Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop, 15.6 Inch FHD (1920 X 1080) IPS Display, Intel Core i5-9300H Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB Nvme SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, Windows 10, 81LK00HDUS, Black

Why did I buy this?I was looking for a laptop that I can use for work, travels easy, but can afford me some game time when I am on the road. Budget wasn’t really an issue, but I wanted to make sure I was getting the most value for what I spent. I do not do intensive work applications on it just email, excel, general surfing etc. I am not a competitive gamer, so getting that extra millisecond of response time was not a concern but I wanted something that could handle current games and most games that will come out over the next couple of years.What I considered / compared it too?GPU – GTX 1650 – this thing rocks, most comparisons were to the older (but still capable) 1050i and other variations. I wanted the newest I could get for the cost. So this was the bench mark of my search.Processor – 9th gen i5 – I really wanted to get a 9th gen i7 but, most of the ones that had it only had the 1050 series of graphics card, and as I stated above that’s what I really valued most.NOTE: Lenovo DOES make a version of this with a gen 9 i7, it is not available (at the time of writing this) on Amazon. It IS available on Lenovo’s website for about $180 more than this unit (on sale for $270 off ATM), but it comes with a smaller SSD. I know its easier to replace an SSD than a GPU (basically impossible on a laptop like this) but between the cost difference and not having to hassle with adding an SSD right when I received it, that’s why I decided against that route.NOTE: the benchmark testing on a gen 9 i5 vs i7 were very close in most tests, while future proofing your purchase is a good idea, it didn’t look like a big enough difference (4 cores 8 threads on the 5 vs 6 cores 12 threads on the 7) to move me to spend more.NOTE: This laptop model might be an Amazon exclusive because I could not locate it on the Lenovo web site.Monitor refresh – 60Hz – this was a tough one for me, there are some laptops that have the 9th gen i7, 16gb ram and the 1650 graphics card with 144Hz monitor (and there is a difference, just watch some youtube videos on it) but that cost difference was about $450. For the games I play (will get to that in a second), the look, and the weight of the product, I just couldn’t pull the trigger on the extra costs.RAM – 8GB – documents state that you can upgrade the single 8GB stick to 16GB. 16GB DDR4 is about 70 bucks, if I get into a game that is giving me performance issues, I am ok with that upgrade cost.NOTE: Lenovo says you should use an authorized tech to upgrade your RAM/SSD or you might void the warranty. I am not sure of the legality of that due to the right to self-repair, but I have done enough that it doesn’t concern me, your views/value my differ from mine in this respect.512gig SSD – I definitely wanted an SSD, boot speeds etc are totally worth it. 512 means I can fit about 6+ of today’s modern games on it comfortably. I am ok with that for now. It does have an extra 2.5” bay for another SSD (I have a 1TB from my old laptop so if I get to the point where I need it, it won’t cost me anything extra, obviously your experience will differ from mine in that additional cost). The extra bay is nice because you do not have to reload the OS etc, you can add the drive and increase your storage easily. The NOTE above on the RAM upgrade applies here too.The Look – As I mentioned I will be using this for work too, this is as discrete of a “gaming” laptop as I have seen. I did not want flashy lights or gaming brand logos on the cover. I have the power to game; I don’t need or want to flaunt it in my day job interacting with customers.Keyboard backlight – has 3 settings, off, low, high. I play in a pretty dark room and the low setting was perfect to let me see while not blinding my peripheral vision.Heat – this is not a loud laptop (fans); I have been gaming on laptops for 10 years an have had my fair share of jet engines. This doesn’t appear to be one of those. It does get warm, but nothing of concern or that would burn to the touch.Battery life – I haven’t tested it yet completely (will update when I do) but in “economy” mode (not using the 1650 graphics card) it looks to last 5+ hours, the description says 9 hours but I doubt that, still its more than enough for when I can’t plug in. Running with the 1650 turned on and gaming I would get around 2 hours.Bloat – amazingly it didn’t come with much on it that I had to remove. MacAfee and a Lenovo thing, that’s about it.What games do I play on it?No Man’s Sky Beyond – Played on high settings with no issues/lag/clipping at allWoW – Ultra settings with no issues (obviously its an older games graphics wise)Overwatch – Ultra Settings with no issuesAs I play and test more games ill update this…..9/29/19 EDIT - Borderlands 3 - 30 FPS on Ultra, dialed back to medium and was more than great for my average gamer needs.11/30/19 EDIT - Thrown a ton of games at this over the past few months. Basically anything made before 2018 you can run at max with no issues. Most newer games (2019 releases) will run just fine at med/high settings.12/10/20 EDIT - Cyberpunk 2077 - played on Medium in game settings with no issues at all. prob could have bumped it up a setting.What about the backlight/bleeding reports?Ill knock on wood, I have not seen bleeding on the edges for darker games, or I might just not be noticing it. backlight/monitor darkness, again, I have not experienced this, and I hope I don’t. I get that everyone has defects and a % of DOA product. Everyone’s mileage will differ on this I guess.

Before I start my review, I would like to point out that this laptop has a overall review score above 4 stars, and the people who are most likely to leave reviews are the ones who have issues with a product. The only reason I am giving this product a review that is good (I usually only review products if I have something bad to say) is that I feel it is misrepresented by the bad reviews. Only a small portion of the reviews for this computer are negative, and more people who have bad luck will leave reviews than those who have good luck. So consider that before you think that the 20% of reviews that account for this computer not having a 5 star overall score make up probably 5% or less of people who actually had issues with this computer after purchasing it.Ok, on to my reviewThis computer is better than any other that I have used or owned before it. Thats not saying much because I got it as an upgrade to a 10 year old macbook. However, some of the reviews complained about the screen not having good color, and I dont really think thats true. Also, there were complaints about the keyboard, which feels really good in my opinion, and about the flimsiness of the plastic that its made of. I understand that a computer with an aluminum shell would be better, but that is expensive and heavy, and the plastic that lenovo used doesn't seem flimsy. Cosmetically, I love the computer, and the screen seems very good quality.The main reason I wanted this computer was for editing with premeire pro, which I could not even use on my old computer. Premeire runs very well, and I have installed a few games on it as well which I feel might help some people make desicions about whether it is "beefy" enough for their gaming needs. I have been running forza horizon 3 with max graphics settings, and the framerate average is around 50 to 60 frames per second, which is better than I expected for a $700 laptop. The other game I have been running, which some people might be less familiar with is the drone racing league simulator. This game, when on max graphics settings, has realistic lighting and amazing amounts of detail, and I have had no issues running it at 60 fps all the time with max graphics (the game is very fast paced so it has a framerate warning if you drop below 60).I can't give an accurate estimate as to battery life yet, because I've only had it for a few days and haven't tested the battery yet. I would guess that you could probably get 5-6 hours if you are web browsing, and 1-3 hours gaming, depending on how demanding the game is.I will update my review if I have any issues or anything changes.