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Product Description
Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 15.6-inch Laptop (Red) - (Intel Core i7 3520M 2.9GHz Processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8) - Lenovo Z580 Red 156 INCH i7 3520M 8GB 1TB DVDRW Shared Graphics Win 8 M81JRUK English Portable Notebook... See more product details
Customer Reviews: Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 15.6-inch Laptop (Red) - (Intel Core i7 3520M 2.9GHz Processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, LAN, WLAN, BT, Webcam, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8)
Amazon Verified Purchase
I did heavy research before purchasing a new laptop, eventually I chose the Lenovo because: 1. It had the best combination of processor / RAM and price, 2. It was attractive - I could pick white instead of endless grey!
It is incredibly fast and responsive, and while it is taking me a while to come to terms with using Windows 8 on a non-touchscreen facility, that is my issue, not the laptops!
This Lenovo has basically modelled itself on a mac - the keyboard is mac-like and very easy to use/clean.
The HUGE plus for me is the crystal clear Dolby sound system - playing music and movies is a pleasure. The only down point is the inbuilt microphone is a bit weak - so I have to sit close during Skype calls.
But, the processor / RAM to cost ratio is so excellent that I couldn't not recommend it. For the mac equivalent I would've had to pay £1500 instead of the £580 for the Lenovo!
Hel
Amazon Verified Purchase
this may be my last gadget, lol, this laptop is ace. Simple, clean lines, good value for money and does it all. It is really is so easy to find your way around and no, I don't have shares. I am a 65 yr old grandmother and if I can do it any one can. Love this laptop, the Dolby home theater is fantastic.
Amazon Verified Purchase
I have never had a Lenovo product before so I did not know what to expect. I need not have had any misgivings - it is simply a superb machine, fast and powerful - easily the best laptop of the four I have previously owned. It is light but well made and has a solid and reliable feel to it. It is high spec and comes with Windows 8 - which you either love or hate - and some superfluous software. It also has McAfee antivirus which I have removed and replaced with my tried and trusted Vipre Antivirus. I am truly delighted with my buy and can thoroughly recommend it.
Hel
Amazon Verified Purchase
Initial comments - Day 1 of ownership - Gunmetal looks superb and what follows - "for the price point" - just adds cream to the cake with just two small caveats... Windows 8 and the Hard Disk.
These two items, especially the HD, I think let the overall system down. A faster smaller HD would, I believe, be a better choice as would Windows v7 32/64bit.
Unit inspection of the outside shows no faults as described in others reviews. Best to check just in case before starting things up.
For those not sure of specs, and to answer some queries in other reviews, checking hardware via Control Panel > System > Device Manager, shows: Processor is Dual Core i7 showing 4 cores @ 2.9Ghz > 3.1Gz - nVidia 635/2Gb + an Intel HD4000. Make sure nVidia is in the header description as the Intel HD4000 is, as far as I know, integrated into the MB.
Bluetooth V4 - WD HD Blue 1Tb @540rpm - Blueray/DVD read/write // have yet to try the provided s/w, but suspect will have to buy a specialised 3rd party offering for Blue-ray playback.
I have yet to get to grips with W8 which, initially, is proving to be confusing - a bit like going from MS to an Apple OS - but feel it is wasted on a non touch screen system.
Screen is shiny but personally it doesn't pose any problems. As for the touch-pad complaints I haven't found any problems. A USB/ wireless mouse would benefit those that do.
For those, like me who find the initial feelings of being lost and confused at the first sight of W8, this might be of some use:
Tip 1 - W8 has 2 interfaces. W8 for use with touch screens & a 3rd party interface - Windows Classic - for use with standard screens which can be found at SourceForge.
Tip 2 -There is an updated version of Windows 7 within W8 - only accessed via W8 interface.
Tip 3 - The over-sized / sensitive touch pad can be used as a touch screen under W8.
Looking at an on-line manual, future H/W upgrades to memory, HD and DVD etc., look easy... undo one screw, slide off the base and everything is there in the open.
Prior to buying, I checked around the local IT places, including certain other 'High Street Stores' and had a good look at the various Lenovo offerings... less spec and more dosh outlay, but at least a hands on impression at what was on offer.
All-in-all, although this, according to some, is a middle of the road system, I am more than pleased with what I got for the dosh outlay. Bottom line, good value for money.
Amazon Verified Purchase
Being a first year university student who requires a machine which is able to endure the busy and arduous life of a scholar, consisting of 20% work (lab reports and presentations) and 80% procrastination (games and movies), Lenovo's Z580 seemed like a safe bet.
Although throughout my university, laptops have become synonymous with Apple Macbook Pros and suchlike, it was my intention to break the paradigm, and of course, spend a LOT less money in the process.
This laptop does not disappoint. However, I did have my worries about purchasing a completely new laptop, seeing as the last system I owned was a 4 year old Dell netbook which only had 2GB RAM and a 1.8GHz processor, it had been ''upgraded'' by my school to run Windows 7 so Windows 8 seemed a bit daunting.
The specifications of this laptop are simply amazing, an i7, 2.9 GHz CPU with 8GB RAM is definitely a huge step up from what I had before. Windows 8 is not that bad once you get used to it, and, controversially, is quite fun to use.
Nothing bad to say about it this far, however there is a lot of bloatware which is slightly annoying but is simple to remove. When I first got the laptop and tried to connect to my router wirelessly, I was getting a truly abysmal connection, after some googling it turns out that this is a problem with the McAfee Internet Security program. After uninstalling it I have had perfect WiFi connectivity.
I am a casual gamer, this laptop runs games beautifully and there is no lag whatsoever.
