Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga series is one of the best laptop lines of the past couple of years, and one of the few real standouts of the still-young Windows 8 era. But Yoga systems, with flexible hinges that fold all the way back into a tablet mode, are expensive, starting at around $1,000.
As a follow-up, Lenovo is trying a variation on the theme, giving you a larger system (available in 14- and 15-inch sizes) that costs a bit less, and does a bit less.
The IdeaPad Flex doesn't fold all the way back into a tablet like the Yoga does. This is more of a touch-screen laptop with some extra flexibility, bending its screen back by 300 degrees to allow for what we've been calling a kiosk mode, with the screen pointing out from the rear of the laptop, away from the keyboard and touch pad.
Why would you want a kiosk mode in a laptop? We've seen this feature on the Yoga line, Dell's XPS 12, and a few detachable hybrids. It's good for presenting a photo slideshow or PowerPoint, or for viewing videos, giving the screen extra visual impact by hiding the keyboard and the rest of the laptop body from sight. It's also good for Webcam chats via Skype or another app.
Flex 14 configurations start at $569 for a fourth-generation Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB HDD. Our configuration has a fourth-gen Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Lenovo initially quoted us a price of $750 for that configuration, but on the Lenovo site as of this writing, it'll cost you $999. Lenovo has a long-standing habit of offering confusing and conflicting discounts on its site, and right now a version with the same specs, but a 256GB SSD, is actually less, $899, whereas models with Core i7 CPUs top $1,100.
If you keep it under $800, it's a good deal, even without the trick hinge. More than that and I'd look instead to a higher-end system (such as the Yoga line), as the Flex has a budget/plastic feel that doesn't hold up at higher prices.
I like the Flex 14 as a reasonably priced midsize laptop. There's a definite budget feel to the chassis, but for the less-expensive configurations, it's a good collection of components, including the latest Intel processors -- even if you never fold the hinge back into its kiosk mode.
| Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 14 | Acer Aspire E1 572-6870 | Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $999 | $579 | $799 |
| Display size/resolution | 14-inch, 1,366x768 touch screen | 15.6-inch, 1,366x768 | 13.3-inch, 1,366x768 touch screen |
| PC CPU | 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 4200U | 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 4200U | 1GHz AMD A4 Quad-Core |
| PC Memory | 9,192MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz | 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz | 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz |
| Graphics | 1792MB Intel Graphics 4400 | 32MB Intel Graphics 4400 | 512MB AMD Radeon HD 8250 |
| Storage | 128GB SSD hard drive | 500GB 5,400rpm hard drive | 128GB SSD hard drive |
| Optical drive | None | None | None |
| Networking | 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 | 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 | 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Operating system | Windows 8 (64-bit) | Windows 8 (64-bit) | Windows 8 (64-bit) |
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