Lenovo G570 Review

  Lenovo G570

Review Summary:

The Lenovo G70 is a budget-friendly 15-inch laptop with good specs and a mediocre display.

Pros

• Good performance
• Great keyboard
• Very decent audio
• Solid chassis build quality
• Good battery life

Cons

• Washed out display
• Slower hard disk drive

Lenovo G570 Full Review

Part of the Lenovo G-Series line, the Lenovo G570 is a budget-priced 15.6-inch notebook made for consumer general use. Check out our full review to see how this notebook has improved from the last generation and if it can land a spot in your household.

Our Lenovo G570 review unit has the following specifications:

• 15.6-inch 720p (1366x768) HD glare with LED backlighting
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 dual-channel RAM (2x2GB)
• 500GB 5400rpm Western Digital hard drive (WD5000BPVT)
• Atheros AR9285 802.11n wireless LAN card
• DVD-multi burner
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 6-cell Li-ion battery (10.8V, 48Wh)
• 1-year limited warranty
• Weight: 5.73 lbs
• Dimensions: 14.8” (L) x 9.8” (W) x 0.7~1.4” (H)
• MSRP: $899 (starting at $449)

Our review unit is built for general use computing, but the Intel Core i5 dual-core processor and 4GB of system memory should work well with multitasking. This system will not, however, be able to run most major 3D games without flaw because of the Intel integrated graphics card, the HD graphics 3000. Other upgrade options upon first customization include 750GB capacity hard drive at 5400rpm, 8GB RAM (1333MHz), and a Blu-ray/DVD combo.

Build and Design
The G570's outer build does not differ that much from its prior model, the G560. The G570 has a simplistic design, glossy plastics on the display lid with molded plastics throughout, and brushed aluminum across the entire top of the chassis around the keyboard. With the Li-ion battery, this unit weighs in at just under 6 pounds and measures in at about 1.5" thick, making it doable for light travel.

Even though it is made almost entirely of plastic material, the overall build quality feels very good and considerably solid. There is minimal flex when pushing down on the palmrests, but due to the brushed aluminum it is not significant; the aluminum also helps to keep this area where your palms and hands will rest stay cool even when the notebook is under exertion. The notebook is not, however, as durable as it could be thanks to the plastic build. The bottom plastic panels will hold up fine on your desk if you aren't a frequent traveler.

The chassis itself is solid; when a lot tension is applied to the keyboard there is only minimal flex. Typing with heavy pressure should not cause any problems as far as chassis flex or "bounce" is concerned.

Because of its glossiness, the dark lid will inherently collect fingerprints, dust, grime, and so forth, so be aware that this notebook may be high maintenance. The glossy lid does add a touch of style, however, to an otherwise simple design. The lid also flexes easily when any amount of pressure is applied and when bending it inward at the corners, so much so that ripples did appear on the LCD display. Overall, the build quality is good; my only complaint is the average build quality of the glossy lid. 

Ports and Features
The port selection has not changed much since the G560. There is no longer an ExpressCard/34 slot, and there are two more USB 2.0 ports. The overall selection is very good for an entry-level/general use notebook. Notably, there is an HDMI port for hooking the system up to an HDTV, plenty of USB ports (although no USB 3.0), a media card reader, and VGA.

Front: wireless on/off switch, status lights, media card reader (MMC/MS/MS Pro/SD/xD)

Back: nothing

Left: Kensington lock slot, exhaust vent, VGA, Ethernet, HDMI, USB/eSATA, USB 2.0 x2

Right: headphone and microphone jacks, DVD multi/CD RW optical drive, USB 2.0, A/C adapter slot

Keyboard and Touchpad
Lenovo has changed the standard keyboard style from last time over to a Chiclet-style or "island-style" keyboard. This means the keys are flat, square and spaced out a bit to aid with typing, as opposed to the keys being together, curved and moreso raised. The keyboard is also full-sized with a total of six rows and a full number pad on the right side. The keyboard is once again splendid (even though Lenovo made the change); it's one of the best highlights of the notebook. It seems as though Lenovo found the perfect amount of space between keys, because it's both very comfortable and easy to type on without making mistakes. Also, as mentioned before, the chassis is very solid and the keyboard does not flex very easily when pressed. Because this is an entry-level notebook, Lenovo did not include a fingerprint reader and there is only one quick access key--a button for the OneKey Recovery software.

It seems as though the Synaptics V7.2 touchpad has greatly improved from last time. The last model had a "clickpad" with no separate right and left-click buttons. The touchpad is an appropriate size for a 15.6-inch notebook, is textured to aid in smooth finger sailing, and includes a built-in scrollbar. It is very responsive, the cursor has yet to get "stuck in transit," and it works even if you happen to have moisture on your fingertips. The left and right-click buttons also work well with registering clicks and you don't have to pound down to use them. The only complaint I have is that the buttons make a slightly annoying "click-clack" sound when you use them. I am greatly satisfied with the changes Lenovo made to the touchpad and buttons.

