Lenovo Yoga 11 Windows RT seemingly axed as official store stops sales

Lenovo has apparently discontinued its only Windows RT notebook, the IdeaPad Yoga 11 convertible, quietly ceasing sales through its own online store. The Yoga 11, which ran the pared-back Windows RT on NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chipset, has seemingly been superseded by the newer Yoga 11S, which swaps out the ARM chipset and replaces it with an Intel Core i3 processor and a full copy of Windows 8.

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The end result is a far more flexible machine. In our original Yoga 11 review, we praised the unusual form-factor but were forced to conclude that Windows RT – and its limitations on software – meant that it wasn’t an all-round work and play machine.

In contrast, as we found when we reviewed the Yoga 11S recently, the presence of Windows 8 makes a big difference for usability. Even though the notebook may be part of Lenovo’s more consumer-centric IdeaPad range, rather than a ThinkPad, it’s still capable of standing up to business use.

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Lenovo is yet to comment on the Windows RT version, though if it has indeed been discontinued as the online store suggests, the company wouldn’t be alone in its disappointment with the OS. Dell admitted back in June that sales of its Windows RT tablets had been disappointing, and Microsoft itself recently slashed pricing of its Surface RT worldwide to try to drive demand.

Acer, meanwhile, has described the OS as “not influential” and has no plans for a machine that will run it, and there’s chatter of Microsoft cutting its licensing fees for OEMs too. An incoming update of the Surface RT will supposedly use Windows RT 8.1 and include faster chips and the option of embedded LTE.

We’ve contacted Lenovo for more information, and will update if and when the company gets back to us.

VIA Neowin


Lenovo Yoga 11 Windows RT seemingly axed as official store stops sales is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S Review

Being touted as a “mini ultrabook” the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is the latest and greatest to grace the IdeaPad lineup with full-fledged Windows 8 on board. Everything about the Yoga 11 from last year is still present, only we’ve received a huge upgrade to an Intel Core 15 processor (no ARM Tegra 3 here) and dropped Win RT for the full experience. The device is still as portable and impressive as ever, so read on for the rest of our thoughts.

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If you’re a fan of the IdeaPad Yoga 11 or Yoga 13, there’s absolutely nothing not to like about the new and improved 11S. It’s faster and better in every way, while keeping true to the original complete with the 360 degrees hinge setup offering multiple viewing modes and usage experiences. Lets take a look.

Hardware

Now before we start on hardware (or anything else for that matter) you’ll want to check out our original Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review, as it’s the same experience in terms of the general hardware. We’re working with an 11.6-inch 1366×768 resolution HD IPS display, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of fast DDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD hard drive, and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. Flip it into tablet mode and you’ve got an excellent touch experience, not to mention full out Windows 8.

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Just like the original we have Silver Grey, or an epic looking Clementine Orange for color options. Then Lenovo also has two pricing models too. Starting at $749 you get a Core i3 at 1.4 GHz, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. From there the price bumps to $999 and you get the high-end (although not Haswell) specs mentioned above. Now lets talk about the outside.

Again, nothing’s changed here. We have the same soft to the touch durable materials on the outside and magnesium aluminum frame, followed by a sleek build and chicklet keyboard under the hood. The entire wrist rest area is almost a soft to the touch fabric as well, which has us worried about longevity. On the outside is the power button on front, USB 2.0 on the right and 3.0 on the left (in blue), followed by HDMI out and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Back to the right edge we have a screen orientation lock, SD for expanding on the 256 GB of storage, and the proprietary charging port. Don’t forget your cable or you’ll be sorry out of luck.

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Just like our original review, what’s not to love. It’s thin and portable being only 11.73″ x 8.03″ x 0.67″ in size and barely over 3 lbs. We get a solid 6 hours of battery life, and even a 720p front webcam for Skyping with friends and family. It really is the best form factor for a laptop/tablet on Windows 8. The ThinkPad Helix was neat, but a mess to use in real life. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S is more manageable, and more comfortable.

In closing, we absolutely love the hardware. It’s as portable as ever (save for maybe the MacBook Air) lightweight, durable, comfortable, and extremely adaptable to your needs. Being a Lenovo you know the build quality is awesome, as will be the support should you have issues. Our only hardware complaint would be that both USB ports aren’t 3.0, and the keyboard isn’t backlit. That should be standard these days, even at this price point. Oh and one other thing, the display is a bit glossy. We’d love a matte anti-glare option in the future. That aside, we love the Yoga 11S.

Display

As mentioned above, we’re working with an 11.6inch HD display that’s also an IPS panel. That means wide 178 degree viewing angles and excellent color reproduction. Viewing angles were great, colors were vibrant, and blacks were inky black. The overall bezel could be smaller, but then again this form factor is nearly perfect if you ask me.

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The touchscreen was smooth, stable, and responsive. Flipping through Windows 8 was easy and extremely accurate, although of course Win 8 could still use a little work in the touch department. Brightness was never a problem outdoors, and our only complaint again would be the glare from this glossy (but beautiful) display.

