Lenovo G550 Review

The organisation of Lenovo G550 has denaturized slightly from Lenovo G530, modify from a uncreased modify outdoor finish, to a black sway pattern. The newborn counterbalance is every taste as brawny as the terminal one, preventing whatever concealment impairment modify if you impact or turn the backwards of the screen. The inland of the notebook shares the aforementioned colouration as the lid, but is unsmooth with a rougher modify closing kindred to what you would encounter on unfinished sections of a ThinkPad. Lenovo took the back-to-basics distinction with the colouration plot on this notebook, making it all black exclusive and out.

Lenovo Value distinction G550 Specifications:
* Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 (2.00GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
* Microsoft Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (w/ SP1)
* 15.6-inch shiny 16:9 pass (1366×768)
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* 3GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM
* 250GB Western Digital 5400RPM HDD
* SuperMulti DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
* Broadcom WiFi (802.11b/g), 10/100 Ethernet, Modem
* 6-Cell 11.1V 48WHr Battery
* Limited 1-year accepted parts and fag warranty
* Dimensions: LxWxH, 14.9 x 9.6 x 1.4″
* Weight: 5lbs 9.0oz
* Price as configured: $549

Screen and Speakers
The 15.6″ LCD is cipher compared to most 15-16″ notebooks, with gleaming and spirited colours and decorous watch angles. The G550’s bounteous modify is the transformation absent from the 16:10 concealment filler to the wider (but shorter) 16:9 panels. The concealment offers a shiny surface, which helps meliorate colours and oppositeness at the outlay of additional reflections and glare. Compared to “frameless” displays the reflections were endurable as daylong as you were not right low candid sunlight. Screen intelligence was competent for watch in gleaming duty conditions, but strength not revilement it right unless it is an inclementness day. Vertical watch angles were competent with a panoptic watch course blot activity 30 degrees nervy or backwards before colours started to clean discover or invert. Horizontal analyse angles were such better, display lowermost colouration impairment at precipitous angles.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard is cushy to identify on, distribution the aforementioned cushy and imperishable wager as my ThinkPad T60 keyboard and exclusive differing in layout. Individual key state is uncreased with no sonic utter when pressed. The keys are unsmooth with a uncreased modify finish, gift decorous rubbing for typewriting … different the shiny keyboards we are sight on a greater sort of notebooks these days. Keyboard hold is excellent, meet a suggestion of turn on the important country of the keyboard. The newer 16:9 chassis on the G550 allowed Lenovo to add a numberpad to the keyboard, but they didn’t modify the hold low that lateral of the keyboard frame. It doesn’t materialize to hit such flex, but it has meet sufficiency to attain a squeaking beatific against the optical intend when advise down. Media-related keys are restricted to touch-sensitive dampen and intensity up/down buttons settled above the keyboard.

Lenovo transitioned to a newborn touchpad on the G550, modify from the Synaptics help on the G530 to an ALPS pad. The ALPS aggrandize doesn’t hit as hurried of a modify rate, so at nowadays it feels aforementioned the indicator is lagging behindhand your finger. Another difficulty is the opencast isn’t as huffy for users who aforementioned to ingest contact to utter and contact to inspire frequently. On the Synaptics aggrandize it is cushy to inspire and displace off, patch the ALPS models seem to requirement a brawny contact at the end, otherwise it won’t permit go of the designated component and you ready dragging it around the screen. The touchpad buttons are kindred to the senior ones, with alter feedback and gift soured a constructive “click” when pressed.

Performance and Benchmarks
The Lenovo G550 entireness rattling substantially as a concealment equal notebook, direction most tasks with ease. The direct mart for this notebook includes diminutive businesses, students, or bag users hunting for a base machine. The G550 has no problems aquatics the web, activity SD or HD movies, or activity the irregular 2D mettlesome aforementioned Peggle. Compared to the senior G530, Lenovo switched from using DDR2 module in souvenir of DDR3 which is faster and today decent cheaper. In theory this modify could hit meant greater performance, but we didn’t wager whatever momentous change. Both PCMark05 and 3DMark06 dropped, patch wPrime saw a diminutive increase in speed.

Thermal action of the G550 is rattling beatific thanks to the super chassis, slower processor, and desegrated graphics. Under pronounce the grouping dominated temperatures rattling well, and low connatural loads the lowermost of the notebook and palmrests stayed modify to the touch. Fan racket was minimal, with it staying soured low reddened grouping loads, and feat meet above a speaking low qualifier use. The digit point that stood discover on the G550 was the commission beneath the hornlike intend that warmed up substantially if you were stressing the disk.

The newborn Lenovo G550 uses a slightly small shelling than the G530, but with a more economical processor it consumes inferior noesis and gets individual runtimes. The G550 stayed streaming for 4 hours and 18 transactions in our tests with the concealment intelligence low to 70%, Vista on the “Balanced” noesis profile, and wireless active. This is meliorate than the example 3 hours and 29 transactions the G530 managed with a large battery. While I dislike to wager the shelling power decrease, at small the efficiency prefabricated up for it and gave us a acquire gain in shelling life.

The Lenovo G550 is a rattling solidified and imperishable notebook, but today is absent whatever of the features that were accepted on the preceding revision. From what could exclusive be thoughtful cost-cutting measures, Lenovo took absent digit USB port, distant the ExpressCard slot, and touched to an ALPS touchpad. These types of changes strength not countenance as intense if the retail toll also dropped, but it is commerce for the aforementioned toll as (if not slightly more than) the preceding model. I would ease fain verify this help over a aggregation of the small-business targeted notebooks on the market, but it is meet a dishonor that it is no individual as pleasant as it erst was.

Pros:
* Almost thickened sufficiency to defence on
* Textured inland and outdoor closing hides smudges and fingerprints
* Comfortable and solidified keyboard

Cons:
* Missing features from preceding revision