Lenovo is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo’s business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Lenovo G550 Laptop is a budget laptop designed for multimedia and entertainment needs. It seems like a solid and powerful laptop that will deliver an appreciable performance. The keyboard is a large with well spaced keys. There is the numeric keys section on the right hand side of it too. The trackpad looks wide as well.

Hardware Of Lenovo G550

• Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 Dual Core Mobile Processor

• 4GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory

• 320GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

• 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner

• 15.6" WXGA (1366x768) Display With VGA Webcam

• Intel GMA 4500MHD Integrated Graphics

• Fast Ethernet, 802.11b/g Wireless

• Three USB 2.0, VGA, 5-in-1 Reader

• 15" x 9.7" x 1.4" @ 5.6 lbs.

• Vista Home Premium,

The laptop is built with total plastic materials which is acceptable for a budget notebook. However, the design looks very classy from the outside with a black weave pattern on it. The plastic body is also strong enough to withstand some pressure and there is hardly any notable flex when we tried to put pressure on some of the key weak design areas such as the back of the screen or the palm rests. Overall, we are quite satisfied with the design or build quality.

With its lid closed, the Lenovo is almost rather handsome. A subtle grain helps to make the G550’s silvery-grey plastic look a little like brushed metal, and the curved edges initially dispel any comparisons with the square-jawed ThinkPad range. Tilt back the lid, however, and the thick base and lumpen design make most ThinkPads look positively svelte.

Image quality is another of the Lenovo’s weak points. The 15.6in panel has a native resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, which is identical to many of the other laptops here, but while the images it produces appear eye-poppingly bright, it isn’t subtle. Highlights looked crushed and poor contrast left even the most vibrant of pictures looking sun-bleached.

Usability is excellent. The wide keyboard proves accurate at all times. The large keys have a slightly spongy typing action, but not enough to hinder use. A full numeric keypad on the board's right-hand side makes it quick and easy to input data.

The Lenovo G550 works very well as a desktop replacement notebook, handling most tasks with ease. The target market for this notebook includes small businesses, students, or home users looking for a basic machine. The G550 has no problems surfing the web, playing SD or HD movies, or playing the occasional 2D game like Peggle. Compared to the older G530, Lenovo switched from using DDR2 memory in favor of DDR3 which is faster and now becoming cheaper. In theory this change could have meant greater performance, but we didn't see any significant change. Both PCMark05 and 3DMark06 dropped, while wPrime saw a small boost in speed.

Unlike the Advent and Toshiba, there is no HDMI port for connecting to an HDTV for a larger, high-definition (HD) digital picture. Analogue connectivity is provided by a VGA-out. Three USB ports let you add peripherals, with two on the chassis' left side and one on the right.

All this power comes at a price, though. While the previous G550 managed just over four hours in our battery test, this model lasted just three hours and 20 minutes. This is fine for use around the home, but a bit short for travel and poor compared to other budget laptops.

Pros

• Very Sturdy Feel

• Excellent Keyboard

• Improved Battery Life Over G530

Cons

• Slightly More Expensive Than Similarly Equipped Laptops

• Lacks Support For 802.11n Wireless

• Fewer Ports Than G530 Model