Software

We really had one complaint when we reviewed the original Yoga 11, and that was obviously the fact that we were stuck with Windows 8 RT and an ARM chip under the hood. No steam games, no latest Win 8 apps, nothing. The watered down experience was a bummer, but Lenovo fixed all that here. While we still are stuck with a slightly outdated Core i5 processor (instead of Haswell) we get full on Windows 8. Perfect!

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Unlike the Yoga 11, the 11S is a full Win 8 machine so we were able to run some Steam games, although obviously the integrated Intel 4000 HD graphics can only take you so far. A little Starcraft 2, some old school Counter-strike, and I even played Angry Birds in the Chrome browser while using the 11S in tablet mode.

Lastly, we ran a few GeekBench tests just to check the performance, for those curious. Again, there’s no i7 under the hood, nor do we have an Intel Haswell processor. So the 1.5 GHz Intel Core i5-3339Y Processor did just about as expected. Check em out below for those interested.

Benchmark Score – LENOVO 20246

SectionDescriptionScoreTotal Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
IntegerProcessor integer performance40015321
Floating PointProcessor floating point performance7016
MemoryMemory performance5141
StreamMemory bandwidth performance4371

System – LENOVO 20246

ManufacturerLenovoProduct TypeNotebook
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
MotherboardLENOVO Yoga2
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3339Y CPU @ 1.50GHz
Processor IDGenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Frequency1.50 GHzProcessors1
Threads4Cores2
L1 Instruction Cache32.0 KBL1 Data Cache32.0 KB
L2 Cache256 KBL3 Cache3.00 MB
Memory8.00 GB DDR3 SDRAM 799MHzFSB99.8 MHz
BIOSLENOVO 77CN16WW

Overall the i5 handles the full Windows 8 experience just fine. Lenovo’s Yoga 11S is the perfect blend between the bigger Yoga 13, and the underpowered original 11. If you’ve been on the fence, this should help you out.

Battery Life

Now battery life is always a mixed bag here, especially considering the user, his usage, and other variables. As usual we tried to get the estimated 6 hours of battery that Lenovo quotes, but never quite made it. A few times once fully charged the battery lasted under 5 hours, but we did manage a solid 5 hours and 12 minutes with intermittent games, browsing, downloading apps, and watching some Dark Knight Rises.

With the screen turned down to about 40% we managed a solid 5+ hours no matter the usage (except for gaming of course) and felt it was quite decent. Then again, this is where Haswell would really come in handy.

Competition

The options available are pretty open at this point in Windows 8′s life. There’s tons of options available, not to mention the original Yoga 11 for those on a budget. However, we feel the full Win 8 experience is essential to truly enjoy this machine. Others that come to mind would obviously be the MacBook Air, which by the way, recently got upgraded to Haswell, and even the Google Chromebook Pixel.

Now that we have a full Windows 8 build here and a Core i5, we’d put this up against any other Windows 8 machine in the price range in terms of overall usage and functionality. The 360 degrees hinge really comes in handy more than you’d think. The Yoga 13 is another excellent option, but for those on the go the 11S is the clear choice.

Wrap-Up

In closing, we’ve enjoyed using this machine for the past few weeks. The Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 11S has a unique design, and could be one of my favorite hybrid/portables on the market. It’s made for the traveler, and can do it all whether you’re out and about, or sitting on the couch. With Lenovo you know it is top quality, and it shows during daily usage.

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The Yoga 11S is one of the most portable and flexible machines on the market, and now that we have full Windows 8 nothing will be slowing you down. Give us a similar design with Haswell and a bigger battery, and we’ll be plenty happy. In the meantime you can’t go wrong with the IdeaPad Yoga 11S. Get one today!

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S Review is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Panasonic AX3 convertible Ultrabook aims to take on Lenovo’s Yoga

Panasonic is looking to create some waves with a convertible Ultrabook of their own. The company has announced the AX3 laptop that’s a lot like Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga lineup, as well as Dell’s XPS 11, where the screen can flip back behind the keyboard in order to turn it into a bulky tablet of sorts

Read The Full Story

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S coming next month, pre-orders now live

Lenovo‘s long-awaited IdeaPad Yoga 11S is finally about to make its store debut. The 11-inch convertible laptop, which was announced at CES 2013 back in January, now has a release date of June 23 and pre-orders are live starting today on Lenovo’s website, as well as at Best Buy. If you like the Yoga series, but want it in a more compact form factor, this is probably your best bet.

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The Yoga 11S essentially takes the small form factor of the Yoga 11 (which we reviewed), and blends it with the performance of the Yoga 13, offering faster hardware on the inside that makes it a bit speedier than the regular Yoga 11. And of course, it comes with the same 360-degree hinge action that lets you use the device as a tablet of sorts.

