Review: The Lenovo IdeaPad V470 Notebook

Way back in January, we wrote about Lenovo's first two laptop releases of the year; The V470 and the Y560P which were announced all the way back at CES in January. So we've finally got the first Lenovo laptop to feature the next-generation Intel Processors (Sandy Bridge) in our grubby mitts and it's not a bad effort from them at all.

As with all laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad V470 has a myriad of customisation options, going up to the face-melting Intel Core i7-2630QM which is code for "stupidly fast laptop" as well as other things like 8GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive. The unit we got was armed with an Intel Core i5-2540M @ 2.6Ghz, 4GB RAM, 300GB Hard Drive and NVIDIA GT525M + Intel HD 3000 graphics; It's not going to be a gaming laptop by a longshot, but it will be just fine for the run-of-the-mill user.

 

First Impressions And Exterior

 

Unfortunately not blessed with the same good looks as it's younger sibling, the U260, the V470 has not been beaten by the ugly stick either. The brushed metal finish of the laptop, coupled with the rugged exterior has become very endearing on a laptop and is a security blanket or sorts, I mean, how can you go wrong with brushed aluminium? The lighting that oozes from the buttons on the top panel buttons and activity LEDs add to the air of sophistication which is a nice little touch to the laptop.

 

Around the laptop you will find the standard array of USB, e-SATA, HDMI, VGA, LAN, SD Card, Audio ports as well as toggle switches for WiFi and discrete graphics which are all the rage on notebooks right now. The fingerprint scanner is in my opinion a wasted feature as most people are not going to bother with that function (unless to guard against tweetjacking or if you protect national secrets or something).

On the bottom of the laptop, the same terracotta-like vents coupled with more standard blowholes that we saw on the U260, perhaps this is going to be a trend?

The Experience

I knew that this laptop was not going to blow me away in terms of performance, but it was quite surprising on how much it exceeded my expectations of mediocrity. I managed to install Starcraft II, a game which I'm still quite bad at, and despite getting hot while playing, I saw not much visible jitter or lag graphics and gameplay wise. When the settings were turned fully to maximum, there was a drop in framerates, but hey, it's not a gaming laptop remember?

The V470 lives up to its specs sheet in a sense that for all day to day tasks most people would face, this laptop is more than adequate to exceed your expectations. I can imagine arming a whole team of office workers with this baby and watch them increase their productivity!

At home, the 14.1 inch screen is pretty good for watching 1080p HD video without stuttering and the HDMI out works pretty much as intended. The speakers are good, but not great as laptop speakers go, it's not like they had speakers endorsed by say, Dr Dre do they?

Conclusion

Over the course of the review, I think I found the ideal user for the V470. Not me. I'm not saying at all that the laptop is a horrible one, and perhaps it's just the configuration we got, but I need a little more power and a lot less heft in my notebooks. In all seriousness, the V470 would be an ideal companion for the mobile worker, full featured and serious, with a hint of cheek on the side.

Beware though of the less than optimal battery life as we only got just over 2 hours on full charge. So in conclusion, if you don't mind a sexy, kinda desktop-decorating laptop which you take out every so often for walks with the power cable, the Lenovo IdeaPad V470 is the perfect choice for you. If you're a boss of a small company, for the love of productivity buy one of these for your guys, you can thank me later.

The Lenovo IdeaPad V470 is available now and prices start from RM2,699

Article From: Lowyat