Lenovo Y460 Review by PixelSmashers.com

[CoffeeInThatNebula]

I'm considering buying this laptop for both school and gaming. I'd like to be able to play Skyrim and SWTOR on this as well as take it to classes to take notes on. I can get the i5 for about $700 right now, which is about as much as I'm willing to pay. Is this a good decision or is there another laptop that you would recommend?

[pixelsmashers]

@CoffeeInThatNebula The 14 inch Y470 is a great buy. My bro owned the y460 in this video and I own the y470 (I got it a year later). It can play pretty much any game out there right now. While you wont be maxing out bf3, Metro 2033, or Crysis, the gt 550m manages to get the job done for most games including SWTOR and Mass Effect.

[Sinkutzsar]

@pixelsmashers Is there any difference with the newer model? I head the 460 model gets pretty hot when playing games. Did they improve the ventilation in the newer model?

[pixelsmashers]

@Sinkutzsar The Y470 has a new GPU and CPU, which performs a bit better than the Y460. The ventilation is the same, but the GPU may be a tad cooler compared to the one in the older model. Also, at 3:50 during the gaming portion you can see the GPU temp in the upper left (watch in HD to see better).

[Sinkutzsar]

@pixelsmashers Hmm. . . I was thinking about getting the Y560 15.6 inch version. But it came to a stop when I read that it has alot of constant blue screening/driver issues. Have you encountered any problems like that on both 460/470 yet?

[pixelsmashers]

@Sinkutzsar My brother is currently using the y460, which is the one in the review. I asked him more about it since he uses it more and he told me that he has not had blue screens with it, but he said make sure you get the latest graphics drivers on lenovo's website. The y470/ y570 however, can have some BSODs though. It isn't too bad and the issue is getting better with newer drivers. However, despite the issues with the 470, it does have a better gpu and cpu, so you may want to give it a look.

[brunopasco]

I have a question, how do you turn on the nvidia graphics?

[pixelsmashers]

@brunopasco The y470 has the nvidia GPU. The y460 has an AMD GPU in this review. To turn the GPU on for thbe y470/ y570 there should be a switch in the front to toggle it on or off. Also, to ensure the game you are using is triggered for the nvidia gpu, go to your driver cp and add the exe to your profile list and make sure you have "use high performance dedicated GPU" selected on that profile.

[MrPicSir]

So I could definitley play Swtor or Wow on high settings?

[drrightaway]

great review!

[cHeryljwanG]

How this is the laptop?

[carsforevermike]

This video is very helpful, i wanted to buy an asus g series, but it makes me wanna buy this now. thanks for making this review! =D

[chad1841]

Hi Im planning buy this Laptop for 3d rendering works. will this work or can shoulder a .PSD (Photoshop) file that is about 500MB in size, sketchup VRAY rendering, and .dwg Files (autocad)..

Thanks in advance..

[pixelsmashers]

@chad1841 The Y470 is the latest model. It comes with Intel's 2nd gen core i7 and i5 processors aka sandy bridge. I suggest going with the i7 model if you have the money since the i7 model has hyper-threading support and it is better for heavy video and image editing. The Y470 also comes with a GT 550M, which is a decent GPU laptop and it performs better than the 5650 in the Y460. Currently, their website has the i7 model for around $1000 and it also comes with 8GB of ram.

[2Good4MyOwnGood]

can anyone recommend a good ssd replacement for the y460?

[ninjadude5011]

i noticed there is no number pad. Does that hurt the versatility of this laptop?? i want a laptop to play world of warcraft and total war games?? do i need a number pad?

[pixelsmashers]

@ninjadude5011 No, there is no numberpad. However, you can by a usb one to plugin if you need it.

[shadowfax1993]

I planning to buying this laptop and I was just wondering if it heated after moderate use. Because I will be using this for extended periods of time, I am worried about how hot it will get.