Lenovo’s website has the Yoga 11S packing a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid state drive for $800, while Best Buy has a bit of a better deal with a 1.5GHz Core i5 chip on the inside at the same price. You probably won’t notice too much of a difference, but if you’re all about specs, it seems the Best Buy deal is the better grab.

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As for the display, the Yoga 11S has the same 11.6-inch HD IPS screen that the regular Yoga 11 has, along with 10-finger touch support. Best Buy will have the Yoga 11S available starting on June 23, while Lenovo’s website lists a ship date of “more than 4 weeks,” which will roughly get us to late June for possibly a tandem release with Best Buy.

We ended up getting our hands on with the Yoga 11S during CES 2013 back in January, and we also reviewed the regular Yoga 11. Indeed, there is a slight performance boost with the Yoga 11S, but the Yoga 11 is working with the nifty Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, which packs quite a punch for a convertible laptop like this.

VIA: Windows Experience Blog

SOURCE: Lenovo and Best Buy


Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S coming next month, pre-orders now live is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review

With the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, we’ve got the smaller cousin of the IdeaPad 13, this 11-inch display-toting machine working with a size that’s not just smaller physically. Inside this device we’ve got the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor paired with Microsoft’s Windows RT and a 5-point multi-touch display. This display exists on a hinge that allows this notebook to fold 360 degrees back and flat.

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Hardware

This machine’s screen is an 11.6-inch TFT LCD with 1136 x 768 pixel resolution working with LED Backlit technology and 350 nits of brightness. This display has a 170 degree viewing angle both vertical and horizontal, and its certainly good enough to work long hours worth during the day. If you’re thinking about working with this device in the dark, you might want to take a test-drive in the store first.

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With blacks this dark and a keyboard that’s not backlit, you’ll want a bright lamp over your shoulder at least. If you want to bring this device to the coffee shop, you’re looking at a winner. This machine is 11.7 x 8 x 0.61 inches small, and save the MacBook Air itself, we’ve never experienced a more portable system. With just 2.73 lbs to its name, this machine is ready to be tossed in your backpack or large purse without effort.

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Because this machine is made by Lenovo, it’s extremely rugged. While when we’re working with essentially any other notebook this size, there’s always a thought of “ah, gotta make sure I’m not dropping it.” With the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, we’ve got a machine that we’re as close to “lemme toss this to you across the room” as we’ve ever gotten with a computer. With soft-touch plastic around magnesium aluminum alloy both on the top and on the bottom – in a lovely set of colors, might I add – you’ve got what feels like a top-notch complete package.

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Inside you’ve got a few more specifications you might want to hear about if you’re planning on using this device for anything other than word processing, internet browsing, and some basic gameplay. Have a peek:

• 2 GB std / 2GB max / PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3L*, soldered to system board, no sockets *System automatically clocks down to 1500MHz for NVIDIA Tegra3 T30 processor
• Audio: High Definition (HD) Audio, Realtek® ALC5642 codec / stereo speakers (0.5 watt x 2), microphone, microphone input and headphone combo jack (3.5 mm)
• 64 GB / eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card) flash memory onboard
• 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI, SD card reader, 3.5mm Mic/Headphone Combo
• Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, Digital Compass
• OGS Panel – Single piece of glass as both cover lens and sensor substrate

The hardware is solid and really, really high quality. You’ll be considering the software it’s paired with next – and more than likely last, too. Make sure you know what you’re working with here and follow the Windows RT news before you jump in, feet first.

Software

It’s not easy reconciling the fact that this beautiful machine is working with Windows RT. Having a touchscreen up front that’s able to be used in several different modes is awesome, but when you’re crippled by an operating system that looks and feels like Windows 8 but isn’t – that’s confusing.

Using Windows RT is almost like eating an off-brand cereal without seeing the box: it certainly looks like the real deal, but once you taste it, you get wise. You’ll be unable to run Google Chrome, Valve’s Steam for games, or Geekbench for benchmarking your system. With Windows RT, you’re getting what’s closer to what seems to be intended as a tablet system rather than a full-fledged notebook setup.

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That said, you do get the option of ordering this system with the full Microsoft Office suite running right out of the box. Microsoft has been pretty good about making sure their own basic set of apps works on Windows RT, and you do have access to the NVIDIA TegraZone Windows RT Edition as well – however limited that may still be. If Judge Dredd VS Zombies and Hydro Thunder are enough to wet your whistle, then by all means go for it – NVIDIA is also growing this collection too as the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor (found inside this device) stays strong through 2013.

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Up against the Competition

Your big question might be at this point what the benefit is in having this device over any other – especially one so inexpensive as, say, a Chromebook. When it comes down to it, this device has that same acceptance curve as a Chromebook has – you just can’t run everything you run on your full-powered PC. We’d even thought about trying to work with this device as a sort of top-tier Chromebook too to test how it’d be, but again, Chrome doesn’t work on Windows RT.

