After some thought and some back and forth between BestBuy and Lenovo's own web presence, I chose to purchase this laptop in person. It was this or build a new gaming desktop for the same budget. Lenovo was running a sale, otherwise, a Y50 (non-touch) with an i5 direct from Lenovo would have been about the same price as the model BestBuy carries.
My first impression is that this machine is fairly small and light for a gaming laptop. The other laptops I considered were not only larger in screen size, but they also were significantly thicker. I plan on using this computer at places other than my desk, so the size aspect is a big plus. Compared to the Asus ROG machine that was on the display next to this laptop, the Lenovo is thinner closed than the Asus is when open.
Overall, the design is fairly conservative. I like the mix of the black anodized aluminum outer shell and the soft touch materials that surround the keyboard and trackpad. This is all accented with red around the sides of the keys and in the speaker grilles. It all combines to provide what I would call a premium feel for the computer. One caveat -- the black aluminum finish is a fingerprint magnet. It doesn't bother me, but it's worth noting. I have been asked if the laptop gets hot. It doesn't. Part of this is that the exhaust for the heat sinks is out the back of the body instead of below it. Granted, I haven't gamed with the laptop on my legs (I game at a desk...)
The trackpad is well-centered in the keyboard, so I don't run into a lot of issues where I accidentally click while typing. The keyboard feels better than a typical laptop keyboard, although that may just be perception. The keys have a nice click to them, but not as much as a mechanical keyboard (I have a Corsair K70 that I use on my desktop PC). The keyboard is also backlit -- it has three levels of brightness: off, dim, and bright. I mainly use it with the backlights off to preserve as much battery as possible, as I will keep the machine on my coffee table for a few days before charging. Battery life is decent -- I get a few hours under basic use over the course of a couple of days. I was able to get an hour or two of gaming in before I needed to return to an umbilical state.
The speakers on this laptop are quite good. There is a logo just beneath the screen "JBL sound for Lenovo." The system they designed is a 2.1 configuration -- two full range speakers between the screen and keyboard and a subwoofer under the chassis. So far so good on that front.
So far, the performance of the machine has been great. I do some light gaming. Team Fortress 2, Age of Empires II: HD, and Civ: Beyond Earth are a few that I have played so far. No real issues on that front. One of the first things I tacked was uninstalling the bloatware that came pre-installed. There was a *lot* of it between all of the desktop and Metro apps. I would do a fresh install of Windows 8.1, but I have already installed a lot of other programs at this point. One of the pre-installed programs that I did decide to keep is the Dragon Assistant. It's the Dragon (the speech input folks) version of Siri or Cortana. We'll see if I decide to keep it long term, as I don't use it too much.
I don't necessarily want to leave a negative thought on my last major review point, but I do need to talk about the screen. The Y50 touch uses a capacitive touch screen with a glossy finish. The screen is really the low point of the entire computer, as it's washed out and has bad viewing angles -- it's not an IPS screen. I mean, it's plenty bright and works well for gaming and multimedia consumption. All the reviews I read prior to my purchase all said this, so I was aware of what I was getting myself into. If you decide that you may want to do any extensive photo editing or other applications that require good color reproduction, consider purchasing an external monitor. The laptop would have the processing power to do it, but the screen may yield unwanted results. Be advised, the laptop only has a single HDMI port. Again, these things are not a problem for me. Also, I purchased a matte screen protector to reduce the glare. A protector for a 15.6 screen is a bit too small, as it doesn't cover the glossy space between the screen and the edges of the computer, but you will likely need to trim a screen protector for a 17 or 18 inch laptop to fit.
TL;DR: good laptop. Great performance for the price. Screen could use some work. Would recommend.