UPDATE: to clear up any confusion please note that the Flex range is Lenovo's budget range which most of the comments on this thread inadvertently relate to. However this machine is a "Pro" machine which is known as the Lenovo Edge 15 in the States. The spec and build quality (aluminium chassis) is better (it's a mid range machine) and it also gets much better reviews than standard Flex machines.
I've been after a Flex 2 15 for a while, but reviews have been a bit mixed, so I set myself a budget of £400 for an i5-4210u/Nvidia 820m version (yes, very optimistic). Anyway, that hasn't materialised, but I've just found the Pro version (aluminium case, i5-5200u 2.2ghz (turbos to 2.7ghz), Nvidia 840m) for £499.99 delivered from PC World. I think that's a stonking price for the Pro version considering it's currently being sold by Lenovo direct for £699. Anyway, I bought mine from PC World's ebay outlet store because I had a 10% off Paypal code (so I paid £450), but £499 for this is brilliant.
PLEASE READ: You will find a lot of opinions on this thread about this laptop. However, it is worth noting that not a single one (as at 11:30am) is about this actual model which is an upgraded version so you might want to take that into consideration.
This machine is known as the Lenovo Edge 15 in the States and these are the reviews that are most relevant if you're trying to gauge the specs/quality of this particular machine.
Type 2 in 1
Operating system Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
SPECIFICATION
Processor - Intel® Core™ i5-5200U Processor
- Dual-core
- 2.2 GHz/ 3.7 GHz with TurboBoost
- 3 MB cache
Memory (RAM) 8 GB DDR3L (16 GB maximum installable RAM)
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M (2 GB DDR3)
Storage - 1 TB SSHD, 5400 rpm
SCREEN
Screen size 15.6"
Screen type IPS
Resolution 1920 x 1080
Touchscreen 10-point touchscreen
CONNECTIVTY
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
USB - USB 3.0 x 1
- USB 2.0 x 2
Video interface HDMI x 1
Audio interface 3.5 mm jack
MEDIA
Optical disc drive No
Memory card reader 2-in-1 memory card reader
SOUND
Sound Dolby Home Theater
Speakers Integrated stereo speakers
FEATURES
Camera Integrated 1.0 MP webcam
Microphone Yes
Mouse / trackpad Multitouch trackpad
Keyboard Backlit AccuType keyboard with numeric keypad
Security features Kensington security lock slot
Other features Voice control
POWER
Battery type 4-cell 45WH Lithium-ion polymer
Battery life Up to 8 hours
GENERAL
Colour Black
Box contents - Lenovo Flex 2 Pro 15.6" 2 in 1
- AC power adapter
- User manual
Dimensions 19.9 x 282 x 276 mm (H x W x D)
Weight 2.3 kg
Manufacturer’s guarantee 1 year
Software included - McAfee
- Lenovo Companion
- Lenovo Support
- Lenovo Veriface Pro
- Lenovo One-Key Recovery
- Amazon Kindle Metro
- Zinio Metro
- Evernote Metro
- Lenovo Camera Man
- Lenovo Photo Master
- Lenovo Phone Manager
- Lenovo SHAREit
- Lenovo Recommends
Update: Just got it a couple of hours ago, going through windows update.
THE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Keyboard adequate but individual keys feel quite wobbly, as is normal with the 'chiclet' style. Nothing I can't get used to. Beats the utterly awful Toshiba laptops I've looked at recently but I prefer the HP way of doing things.
- Backlit keys present and correct.
- Metal case is marvellous. MUCH better than the budget Flex 2 Non-Pro which flexes altogether too much, including when you try to type on it. Slidy on my laptop tray though, so I'll be sticking some rubber feet on it.
- Specs as advertised. Not yet getting the good of the 8 gig SSD cache since I'm still on first boot waiting for updates.
- 2 partitions (visible anyway). One giant one, another 25 gig one for drivers and lenovo bundled crap. Means you can delete all their bundled rubbish and bring it back if you accidentally find you need something.
