Lenovo, the China based company, has been producing top class computers to the world. Being the fourth largest computer seller in the world, the quality and the popularity are, needless to say, excellent. In the laptops or notebooks field, this company has a niche for itself. The Essential notebooks are a kind of laptops produced by Lenovo that bear certain common physical features and attributes. One among the essential notebooks is the topic under study, the 15.6″ G560. The G Series notebooks are known for their good performance. The price of this notebook is reasonable. It has all the major features a notebook ought to have and is one among the top notebooks of its kind.

The Lenovo Essential G560 notebook is of three different types. One kind has a matte display and is devoid of the HDMI, Bluetooth or eSATA has 2GB of DDR3 RAM and has 250GB Hard drive capacity. The second type is the notebook with a glossy display. Its features are same as that of the matte display except that it affords HDMI and eSATA. The third type is the glossy notebook with higher graphics. It affords bluetooth, eSATA as well as HDMI. The memory is nearly 3 GB of DDR3 RAM while the hard drive capacity is 320 GB. The graphic chipset employed is the NVIDIA N11M-GE 1 DDR3 512MB. Having seen the basic types of differences, let us study the product in detail and this product is of the third type (above mentioned).

Lenovo Essential G560 Notebook

Design:

The Essential G560 is a notebook with good design and features that make it look very professional and perfect. The notebook has been designed in a good way. The outer covering of the display is glossy. Glossiness means that the enhanced look results in the finger prints easily being detected and this might be a nuisance at times. The notebook is black in colour with the word “lenovo” imprinted on its exterior. The interior is super cool since the base of the notebook has a metallic chassis with a unique neat design. The areas where the user rests the palm are brushed with aluminium which gives it an ethical and great look. There are some problems with the viewing angles. Beyond a certain angle, the contents of the screen are not very clearly visible.

The notebook measures 14.8” in length, 9.8” in depth and varies from 0.7” to 1.4” in height. This machine is neither ultra-portable nor ultra thin, but it is definitely a notebook that can be carried with complete ease. It weighs nearly 5.73 lbs. The screen is 15.6” with a High Definition LED backlit screen. The High Definition screen implies that the movies can be watched with all the effects in this 15.6” screen. Also, the resolution is 1366 x 768p which is good for a 15.6” display and the aspect ratio is 16:9.

Keyboard and LED:

The keyboard of this Lenovo G560 15.6 inch Laptop Notebook is a good one designed with the ergonomics in view. It is comfortable to use and has the numeric keypad integrated on the right end. Since the screen is 15.6 inches, the keyboard is big enough and the users can type without any trouble. The LEDs for indicating the status are present on the front side of the notebook. There are four LEDs and they are used for indicating the power and other such purposes.

Touch Pad:

The touchpad of the Essential G560 notebook is made of plastic and is of sufficient area. The design of the touchpad has few flaws and thus it is not a success. There are no separate buttons for the left and right operations too. Vertical scrolling can be easily done with the help of this touchpad. It is more of a click pad because clicking anywhere within the pad registers the left or right mouse click. Over all, the track pad has not done a good job and is completely irritating. If you have complex tasks, then you might need to invest on an external mouse.

Microphone, Camera and Speaker:

The microphone and Camera are present on the top bezel of the notebook. With the help of the microphone and Camera, video chatting is no longer impossible and the distance of separation also is never an issue. The speakers are pretty good in this notebook. These stereo speakers especially produce an excellent output for light tracks. They are positioned on the space above the keyboard.

Lenovo G560 keyboard closer View

Processor and Memory:

The Processor used to run the G560 notebook is the Intel Core i3 370Mor i5 processor. Intel has become the most widely used processor for most of the notebooks these days. Basically, it performs a satisfying work and is easy to use too. The RAM memory is about 3 GB of DDR3. The hard drive capacity is a good 320 GB which is more than enough to store all the data required.