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If you’re comparing this device to a full Windows 8 Lenovo notebook, you’ll be in for a trick – working with Windows 8 on the IdeaPad Yoga 13 is a good enough to feel a bit left out with the Yoga 11′s relative lack of oomph – and it’s certainly not a device you’re going to want to compare to a MacBook Air unless you only need it for word processing and browsing the web (on Internet Explorer). The price for this machine does remain enticing: anywhere from $599 to $849 USD and you’ve got a real draw. Compare it to the relative greatness of the Yoga 13, on the other hand, and you might as well drop the extra few bucks to work with full Windows 8 and the larger display.

Wrap-up

You’ll have to think this one through – unlike the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, you’ve not got a full-powered PC on your hands here. This device is made to be a traveler, and certainly not your one single machine if you’ve got a computer-based job. Should you want to use your PC for nothing but social networking and play, this is a good choice – it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s good for travel.

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Lenovo has created a bit of a bitter winner here. While many devices in this category are pretty awesome from top to bottom save their end product, the IdeaPad Yoga 11 is rough and tough and is something I’d put in my backpack for a trip. If I were going on a business trip with my SlashGear compatriots, I’d have to leave it at home.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S hands-on

Lenovo has been showing off a lot of devices here at CES, but one of the devices I’ve personally been most interested in is the IdeaPad Yoga 11S. After Windows 8 launched last year, I reviewed the IdeaPad Yoga 13, a computer that I ultimately liked a lot. A big reason why I liked the Yoga 13 was because of its 360-degree hinge, which allowed for four different configurations – laptop mode, stand mode, tent mode and tablet mode. It was incredibly cool, and I’m glad to see the same hinge present in the smaller Yoga 11S.

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In fact, at first glance, the only noticeable difference between the Yoga 13 and the Yoga 11S is size. The 11S is quite a bit smaller thaan the Yoga 13, but both are running Windows 8 (remember that – this isn’t Windows RT you’ll be dealing with. The fact that the Yoga series is running Windows 8 is definitely appreciated, and I’m sure it might just end up convincing a few people who are on the fence.

One thing I want to point out is that I think the Yoga 11S might make a better tablet. That isn’t to say that the Yoga 13 didn’t make a good tablet (it did), it was just a little on the large side as far as slates go. The Yoga 11S fits very well in your hand, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see many people opting for tablet mode over the other configurations.

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Featuring an 11.6-inch touchscreen and you choice of up to a 3rd-gen Intel Core i5, the IdeaPad Yoga 11S should make a pretty capable ultrabook for a lot of different people. Despite the smaller screen, resolution hasn’t taken a hit, with the IdeaPad Yoga 11S sporting 1600×900, just like its predecessor. It’ll be available in Silver or Clementine like the Yoga 13 is, but unfortunately, Lenovo won’t start offering it until sometime in June 2013. When it finally does arrive, it will have a starting price of $799.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S hands-on is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix and IdeaPad Yoga 11S revealed to flip for Windows 8

The Lenovo notebook lineup is vast here at the start of 2013 at the Consumer Electronics Show, and what with the ThinkPad Helix offering a whole new way to work with a convertible PC, the Windows 8 era appears to be in full swing. With the ThinkPad Helix you’ve got not just a new tablet, not just a new Ultrabook, but a machine that acts as both with a third way to utilize the Windows 8 touch universe in a whole new way. Then there’s the IdeaPad Yoga 11S, an upgrade of the Yoga lineup from 2012, here bringing tiny lightning claps in a whole new set of colors, too, including Cotton Candy Pink.

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ThinkPad Helix

With the ThinkPad Helix you’ll be working with a high performance Ultrabook with a detachable 11.6-inch tablet creating what Lenovo assures is “the thinnest full-function Intel 3rd generation Core tablet with vPro” on the market today. This machine weighs in at just 835 grams and works with “Stand Mode” unique to any sort of device in this class – in this case it means that you’ve got the device connected to its keyboard dock like normal, looking like a laptop, then you “Rip and Flip”. This means you detach the tablet from the base, turn it around, and attach it with the keyboard facing its back, standing it up like a pro, still able to use the ports along the keyboard dock’s sides.

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This machine also has a five button clickpad – 20 percent more than any ThinkPad that’s come before it – as well as the brightest display in ThinkPad brand history. The ThinkPad Helix has a 1080p IPS display and works with optional 4G LTE connectivity, meaning your favorite mobile brands COULD be carrying it soon – we shall see! This unit also works with NFC – tap in! The ThinkPad Helix will be starting at $1,499 USD and will be available starting in late February 2013.

IdeaPad Yoga 11S

The IdeaPad Yoga 11S works with an 11.6-inch HD IPS display with 10-finger multi-touch capabilities as well as many abilities that’ve previously been available only on the larger Yoga 13. This machine has Motion Control abilities like a hand-swipe in front of its webcam to move through photos, videos, and documents. Using Lenovo Transition you can automatically open applications in full-screen mode when the device is in one of its three non-notebook modes.