[pixelsmashers]

@shadowfax1993 See 5:08 ;). It gets a tad hot, but it runs just fine for extended periods of time while gaming.

[CresceMoon]

Hello, I have been able to find this computer with 6GB for $700. I also found an i7 with 8GB for $849. I only want to be able to download a couple mmorpgs, and I don't mind uninstalling old ones when finding new one, so is the extra money worth it, or will this just be good enough? I am going to be a college student, so I am on a budget!

[Repented]

@CresceMoon Lol. I hope you understand that the 6 GB and 8 GB refers to the notebooks' RAM respectively. Each notebook probably uses a 500 GB HDD. That's more than enough space to store MMORPG's, so you don't have to swap games on it. It seems as if this notebook is perfect for gaming on high (but not max) settings. Most MMORPG's are not that demanding in terms as of graphics as say Crysis and this notebook handles it on high setting, so to answer your question: yes, it is good enough. :)

[GrahamCrackers94]

Definately want it! I like the idea of a not-so-big computer that works very well. And from what I have heard, Lenovo makes good products. :)

[teenmangaka]

@GrahamCrackers94 It's an awesome laptop. I've had it for half a year, and its still amazing. (no problems)

[crazyp2jimmy]

@teenmangaka My y460 just passed the one year and one month mark without any issues. I did replace the hard drive with a SSD to give a bit a speed boost. Glad to see others that are enjoying this laptop.

[teenmangaka]

@crazyp2jimmy Thats pretty good. Would you recommend upgrading to a Solid State Drive? I use the laptop daily, taking it to school and use it often, so and significant speed boost would be useful

[DefusuL]

Do you think the new 2011 version of the y460p with the i7 quad-core processor will be able to handle Modern Warfare 2 & Call of Duty 4 Smoothly?

[pixelsmashers]

@DefusuL Yes, the current model in this review was able to handle Crysis. Don't worry about Call of duty it will run fine :P.

[DefusuL]

@pixelsmashers ok thankyou ;D

[Christiand217]

bro , I have this laptop , just got it 2 days ago , but mine has a GT425M , which one is more powerful?

some says GT425M is more powerful , but when I run AVP on DX11 on the settings you provide , I do run smooth , but I experience some lags

[xavcrack]

WOWW excelent review, I hope that I can buy it, thanks!

[daangelo29]

Hey, I managed to swap the Fn and left CTRL keys using a BIOS mod. Works perfectly. Check out middleton's thread in the Notebook Review forums. (Google "FN-CTRL swap on all lenovo laptops", middleton's mods cover more than just the Y460")

[pixelsmashers]

@daangelo29 Awesome, thanks for the reply.

[daangelo29]

The only thing I hate about the Y460 is the tons of Bloatware. The switched Function and CTRL keys are indeed at first a bit of an annoyance, but in time I got used to it. Also, the one I have has a Core i7 processor, which overheats when I play games and sometimes when I do photo/video editing. It also comes with a 32 GB SSD which I feel is like a thumb drive stuck on my laptop. Dunno what to do with it really.

[kurdt40894]

I'm a noob to pc's. Would this have better graphics than a 360?

[greenrolaids]

edit my last post.. from tiger direct i got the Y560 i5 laptop with the 5730 ati video card.

4gb ram

320gb hd

switchable graphics to intel hd graphic, 5 hours run time when not gaming.

$758.00 including shipping and no freaking tax....

whooooo

[greenrolaids]

I just got a coupon code for the y460 with the i3 processor with everything else the same..

before tax its $675 after its $745

Its too tempting.. considering the i5 560 model is $999

looks like i will be getting the i3 considering the $300 savings and only modest performance loss..

[sprintrjm]

just change your crouch key to fn... lol

[bzzinyo]

did you overclock it while playing?

And if so, how much?

[pixelsmashers]

@bzzinyo The Laptop CPU scales when gaming. It goes from 2.4Ghz to 2.93GHZ automatically. No manual overclocking was used in this video.

