When it comes to laptops the gaming category is always one of the most fun to cover. While Ultrabooks focus on balancing thinness with power gaming rigs are just putting it all out there damn the physics (and your weak arms for carrying it).
Lenovo is a relative newcomer to the gaming scene, which has been dominated by Razer and Alienware for a few years now. Perhaps that is why Lenovo is wisely teaming up with Razer to merge their flair for design with their own. The result is the top-of-the-line Ideapad Y900, a beast of a portable gaming machine. Well... 'portable' is a relative term, as this monster weighs in at a nice round 10 pounds.
We got some time with the powerful laptop here at CES 2016 so check out our hands-on video to see why this is one impressive machine.
Lenovo Ideapad Y900
- 17.3-inch IPS display has anti-glare at 1920x1080 Full HD resolution
- Intel 6th-generation quad-core Skylake Core i7-K series
- Nvidia GTX 980M with 4GB of memory
- Backlit mechanical keyboard with Chroma colors from Razer
- Dedicated physical Turbo button to overclock the CPU and GPU
- Up to 64GB DDR4 memory
- 512GB PCIe SSD and/or 1TB HDD storage
- A massive 90Wh battery (for a fun 5 hours of uptime)
- 3 x USB 3.0 ports
- 1 x USB 2.0 with always-on charging
- 1 x USB –C Thunderbolt 3
- Audio and Mic jack
- HDMI 2.0
- 4-in-1 card reader
- Display Port
- Ethernet port
- 10.1 lb (4.6 kg) weight
- Kitchen Sink 1.0 (that's a joke)
Lenovo is happy also to sell you a dedicated hard-shell backpack to lug this monster around. That said, once you pass over a laptop that weighs more than a few pounds it just stops mattering how much it actually weights — it's not truly 'portable', or even really a 'laptop'. In other words, while 10 pounds is hilariously heavy, it did not feel that much different from Lenovo's Ideapad Y700 (at 7.7 pounds, which we're in the process of reviewing).
Putting aside the raw specs of the Y900, which are crazy ridiculous, the attention to detail that Lenovo has given the device is evident. The keyboard palm area is a sturdy leather for a premium feel when resting your hands. The brushed metal on the outside feels like a top quality design and the machine overall says, "this is it." Even the bottom of the Y900, which is peppered with triangle-styled vents and the subwoofer, looks fresh.
Razer has lent their expertise to the chroma colored keyboard, which although unnecessary, adds that flair that so many gamers enjoy on their high-end machines. The ability to customize the color patterns, presets and the overclocking ability are also nice touches. In fact, you could have the Y900 auto-overclock particular games making the process much more automated.
Also, don't ask about the fans. There is no doubt this system can pump out some heat. It has fans, they will run.
None of this comes cheap, however, and we are looking at a $1,999 starting price. While non-gamers will balk at that price, even I have to admit that it is great to manufacturers push the extremes. If that is your thing than the Ideapad Y900 is your choice.
Availability for the Lenovo Ideapad Y9000 starts in June 2016, so you have plenty of time to start saving.
