Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 tested in every way imaginable

Lenovo's 15.4-inch IdeaPad Y530 has been around the block a time or two, but if you've been putting off a buy as you wait for someone to test this puppy out good-fashion, your day has arrived. The benchmarking fiends over at HotHardware have abused (in a good way, of course) the Y530 in pretty much every way possible, even straining the Core 2 Duo CPU and the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M to see how they fared in gaming scenarios. Critics were particularly wowed by the display's crispness and overall stability of the machine -- not once during the gauntlet of tests did this bugger crash or weep under pressure. Of course, serious gamers should probably look elsewhere, but those scouting a do-it-all laptop at a sub-$1,000 price point should definitely dive into the read link below.

Lenovo Buys Mystery Startup Company

Lenovo has acquired a secretive startup called Switchbox Labs that was cofounded by a former Microsoft Windows executive, the PC maker announced Wednesday.

Lenovo said Switchbox is developing "new consumer technologies," but details about its projects are largely a mystery. Its development work will continue at Lenovo, which said it hopes to integrate the company's technology in future products.

Switchbox cofounders Michael Sievert, Robert Dickinson and Blake Ramsdell have joined Lenovo's ranks. Sievert has been made a senior vice president and will report to Lenovo CEO William Amelio. He previously worked as corporate vice president of Windows marketing at Microsoft and also held senior positions at AT&T Wireless and E-Trade Financial.

According to Sievert's biography on Microsoft's Web site, Sievert was responsible for the worldwide introduction of Windows Vista in 2006 and 2007.

"Switchbox Labs is doing some interesting work, and we are pleased that Switchbox and Mike are joining Lenovo," Amelio said in a statement. The startup is based in Seattle.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Lenovo could not immediately be reached for comment.

Lenovo has been incorporating new technologies in its products to help it reach out to new customers. It recently added instant-on technologies to its IdeaPad S10 netbook and launched a ThinkPad W700DS laptop workstation with two screens. The company also launched the IdeaCentre A600 all-in-one PC with a remote control that doubles as a Wii-like motion-based controller.

Laptop display comparison awards top marks to Lenovo

It's not exactly the most extensive round-up, but photographers looking for suggestions on a laptop to pair up with their DSLR would do well to check out Rob Galgraith's latest comparison, which takes a look at the late-2008 MacBook Pro, the Dell Mini 9, and a pair of Lenovos (the W700 and T60). Not so surprisingly, he didn't have too much positive to say about the MacBook's switch to a glossy-only display, but other than that, he found that it mostly held up against its predecessor. It apparently wasn't able to match up against the two Lenovo offerings, however, which came in at number one and two in both color accuracy and viewing angle tests. The W700, in particular, proved to have color accuracy "on par with a fine desktop display," a feat enabled in no small part by its built-in calibrator. He was also especially impressed by the Dell Mini 9, which actually beat out the MacBook in terms of color accuracy, but fell a bit short in viewing angle tests. The fact that it also fits nicely in a DSLR bag certainly doesn't hurt things either. Hit up the link below for the complete breakdown.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds laptop review: two screens of fury in one hefty package

Lenovo ThinkPad_W700ds_reviewed_two_screens_of_fury'; stands out from the rest in an incredibly crowded laptop market -- and not just because it's bigger than almost any two of its competitors combined. It's one of the very few laptops to offer an auxiliary display and has room for a full number pad and an integrated tablet to boot. With those two screens and that pop-out stylus it's a little bit like a Nintendo DS that entered the Major Leagues and spent a few decades on the juice chasing home run records -- but, being a Lenovo, this luggable has little interest in games. It's powerful and very functional, but bulky dimensions and a similarly unwieldy price tag leave it with two major handicaps to overcome