The Flex 5, no question, for $599. I know she's not gaming, but the discrete graphics (GeForce)are important. Essentially, when you have discrete (separate) graphics like this, it frees up the real CPU (Core i5) *and* it frees up the system RAM from being shared. Note that it says "2GB MX130 graphics." This means there's actually 10GB of RAM in the laptop, but 2GB is dedicated to any graphics work.

The screen is bigger too; you didn't mention how many conferences she goes to a year, so I'm deprioritizing portability.

I realize she's not gaming with it, but to spend an extra $20 to free up the proc and system RAM to do everything but the graphics is a no brainer.

And for the sake of all that's holy, make sure she uses a password vault (LastPass) and doesn't share passwords between apps. I cringe that the passwords for Payroll etc., are probably the same as her Pinterest password.

And make sure she encrypts the drive. You'll have to upgrade from Win10 Home to Pro to use Bitlocker, but it's a business expense and a small price to pay in order not to have to buy identity theft insurance for employees when she gets drunk at the conference bar and gets it stolen

I used the Yoga mentioned above(720) for over a year and had no complaints about build or quality. I switched to an Ideapad for the discrete graphics and love it.

Also agreed, don't let 2% of cashback dictate where you get your tech.

This post was edited on 4/1/19 at 1:37 am

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by fibonaccisquared

The mystical waters of the Hooch

Member since Dec 2011

16898 posts

Posted on 4/1/19 at 9:12 am to LemmyLives

quote:
The screen is bigger too; you didn't mention how many conferences she goes to a year, so I'm deprioritizing portability.

This is a good distinction. I just saw the reference to conferences, so deferred to portability, but if this is relatively infrequent, the larger screen may be a nice benefit.

My only hesitations on the Lenovo Flex units are:

1) both of them have a little bit bulkier of a frame with a fairly cheap feeling exterior... if the machine will typically be stationary and not moved around a ton, this should not matter as much

2) In general, if the purpose is to get a 2 in 1, the Flex 5 is a bad example of the style... it's just bulky/awkward in tablet mode... fine as a laptop with a touchscreen, but just know what you're getting into. The 6 is better, but still a little "big" feeling.

3) Iffy reviews on the performance of that graphics card. I haven't personally owned the machine, but have tested it out previously... but hard to gauge performance on limited use... Several different reviews seemed to call out the graphics card on the Flex 6 as less than performant (and it's the same card on the 5)... Specifically, the graphics performance in tests was actually worse than a lot of comparable machines with integrated rather than discrete graphics cards... Make of that what you will...

Ultimately, if the discrete graphics card were performant, I'd say it would move the needle for me, but it seems that this particular card just doesn't quite get it done...

0 ...

Report Post

Tech Board - Replies to Post

Return To Board

Page 1

Return To Board