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These three modes outside the standard notebook mode are called tent, stand, or tablet – that’s flat with the touchscreen out, folded up like a tent with the touchscreen out, and backward with the touchscreen out as well. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S comes with the same exterior build (casing-wise) as the Yoga 13, but now pushing forth with fabulous new color combinations including Cotton Candy Pink, Silver Grey, and Clementine Orange. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S will be available starting at $799 USD beginning in June 2013.


Lenovo ThinkPad Helix and IdeaPad Yoga 11S revealed to flip for Windows 8 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Best Deals in Tech

The holidays are approaching fast, and it’s time to start picking up some gifts: for friends, family, even yourself. But when you’re picking out what to go with, it’s sometimes wise to stay away from the absolute best. Sometimes you just want the best value—something that’s worth every shiny, hard-earned penny. More »

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Review

With so many Windows 8 PCs launching in the next couple months, manufacturers are going to have find something to make their machines stand out. Lenovo has taken this idea to extremes with one of its new computers, the IdeaPad Yoga 13. Convertibles are nothing new – we’ve seen plenty of laptops that can “turn into” tablets – but the IdeaPad Yoga 13 features a 360 degree hinge that makes it so much more than just a tablet/laptop convertible. I’ll say this right off the bat: the IdeaPad Yoga 13 is one of the coolest machines I’ve ever seen. But being cool is only one part of the equation, and that 360-degree hinge can’t carry the whole machine if the rest of it is nothing to write home about. Has Lenovo delivered an interesting and unique machine that won’t disappoint when it comes to actual usability, or is the Yoga 13 a dud that will be lost in a sea of Windows 8 machines despite the fact that it has some intriguing features? Read on to find out.


Design

If we were basing this on looks alone, the Yoga 13 wouldn’t do very well. That’s not because the Yoga 13 is a bad looking computer, it’s just that the silver ultrabook look is getting a little old these days. With the Yoga 13, you’ve got a silver chassis on the top on bottom, which is accompanied by black trim along the sides. It looks good, but it’s been done plenty of times before. I would have liked to have seen Lenovo take a chance with some color, but then again I can see why it didn’t – after all, silver is a pretty good neutral color, and the last thing a manufacturer wants is for consumers to be hung up on colors, of all things. If you’re shooting for as many people as possible, neutral colors are better.

On the left side of the device is where you’ll find a full-size HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, and the volume buttons for when you’re using the machine in tablet mode. On the front, we’ve got the One Key Recovery button, which is standard on most Lenovo laptops these days, as well as the power button and a battery indicator. Finishing off with the right side, we have the power jack – which for some reason is yellow – a USB 2.0 port, a 2-in-1 card slot (SD and MMC) and the screen lock button. The screen lock button prevents the screen from changing orientation, which I think is definitely a handy thing to have around. One thing that’s worth noting is that there isn’t an Ethernet port present on the Yoga 13. That means it’ll be Wi-Fi or bust if you decide to pick one up, so keep that in mind.

Opening the computer up, we’ve got a really nice looking 13.3-inch display, which features a Windows 8 button that you can pretty to quickly get back to the Start screen, and the keyboard. Here’s where the Yoga 13 deviates from the boring old silver notebook scheme, as the keyboard and trackpad are entirely black. It actually looks sharp and goes well with the screen, but there’s one small problem: by making the entire keyboard black, it can be kind of hard to see in low light settings. That’s especially true since there isn’t any backlighting to speak of on the Yoga 13. You’ll want to use this is a well-lit area if you know you’ll need to be looking at the keyboard, though this won’t be much of an issue for folks who know a keyboard as well as I know the lyrics to Will Smith’s Wild Wild West (trust me, I know them).

The design aspects covered above are all secondary, however, to the 360-degree hinge. Using this, you can fold the Yoga 13 into a number of different positions, and there are four positions in particular that Lenovo has been advertising with the machine. First off we have the traditional laptop mode – this is the only position the keyboard and trackpad will function in, which is important to remember as we go through the remaining three modes.

Next up is stand mode, which has the user folding the screen back and flipping the machine over so that it rests on its keyboard. This mode seems best-suited for getting the keyboard out of the way to watch movies. I’m tempted to argue that it isn’t the best choice for playing games and instances when you’ll be using the touch screen a lot, as it doesn’t take much pressure to get the screen to fold back even further.

Then we have tent mode, which is my personal favorite. In tent mode, you’ll fold the screen over even further and then flip the computer on its ends so that it forms something resembling a tent when it’s resting on a surface. This would be another good choice for watching movies, but it’s also a better choice for gaming than stand mode is due to the fact that the screen will be much more stable in tent mode. Lenovo has also specifically suggested that it would be good for using in the kitchen – perhaps reading a recipe on your Yoga 13 as you cook, and while I think that’s an excellent idea, I have to be honest and say that I didn’t test this sort of application (I’m not much of a chef, to tell the truth).

