By Oo Gin Lee

The Y650 is a refreshing change from the typical all-black look of most multimedia laptops.

While the lid is brownish-black, the keyboard and palm rest are ceramic white.

Both the edges of the lid and the body are finished with a metallic orange tinge that contrasts sharply between the black and the white.

What I really liked about this laptop is that Lenovo has taken away the keypad and squeezed the keyboard together.

So instead of the typical space-hogging soundbar above the keyboard, there are two small but powerful JBL speaker squares on the sides of the keyboard.

The result: More than half of the body space is freed up.

Although there is a gigantic trackpad smack in the middle of it, there is still enough space for both my palms to rest.

The trackpad is excellent and by far, the most responsive of all the trackpads here.

Ideapad is also the lightest of the lot and the thinnest too.

The battery is built into the laptop, which saves space but it is not swoppable.

So you cannot have a stand-by ready.

In terms of clean and smart design, this machine wins hands down.

The screen has a resolution of only 1,336 x 768, but I did not find it as reflective as the others, giving it a good balance of brightness in the dark and just enough glare under ambient lighting.

Unfortunately, it does not come with a Blu-ray drive which, to me, is an absolute necessity for a multimedia machine.

The graphics card is also rather weak for games, registering only 2463 on the 3DMark06 scale.

Verdict: The slimmest and cleanest cut of them all, but pity about the missing Blu-ray drive.

Specs: Windows Vista Home Premium, Intel Core2Duo P8700 processor (2.53 GHz), 1336 x 768 16-inch screen, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard disk drive, 256MB GeForce GT105M graphics, DVD writer, 2.55kg

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel webcam, built-in mic, HDMI, VGA, SD-size card reader, Express Card slot, eSATA, 2x USB, LAN, headphone port, mic port

Price: $2,299

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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