Bend it to your will
Lenovo got a head start generating interest
in the IdeaPad Yoga 13 when it demo’d the device at Last year’s CES. At that
time, its unique ability to be both an Ultrabook and a tablet seemed Like a far
out concept, today its “convertible design is the perfect justification for
Windows 8 and just one example of a whole new category of portable devices. As
the name implies, the Yoga 13 is unusually flexible, able to assume four
different positions of functionality, thanks to its special patented
double-hinge. In notebook mode it’s your standard clamshell; in stand mode the
keyboard is rotated back and out of the way, forming a base for the screen; in
tent mode the hinge is at the apex, with the screen in front and the keyboard
serving as a kickstand; and in tablet mode the screen is flattened against the
back of the keyboard. In all instances where the physical keyboard isn’t
intended for use, it’s automatically disabled, with an onscreen keyboard taking
its place.
Lenovo
Ideapad Yoga 13
The Yoga’s screen is a 13.3-inch 10-point
multitouch panel with 1600x900 resolutions and the slimmest of bezels, so
there’s nothing getting in the way of your swiping in from the edges in Windows
8 fashion. Regardless of your opinion on touchscreens, you gotta love the fact
that IPS panels seem to be the norm here, as opposed to the inferior TN panels
that have been typical of standard, non-touch Ultrabooks. It makes sense a
device that’s meant to be flipped and turned and viewed from a variety of
orientations needs the better image fidelity of PS. Yay for that.
The screen not only looks good but is very
responsive. Even in desktop mode, our touches to the relatively small
file/folder names, menu items, and commands were registered with pretty
consistent accuracy.
The
screen not only looks good but is very responsive.
Still, we were more inclined to perform
desktop chores the old-fashioned way, and fortunately, the Yoga accommodates
with a nice, comfortable keyboard and buttery-smooth touchpad that itself
supports Windows 8 gestures Indeed, as an Ultrabook, the Yoga 13 is pretty nice
for the price. We might have been even more impressed if we hadn’t just
reviewed CyberPower’s $850 Zeus M2 last month, which had nearly the same specs
but performed 10 - 20 percent faster than the Yoqa in all tests, except Quake
III, where the Zeus M2 was 75 percent faster (the Yoga can thank its
single-channel RAM for that defeat), Why such disparity between two Core
i5-3317Us? The Yoga has a tendency to throttle down under toad, presumably to
maintain thermal levels.
Be that as it may, you’re buying the Yoga
13 for more than just an Ultrabook experience. While a 13.3-inch,
three-and-a-half-pound notebook folded back upon itself is pushing the Limits
of a tablet (as is the sensation of a keyboard on the back), the flexibility
offered by the Yoga 13’s form factor and touch capabilities has definite uses,
not the least of which is giving Windows 8’s split personality meaning.
Dell XPS 12
A premium Ultrabook with a twist
Like the yoga 13, Dell’s XPS 12 is an
ULtrabook convertible, but it moves from clamshell device to tablet in an
entirely different way. Push in on the tower back of the screen with both hands
and it rotates in its frame to face backward then just close the lid and you
have a tablet. We like how this design hides the keyboard from sight, and feel,
but we can’t help but wonder how the rotating screen and thin metal frame wilt
fare over time and with regular use. Dell says it’s been tested to 20.000
cycles.
Like
the yoga 13, Dell’s XPS 12 is an ULtrabook convertible, but it moves from
clamshell device to tablet in an entirely different way.
With its 12.5-inch screen, the XPS 12 is a
bit smaller than Lenovo’s Yoga 13, but it weighs the same three pounds, 6.5
ounces (without its power brick as its peer, which again, makes it a more
sedentary type of tablet. We’re not saying you can’t benefit from being able to
fold up this Ultrabook, rest it atop your lap, and surf the web from your couch
while you watch TV, tablet style. We’re just pointing out that it’s Larger and
more unwieldy than even a 10-inch Pad.
Size issues aside, the XPS 12’s 1920x1080
IPS screen is crisp and bright and its edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass coating
should make it plenty durable. Capacitive sensors enable prompt response to all
the various touches and swipes in Windows 8, even in desktop mode. Dell was
kind enough to include a ‘Getting Started with Windows 8” app in the Modern UI,
which explains how to navigate the OS a feature that’s sorely lacking from
Windows 8 itself. Like the Yoga 13. the XPS 12’s touchpad also supports Win8
gestures, so you can, say, swipe in from the right of the pad to expose the
Charms bar, or swipe in from the left of the pad to switch programs. This
worked most of the time, although not quite as reliably as with the Yoga. The
physical keyboard is suitable for productivity, with nicely sized and spaced
keys and a pleasant rubberized palm rest. It’s also backlit with blue LEDs.
Size
issues aside, the XPS 12’s 1920x1080 IPS screen is crisp and bright and its
edge to edge Gorilla Glass coating should make it plenty durable.
The XPS 12 starts at $1.200 for a config
similar to the Yoga 13. But Dell sent us its most fully loaded model, which
costs quite a bit more at $1,700. It consists of a 1.9GHz Core i7-3517U, 8GB of
DDR3/1600 RAM, and a 256GB SSO. It’s a pretty similar build to our zero point
Ultrabook and the two machines traded modest wins in all of our benchmarks.
While the XPS12 is handsome and has
admirable parts, it strikes us as falling shy of the mark by being too
cumbersome to fully satisfy as a tablet and too pricey to fully satisfy as an
Ultrabook.
