8:37 PM
Unknown
Slim
15.6-inch gaming laptops are a rather recent addition to the
market, and even manufacturers previously not associated with games
now offer at least one such model. Lenovo's Y50 is one of
them, measuring only 24 mm (0.94 inch) thick and delivering
respectable gaming performance at 1920x1080 pixels with its Nvidia
GeForce GTX 860Mgraphics. An optional Ultra HD 4K (3840x2160 pixels)
display is also available, though obviously games can't be played on
its native resolution with a GTX 860M. And with some recent demanding
titles, even Full HD gaming isn't possible, forcing the owners to
resort to lower resolutions and detail settings.
However,
as LaptopMedia was informed by its insiders, Lenovo is now
preparing an upgrade for the Y50 in the form of Nvidia's so far
unreleased GeForce GTX 960M graphics card with 4
GB of GDDR5 video memory. Both GTX 960M and 950M are
expected to be launched soon, making such an upgrade quite plausible.
At
least three new modifications of the Y50 are planned for
release, two of which will be equipped with an Ultra HD 4K screen
while the third will offer a Full HD IPS panel. This last
option should be the most suitable for gamers: just like its
precursor, the GTX 960M isn't expected to be able to render games in
2160p with a smooth framerate, making overpaying for an Ultra HD
screen unnecessary unless the laptop will be also used for
applications benefitting from such resolution (e.g. photo editing).
Naturally, we're also happy to see that Lenovo apparently decided to
ditch the disappointing low-contrast TN panel previously used in the
Full HD version of the Y50.
Current
price estimates put the most expensive configuration (Ultra HD, 512
GB SSD) at $1600 and the cheapest at $1200 (Full
HD, 1 TB + 8 GB SSHD). Ultra HD with 1 TB + 8 GB SSHD should cost
around $1400. Since non-ULV Broadwell processors are still
unreleased, all three models will rely on Intel's Core
i7-4720HQ. They are expected to hit the market by the beginning
of March.
