Yoga 720 15.6"

Long time no posting ... but I was thinking about posting a machine for sale (big VR/gaming notebook), figured I'd stop by and contribute

For a Christmas gift, I was looking to purchase for someone getting into more gaming (I'd call it "moderate and not benchmarked obsessed" ), who wanted something that would also support a pen for drawing/design/graphics.

I'm generally a big advocate of Macs, especially for "general computing" vs. gaming (she currently uses a a Quad 2.3GHz Mini), but I realized my GPU options were limited to either a really expensive 15" MBP, but of course, no tablet/touch - the idea of doing something like a refurb 13" MBP plus an iPad Pro would be nice for more people to use them at the same time, but less of a unified experience (and the gaming performance wouldn't be much better). It will likely wind up being a shared machine for someone else as well. I do a significant amount of development work on multiple platforms, so it's note really a big deal to add another Windows machine to our gear.

I considered a SB2 up till about 2-3 weeks ago, and was also juggling the idea of a lightly used SB1. The SB2 of course can be had with a 1060, that pushes $2K for a 13", the 15" another $500+, the SB1 prices seemed to have gone up the used market (for the Performance Base), that's still only a 9xxM.

Anyway, found my way to Lenovo, wound up scoring her a Yoga 15.6" at a great discount (direct), it's a nice machine, really solid build, it's a 2.8GHz i7 quad (7700HQ) with a GTX-1050, plenty of power for the intended use (and significantly more GPU than the Apple options), tablet mode is fantastic, nice integration across modes, awesome pen functionality (got the Lenovo Active Pen, but it's supposedly compatible with any AES stylus).

Got it with 8GB OOTB, but it's user upgradable to 16GB ("unofficially" 24GB). It's also the HD (1920x1080) display vs. the 4K - the latter has some hits on power/performance, though it's supposed to be beautiful - plus, there's been an ongoing issue with the 4K panels, so I figured with the super positive reviews of the HD model, it made more sense. It is really beautiful, bright, sharp.

Keyboard is excellent, backlit, good feel/travel - trackpad is pretty decent, that's always hard to beat (vs. Apple products). Has a fingerprint scanner that once setup seems to work consistently. Great, loud, clear speaker setup. Picked up a USB-C to HDMI cable and it's driving an external 24" (and being used a second ~16" display, folded over)

For $999 (before tax, pen, but free delivery), I think it's a winner.

 

Good review. Yes I agree that it is an under rated machine. I found the build quality to be pretty good and I like that you can do some gaming on it. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

 

where you bought it at 999?

 

They have regular sales on the lenovo site. I got mine there for $899

 

is it include shipping and tax?

 

Included shipping, State tax was additional

 

FYI, my final price to my door was $1104.92 for the machine as spec'ed above, with a Lenovo active pen, shipped (free) and tax

So over 2 months later and I'm exceedingly happy with the purchase. My little G has easily migrated over to Windows, she's super agile moving between PC and tablet modes, the primary gaming she's involved with is easily handled, she doing some _killer_ art using the pen - I've used it a few times (mostly for some writing) and the keyboard really is solid (and I use a Das 4 Pro daily, so even in that context, it's good).

 

I have one of these and im wondering if anyone repasted and overclocked the 1050 and the 7700

 

Those who got this have the 1080p or 4k version? I've seen a lot of issues with the 4k screens having something drop down and leave a black light along the top of the screen. Talked to Lenovo chat about it and all they could say is... it would be covered by warranty repair. Nothing about them actually fixing the problem. The 1080p version hasn't had this problem from what ive seen.

 

I stuck with the 1080p version:

- Concerns over 4K panel reliability (even under warranty it would till be a PITA)
- Decent resolution for the display size (PPI is pretty good) and looks pretty fantastic overall (brightness, color, uniformity)
- Performance with a 1050 seemed better balanced

Plus it saved a few hundred bucks (if it didn't have the recurring issue and the intent was something like professional design, etc., the price might have been worth it, it seemed a little excessive for my, i.e., my daughter's, use cases)

It's been flawless so far.

 

I have the 1080p screen also. Main reasons for choosing it over the 4K was

• the 4K screen would drain the battery too fast
• would not be able to game at 4K with a 1050
• wouldn't be able to see anything on a 15 inch screen at 4K

The 1080p screen is pretty good. And I like that this is one of the few gaming laptops you can get with a glossy rather than a matt screen. Matt screens always seem a bit faded to me. They still show reflections, just fuzzy ones, so what is the point?

 

BTW more info in this thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/lenovo-yoga-720-with-thunderbolt3-for-egpu.802569/