New Lenovo G550 Features

By Author: Asli Mana
Total Articles: 72
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Lenovo G550 Laptop is a budget laptop designed for multimedia and entertainment needs. It seems like a solid and powerful laptop that will deliver an appreciable performance. The keyboard is a large with well spaced keys. There is the numeric keys section on the right hand side of it too. The trackpad looks wide as well.

With its lid closed, the Lenovo is almost rather handsome. A subtle grain helps to make the G550's silvery-grey plastic look a little like brushed metal, and the curved edges initially dispel any comparisons with the square-jawed ThinkPad range. Tilt back the lid, however, and the thick base and lumpen design make most ThinkPads look positively svelte.

The chassis design takes cues from Lenovo's IdeaPad range and resilient matt-black plastic is used throughout. Scratches and scuffs are unlikely to be an issue with this machine and it will be more than tough enough for the whole family to use or for a life on the move.

To upgrade components the G550 has easy access panels to the memory and CPU, wireless card, and hard drive on the bottom of the notebook. No components, including the processor, ...
... has warranty void if removed stickers, making it very easy to handle upgrades or repairs in the future.

The screen of this workhorse measures 15.6 across. It presents a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The graphics processor employed in this cheap laptop is the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD. High definition audio is also offered.

We were always a fan of the Lenovo laptop keyboards for their durability and smoothness. This keyboard is no exception to that rule. The keys have good smooth travel and feedback. The light matte finish of the keys also feel good to the fingertips. There were also a numberpad beside the keypad which is very rare to see in notebook keyboards these days.

The touchpad, on the other hand was not that much impressive. The touchpad sensitivity is on the lower side and it was a little annoying to find that the movement of the cursor on the screen is actually lagging your finger movement on the touchpad. However, the buttons were comfortable with a nice click sound when pressed.
Performance at least showed the Lenovo in a more favorable light.

The 2.2GHz dual-core processor is enough to push the G550 past the finish line with 1.10 overall in our application benchmarks and, on the graphics front, the Nvidia GeForce G210M chip powers to a respectable 36fps in our easiest Crysis benchmark.

The laptop has an USB, Optical Drive and the AC Power jack on the right side and a Kensington lock slot, LAN, VGA and another two USB Port on the left. The wireless on/off switch and headphone and microphone jacks are on the front and there are no ports on the back. We do not expect HDMI or a FireWire port from a budget priced notebook but at least another USB Port was expected from a 15 inch notebook. Also, there is no Express card Slot or Memory Card reader slot to be found on it. We have to say that the laptop only has bare minimal ports leaving the place to be wanting for more.

All this power comes at a price, though. While the previous G550 managed just over four hours in our battery test, this model lasted just three hours and 20 minutes. This is fine for use around the home, but a bit short for travel and poor compared to other budget laptops.

Lenovo Value line 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 glossy 16:9 display (1366x768)
- 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 standard parts and labor warranty
- Dimensions: LxWxH, 14.9 x 9.6 x 1.4"
- Weight: 5lbs 9.0oz
- Price as configured: $549

Asli Mana is the writer of this laptop article. Too see her work about Acer notebook models see her Acer notebook website.