Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13
Lenovo is betting heavy in Windows 8 platform. New products introduced with this new os are ThinkPad Twist, ThinkPad Tablet 2, IdeaTab Lynx, Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 and 13.
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is a 13-inch Windows 8 hybrid famous for its convertibility. Yoga 13 is a tablet and ultrabook in one. It is a multi-mode ultrabook that opens 360 degrees.
13.3-inch HD+ IPS multi-touch (10 fingers) touchscreen with 1600×900 pixel resolution. 286 nits brightness is excellent for ultrabook, but average for a tablet. Viewing angles are great as well. Display can be viewed and touched in any position. Yoga 13 can be used for presentations when in tent position, it can be a large tablet PC when in tablet mode, or in stand position. Yoga 13 also makes a good size laptop. The versatility and portability of this Yoga 13, (or Yoga 11) is quite amazing. Having said that tablet mode experiences if quite different from using a tablet. For one, the screen is much wider. Because of the weight distribution demanded by a notebook, one side of the tablet is inevitably heavier, while the other side with fan grills will be lighter and hotter.
Yoga 13 weighs 3.4 lbs (1.54 kg). Dimensions are 13.1 x 8.9 x 0.67inch (333.4 x 224.8 x 16.9 mm). Design is sleek and with just 16.9 mm thick battery has to be built in, but Lenovo promises 8 hours on a charge.
Yoga comes powered with 3rd generation 1.5GHz Intel Core i3, 1.7GHz/2.6GHz i5 or 1.9GHz/3.0GHz i7. Integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics is capable of Turbo Boost up to 1050 MHz. Storage options are 128GB mSATA SSD storage; 256GB mSATA SSD will be offered later. 20 GB is dedicated for one click system recovery. Lenovo offers 4GB, or 8GB DDR3 of RAM. PCMark 7 offers satisfying performance results similar to the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1.
Lenovo offers a 720p 1MP webcam that works well for skyping but should work for scrolling and flipping pages. This motion control proves to be unreliable albeit curious novelty.
Yoga 13 built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and runs Windows 8, or as an option Windows 8 Pro. For connectivity Yoga 13 has a USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, and 3 in 1 multi card reader.
Dolby Home Theatre audio sounds great out of two 1W speakers, but in tablet mode sounds flows away from the user and that is a bit concerning.
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 keyboard and touchpad – click
AccuType keyboard gets activated in any position accept in tablet mode when keyboard is covered with touch display. There is no real “Insert” key, which is a bummer. Also the “Enter” and “Backspace” keys are a bid too small. The feedback could be bigger, but typing is easy and comfortable. A large 10.5 x 7.0 cm touchpad allows for easy to use multi-touch gestures.
Yoga 13 features Windows 8 or optional Windows 8 Pro operating system.
Read full Windows 8 review.
Check out these Yoga 13 pics:
In conclusion Lenovo handcrafted this very versatile tablet Windows 8 PC experience for both notebook and tablet users. Tablet functionality is great, although the asymmetric weight distribution is something to get used to. Lenovo’s patented hinges are solid and trustworthy. Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 stands against HP Spectre XT and Samsung Series 9 ultrabook, or Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook very well. It is however a unique, fun and very well priced product. IdeaPad Yoga 13 sells for $1400 at Amazon.
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