Momma Mondays: Lenovo B-575 Laptop Review

This review is for my new Lenovo – Ideapad Laptop / AMD E-Series Processor / 15.6" Display / 4GB Memory / 320GB Hard Drive – Black, Model: B575-1450A5U. It was purchased for only $299.00 at a major retailer last week. It was such a good bargain that I did something (I normally would never do) I went ahead and purchased the (1 year Extended Warranty). For those of you who know me; this is shocking.

I want to say; the reason I am reviewing this particular Laptop Computer is merely circumstantial. My circumstances required that I stop procrastinating and just go out and buy one. I was in dire need of a computer to enable me to continue researching products, composing my reviews (including doing slight adjustments to uploaded images, i.e. color, cropping, etc.), processing and organizing my incoming/outgoing emails and in general; I just needed a little “workhorse” computer. No frills. No big graphics package for gaming. I just wanted the basics. Sometimes; that is all you need to get the job done.

I’m not one of those gals that like “all the bells and whistles”. Don’t get me wrong; sometimes they come in handy. My husband (a Professional Photographer who produces high resolution images) obviously, needs everything that he can get out of his computer. We have pulled the whole “Tim Allen – Home Improvement” thing with that system. It has been upgraded and filled to capacity with graphics programs, image files and music. Regarding that; I am telling everyone right now, there is no thing as “too much memory”. No matter how much memory you have and no matter how many gigs the hard drive has, you will get to a point where you’ll max it out. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have heard the words, “this is more memory than we will ever need or use”. The next thing you know; we’re out shopping for another drive to back it all up, and get it off of the main computer.

Going in; I knew exactly what I needed in a computer and I was particularly savvy as to, how much, I should pay for it. I went into the store prepared to duke it out with the “computer specialist”, that was going to tell me what I should be looking for in a computer and advise (up-sell) me, towards a more “state of the art”, “graphics oriented” model. I’d done my homework and knew which brands (from experience) to stay away from. I didn’t even go near those models in the aisle. It doesn’t matter how good-looking the computer is; if it doesn’t have a decent processing system, or a company that will stand behind their product, it’s not worth buying.

In the past I have been (coerced) into buying the biggest and best system that my budget could afford. This was all made too simple by the offering of a “store credit card and 5% off”. Who could resist that? In every case, this has led for the most part, to severe disappointment. After spending 1,000’s of dollars (and I am not embellishing this figure) on super machines, promising to do everything but make the coffee; I have come to the reality that my instincts should prevail, when making the next computer purchase. Don’t get me wrong; I was almost enticed to get the next bigger/better unit. But then; that little voice in the back of my head, said “Snap out of it!”

It didn’t take long for me to hone in on my Lenovo B575-1450A5U. This model comes with an AMD E-Series Processor, a nice 15.6” Display, 4GB Memory and 320GB Hard Drive. That’s exactly what I was looking for. After getting it home and using it for a couple of days; I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. This computer does, absolutely everything that I need it to do; maybe even more. Actually; my husband tells me that this computer rivals his “super computer” which was purchased, just under (2) years ago, for twice as much as this Lenovo model. I think that he wants one for Christmas. All of a sudden; the old one, isn’t so “pretty” anymore.

I am so happy that I listened to my instincts, in making this purchase. This little computer, is reasonably priced and will do everything that the average student, housewife, small home-based business needs (emailing, shopping, blogging, social networking, word programs, photos, etc.). There is one pet peeve though; the edges are flush all the way around. This makes it difficult to open from the folded position. If you can live with that; it’s a good choice in a, very low end, computer. The initial investment is almost negligible. Heck some of our kids pay more for their cellphones. At least you can compose a complete (non-text) email, resume; or in my case, a review on it.

As Required By The FTC: This product was reviewed by Momma, herself, with no backing from Lenovo. All opinions provided therein are hers, and hers alone.