This is one of those things that are worth
waiting for. Six months of waiting and being teased by Lenovo about its next
generation of convertible notebooks. No amount of swearing and inappropriate
language could possibly express how satisfied I am to finally have this to mess
around with. Also, no amount of inappropriate language would get past my
editor.
Lenovo
Ideapad Yoga 13 is one of those things that are waiting for
Impressions
At first glance, the Yoga looks like most
other Lenovo notebooks. The same square-ish lines that eschew the sleekness
that appears in other brands. Less is more; it works in this case. Astute users
will note that the hinges are different on the Yoga. They break up the profile
a bit, but it’s all for good reason. The double hinge is the secret element
that allows the Yoga to do its ‘special thing’ – the 360-degree screen flip.
The whole experience of flipping the screen around is seamless and yet the
hinges remain solid as it manages to hold the machine together very well.
Lenovo has outdone itself here. There had been some initial worry about wearing
out the rotating motion, but I suspect that civilization will be a smoldering
ruin when that happens. Loose hinges will be the least of your worries.
At
first glance, the Yoga looks like most other Lenovo notebooks.
Classy broad
This is a classy machine and it knows it.
Gimmicks notwithstanding, the Yoga is a fine machine. The keyboard is extremely
comfortable to type with as is the case with most of the Ideapad line. Using
the industry standard Chiclet layout, Lenovo has contoured the keys to make
them easier to find without having to look down. Only one thing puzzles me: if
this has a touch interface, why does it still need a trackpad? Every Win8
notebook/Ultrabook that appears these days has one. It might still be a
holdover from the design concepts of yesteryear but wouldn't it be better to
save a couple hundred bucks to remove it as a feature as it won't be used as
much anymore?
Using
the industry standard Chiclet layout, Lenovo has contoured the keys to make
them easier to find without having to look down
Get stuff done
Flavoring the graphics is a regular Intel
HD 4000 system. Nothing fancy about that. But then again, this isn't meant for
high end graphics processing or to play games (at least not the games worth
investing large amount of effort, funds and time into). This is more of a
work/lifestyle machine. Something to get your spreadsheets (or product reviews)
done while on the go. Battery life is about four or five hours, depending on
what you make it do. It's also fancy enough to take into nice cafes, where you
can be seen working on your latest - and highly pretentious - screenplay. As
for lifestyle, one might not like the people using the machine but the machine
itself is perfectly acceptable in polite company.
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Specifications
§ Price:
$1096
§ Dimensions
(HxWxD): 33.4 x 224.8 x 16.9mm
§ Weight:
1.54kg
§ Processor:
Intel Core i5-3317U
§ Memory:
4GB RAM
§ Storage:
128GB SSD
§ Operating
system: Windows 8
§ Display:
13.3 HD + IPS
§ Graphics:
Intel HD 4000
§ Ports:
USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI
§ Performance
test: 1282.2
§ PCMark:
4016
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