Bottom line: If your looking for a fast reliable laptop, that's a good all rounder with pure speed - go for this.
Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this because I wanted a laptop for University work, I was unsure about Windows 8.
I wanted a laptop I felt would last me a few years, so I went for this one.
* I was unsure if to go for the Nvidia card upgrade, but it was an extra £100, Lenovo were also having a money-back Christmas deal. I have to say overall, setup is very simple as you would expect, clip the battery in and turn it on.
* Windows 8 does take a little while to get used to with the finger gestures and things but it's actually a very nice UI when you get to it, the laptop itself is silent, boots Windows in seconds.
* A lot of pre-installed software you might wish to remove is one downside.
* I also have a gaming-pc with a radeon 5850, 4gb of ddr3, an 80gb SSD, this Lenovo I feel is a fair match for it.
Overall this is great for a casual gamer, who wants to do work too, you can easily game with the Intel 4000 integrated chip, although if you are very serious about gaming you would probably want to look at paying more for the Z580 with the NVIDIA card.
The price is perfectly reasonable for what it is versus its competitors, I did hours of research into every aspect versus other models and I found this was best for my use, the i7 ivy bridge is well worth it, the 8gb of ram also works brilliantly.
Help
CONS: Junk software in bundle (this may pay to keep price down.)
PROS: Everything - don't struggle on with a noisy, slow, faulty imperfect machine.
Fantastic large size keyboard for long documents, everything is intuitive, i didn't need the O2 start-up disc. I plugged in the ethernet and Lenovo just grabbed it! Sheer delight! Strong body construction and clearly tailor made to windows 8. please don't believe the grumpy old men, windows 8 is fantastic, within minutes you'll find everything you want-it very readily presents you with an old style desktop at the touch of a button. My logitech minimouse - £15 - automatically raises the sign-in curtain when I switch it on. it feels a little more intelligent which is what people may be reacting to; 8 isn't boring & 8 is very complimentary to whatever you do with a computer. you will never go back. the absence of touchscreen is irrelevant - those tiles move effortlessly by several different means. Beware, the same price contender for a touchscreen comes from Samsung and it has one of those flexi-typing pads. Bad news in the long term as the whole thing sags and overflexes. for real work a solid type pad is best. this lenovo is silent in operation. shockingly silent, shockingly intelligent. the i7 with 6 or 8 may be something of a bargain, snap one up, both microsoft and lenovo (Chinese IBM) are pulling no punches with this combo. solid quality, great screen. Real Worth: circa £1000. You'll feel upgraded, from the depths of your lower-intestine, just at the outlet, to the vaulted ceilings of your skull. You weren't born in the West to suffer (like an Apple share-holder).
AMAZING LAPTOP! The laptop is super fast, reliable, and great looking. The gunmetal is more of a dark grey which I like with a nice vertical scratch look. The keyboard is defined and easy to read, although has small enter and shift buttons. I'm really pleased I purchased this laptop, as it will be great for sixth-form and university. I can see this laptop lasting a long time with it's excellent build quality. The price of this laptop is the best thing about it. This laptop is worth at least £800 from other sites and the specifications alone put it over 800 pounds in value. In my opinion this is the best laptop sold on Amazon and the delivery was next day, even though I used the free super saver delivery. All in all, this laptop is great value for money and I recommend it to everyone.
Amazon Verified Purchase
Well I don't often write product reviews but felt duty bound as I used the reviews to make my choice. Some background: I have used IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads for many years for business and Home use starting with T40, T42, T42P Thinkpads and more recently running a T60 and T61P which were also great machines. For a variety of reasons mostly software issues and requirements as I build and run websites for charities and needed some serious processing power for a couple of the applications I decided I needed a core I7 Lenovo with stacks of memory. I wanted to stay with Lenovo as I like their online driver download page and I generally find getting parts online from various sources is good. (Unfortunately love Lenovo products but don't try and talk to a real person in Lenovo UK as it is impossible however, well connected you think you are!!!)
I would have purchased earlier but I really wanted a machine with WIndows 7 not Windows 8 as through various industry sources they all were highly critical of Windows 8 and lack of interest in feedback from Microsoft and I needed Windows 8 like a hole in the head. However, after reading all the comments and hearing that by using 'Start8' a £3.41 utility one can turn the Windows 8 interface into a Windows look alike - highly recommended and a must for me.
As I mentioned I bought two of these Core i7 for me and Core i5 for my wife as she did not need such a demanding machine.
Pros:
I7 processor fast
Keyboard very good
Mousepad - sorry Lenovo but old style were better although getting used to it but can lead to mistakes.
Battery life good
Weight pretty good for this size
Overall feel very good
Cons:
Well obviously Windows 8 but all laptops are shipped with this so took this out of my decision.
Not as robust as T Series Thinkpads but then the price is considerably less.
Would like to see the Capital Lock indicator on the front of the machine rather than on the front.
My Core I7 Z580 had major issues downloading Windows Updates (my wife's Z580 did not) I remembered reading that one must disable/stop the Nalperion Licensing Services process and that sorted the problem. Actually just upgrade the Nalperion Licencing Service when you first get this laptop to avoid the problem.
Amazon as ever were quick with both deliveries and also thanks to all the other reviewers who helped me with this decision. Also have gone with Microsoft Office 365 and the yearly licencing option for 5 devices which for me was a good option. BTW I understand that Microsoft are finally listening to complaints about Windows 8 from large Corporate customers who are not interested in touch screens for laptops/desktops and also wanted the Start button back. Codenamed 'Blue' and due as an update later in the year.
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