- Trackpad is on the left, in line with the spacebar. I'm not fond of this and every manufacturer seems to be doing it.
- Both sets of graphics hardware seem to be running at once. Looking into setting up a profile to disable Nvidia's discrete hardware to save battery. It might already be doing this.
- Windows 8.1. If I can downgrade to 7 and keep a little of the touchscreen functionality I will. Otherwise onward to 10! Or I'll use classic shell or one of the paid-for things stardock make.
- Still on software, there's a lot of rubbish waiting to pop up on you, including McAfee which waits ten minutes after boot to hock its wares at you. I dunno how they still have so much traction in the home and business world being that their former CEO spent the latter few years hopped up on bath salts and spouting crazy.
- Tent mode is a massive gimmick as far as I'm concerned, but if it gets me a stronger hinge (which it does) then have at it!
- I don't care for touchscreens, but it works fine.
- Numberpad! My previous laptop didn't have one. I missed it.
All in all it feels like value for money, which I didn't expect to be saying about a Lenovo product.
benjammin316
17 Jun 153#94
first 15min impressions, built well, amazing screen, backlit keyboard, whisper quiet, works really well when in "bent mode" or w/e it's called, super precise touch screen!
Just going to install steam, and the windows 10 preview so I can stream xbox one games to it
Alfresco
16 Jun 153#71
The flex is the lenovo budget range and the edge (flex pro in the uk) is their mid range laptop. So this might be a better machine and a better deal than what a lot of people think.
I don't think anyone's expecting to do any heavy gaming with a laptop like this but it is nice to have a laptop that can handle modern games at all, which this can, just not at 1080p
All comments (318)
jw021979
16 Jun 152#1
O2 priority app has £30 if you buy it instore
benjammin316
16 Jun 151#2
Nice, few pence difference on Amazon too.
Looking for a device to stream Xbox games too, thanks for posting. I was waiting to see if any info on the new Surface Tablet would come to light, but nothing yet and I think maybe a fully fledged laptop may be better
heathergreen1 to benjammin316
16 Jun 151#3
Pretty sure that the Amazon version is the standard version (non aluminium, 4210u processor and 820m graphics). This is a much better deal. :smiley:
benjammin316
16 Jun 151#4
Oh yes, apologies. I just punched it into google and was reading reviews. Looks like a nice bit of kit
sharpedges12
16 Jun 15#5
How good Is this for gaming?
heathergreen1 to sharpedges12
16 Jun 15#6
Fairly decent. Most games will run well on medium settings. A handful on high.
Nice one. Let me know what you think when you get it and I'll do the same when I get mine. :smiley:
longback2
16 Jun 15#10
gaming wise would this give much of an advantage? I would love to play bf4 on the go as close to ps4 standard as possible, read a few forums, mixed opinions
benjammin316 to longback2
16 Jun 151#12
Like OP said to me, make sure you read reviews of the right one, as the ones I was looking at had a different graphics card in etc
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
I've been after a Flex 2 15 for a while, but reviews have been a bit mixed, so I set myself a budget of £400 for an i5-4210u/Nvidia 820m version (yes, very optimistic). Anyway, that hasn't materialised, but I've just found the Pro version (aluminium case, i5-5200u 2.2ghz (turbos to 2.7ghz), Nvidia 840m) for £499.99 delivered from PC World. I think that's a stonking price for the Pro version considering it's currently being sold by Lenovo direct for £699. Anyway, I bought mine from PC World's ebay outlet store because I had a 10% off Paypal code (so I paid £450), but £499 for this is brilliant.
PLEASE READ: You will find a lot of opinions on this thread about this laptop. However, it is worth noting that not a single one (as at 11:30am) is about this actual model which is an upgraded version so you might want to take that into consideration.
This machine is known as the Lenovo Edge 15 in the States and these are the reviews that are most relevant if you're trying to gauge the specs/quality of this particular machine.
