Legion 5 (Pro) the Best Value Gaming Laptop in NZ?

jonsesrainfrog on 14/01/2022 - 19:19
Last edited 14/01/2022 - 21:27

A few questions since I'm new to the gaming laptop market..

Based on price trackers, most mid-level gaming laptops were only 10% off at the most, during Black Friday and Christmas.
But the Legion 5 (and L5 Pro) were posted on Cheapies multiple times with almost a 25% discount (!), straight from Lenovo.

A bunch of new gaming laptops were announced at CES 2022, but is the Legion 5 still the best value in NZ with Lenovo's sales?
Only gripe with Legion 5 is the size and that it looks like a tank.

Have I overlooked something about gaming laptop sales/membership discounts/etc, or is 10% about the best I can expect?

Alternatively, has anyone had success buying internationally? Even with a 15% GST from customs, some laptops still seem to be several hundred dollars cheaper than their lowest NZ price.

General Discussion

Comments

  • Gatkins on 15/01/2022 - 23:06

    I bought the Legion 7 a few months ago.

    These legions are definitely big boys - my Legion 7 is a tank, and it's meant to be thinner than the 5 Pro. In practice you won't want to transport this anywhere unless you're really desperate. The charger is also HUGE and heavy.

    I am also a bit disappointed in the build quality - the lid hinge is too loose, so closes by itself from about 8 cm wide and doesn't stay closed when holding it in a single hand facing up - annoying and feels crappy. Maybe the Legion 5 Pro's is better, but given the 7 is meant to be the more premium machine, it's not reassuring

    The screen is a great size ratio, although looks crappier than my surface book 2 in terms of output and colours. The same screen as the 5 Pro. Does have high refresh rate though.

    Having said all that, the Legion 5 Pro is probably still the best value around in that price segment.

    In hindsight I wouldn't have got the Legion 7, and gone for something lighter, but I'm not a big gamer, I just thought I would try something different.

    BTW with Lenovo there are big deals for students if you have access to an email address tied to an educational institution (school or uni etc). And if not, don't be afraid to use Lenovo chat and ask for the best deal they get can give you. I got 30% off plus free extended warranty. With the student discount I could havenhad even more off, but I wanted it as a business purchase.

    • Alan6984 on 16/01/2022 - 00:00

      Hi Gatkins,

      When you say that you 'wanted it as a business purchase' - what do you mean? What difference would it have made if you got an educational discount for a private purchase via, say, a Uni account?

      Thanks,

      Alan.

      • Gatkins on 16/01/2022 - 07:14

        It probably would have been fine - but ultimately I was going to use my child's email address, which was only temporary from being at intermediate, and I just didn't want any hassle with warranty or take any risk with claiming it as a business expense.

        I think it was an extra $450 off my ahead highly discounted price, but no extended warranty, and I decided I would stick with my original order (which I had already placed a week earlier before I realised about edu discount) as there was by then a even longer want time than the couple of months I had to wait.

        So yeah, a number of reasons.

        • Alan6984 on 16/01/2022 - 08:57

          Fair enough - there would be no issue at all with deductibility that I can see, but a warranty claim, is a maybe, or at least a potential hassle if you had moved on from that school I guess.

          Thanks,

          Alan.

    • jonsesrainfrog on 16/01/2022 - 10:36

      Cheers, thanks for your reply!
      I've found the education store can be a bit of a hit and miss.
      Right now some Legions are 15% off, while education site is 10-13% off.
      I also noticed the normal site had an overall much better deal during Click Frenzy and Black Friday events, while the education site just kept that modest 10% or so off.

      Good to hear your thoughts about the Legion 7. I'm sure it's a great machine and has a great specs-to-price ratio.
      But if it's so big that portability becomes a factor, and it just kind of becomes a semi-desktop, then that's a downer.
      I will keep this in mind as I scour for a deal this year lol.
      And yeah I've seen the big unit of a charger they come with!

      If you ever feel like the L7 becomes too inconvenient, I've been looking into the upcoming ASUS ROG Zephyrus 2022 line. It would address your screen quality and portability issues.
      The only concern would be the stupid prices for mid and higher-end laptops in NZ by retailers.
      Legions are only great value because Lenovo themselves offer the discounts.
      You can be sure PB wouldn't offer anything like that if they sold it, unless they needed to get rid of stock at the end of the season.

      Would love to get it online but warranty and quality control issues may become a hassle.
      Edit: if anyone has experience importing online, please share! Not even sure who ships internationally besides Amazon and B&H. Cheers!

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