[BEFEGE]

is this laptop good for photo editing?

[pixelsmashers]

@BEFEGE Yeah, photoshop and what not runs fine. If you want more screen space you can hook up a secondary monitor to the hdmi port.

[vincentx1o6]

NICE review. ima pick this one up. been looking for a review like this. IT was eitehr this or the envy 14 but the y460 ranked higher in gaming benchmarks. all i wanted to know was the battery life, keyboard and screen. I really wanted backlit keyboard, but i guess i'll give that up for this sweet looking laptop. Envy is too expensive for the 1600x900 screen :p Theres a coupon that ends in 3 days for 150 off this laptop too!

[Xrrific]

@vincentx1o6 ENVY14 sucks man.. the 5650 graphic card on the ENVY is UNDERCLOCKED to reduce heat..

[vincentx1o6]

@Xrrific haha i have the y460 right now :D 950 with tax and shipping in california. 850+100 TOtal. and yeah, i already knew about the underclocked graphics on the envy, but i dont really care for graphics. but meh, i got the y460 and im COMPLETELY satisfied. its awesome.

[rrXIII]

Hi man, i just gotta this laptop 2 weeks ago.. i gotta say i love it.. but i keep hearing constant buzzing/sizzling sound (not too loud) from the laptop - - from the WSAD key part of the laptop. Does ur laptop has the same problem?

[crazyp2jimmy]

I've had my y460 since April and I've had no problems in that time. I did replace the hard drive for a SSD.

[jetyue777]

was mafia II demo playable on this lapton? what was the setting? also, have u tried GTA4 on it?

[pixelsmashers]

@jetyue777 Mafia 2 runs great with everything high, Ambient Occlusion off, and PhysX off. I haven't tested GTA 4 yet, the laptop meets the requirements for that game and it should run okay. I'll get back to if we install it.

[butters123456]

This was the review I was looking for

[Pablo82Pac]

Hi I just bought the LENOVO y460, and I installed MAFIA II , I have a problem when i start it says, Cant start cuz XINPUT1_3.dll is missing, what can I do?

[pixelsmashers]

@Pablo82Pac I searched around and this problem is mostly cause by not having the latest version of Direct X on your system. You can download the latest version of Direct X from Microsoft's website.

[Pablo82Pac]

Can the computer burn if i play 3 hours per day? does the ensurance of lenovo pay u back if so?

[pixelsmashers]

@Pablo82Pac The laptop gets hot in some areas, but we played on it for quite sometime while doing this review. In fact, my brother beat SC2 on the laptop with no problems. You can also monitor your heat using programs such as evga precision. If your not overclocking the warranty should cover it if something goes wrong.

[Pablo82Pac]

Can the laptop explote, burn, or die if I play everyday? what are the odds? does the 1 year insurance gives you a new one if this happen? Thanks..

[abscheele93]

what game is being played @6:30?

[pixelsmashers]

@abscheele93 It's the Mafia 2 Demo ;)

[Pablo82Pac]

How much cost the SSD?

[TheMightyRAMBO5]

cool

[derek56ace]

what program do you have running at the top left corner of the screen that shows temps? Please tell me I really could use it.

[pixelsmashers]

@derek56ace EVGA Precision it works with both Nvidia and ATI GPUs.

[derek56ace]

@pixelsmashers ty ty ty ty.

[GifhornerGT]

dat voice

[throwindembows]

I'll prob get the laptop and maybe upgrade the hdd to ssd as well as the ram and if possible the cpu if push comes to shove...

[S1L3NTIGamer]

i wish i could get this laptop lol. but by the time i get the money theres bound to be something better for the same price.

[johnborrellirokz]

Hi Wek

[WekBen]

@johnborrellirokz Hey. Do I know you?

[WekBen]

Also, I want this laptop.

[WekBen]

Hearing my own voice is weird. Great script and great footage!