrong Lenovo dont have reliability issues if taken with care, it is only the cooling, be prepared to do regular fan cleaning if u guys want these slim gaming notebook
Seriously if u guys need to get a gaming notebook, get the real gaming notebook with proper cooling. Not these.
My Sager NP8651 is under 1" and packs a GTX 970m (vastly more powerful than the 860m) and has dual fans cooling the GPU.... This isn't very thin, especially considering you can get the NP8651 for about the same price.
To add to that, the 970m being far more powerful, I don't ever go above 70 degrees on anything. CPU only gets to about 80 under load as well.
If you're in the market for a thin(ish) gaming notebook that performs identically to a 4690(non-k) + GTX 760 (desktop) that doesn't break the bank too bad, Sager is the way to go. I just cringe when I see the HP gaming laptop or the Acer Nitro going for over $1,500 with only an 860m. Yuck.
