From experience with different work notebooks I asked myself the following minimum requirements:
- Intel i5 processor or better
- 8GB or more of memory
- SSD Solid State> in terms of boot time and power consumption, as well as vibration resistance superior to any hard drive
- Maneuverability: max. 14 inches or less
- High-resolution display (1024x768 pixels (make from T42) work today no longer really a lot of fun and also the HD resolution seemed to me in modern laptops a little too rough)
- Dedicated graphics card because as soon as a bit of 3D or video playback comes into play, the integrated shared memory graphics solutions quickly reach their limits
- USB 3.0 connection> at today's data traffic indispensable
- Optical drive not mandatory
- Halfway reasonable battery life (ie sometimes more than 2h)
- Preferably without an operating system
I have long played with the idea of me again zuzulegen a refurbished Lenovo device from the T-series. Eventually I made friends with the idea that a technically more current device safely would be a fine thing. As a royal price limit I set 700 +/- tolerance. After extensive research (including Toshiba and LG) then remained barely devices to select left. I opted for the Flex 2-14 (where the touch panel and the table mode for me were hardly of importance).
After extensive RESEARCH:
I have bought the Flex 2-14 in the Amazon Warehouse Deals for 730 instead of 799. The device was in an absolutely new condition. Only the protectors were already removed and reapplied. I take that for nearly 70 savings gladly accept. :)
The unit has found me include the following (for the regular price at that time unbeatable) Facilities:
- Processor: Intel i5 2410U processor
- Memory: 8GB Low-Energy
- Memory: 256GB SSD from LiteOn
- Display: 14 Full-HD Display
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 840M with 2GB of graphics memory or switchable with Intel HD 4400
- Operating System: Windows 8.1> Actually, I would have liked to buy a device without an operating system but the equipment offered to me all spoke in terms of hardware equipment not.
My Expertise
At this point I do not want again to all the details of the notebook (There are already other detailed customer ratings) but respond to the personally important for me.
Also important is the expectation and the use purpose, they are put in such a device. As already mentioned, I had to last one in the older T42 notebook and to date it has met my requirements to the satisfaction. In addition to word processors and spreadsheets, I am using the laptop at home on the road mainly on the Internet, sort and edit the pictures of my SLR, look sometimes even a video, finished sometimes smaller CAD drawings, PCB layouts, burn rarest times a CD, listen Music with Spotify, compile times smaller software projects for the RaspberryPi, speiel rarely so things for which you need an all-round notebook, in which the work flow only occasionally could stalled by high computing advent something.
I have the equipment now in use for over a month and these are my experiences:
OPERATING SYSTEM
As already mentioned, I am Ubuntu users. Thus, in order to utilize the capacity of the computer completely I first cleared the complete SSD and Ubuntu installed. There was, amazingly, no further problems with the installation. All components were detected immediately and were ready for use. Only the graphics driver I operated a little tweaking. I can not deny that there were problems with the Wi-Fi despite hardware was detected correctly. The connection broke off again and stood again on. It must be said that the built here chipset (Realtek RTL8723BE) is still relatively new. Not uncommon develop many hardware vendors only drivers for Windows. The drivers for Linux programmers develop the community itself. With a little Googelei you get this problem under control and, for the Linux kernel 3:13 appears the driver is not yet but to be fully mature. It remains to hope / expect that this error is eliminated in future kernel versions. The wireless issue is a fact that one can not hold against the flex 2-14 because these problems under Windows (and for the device was indeed designed to) do not seem to be present.
PROCESSING / GRACE
The weight of the Flex 2-14 is for the display size after my feel comfortable (although there will certainly be lighter notebooks). By omitting optical drives etc. The notebook is nice and flat fall (now please no comparisons with einerm Macbook Air etc. :)) and fits comfortably in your hand.
The housing is made entirely of plastic (and not magnesium as laptops business class). Thus, the Flex is still 2-14 over not processed cheaply. The areas around the keyboard feel with a brushed structure well and the back of the display (painted) makes a high quality impression.