Type 2 in 1
Operating system Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
SPECIFICATION
Processor - Intel® Core™ i5-5200U Processor
- Dual-core
- 2.2 GHz/ 3.7 GHz with TurboBoost
- 3 MB cache
Memory (RAM) 8 GB DDR3L (16 GB maximum installable RAM)
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M (2 GB DDR3)
Storage - 1 TB SSHD, 5400 rpm
SCREEN
Screen size 15.6"
Screen type IPS
Resolution 1920 x 1080
Touchscreen 10-point touchscreen
CONNECTIVTY
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
USB - USB 3.0 x 1
- USB 2.0 x 2
Video interface HDMI x 1
Audio interface 3.5 mm jack
MEDIA
Optical disc drive No
Memory card reader 2-in-1 memory card reader
SOUND
Sound Dolby Home Theater
Speakers Integrated stereo speakers
FEATURES
Camera Integrated 1.0 MP webcam
Microphone Yes
Mouse / trackpad Multitouch trackpad
Keyboard Backlit AccuType keyboard with numeric keypad
Security features Kensington security lock slot
Other features Voice control
POWER
Battery type 4-cell 45WH Lithium-ion polymer
Battery life Up to 8 hours
GENERAL
Colour Black
Box contents - Lenovo Flex 2 Pro 15.6" 2 in 1
- AC power adapter
- User manual
Dimensions 19.9 x 282 x 276 mm (H x W x D)
Weight 2.3 kg
Manufacturer’s guarantee 1 year
Software included - McAfee
- Lenovo Companion
- Lenovo Support
- Lenovo Veriface Pro
- Lenovo One-Key Recovery
- Amazon Kindle Metro
- Zinio Metro
- Evernote Metro
- Lenovo Camera Man
- Lenovo Photo Master
- Lenovo Phone Manager
- Lenovo SHAREit
- Lenovo Recommends
Top comments
THE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Keyboard adequate but individual keys feel quite wobbly, as is normal with the 'chiclet' style. Nothing I can't get used to. Beats the utterly awful Toshiba laptops I've looked at recently but I prefer the HP way of doing things.
- Backlit keys present and correct.
- Metal case is marvellous. MUCH better than the budget Flex 2 Non-Pro which flexes altogether too much, including when you try to type on it. Slidy on my laptop tray though, so I'll be sticking some rubber feet on it.
- Specs as advertised. Not yet getting the good of the 8 gig SSD cache since I'm still on first boot waiting for updates.
- 2 partitions (visible anyway). One giant one, another 25 gig one for drivers and lenovo bundled crap. Means you can delete all their bundled rubbish and bring it back if you accidentally find you need something.
- Trackpad is on the left, in line with the spacebar. I'm not fond of this and every manufacturer seems to be doing it.
- Both sets of graphics hardware seem to be running at once. Looking into setting up a profile to disable Nvidia's discrete hardware to save battery. It might already be doing this.
- Windows 8.1. If I can downgrade to 7 and keep a little of the touchscreen functionality I will. Otherwise onward to 10! Or I'll use classic shell or one of the paid-for things stardock make.
- Still on software, there's a lot of rubbish waiting to pop up on you, including McAfee which waits ten minutes after boot to hock its wares at you. I dunno how they still have so much traction in the home and business world being that their former CEO spent the latter few years hopped up on bath salts and spouting crazy.
- Tent mode is a massive gimmick as far as I'm concerned, but if it gets me a stronger hinge (which it does) then have at it!
- I don't care for touchscreens, but it works fine.
- Numberpad! My previous laptop didn't have one. I missed it.
All in all it feels like value for money, which I didn't expect to be saying about a Lenovo product.
Just going to install steam, and the windows 10 preview so I can stream xbox one games to it
I don't think anyone's expecting to do any heavy gaming with a laptop like this but it is nice to have a laptop that can handle modern games at all, which this can, just not at 1080p
All comments (318)
Looking for a device to stream Xbox games too, thanks for posting. I was waiting to see if any info on the new Surface Tablet would come to light, but nothing yet and I think maybe a fully fledged laptop may be better
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-840M.105681.0.html