Lenovo Ideapad Y700-17 Gaming Laptop First Look

[Guest]

The sleek 17-inch Lenovo Y700 offers solid build quality and excellent gaming performance. But does a larger screen set it apart from the 15-inch touch-capable version?

Lenovo Ideapad Y700-17 Gaming Laptop First Look : Read more

 

[MailDeadDrop]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I believe it's because of the GPU inside of this laptop. The 960m isn't powerful, 1080P is the max resolution it can game at well. Crank it to 2k and you'll have to put details down to medium.

However I do agree with 2k panels on higher end laptops with 980Ms. Especially laptops with a 980 inside of them, it doesn't make sense to stick with 1080P.

 

[hst101rox]

Yeah only benefit is for playing ultra HD movies on a laptop not equipped with a 980/980m.

 

[x3style]

Unfortunately, with that great keyboard you get the same lackluster trackpad. If only Lenovo put as much emphasis on this component. In my previous Lenovo Ideapad Y700-15 Touch commentary, I had issues with the trackpad while clicking. The Y700-17 experience is no different.
The trackpad has a uniform actuation point and an uneven stopping point, which feels unpleasant. Additionally, you have to worry about small particles getting stuck beneath the trackpad while clicking. In this case, instead of using the trackpad, I'd recommend a mouse. Lenovo could have included its popular TrackPoint.

Who games on a trackpad? Like really? Anyone heard of anyone able o game on a track pad?

On the other hand i can understand at this price point that at least something half decent be included.

 

[x3style]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I believe it's because of the GPU inside of this laptop. The 960m isn't powerful, 1080P is the max resolution it can game at well. Crank it to 2k and you'll have to put details down to medium.

However I do agree with 2k panels on higher end laptops with 980Ms. Especially laptops with a 980 inside of them, it doesn't make sense to stick with 1080P.

I would rather have have more gaming laptops come with god damn gaming screens. Where's the 100/120hz screens?
Do you see the tearing in 980/980M ? Get some gaming screens.

 

[mapesdhs]

Depends on the game. Plenty of people play games which don't need crazy high refresh rates for smooth play. Still, probably a sensible option to include on high-end models, but I would not include the 980M in that category.

 

[Afrospinach]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I find this a little ironic. I search for ages for a decent gpu mated to a 1080p screen as 4k is running rampant like it is going out of style.

Good luck with that laptop gpu and the 1440p though. Even my 970ftw does not always meet the bar while being more powerful than anything available in a laptop.In a GAMING laptop to me this makes nothing but sense. I ended up with a 950m and I have it say it impressed me a lot, even GTA V is very playable @1080. 960m has you covered.

 

[mapesdhs]

Depends on to what extent one likes to crank up the detail. Even the older games I play would be too slow with a 960M. In the end I bought a 970M system (MSI SkyLake) and I'm glad I did. Benching showed, as expected, the 970M is about on par with a desktop GTX 580. Oblivion IV runs really well with everything maxed out & custom settings, but Crysis would be too slow with the custom profile I normally use on a desktop (45fps with desktop 580 3GB SLI). Would have been nice to get a 980M, but the price jump was a bit too much, and I can live with slightly reduced settings.

For newer titles though which impose a much greater load, I'm sure I'd find anything less than a 970M to be annoying, unable to crank up shadow detail, draw distance & LOD settings, etc. That sort of thing in a sandbox game with grand vista views really makes a difference for me. As I say though, all depends on the game and one's personal preferences, but I do get the impression sometimes that people forget how much slower the mobile parts are compared to the deskop editions with the related model name. Naturally, a proper 980 in a gaming laptop would be nice, but that really whacks up the price, and the system weight, power draw, etc.

 

[hst101rox]

Unfortunately, with that great keyboard you get the same lackluster trackpad. If only Lenovo put as much emphasis on this component. In my previous Lenovo Ideapad Y700-15 Touch commentary, I had issues with the trackpad while clicking. The Y700-17 experience is no different.
The trackpad has a uniform actuation point and an uneven stopping point, which feels unpleasant. Additionally, you have to worry about small particles getting stuck beneath the trackpad while clicking. In this case, instead of using the trackpad, I'd recommend a mouse. Lenovo could have included its popular TrackPoint.

Who games on a trackpad? Like really? Anyone heard of anyone able o game on a track pad?

On the other hand i can understand at this price point that at least something half decent be included.

Well people don't always game on a gaming laptop. Sometimes they use it for work/school/other and they don't have an external mouse handy. It's a knock because Lenovo could have designed the touchpad better. No reason to make it crappy

 

[mapesdhs]

It's doubly sad given the robustness of the original ThinkPad plaform. I used a T40 for years before finally buying an MSI recently. The MSI has a decent enough trackpad, but it's still easier and more comfortable dealing with emails & general net work/net stuff with the gaming mouse (nothing mega fancy, just an A4Tech V7, but I like it).

 

[CRamseyer]

It's actually a really nice system for the money. I bought my son this system for Xmas and he loves it. He has a pretty hardcore gaming desktop but needed a system for vacations and travel.

I've played Battlefront on it for a bit and the performance/graphics quality were pretty good. The best part is the price. Lenovo puts these on sale quite a bit. I think we paid right around a grand for it. Many of the features you guys are asking about are available from other companies but in systems that cost almost twice as much.

