Please help me make a big decision on 2 in 1 laptop. What kind of graphics can these do?

[accameron]

I am selling an old macbook pro right now, currently own another modern macbook pro, but I want a small, portable windows PC for work stuff and some gaming (lots of old stuff, but modern games would be nice). I would like to spend $1000 or less on this, it will not be my primary laptop.

Best Buy's black friday sale has the Lenovo Yoga 900 for $699, normally $1100/1200 (i7, 8gb RAM, 256gb SSD, Intel IRIS 540 graphics card) - http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-900-13-2-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-256gb-solid-state-drive-platinum-silver/5207000.p?skuId=5207000

They also have the HP Spectre for $999, normally $1400 (i7, 16gb RAM, 512gb SSD, Intel HD 520 graphics) - http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spectre-x360-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive-ash-silver/5228171.p?skuId=5228171

These are the two best two in ones for sale at Best Buy. I FAR preferred the metal form and build and display of the HP, it was awesome. Lenovo was normal plastic/rubber laptop. HP felt more compact too - I straight up want it.

However, I am concerned that I am going to get way crappier graphics on the HP Spectre with the HD 520 integrated card. Questions:
1. How much difference in gaming quality am I going to notice between these two? I basically want the more expensive choice that is apparently weaker (although bigger hard drive and twice the RAM) - will I be able to notice the difference?
2. Are there any other 2 on 1 options that I should consider with my price range?

Thanks!

 

[accameron]

Or should I just wait for the next year's model that might have IRIS on it?

 

[chemmajorp53]

Neither of these laptops are designed for constant heat output like you would experience with gaming, but they should do adequately at lower resolutions as long as you're not expecting much. They'll probably run decently modern AAA titles at 1366x768 medium settings with the lenovo being more powerful due to the IRIS graphics. CSGO and TF2 and stuff won't be a problem, you can run those on a potato. If you're not going to be doing any video editing and aren't in the habit of keeping dozens of chrome tabs open at once then I think you should save the $300 and get the lenovo, it'll be hard to fill 256GB if you're not storing lots of media on it anyways.

 

[accameron]

I guess my main question is whether the difference between an IRIS 540 is all that much from an HD 520.

Is it very noticeable?

 

[chemmajorp53]

Yes, IRIS is ~60% faster

 

[GreyCatz]

I am selling an old macbook pro right now, currently own another modern macbook pro, but I want a small, portable windows PC for work stuff and some gaming (lots of old stuff, but modern games would be nice). I would like to spend $1000 or less on this, it will not be my primary laptop.

Best Buy's black friday sale has the Lenovo Yoga 900 for $699, normally $1100/1200 (i7, 8gb RAM, 256gb SSD, Intel IRIS 540 graphics card) - http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-900-13-2-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-256gb-solid-state-drive-platinum-silver/5207000.p?skuId=5207000

They also have the HP Spectre for $999, normally $1400 (i7, 16gb RAM, 512gb SSD, Intel HD 520 graphics) - http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spectre-x360-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive-ash-silver/5228171.p?skuId=5228171

These are the two best two in ones for sale at Best Buy. I FAR preferred the metal form and build and display of the HP, it was awesome. Lenovo was normal plastic/rubber laptop. HP felt more compact too - I straight up want it.

However, I am concerned that I am going to get way crappier graphics on the HP Spectre with the HD 520 integrated card. Questions:
1. How much difference in gaming quality am I going to notice between these two? I basically want the more expensive choice that is apparently weaker (although bigger hard drive and twice the RAM) - will I be able to notice the difference?
2. Are there any other 2 on 1 options that I should consider with my price range?

Thanks!

Hello, Cameron:
Just out of curiosity: Have you decided on these laptops? (And are the offers still valid?)

 

[accameron]

Yes, both of these deals are on the Best Buy Black Friday ad
http/blackfriday.bestbuy.com/?category=doorbusters

 

[GreyCatz]

Yes, both of these deals are on the Best Buy Black Friday ad
http/blackfriday.bestbuy.com/?category=doorbusters

The reason I'm asking is that, given these 2 laptops, I'd say go for the HP. The Lenovo has price and a slightly better IGP going for it, but something tells me you've already made up your mind in favour of the HP.

If you prefer "the metal form and build and display of the HP" and you "straight up want it", then the Lenovo would have to feature insanely powerful and attractive specs to catch up with that.

The HD 520 will play games like LoL, WoW and Minecraft without problems, while the HD 540 will expand the field and settings scope, but not significantly so.

The HP Spectre is, in my opinion, the best-looking laptop available today. The Lenovo isn't bad-looking, but the HP just ups the game in terms of materials and build quality, as you've noticed yourself. To be fair, it is also the more expensive option, Black Friday or not.

The only other rival I can think of is this 13.3" ASUS Zenbook, available on BestBuy:
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-zenbook-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-12gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive-smoky-brown/4569210.p?skuId=4569210

More or less the same specs as the HP, but with a dedicated 2GB Nvidia 940M card. The link I provided may come out differently on your computer as to price (I'm writing from a PC in Europe).

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[accameron]

Thank you Greycatz!

Is the ASUS Zenbook a 2 in 1 style?

The HP's build quality was much more impressive to me.

Or should I just sell my macbook pro, and save the $600 until the next iteration of the Spectre comes out? Looks like they have an early year and late year model released each year

 

[GreyCatz]

Thank you Greycatz!

Is the ASUS Zenbook a 2 in 1 style?

The HP's build quality was much more impressive to me.

Or should I just sell my macbook pro, and save the $600 until the next iteration of the Spectre comes out? Looks like they have an early year and late year model released each year

The Zenbook is not a 2-in-1, but I included it because of its design and the materials used. I don't have inside information about HP's next Spectre version (specs or date), so I can't really advise you on your suggestion.

But if you decide to take the plunge with the HP now, I honestly don't believe you're going to regret it.

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Asus Zenbook is not a 2-in-1 laptop.

Perhaps the 14" Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 14 2-in-1 laptop for $800 is a possible alternative. It has a core i5-6200u, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM and nVidia 940m. It also has a digital pen. It only has one RAM slot, so if you want to upgrade the RAM, then the only option is replace the 8GB stick with a 16GB stick. The pen is mostly for writing notes, but I suppose it should be decent enough to draw if you are into that.

It is a business laptop so if you need to customer support then you will deal with the business side rather than the consumer side of customer support which is generally superior.

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkpad-yoga-2-in-1-14-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/4456400.p?skuId=4456400


Like most other ThinkPad laptops, the ThinkPad Yoga 14 is certified to have passed the Dept. of Defense's MIL-Spec requirements for electronics to be able to be used in the field where rough handling is the norm rather than the exception.

http/www.lenovo.com/us/en/thisisthinkpad/milspec.html


The following article applies to the ThinkPad T and X series but it should also be applicable to the ThinkPad Yoga as well since they are all certified to have passed the same MIL-Spec requirements.

http/laptopmedia.com/highlights/how-much-abuse-can-the-thinkpad-x-and-t-series-take-according-to-lenovo-a-lot/



You can click the following link to see some game benchmark results of laptops using the Intel HD 520, Nvidia 920m, Intel Iris Grpahics 540, Nvidia 930m and NVidia 940m. The results are from www.Notebookcheck.net.


http/tinyurl.com/zepxebl