2017-01-23



Earlier this month I was invited by Lenovo to attend ESL One 2017 at Genting. Which featured a Dota 2 competition with a 250,000 USD prize pool. Which I'll be writing about on my next post. What I'll be featuring this post is the products that were featured by Lenovo at their booth at ESL One Genting :

The VR Experience with HTC Vive



One of the main attractions, I don't mean the chick but the HTC Vive VR experience ;-)

I've only ever tried VR on the Samsung Gear VR and I know for a fact that it isn't the 'best' vr experience one can get, due to the limited pixels that the connected phone can generate (not to mention magnified), with the Vive you can expect to see up to 2160x1200 pixels, which makes a better VR experience, not to mention the included controllers which is a 'must' for a true VR experience



The VR rig was powered by a Lenovo Thinkstation with a workstation class graphic card, the Nvidia Quadro M6000 :

3072 cuda cores, 24gb GPU memory, and 317 GB/s of bandwidth. Retails at only around USD 4,500.

Lenovo IdeaCentre Y710 Cube

In my opinion, one of the best looking mini-itx case I've seen to date. Now if only Lenovo sells the case seperately.

The Front View, pretty outstanding. Reminds me of a robotic mech

The side profile

How it looks like at the top.It does have some resemblance to the Raven RV03 tower case

Specifications

Processor : 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6700 3.40GHz and up to 4.00Ghz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, 8MB Cache

Operating System : Windows 10 Home

Memory : 8GB DDR4 SDRAM

Hard Disk : 2TB Sata HDD (7200rpm)

Graphics : Nvidia Geforce GTX1070 GDDR5 8GB

Warranty : 3 Year On Site Warranty

SRP : RM6,099

Pretty decent specs, however it's lacking a dedicated SSD drive. Otherwise I'd give this a 5 out of 5. The GTX1070 currently sits between the mid to high end tier. If you plan to get this, it will roughly last you 3-4 years down the road before needing another upgrade.....unless you plan to game with a 4K resolution setup with multiple monitors.

Lenovo IdeCentre Y900 Desktop

Processor : 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6700K processor (4.00GHz up to 4.20GHz with Intel Turbo Booster tech 2.0, 8MB Cache

Operating System :  Windows 10 Home

Memory :  8GB DDR4 SDRAM

Hard Disk : 2TB Sata HDD (7200rpm)

Graphics : Nvidia Geforce GTX1070 GDDR 8GB

Warranty : 3 Year On-Site Warranty

*Bundled with Lenovo Y Gaming Mouse Pad, Mechanical Keyboard and Precision Mouse worth RM800

SRP : RM6,799

With a spec sheet similar to the Y710 cube, the only difference is the faster clock speed of the processor and more room for internal future upgrades at an additional RM799 price tag, I would personally choose the cube over the Y900 desktop due to the size. But Lenovo is throwing a bundled gaming-esque hardwares which makes it a sweeter deal.

Lenovo Ideapad Y900 Laptop

Dubbed the Ultimate Gaming Laptop by Lenovo. It does feature some really outstanding quirks, such as a built-in mechanical keyboard that comes with macro keys and backlight, as well as turbo button that overclocks the processor and graphic card to give you the extra FPS that you need during gaming sessions. Other noticable features include a full HD 17.3" display with G-SYNC technology with anti-glare IPS tech.

One thing that makes the Y900 truly stand out is the brushed metal chassis from top to bottom. Which gives it a very premium finish.

Processor : 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6820HK processor (2.70GHz up to 4.20GHz,8MB Cache)

Operating System :  Windows 10 Home 64bit

Memory :  16GB DDR4 SDRAM

Hard Disk : 1TB Sata HDD (5400rpm) + 128GB PCIE SSD

Graphics : Nvidia Geforce GTX980M 8GB

Warranty : 3 Year On-Site Warranty

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the price listing for this. Lenovo US lists this unit at USD2,499.99. Which roughly translates to RM11,250.00. Would I recommend this? Well if you MUST have a high end laptop by Lenovo, by all means go for it. But if you're willing to wait a bit, I'd recommend the next two laptop series;