Finally we have tablet mode, which will have you folding the screen all the way around to the back to form your slate. I have to say that the Yoga 13 makes one surprisingly excellent tablet, but the fact that the keyboard is exposed on the backside feels a little strange at first. You get used to it after a while, and thankfully the keyboard and trackpad are deactivated in any configuration other than laptop mode, but I do wonder if putting that kind of pressure on the keys while you’re holding the Yoga 13 in tablet mode would result in a shorter lifespan. For what it’s worth, I didn’t have any problems, but I can’t help but feel that having the keyboard exposed on the backside might have an adverse effect on the keys in the long run.

There’s also another cause for concern when using the Yoga 13 in tablet mode: the exhaust vents run along the back edge of the system. When you’ve got the Yoga 13 folded up in tablet mode, the bottom edge of the screen is pressed up against the exhaust vents. It isn’t normally a problem as there’s still plenty of room for air to come in and escape, but if you’re doing something that’s making the computer’s fans work hard, you’ll definitely feel some heat at the bottom of the screen. That’s a bit worrying, though again, I didn’t run into any problems in testing – the computer ran cool enough, and it never got to the point where the warm air caused any issues with the screen.

Don’t let those few concerns dissuade you though, as the Yoga 13 is really a pleasure to use in tablet mode. The machine is lighter than I was expecting at 3.3 pounds, but that gives it plenty of extra heft over traditional tablets and even a few ultrabooks. There are far too many tablets out there that feel incredibly fragile, but that isn’t the case with the Yoga 13 – it feels nice and sturdy in tablet mode, and its 13.3-inch screen gives it another advantage over traditional tablets. Yes, it feels a little on the big side at first, but after using the Yoga 13 in tablet mode for a couple of days, I don’t really want to go back to 10.1-inch tablets.

So there you have it – the four faces of the IdeaPad Yoga 13. Some of them seem more useful than the others, but each have their advantages and each bring something unique to the tablet. The Yoga 13 earns points for that alone, but as I said above, the cool factor is only one part of the equation; the Yoga 13 is going to have to impress in other areas to be truly worthy of a place in your tech collection.

Hardware

As far as hardware goes, the Yoga13 doesn’t offer much that you can’t already find in tons of other ultrabooks. 4GB of RAM? Check. Third-gen Intel Core i5-3317U clocked at 1.7GHz? Yes sir. 128GB SSD? Present and accounted for. Those are three components that are included in almost every ultrabook, but then again, there’s a good reason for that. More than anything else, an ultrabook should be fast, and that combination of components makes for one speedy machine. I doubt that the Yoga 13 will disappoint when it comes to speed, even if it does have some predictable innards.

What is surprising about the Yoga 13 is its screen. When I mentioned that the Yoga 13 has a 13.3-screen earlier, I have a feeling that more than a few of you immediately thought 1366×768 resolution. I can’t really blame you, seeing as how 1366×768 is still for some reason the most popular resolution when it comes to laptops and ultrabooks, but I’m happy to report that your assumptions were wrong. The Yoga 13 actually displays at 1600×900 resolution, which is a little strange to see these days, but certainly not unwelcome. The 16:9 aspect ratio means that the Yoga 13 is great for watching movies, and that bump is resolution also means that visuals are much sharper than on laptops with 1366×768 displays.

The IPS display features 10-point multi-touch, which is certainly nice, though I have to say that the screen seems a little too eager to switch sometimes. One wrong move and you’ll have the screen switching orientation on you, but that’s one of the pitfalls of having so many different modes for the Yoga 13. Luckily, Lenovo thought ahead and included that screen lock button I mentioned above – use it. It will become your best friend before long.

System – LENOVO 20175

ManufacturerLenovoProduct TypeNotebook
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
MotherboardLENOVO INVALID
ProcessorIntel Core i5-3317U
Processor IDGenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Frequency1.70 GHzProcessors1
Threads4Cores2
L1 Instruction Cache32.0 KBL1 Data Cache32.0 KB
L2 Cache256 KBL3 Cache3.00 MB
Memory4.00 GB DDR3 SDRAM 799MHzFSB99.8 MHz
BIOSLENOVO 66CN48WW

The IdeaPad Yoga 13 comes equipped with Intel 4000 integrated graphics, so you’re not going to have much a powerhouse when it comes to graphics ability. Still, the Yoga 13 performed well enough running Civilization V with most of the settings on medium (though a few settings had to be turned down to low), so you should be able to do some light gaming on this thing without any problems.

One interesting thing I noticed when booting up Civilization V was that it has been updated with touch controls for Windows 8. Though you wouldn’t think that Civ V would be an ideal game to play with a touch screen, it actually worked out quite well, and that’s a testament to how accurate the touch screen is. The new controls obviously take some getting used to, but outside of that, I didn’t have any issues playing Civilization V with the Yoga 13’s touch screen – something to consider if you take the quality of a touch screen seriously.

