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00:00Okay, so these two laptops are some of the cheaper gaming laptops that Lenovo makes.
00:08This is the Legion Y540, this is the Y545, and these are probably one of the more requested
00:15devices that I've had on the channel.
00:18These are very popular, and the reason why they're popular is probably because of the
00:20price.
00:21They both start at $999, and they both have very similar hardware, but they're actually
00:25quite different from each other.
00:27Way more different than I thought they would be, just looking at the paper specs.
00:31So, just right off the rip, in case you were interested in both of them, the Y540 is better
00:36than the Y545, and I'll explain why.
00:39I have a preference for the design aesthetic of the Y540.
00:41This is a much cleaner look, I mean this isn't the only reason why I prefer it, but it's
00:45got a much simpler design, and I think in 2019 this kind of design aesthetic is something
00:49that a lot of people are looking for, just kind of an understated but powerful gaming
00:53laptop, and that's what the Y540 delivers.
00:56The Y545 has a more kind of classic gamer look, it's got a more angular design, it's
01:01got this light up Lenovo logo, and the whole shape and design aesthetic of this device
01:06is much more reminiscent of their older gaming devices, like the Y7000.
01:10Now, the one advantage that the 545 has, is it's got a metal top panel.
01:15So this is an aluminum surface, while the Y540 is a plastic surface, but both of them
01:20are built well.
01:21I wouldn't say that the aluminum shell makes this more durable or anything.
01:24If anything, the hinge design on the 545, because the hinge is kind of centered on the
01:30back area here, this is like, it's a design we've seen in older Lenovo laptops, and this
01:35has been an issue with some of the older devices, where you would just, every time you open
01:39and close the lid, you would torque this, like in a way that it shouldn't, and that
01:43can't be good for the lifespan of a hinge.
01:46Now the main reason why I prefer the 540 over the 545, is because of thermal performance.
01:51You would think that these have similar thermal designs, right?
01:55Because they have a similar design chassis, and there's a lot of information, or misinformation
01:58on the internet, about how they had the same kind of thermal design, and they also, I've
02:03seen threads talking about how the 740, the Legion 740, also has the same kind of thermal
02:08design.
02:09They are all completely different from each other.
02:10They're similar, but they're very different.
02:13And the 540 is a lot better than the 545 when it comes to removing heat from the CPU and
02:18the GPU.
02:20And I'll just pop these open to explain why.
02:22If you look on the inside, you can see the heat pipes from the 540, and it's just a pair
02:26of heat pipes that run from the CPU and the GPU, and you can see that being vented off
02:30by the fan.
02:31On the 545, it's the same kind of design setup, but you'll see that the heat pipes only vent
02:36off at the back of the device.
02:38There is no ventilation that comes off the side, like it does on the 540.
02:42And this difference in the configuration of the heat pipes and the fan, makes a very big
02:47difference in the thermal performance of the device.
02:49The 545 can throttle pretty easily if you push it hard enough.
02:53The 540 does not.
02:54It's a much better performer.
02:55Now inside here, you also have access to your RAM, your SSD, your 2.5 inch SATA, as well
03:00as your Wi-Fi card and your battery.
03:01Now the battery is small.
03:03It's a 57 watt hour battery.
03:05We've seen this exact same size in a bunch of Lenovo devices this year.
03:08It's like a three hour battery.
03:11It's not amazing, but at this price point, I feel like a lot of the market is getting
03:15that same kind of battery life.
03:16So yeah, that's just what we have.
03:18A two and a half to three hour battery life with the screen at 250 nits.
03:23Okay, let's get to the rest of the device.
03:26Oh, ports on this thing.
03:27It's got a pretty decent selection of ports and a lot of them are located in the back,
03:30which I like, including the AC adapter.
03:32So just everything is cleared away from the sides, keeps things a little bit tidier.
03:36But the USB-C port does not support Thunderbolt 3.
03:39If that's something you're interested in, it's lacking on this device.