There are no extra lock for the display. It can be opened reasonably firm and also keeps its unfolded position at.
For each display position (normal operation / table mode) are rubber elements mounted so that can bear no plastic part or even scratch on a flat surface.
Only the edge of the display back appears abstehenderweise to be a little prone to minor knocks when incautiously against strikes during transport anywhere. Nothing bad (other materials could get while scratching etc.), plastic flat.
DISPLAY
The display is mirrored. I use the Flex 2-14 so far only in enclosed spaces (even during the day near a window) and can also at times dimmed backlight feel anything disturbing case. Said About lights around the edges, I can confirm. This actually falls on only during the boot process or even when movies with black bars looking up and down. During normal use of the instrument which nothing disturbing can be seen. Not even when you close attention careful. The viewing angle of the display is awesome and the FullHD Aufllösung makes at this screen size head turner. For this price range really great.
INPUT DEVICES
The keyboard and the stop I feel as pleasant and fairly quiet. The function keys (F1-F12) can be exploited only by pressing the Fn_Taste, for all softkeys for volume, display, connectivity, Klickpad etc. can be used directly. In practical terms I think. The switchable illumination of the keypad can be estimated quickly in poorly lit environments.
The Klickpad (the mouse buttons are located with in the sensitive surface) is at the beginning a bit strange. Move the pointer with one hand, with the other Click occasionally leads to unforeseen reactions. Personally, I got used to it quickly, who can not, is well advised with a separate mouse. Against accidental operation of Klickpads (eg when using the keyboard) a softkey for deactivating / activating is provided.
The touch screen (under Linux automatically detected) has proved to me as nüzliches feature for surfing or simple scrolling documents. Even the table mode is awesome. Keyboard and Klickpad are locked against unintended use and also the air vents are freely accessible. So you can lying on the sofa surfing wonderful, does not have to hold with one hand the device all the time in position.
Computing power
Said parameters, there are nothing to add. The boot process takes only a few seconds thanks to SSD really (just so that the boot logo of Ubuntu flares up briefly). The CPU is all everyday usual requirements (Internet, word processing, spreadsheet, etc.) well prepared and run according to the application for the most part the only in idle mode. Even computationally intensive tasks (convert files, image editing, compiling, games, etc.) are absolutely possible with this setup.
Background noise
Because the Flex 2-14 thanks SSD has no mechanical components, is the only audible the CPU fan. This is according to load and ranging from definitely present (at high CPU load, for example while playing, rendering, converting data, etc.) to barely noticeable in normal operation mode (Internet, word processing, spreadsheet, etc.). In 95% of my usage I hear only a very low hum. For a mid-range device is not self-evident.
BATTERY LIFE
The Flex 2-14 has a permanently installed (but still with interchangeable tool) 4-cell battery. The 6h specified by the manufacturer I consider utopian. Excluding expect full load the computer you manage certainly the battery in less than 2h leerzusaugen. On average, I get on a single charge and slightly dimmed display (so that I can still work well with it) about 3.5 hours round trip. Without having ever measured absolutely, I would settle the perceived peak at just over 4 hours. Admittedly, that is today no technical feat more, for the price and the need for computing power but perfectly acceptable. In domestic use there anyway in every corner an electrical outlet. Unfortunately, there is no way for this unit the term by, for example to increase a spare battery etc. But the dimensions are quite compact and the weight is kept within limits.
CONCLUSION
I fluctuate all the time whether I should pull off because the battery performance an asterisk or not ... I decided against it. The reason is the unbeatable price-performance ratio of the Flex 2-14 for me. A device of this equipment and processing is to get for the price you wanted hardly.
Who travel a lot working and high battery life needs or value on a matte screen or a more robust magnesium alloy case, you should look in a different device class to the associated conditions.
Who as a home user with its compact dimensions, is looking for a solid all-round and everyday notebook good performance and reasonable facilities, will not be disappointed with the Flex 2-14.