The speakers on the Yoga 13 are decent, but like the speakers on most ultrabook and laptops, they aren’t anything to get excited about. Bass doesn’t sound as hefty as it should out of the box, and though you can certainly crank up the volume on the Yoga 13’s speakers, you might not want to. Music can sound pretty tinny if you turn the volume up too high, so while the speakers will suffice if you use them sparingly, you might want to invest in a good pair of headphones if you’ll be playing a lot of music or watching a lot of video on the machine.

I touched on the trackpad and the keyboard a bit earlier in the review, but now let’s talk about them in a little more depth. As I said, it’s black-on-black with the keyboard and trackpad, which can make it a little difficult to see if you don’t have a lot of light. Aside from that issue though, the keyboard and trackpad are both solid. Scrolling works really well on the trackpad, though swipe controls have been inverted, meaning that you’ll swipe down to scroll up and swipe to the left to scroll right. Using four fingers and swiping downward, you can freeze the screen, which will bring down an overlay with the time and date. Swiping upward removes the overlay, letting you resume whatever it is you were doing.

The keyboard is one that helps you type as quickly as possible with few errors, though be warned that the enter, right shift, and backspace keys are smaller than on full-size keyboard. This is because the home, print screen, insert, and delete keys have all taken up residence on the right side of the keyboard, putting space at a premium. There are also a set of hotkeys above the row of number keys that allow you do things like change the volume and brightness, put the machine in airplane mode, and close the window you’re currently looking at. Standard fare for a laptop keyboard, but that isn’t a knock against it – the keyboard is a good piece of equipment, and I liked using it a lot.

Software

The Yoga 13 comes running Windows 8, which gives it an edge over the other Windows RT devices that are currently on the market or will be shortly. Windows 8 is clearly geared toward touch, so I think if you want the best Windows 8 experience, the Yoga 13 might not be a bad idea. Of course, there are some issues with Windows 8 on touch screens, namely the desktop. While the Start screen is perfect for touch screens, the desktop can prove to be quite frustrating if you’re using the Yoga 13 in any configuration other than laptop mode.

Double clicking on desktop icons isn’t a problem, but clicking those tiny little icons in the system tray can be a headache, especially when you’re like me and have hands that can’t exactly be called “dainty.” Likewise, clicking buttons in programs or in browsers that were made to be navigated with a mouse and keyboard can be difficult, so if you’re going to use touch, it’s recommended that you use Windows 8 apps when you can.

Touch screen controls in Windows 8 are solid, but if you’re new to the operating system, it’ll be a while before you’re navigating like a pro. This is the same regardless of if you’re using the trackpad or the touchscreen, and it’s worth pointing out that you can still use the touch screen when the Yoga 13 is in laptop mode. I found myself doing that quite a bit, thanks to Windows 8’s touch-friendly interface and inviting tiles. I image you’ll end up doing that quite a bit yourself, but I don’t really think that’s a bad thing.

Other than Windows 8, the Yoga 13 comes with a healthy amount of pre-installed software. If you’ve purchased a Lenovo computer before, you likely won’t be surprised by what comes packaged with the Yoga 13. We’ve got programs Lenovo YouCam, One Key Recovery, a trial to Absolute Data Protect, 30 days of Norton Antivirus, and SugarSync. Most of that you’ll be able to live without, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get One Key Recovery set up, just in case you make a mistake and need to restore your computer.

Of course, there’s also the software that comes bundled with Windows 8, like apps for Internet Explorer and SkyDrive. Lenovo has pre-loaded its own selection of Windows 8 apps on there too, including rara.com, Evernote, eBay, and Kindle. It isn’t a bad selection, but you might want to do some house cleaning once you get your Yoga 13 out of the box.

Battery

The Yoga 13 comes packing a 3860mAh Lithium-Polymer 4 cell battery that’s quoted for up to 8 hours of use. Naturally, you’ll probably never get as much use out of a full charge as manufacturers say you will, but I was actually surprised with how long the battery lasted in my tests.

After browsing the web and streaming a couple hours of video on YouTube, I was able to get right around 5 hours and 15 minutes of battery life out of a full charge. This was with Wi-Fi on the entire time and the screen brightness turned down to 50%, so the battery on this bad boy isn’t half bad. How long you get out of a charge will obviously vary depending on what you’re doing, but if you’re not on your computer all the time, I wouldn’t be surprised if you managed to get a full day of use out of a single charge.

It should also be noted that 50% brightness is still plenty bright to see what’s happening on screen, so you could bring it down even further to make the battery go the extra mile. Bring it down to around 25% and the screen is a little too dark for my tastes, but that still gives you plenty of space to work with if you’re trying to conserve battery life.

Benchmark

The Geekbench results tell us what everyone who is familiar with ultrabooks already knew. The Yoga 13 is not the most powerful computer on the market, but it doesn’t need to be. Using less powerful hardware keeps the price down, and the hardware that’s running under the hood in the Yoga 13 is still enough to keep things running fast.

