It’s not enough for a 14-inch notebook to deliver decent runtimes, a little processor grunt and pleasing looks any more; now we expect graphical excellence too. In response, Lenovo have outfitted their Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 with a dedicated ATI Radeon GPU, and they’ve even thought to put a switch on the front which allows you to turn it off when you’re feeling more spreadsheet than gaming minded. Two birds with one stone, or just a lame duck? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
While the IdeaPad Y460 range kicks off at $799, you’ll need to step up to the $999 version if you want the dedicated ATI Radeon HD 5650 1GB graphics. That GPU is paired with Intel HD integrated graphics and a Core i5-520M 2.40GHz processor, along with 4GB of memory and a 500GB 5,400rpm hard-drive.
The 14-inch LCD runs at 1,366 x 768 resolution, and its LED backlighting is even and surprisingly bright. Colors are richly saturated, and if you’re looking for Full HD there’s an HDMI port on the side which you can use to hook up your nearest HDTV. Other connectivity includes WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, along with gigabit ethernet, and there are three USB 2.0 ports, a combo USB/eSATA port, VGA, audio in/out, a six-in-one memory card reader and a 34mm ExpressCard slot. Above the LCD lurks a 1.3-megapixel webcam, while two 2W JBL speakers are tucked above the keyboard and are louder than their amp rating would suggest.