Ports:

The Lenovo G560 notebook PC has a good number of ports inbuilt into it. Beginning from the front side, there is a button to switch on or off the wireless connection to the internet, followed by the LEDs and then comes the 5-in-1 card reader. This card can read the data from the memory cards like SD, MMC and the like. On the left hand side of the notebook, there is the kensington port which is used to lock the notebook and thereby protect the data. Next to the lock port is the fan vent that is used to give out the heat from the notebook. The ethernet port for wired connection to the internet takes its position next which is followed by the VGA, USB 2.0, eSATA, HDMI and the express card slot. The VGA port is used for connecting to an external monitor and the HDMI port is used for connecting to a bigger screen. The movies or videos or even photos can be watched or seen in a bigger screen with the help of this HDMI port. The eSATA is used to transfer the data from DVDs or CDs or other external drives at a faster rate. On the right side of the notebook, there are the microphone and headphone jacks, optical drive, another USB 2.0 port and the line for power. Thus there are a total of 2 USB 2.0 ports.

Presence of Optical Drive:

The optical drive is present on the right side of the notebook as said earlier. The presence of this drive means that the users can easily transfer data to/from the disks and also watch the movies in a High Definition scale in this notebook. This is great news for the movie lovers.

One Key Rescue System:

If you are sick of virus attacking your notebook and the aftermath of that, you can keep a full stop to those issues. With the Lenovo G560 notebook the users can rescue the vital data with just a touch of a button. This rescue button is present on the base of the notebook at the top left side.

Connectivity:

Provisions for both wired and wireless connection are available in this notebook. There is the RJ45 port as said earlier for using the internet. Wireless LAN cards are also available. In addition to these, there is the bluetooth facility. Thus downloading your favourite contents from the internet or surfing can be done just in few seconds.

Essential G560 15.6 inch Notebook

Energy Efficient:

The G560 notebook has been designed in such a way that it does not affect the environment in any way. The energy star means that the notebook is safe to use and it does not devastate the environment in any way. The power consumption is also minimized.

Battery:

The power supply is given by the 6 cell rechargeable Li-ion battery. This battery has a life of 4 to 5 hours and this is average for a notebook of this size and price range. The performance of the battery, though not up to the mark, it is acceptable.

Performance:

The audio and video performances are good. The battery life is average. The track pad is the biggest flaw in the device. For basic tasks, the performance level is good. But beyond that, the performance level starts decreasing. With the NVIDIA graphic card, playing games on the High Definition Screen will be fun packed. So overall, the Lenovo Essential G560 is one notebook with certain good performances and certain flaws.

Warranty:

The Lenovo Essential G560 has the warranty time as common as any notebook, 1 year. This warranty time period is inclusive of all types of services.

Verdict:

Thus the Lenovo Essential G560 is a notebook with a neat design, good number of ports and simple notebook that can perform its tasks with some justice. But there are indeed few flaws in the notebook which decreases its value in the market. So, for those who do not find the notebook satisfactory, there are still many other choices and for others who want a notebook that can perform their simple tasks, has optical drive, eSATA and some other special features, this is for you.

Lenovo Essential G560 Notebook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer Lenovo
Model Name Lenovo Essential G560
Dimensions: (L x D x H) 14.8″ x 9.8″ x 0.7~1.4″
Weight 5.73 lbs
Type Notebook
Display
Screen Size 15.6 inch
Screen Type LED backlit HD Screen
Screen Resolution 1366 x 768
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Internal Components
Processor Intel Core i3-370M Processor (2.4GHz, 3MB, 1066MHz FSB)
RAM 3 GB DDR3
Hard drive 320 GB
Keypad Easy to work keyboard with good response of the keys
Touchpad Yes
Multimedia
Graphics NVIDIA N11M-GE 1 DDR3 512MB Graphics
Speakers Built-in stereo speakers
Communication Setup
Wireless support WLAN 802.11 BGN
Memory card slot SD card reader built-in
Connectivity 3 USB 2.0 ports, Audio line in, Audio line out,
1 VGA video output, 1 HDMI
Other Detail
Warranty 1 Year complete warranty

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