Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Disclaimer: I am a serious computer geek and a bit of a snob when it comes to tech. Still, this laptop is awesome!! Rating: 5 Stars (because 4.8 isn't an option and 4 is too few for this thing) Model: 12 GB RAM; Ryzen 5 3500U Pros: > That price! (Unmatched in performance in this price range!) > Ryzen 5 3500U performs better than the Intel Core i5-8250U. > Vega 8 graphics are fairly capable. > Backlit keyboard is nice and a pleasure to type on > Light and portable > Great port selection. > 12 GB of RAM is sufficient for most daily tasks. (Expandable to 20 GB if your the warranty voiding type) > Decent sound for its class > Comes with a pen that works very well with the software > Great touchscreen Cons: > Can't charge via USB-C (Lenovo! Please do this for the next model!!) > Screen brightness is sufficient, but not suitable for outdoor use. > Pen stores very awkwardly (Lenovo! You can really do better!) > McAfee preinstalled, and it resists being uninstalled. (You actually need to download their uninstaller to do it. IMHO its more of a virus than an antivirus.) > Battery life is definitely OK. Its not a super long lasting battery but I seem to get 5 hours out of it at a time (in balanced mode and dimming the brightness a bit - honestly, you get what you pay for. My take: I bought this laptop for graduate school. I wanted something I could use to take written notes as well as use to do all my assignments. It needed to be portable, fairly lightweight, all while not compromising on performance. This laptop fit my needs on paper. Now, after using it (practically daily) for a month, I can say its a pleasure to use. It boots up in seconds (like less than 20), and has a lightning fast fingerprint sensor. My other laptop is a Thinkpad X1 Extreme, which I intended to be a powerhouse (32 GB RAM, i7-8850H, 4K, GTX-1080Ti Max-Q). Honestly, this laptop puts my "powerhouse" to shame in many ways. The Flex 14 boots up QUICKER, has less graphical errors when switching between desktops, and has a brighter back-light on its keyboard. Of course the Flex 14 can't run a virtual lab environment comprising of 4 machines like my Thinkpad Extreme, but it sure can run 2 VMs simultaneously (at least on the 12 GB RAM config). This laptop is SO good for the price I'm honestly shocked that it is not listed in the best laptops of 2019 list on YouTube or Google - its really a great find. Thank you Amazon! TLDR: This laptop is amazing. If you're a student, someone who seeks a 2 in 1 experience, a person who doesn't want to pay $800+ for a laptop and needs something portable yet powerful enough to get actual work done, this is the laptop for you.