List Price: $699.99
Sale Price: $617.90
Today's Bonus: 12% Off
I have always been a BIG HP fan. I would have never guessed in a thousand years that I would buy a Lenovo. what won me over is that they give these to my kids to use in high school. they keep them the whole term and then turn them in at the end of the year. Since I didn't buy them for them (well, I did thru my tax dollars), I just set back and observed how they treated them. they weren't too hard on them, but rough enough to impress me with how much a Lenovo can take.
my son likes online games, which can heat up a computer in a heart-beat, especially if it has intense graphics. i would just take quick notice every once in a while where they put their Lenovo thinkpads. i have found them under blankets (still on), or on top of pillows where absolutely no air could circulate to the processor, and, though they were as hot as fire, the little boxes just kept humming along with no problems. they were also dropped, bumped, and sit on, with still no problems.
So, when i decided to get a new lappy, i decided to try a Lenovo. besides, with amazon's return policy, if i didn't like it, i could just send it back. so with windows 8 on it and a touch-screen, i made the jump. i received the lappy about a week after i ordered it. like a kid on Christmas morn, i immediately tore open the box and went at it. the battery was charged right out of the box. this, of course, made me very happy. i fired her up, did all the registration crap and was met by the start screen on reboot. i was not familiar with windows 8 at all, but i didn't find it to be too bad. it still isn't bad. once u learn all the screen swipes and how to pull down the menus and such, you'll look like tom cruise in minority report when he's slinging this pic over here or that video over there. it just takes some getting used to. btw, u don't have to touch the screen all the time. the mouse pad, which is over-sized, works the same way as the screen.
i have always been an amd guy, so the intel i5 was a change up as well. it's not bad at all. i do A LOT with video editing and this little guy hangs right in there. it is very fast at rendering a vid and the processor doesn't get nearly as hot as my old HP dv7 amd.
i did up the ram in it. it can hold 16 gig. it was a big improvement over the 6 it came with. the bottom access panel wasn't hard to remove at all and all the components are right there. i really liked the fact that the system fan is accessible thru this panel, so cleaning it will be a breeze.
my only problem with this lappy is the battery. a mere 4 cell. it holds up pretty well just piddling around the net and such, but when i fire up the Sony Vegas program to work on and render some vids, it doesn't take long for it to deplete fairly quickly.
other than the battery (for the most part) i am happy, with this lappy!
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I purchased this laptop to replace an aging 5 year old Compaq laptop which I had updated to Windows 8 32 bit (which I like very much and I am always amazed at all the clucks who dis it before they give themselves a chance to learn it, which takes no time at all, and I love all the APPs and how fast they load/install from the Windows Store). So I am familiar with the operating system, but only have used a laptop for less than six months. Windows 8.1 is coming soon, too. I purchased this G500S Win 8 64 bit for more power, primarily, and to have some of the conveniences not available on the old Compaq. More battery life, blue tooth, touch screen, number pad on the right of the keyboard, USB3 ports, HDMI port, battery life, better sound, and it doesn't burn your legs. It runs quieter and cooler. All were features I wanted. I don't like a mouse pad, using a USB wireless mouse and the touch screen, and I keep my 2500 song music library on a USB 3 external 1TB drive so when I back up I don't eat up a lot of time and back up drive space. I do like the Lenovo one touch back up and recovery feature. I disable the mouse pad, since it has that option and a check box (disable when USB mouse is used) that should keep it from returning like it did with every reboot on the Compaq. My hands were always moving the mouse as I typed, even erasing paragraphs and entering text where I did not wish it. With a touch screen it is just not practical anymore.The biggest CON is that my external blue ray drive can not work because of the graphics card. After installing the Blue Ray PowerDVD program package which allows the external drive to function, I got the error message that indicated the graphics card deficiency, a big surprise! Maybe it has something to do with the touch screen, but it was very surprising. Fortunately I can create my blue ray disks, I just can't play them. The computer has power to speed up the creation process, however. The second CON is that the keyboard is not back lighted. I was sure it was and it means I have turned on and off my light many times to find the keys. I guess I could use the virtual keyboard, but then you have to reach across the keyboard with your arms elevated after enabling the feature. Which brings me to the fact that a touch screen on a laptop is not the easiest to use except for short duration because your arms will get tired. But I knew that and I am still experimenting with a comfortable way to go about using it. Lastly, there is no external audio input for recording, or a MIC input either. Just an earphone jack.
I must admit to waiting before making this purchase because of the obvious deficiencies I knew about, and everyone sold out. Amazon got them back again in their own stock in very limited supply for $599 again with the I5 Processor, which I prefer over the AMD Quad Core. I jumped on the purchase, knowing if I was dissatisfied I could return it. But I probably won't. To get the Blue Ray functionality would cost much more, and for what I really need it will do just fine.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHT ABOUT PARTS SUPPORT: Parts for the G500s are scarce at this time as I have recently researched. First let me say that the power supply is rather unique with a plug that I have never encountered before. It has a rectangle shape with a small center male pin in the charger plug that mates with the computer receptacle. You don't see this type plug on chargers anywhere. Amazon lists no replacement charger or battery. The Lenovo website has the charger (vaguely listed with no description as item #36200249, ADP 65W 3P SLIM PLUG ADP-65FD BB DELTA, for $35.94 plus $7 shipping), but no battery is listed, or I could not find it, and this is somewhat bothersome since both these computer items often are needed in the future. I don't know why they felt it necessary to change the plug/receptacle, but the very small pin is worrisome since it may be prone to break with the constant use a laptop demands for charging. We will see. I saw no listing for memory or any other replacement parts.
UPDATE: It appears that the Thinkpad battery charger sold by Lenovo, and the Prontocharger.com store sells one that appears to be correct for the Lenovo/IBM G505s for $28.95 plus $7, and I have ordered one to be sure. Lenovo does sell the battery for $59.95 on their website (http://laptoprescue.com/lenovo-laptop-battery-model-specific/?gclid=CNzIlY-53rkCFUVp7AodQRkACA).
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