Benchmark Score – LENOVO 20175

SectionDescriptionScoreTotal Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
IntegerProcessor integer performance53106866
Floating PointProcessor floating point performance9520
MemoryMemory performance5846
StreamMemory bandwidth performance5068

So no, you’re not going to be blown away by the power you hold in your hands, but the hardware in the Yoga 13 is still enough to get the job done. That’s all anyone really wants when it comes to an ultrabook (or a tablet for that matter), and in that respect, the Yoga 13 is a solid little device.

Wrap-Up

At the end of everything, I have to say that I’m impressed. The folding design of the Yoga 13 definitely takes some getting used to, and it will like elicit a few strange looks from people you see on the street, but no matter – the Yoga 13 is one solid device, and I would even say that it’s one of the best Windows 8 machines on the market at the moment.

That’s because it’s so versatile. That 360-hinge is just plain cool, and it opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to actually using the Yoga 13. Yes, the hardware in the Yoga isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but that’s not where Lenovo needed to wow us. It needed to make a machine that not only stood out from the crowd, but also had some useful applications. Lenovo succeeded in doing both.

There are also a range of options depending on what you want. If you don’t mind sacrificing power to save a bit of money, you can swap out the Core i5 for a Core i3, bringing the price down to $1099.99 – at the moment, however, the Core i3 configuration has a promotional price of $999.99 on Lenovo’s website. The configuration we were given to review normally comes with a price tag of $1199.99, though with the promotions Lenovo has been running, it shouldn’t be hard to find it for $1099.99. Finally, you can bump up the power with a Core i7, though that will bring the price up to as high as $1399.99.

Those prices may be a little difficult to swallow, but I think if you have a bit of extra cash you’re willing to part with, you probably won’t be disappointed with the Yoga 13. I liked the time I spent with it a lot, and if you want a good Windows 8 machine that is fast, versatile, and above all else, fun to use, then I have no problem recommending the Yoga 13.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Review is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 hands-on and first impressions

Windows 8 officially launched last week, which means that a ton of new computers, laptops, and tablets are either on shelves now or coming up soon. By far one of the most interesting new Windows 8 machines is the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, a new convertible that aims to show off Windows 8 in all of its touch-based glory. The major selling point of the Yoga 13 is its 360-degree hinge, which allows you to use the laptop in a number of different ways. It’s certainly cool, if not a little strange at first.


If you couldn’t already tell, I haven’t used very many convertibles. I was never really sold on the idea of a tablet/laptop hybrid, but with what I’ve seen of the IdeaPad Yoga 13, I might be singing a different tune by the time everything is said and done. The Yoga 13 impresses right out of the box – the silver chassis looks sleek, and I was actually surprised by how light it is. I was certainly expecting heavier than 3.3 pounds, though with that weight, the Yoga 13 still has some heft that you won’t find in traditional ultrabooks.

The screen is really nice as well, though again a little unconventional as far as ultrabook screens go. Instead of running at the 1366×768 resolution we’re all so bored with, the Yoga 13′s touch screen is running at 1600×900 resolution. It’s an odd resolution that we don’t see to often in notebooks, but it’s a welcome change. The visuals are sharp and touch is responsive. This plays hand-in-hand with the touch-friendly tiles in Windows 8; even when using the Yoga 13 in notebook mode, I’m finding myself using the touch screen instead of the track pad. I said in my Windows 8 review that the operating system was clearly geared toward touch screens, and the Yoga 13 backs that assertion up.

There are four different “modes” Lenovo has been pushing with the Yoga 13: notebook mode, which is self-explanatory; stand mode, which allows the user to place the keyboard face-down with the screen angled upward; tent mode, which has the user standing the laptop up on its ends like a little mini tent; and tablet mode, achieved by folding the screen all the way around to the underside of the notebook. Tablet mode feels a little strange at first due to the fact that the keyboard is exposed on the slate’s backside, but thankfully the keyboard and trackpad are both disabled when you’re using a mode other than the traditional notebook setup. This means that you don’t have to worry about hitting keys and screwing everything up while using the machine in tablet mode.

On the inside, there isn’t too much deviation from the hardware found in other ultrabooks. We’ve got a third-gen Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz – essentially the industry standard for ultrabooks – working alongside 4GB of DDR3L RAM, making the Yoga 13 quite the little speed demon. That’s all helped along by the 128GB SSD, so if it’s speed you want, the Yoga 13 probably isn’t going to disappoint. On the outside, the pickings are a little slim, as you’ve only got one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port to take advantage of. Those are joined by a 2-in-1 card slot (SD and MMC), a headphone jack, a full-size HDMI port, and of course, the jack for the power adapter.

I’m impressed with what I’ve seen of the IdeaPad Yoga 13 so far. There are certainly aspects that are going to take some getting used to, but I’m looking forward to spending more time with the Yoga 13 and seeing all that it and its 360-degree hinge have to offer. My full review of the IdeaPad Yoga 13 will be coming up shortly, but in the meantime, let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to touch on.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 hands-on and first impressions is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.