03:42But that's kind of the standard when it comes to this kind of price range of device.
03:47Okay, let's just close up these ones because I'm done talking about the Y545.
03:52It was a cool idea and I think for some people that like the design aesthetic, it's got that
03:57look.
03:58But for me, and I think for most of you guys, you should be picking up the 540 instead of
04:03the 545.
04:04Okay, inside we have a keyboard.
04:09The typing experience is a little strange because of the number pad they include.
04:12It kind of squishes everything tighter into this 15 inch frame.
04:16But once you get used to the layout of it, it's not bad.
04:18Like the actual keystrokes are fine, it's just that it does take a little more time
04:21to get used to this layout, at least for me, compared to other devices.
04:25Even the Legion Y740, which is a more premium version of this device, that has a more traditional
04:30layout because it doesn't have the number pad.
04:32But I think a lot of people do like that number pad and I think for everyone, they can get
04:35used to this layout given enough time.
04:38The trackpad's on the bottom, it's got dedicated hardware buttons, which I like, and it's using
04:42Windows Precision Drivers.
04:43So trackpad overall, solid.
04:46Keyboard can be solid if you kind of get used to the layout.
04:50The screen.
04:51This model has the 144Hz panel option and I would highly recommend, if you're purchasing
04:55this device, to get this panel and to upgrade from the 60Hz panel if you can afford it.
05:01It's just a way better use of the hardware that these devices are coming with and I realize
05:05that at this kind of price point, at that $1000 budget, it is a big bump up in price
05:10to get the 144Hz screen.
05:12It's like a $200 price bump, which is like 20% of what you're originally planning to
05:16pay for, but it's just a way better game experience when you have a fast and smooth screen.
05:21Games look great on it and the performance of this laptop is fantastic for the money.
05:25You can basically play any kind of AAA title with great frame rates and great graphics
05:30settings.
05:31The speakers are located on the bottom.
05:32They don't sound amazing, but I'm not going to knock it too hard at this price point.
05:36The webcam, located at the bottom of the screen.
05:38I think a lot of people don't like that.
05:40I personally don't either, but I don't think it's too big of a deal because I don't use
05:44the webcam that much on a gaming laptop.
05:48There is one thing I want to talk about.
05:49Fan control and fan noise.
05:51So the fans are sufficient.
05:53They cool this laptop well, but the fan control is limited.
05:58When you put this thing on high performance mode, there's no way to manually control the
06:01fans.
06:02I feel like with hardware of this caliber, you should be able to just tweak the fans
06:05the way that you like.
06:06You should be able to crank this thing if you're doing a render or something, but you
06:09can't.
06:10I don't know if they're going to implement that in the software or like future updates
06:12of the software, but that's something they can add in the future.
06:15And if I'm not mistaken, the older version of this, the Y530 from last year, did have
06:20manual fan control if I remember correctly.
06:22So it's kind of strange that they removed it this year.
06:25But overall, this device, it's awesome.
06:27I expected it to be good and it really was.
06:29The 545 was a bit of a disappointment.
06:32Like I would chirp on this harder, but because the 540 is available and I prefer the design
06:36aesthetic of it more, like I don't even care about this one.
06:39It's cool that it exists.
06:41It's great that they, maybe this thing exists to make the 540 look that much better.
06:45Now I'm going to talk about one other thing.
06:48The Y740 is kind of like the premium version of this, like I mentioned earlier.
06:52But when you look at the price difference between the two, this is around 1200 bucks
06:57for like a good configuration with an RTX 2060 and a ninth gen Intel CPU.
07:03This is around 1400 bucks.
07:05So about 200 bucks more.
07:07It is a lot better though.
07:08Like there's just a lot more to it.
07:09If your budget can stretch to the $1400 mark, I would definitely take a look at this.
07:14But if it can't, 540 for days.
07:18Not the 545.
07:19Okay.
07:20Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
07:21Thumbs if you liked it.
07:22Subs if you loved it.
07:23See you guys next time.