Lenovo Legion Y520 Laptop

Though not available at the Lenovo booth that weekend, the Legion Y520 is the latest gaming laptop announced at CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show)

image sourced from Lenovo.com

With a light chassis and moderate performance, the Y520 will definitely suit most casual gamers that want to game on-the-go. The Y520 comes equipped with Intel's latest processor "Kaby Lake"

Highlights

- Custom-tuned audio (The Y520 comes with 2x2W Harman spoeakers with Dolby Audio Premium to deliver customized audio for different types of consumption habits

- Illuminated gaming controls (The Y520 features an optional crimson backlight keyboard that provides 1.7mm of key travel for crisp accurate and responsive keystrokes)

- Portable Design (Only 2.58mm thin and at 2.5kg the Y520 is very portable and comes in an aluminum-brushed body)

Specifications

Processor :

7th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor

OS : Windows 10 Home

Graphics : Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti

Memory : up to 16 GB DDR4: 2x SODIMM Slots

Storage :

128/256/512 GB PCIE SSD

500GB/1TB/2TB Sata HDD

Audio : 2x2W Harman Certified Speakers with Dolby Audio Premium

Battery : 3 Cell 45 WHr Li-Polymer Battery (Up to 4-hour)

Design

Display :

15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 Ratio IPS with Anti Glare

Dimensions (W x D x H) : 380mm x 265mm x 25.8mm

Weight : From 2.4kg depending on configuration

Color : Black

Connectivity

- 1 x 1 WiFi 802.11 ac or 2 x 2 Wifi 802.11 ac

- Bluetooth 4.1

- Gigabit Ethernet Port

- 2x USB 3.0 Ports

- 1x USB 2.0 Ports

- 1x USB 3.1 (USB Type-C)

- 1x HDMI Port

- Audio & Microphone In

- 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)

The Y520 comes with a mid tier graphic card and a 7th Gen i7 processor, but with no price in sight, I can't really give it much opinion without sound too biased (Lenovo did offer me tickets to ESL), I'd say if it priced around 4-5k range it'll be a good deal.

Lenovo Legion Y720 Laptop

Image from cnet.com

To be released this April 2017, The Y720 is VR Ready thanks to it's hefty Geforce GTX1060 graphics card, which means you can show off your Oculus Rift to your friends without lugging a heavy desktop around

Highlights

- Dolby Atmos audio

- Integrated Xbox One Wireless Controller support

- VR Ready (The Legion Y720 is Oculus Certified)

- 4k Gaming (Optional QHD IPS Anti-glare display at 3840 x 2160)

- Optimized Thermal cooling (Built in dual metal fans and rear air vents keeps the Y720 cool during intense gaming sessions)

Specifications

Processor :

7th Gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ Processor or

7th Gen Intel Core i5-7300HQ Processor

OS : Windows 10 Home

Graphics : Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 with PCIe

Memory : up to 16 GB DDR4: 2x SODIMM Slots

Storage :

128/256/512 GB PCIE SSD or

500GB/1TB/2TB Sata HDD

Audio : 2x2W JBL Speakers and 3W Subwoofer Doly Atmos

Battery : 4 Cell 60 WHr Li-Polymer Battery (Up to 5-hour)

Design

Display :

15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS

15.6" UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS Anti-Glare

Dimensions (W x D x H) : 380mm x 277mm x 29mm

Weight : From 3.2kg depending on configuration

Color : Black

Connectivity

- 2 x 2 Wifi 802.11 ac

- Bluetooth 4.1

- Gigabit Ethernet Port

- 3x USB 3.0 Ports

- 1x HDMI Port

- 1x Thunderbolt (USB Type-C)

- Audio & Microphone In

- Display Port

I'm not a laptop gaming guy. In fact I've tried gaming on an Alienware laptop but I've never gotten comfortable enough to make it my daily driver, It's partly due to the unusual-sized keyboard on the laptop and the heat generated from the underside of the keyboard, but that was 7 years back since I've touched another 'gaming' laptop. However this would definitely be my gaming laptop wish-list If I ever had one, due to the desktop grade graphic card and 4k monitor option.

So if you're interested in the new Legion series Laptop by Lenovo, do head over to http://www3.lenovo.com/my/en/ and keep an eye out on their announcement 

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