Screen and Speakers
The Lenovo G570 has a 15.6-inch 720p (1366x768 resolution) display with HD glare and LED backlighting. This is the one and only screen option for the notebook. The display is glossy, so keep in mind that while this improves the overall clarity of the screen, it is a reflective surface and will reflect any amount of light in the room. 

The contrast ratio on this notebook came in at 140:1. This is a very low number and is not an improvement from the previous G560. As a result, colors appeared washed out. The highest brightness rating we measured was 191 NITs, and the darkest ratio we measured was 1.20 NITs. The resolution is just too low for this display to be considered "good," and many users will be turned off to find that Lenovo did not include any other display options. However, this resolution is commonplace for budget-priced notebooks.

Vertical viewing angles aren't that great and begin to distort when the screen is tilted around 15-20 degrees up or down. Horizontal viewing angles are much better, and begin to distort images about at about 40 degrees from either side. All things considered, the display is fair at best.

The G570 has a Conexant SmartAudio HD speaker system. There are two small speakers on the frontside below the palmrest, and while most would think this would mean the audio would be below average, it's actually above average for its class. The downside of this speaker location is that normally sound is unable to travel up and out decently. However, the audio didn't have a problem with traveling--the sound levels get loud enough (especially for casual listening), the audio is crisp and clear even when volume is at 100 percent, and the sound only begins to distort when the volume is pushed up in the 95+ percent range. The bass, however, is average at best--and tweaking the Windows sound enhancements to include bass boost only made it worse.

Performance and Benchmarks
The synthetic benchmark scores have improved a great deal due to the higher-end specifications equipped with this notebook when compared to the previous generation. Our G570 review unit has a second-generation Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor, Intel HD 3000 graphics, 4GB DDR3 dual-channel of system memory at 1333MHz, and a 500GB capacity WD hard drive at 5400rpm. These specifications will most definitely be able to handle multitasking and productivity, watching movies, and even light gaming (although the graphics cardwon't be able to handle games like Mass Effect 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 very well). Programs are responsive and the flow of tasks can be run decently fast. The piece of hardware that will bog this system down is the hard drive with a spindle speed of 5400rpm. This will effect boot-up time, transfer speeds, and even application loading speeds. There is not currently a faster (7200rpm) hard drive option. Check out our comparison charts below where we have compared similar-classed notebooks for a better idea of how well this system performs, and its value.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

PCMark Vantage is a newer synthetic benchamrk measuring overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark Vantage measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise

To gain our temperature results we ran our most intensive benchmark for 45 minutes and then took readings with an IR temperature gun. There results were about average. The lowest reading was 78 degrees Fahrenheit and the highest was 96 degrees, which was found on the bottom-middle of the notebook. Ninty-six is not extremely high, but it is something to be aware of. The exact temperature readings (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) can be found below.

The noise levels on the G570 are about average. When the notebook is stressed, you can hear the fan running and making a low murmur, but it is not what I would consider a distraction or annoyance.

Battery Life
The Lenovo G570 has a 6-cell Lithium-ion battery (10.8V, 48Wh). During our battery tests, we set the Windows 7 operating system to the "balanced" power profile, adjust the screen brightness down to 70%, turn the wireless on and connect to a network, and refresh a web page every 60 seconds. The G570 was able to last 4 hours and 32 minutes on these settings. This is above average for a notebook in its class running these hardware specifications, so we were pleased with the results. Of course, that number will go up or down depending on a number of factors such as how badly you're stressing the notebook, screen brightness, etc.

Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):

Conclusion
We believe the Lenovo G570 would make a good general use notebook to have around the house if you are in need of a lower-priced notebook. The combination of its performance, keyboard and touchpad, solid build quality of its chassis and battery life cover all the grounds to make it a decent system. The complaints we did have about the display and slower hard disk drive will not be big enough deterrents for people if they simply want to own a decently solid secondary or budget-priced notebook. There is also an extensive amount of ports for an entry-level notebook, including more than enough USB 2.0 ports, e-SATA, VGA, HDMI, and a media card reader. The G570 is available now through Lenovo and select retailers, starting at the Web price of $449.

Pros:

• Good performance
• Great keyboard
• Very decent audio
• Solid chassis build quality
• Good battery life

Cons:

• Washed out display
• Slower hard disk drive

Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support 
Upgrade Capabilities 
Usability 
Design 
Performance 
Features 
Price/Value Rating 

* Ratings averaged to produce final score