To be fair I only buy Lenovo notebooks. I'm an avid Thinkpad user with around a dozen here from the last twelve years or so. On the rare occasion I have a problem Lenovo gets a replacement shipped out right away. On my older Thinkpads I can still order keyboards, trackpads and the things that I tend to wear out over time.

 

[mapesdhs]

I've only used ThinkPads over the years aswell. This time round though, they didn't have what I wanted overall (which included an internal bay for BDRW and other things). I found a US site which allows one to customise the specs, including extra heatsinks for the GPU cooler, better thermal paste for the CPU, etc. Mine was about 1.5K, but that's with a 970M, and a hefty chunk was also for mega warranty cover for 3 years (includes two free Fedex shipments per year to the US if any issues occur, and full cover for the display - if a single pixel dies, the screen gets replaced for free). I also bought the Win10 USB stick restore option, pro screen callibration with the profile provided on a USB stick, and some other things). Without all these extras, it would also have been about 1K total, but as I say, it's a 970M model instead. However, without any extras, there are several vendors that offer 6700HQ/970M gaming laptops for about 1K+, but they vary a lot in what can be put in them, eg. the Novatech models do not support an internal DVDRW/BDRW. By comparison, Lenovo just seemed overpriced.

Btw, the problem with old ThinkPad item replacement is batteries; kinda pricey for a genuinely new one, and there are a lot of fakers on the market with refurbs, etc. I also tired of having to use external addons, and there was no option to upgrade to an SSD. I did consider a used Core2 or earlier i5/i7 Lenovo, but in the end decided hang it, just for once I'll actually buy something properly new. Glad I did, the newer wifi tech works way better than the costly dongle I bought for my old T40.

 

[Sunderas]

Looking good.

 

[eriko]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

My Alienware 18 uses Custom Resoultion Utility, and I have my screen @ 100Hz 24/7.

But yes, you and the rest of us are patiently awaiting 1440p in 18.4" form factor.

I believe it's because of the GPU inside of this laptop. The 960m isn't powerful, 1080P is the max resolution it can game at well. Crank it to 2k and you'll have to put details down to medium.

However I do agree with 2k panels on higher end laptops with 980Ms. Especially laptops with a 980 inside of them, it doesn't make sense to stick with 1080P.

I would rather have have more gaming laptops come with god damn gaming screens. Where's the 100/120hz screens?
Do you see the tearing in 980/980M ? Get some gaming screens.

What the hell happened to the format here?

I was just trying to say:

My Alienware 18 uses Custom Resoultion Utility, and I have my screen @ 100Hz 24/7.

But yes, you and the rest of us are patiently awaiting 1440p in 18.4" form factor.

And nothing more.

 

[jfkeenan]

NVIDIA's Pascal manufacturing process is supposed to use less energy, be much smaller physically and way faster than Maxell. Laptops will get a big performance boost when we see Pascal Mobile GPU's.

 

[Sunderas]

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I find this a little ironic. I search for ages for a decent gpu mated to a 1080p screen as 4k is running rampant like it is going out of style.

Good luck with that laptop gpu and the 1440p though. Even my 970ftw does not always meet the bar while being more powerful than anything available in a laptop.In a GAMING laptop to me this makes nothing but sense. I ended up with a 950m and I have it say it impressed me a lot, even GTA V is very playable @1080. 960m has you covered.

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I find this a little ironic. I search for ages for a decent gpu mated to a 1080p screen as 4k is running rampant like it is going out of style.

Good luck with that laptop gpu and the 1440p though. Even my 970ftw does not always meet the bar while being more powerful than anything available in a laptop.In a GAMING laptop to me this makes nothing but sense. I ended up with a 950m and I have it say it impressed me a lot, even GTA V is very playable @1080. 960m has you covered.

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I find this a little ironic. I search for ages for a decent gpu mated to a 1080p screen as 4k is running rampant like it is going out of style.

Good luck with that laptop gpu and the 1440p though. Even my 970ftw does not always meet the bar while being more powerful than anything available in a laptop.In a GAMING laptop to me this makes nothing but sense. I ended up with a 950m and I have it say it impressed me a lot, even GTA V is very playable @1080. 960m has you covered.

I'm disappointed this is another 17" 1080p display. Why aren't there more 1280p or 1440p offerings in 17" form factors? I'm not asking for 4K (that's just silly), but a *little* more resolution like 2048x1280 or 2560x1440 would be nice.

I find this a little ironic. I search for ages for a decent gpu mated to a 1080p screen as 4k is running rampant like it is going out of style.

Good luck with that laptop gpu and the 1440p though. Even my 970ftw does not always meet the bar while being more powerful than anything available in a laptop.In a GAMING laptop to me this makes nothing but sense. I ended up with a 950m and I have it say it impressed me a lot, even GTA V is very playable @1080. 960m has you covered.

The 970 is known for it's memory issues. Maybe there is your bottleneck...

 

[hst101rox]

FYI, my friend accidentally left his Y700 in his backpack, still on. Came back later and, the CPU had fried and left a burn mark on the CPU, killing the motherboard too. It's hard to believe with the throttling technology and temperature sensors and ultimately the laptop should have just cut power when the CPU temperature went much above 100 celsius. I didn't look at it personally though, but maybe it was a capacity, though he and an electrical/computer engineering instructor looked at it and thought it was the CPU.
Maybe that doesn't usually happen with this laptop, a fluke.