Despite great hardware & format, I'm sending this unit back to Amazon. Constant wi-fi disconnects from the Realtek wi-fi chips in the unit I received have made it impossible to download large files or watch streaming video longer than 10 minutes. Getting the wi-fi reconnected after a disconnect requires manually disabling and re-enabling the wi-fi adapter each time.
99% of the Yoga is excellent:
The laptop/tablet hardware and format is excellent. Quality screen, hinge, and touchpad. And compared to the ultrabooks with hybrid drives, the performance boost from having a full SSD drive is excellent. I've only had the laptop for a week, but the SSD seems to help with battery life too, as I'm regularly getting over 6hrs per charge (as long as I turn screen brightness down).
Big problems with units with Realtek wi-fi chips:
A number of threads on Lenovo's own forums had months-long support threads related to wi-fi connection interrupts. That was on the original release batches which all had Realtek wi-fi chips. Lenovo has replaced those with an Intel chip on newer batches of the Yoga 13 and the disconnect issues are fixed on those devices. Amazon unfortunately appears to still have the Realtek chips in the units they're shipping (as-of the end of March).
So, until they get the newer batches with Intel wi-fi, stay away from the Yoga 13 from here.
I recieved this machine two weeks ago and have really found it to be excellent. From the battery life to the multiple operating modes, I have had nothing but good things to say about it so far. There are several negatives with the installation of the applications, there is a lot of "crapware" included in the install. It also comes with Office 2010 pre-installed, you need to purchase a key to activate. I purchased an Office 2013 key and everything installed quite nicely in a matter of about 15 minutes.
Other than those couple of things, I have had no problems and have enjoyed Windows 8 in laptop mode, tent mode watching a video and tablet mode taking notes (with OneNote) and drawing diagrams with a stylus.
A very versatile piece of hardware with a lot of great features.
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My view-Buy this rather than the Surface by Microsoft, or the Samsung tablets, this is much more solid. It's a solid laptop, plus a decent tablet. Microsoft uses the Yoga in their advertising as I think they realize Lenovo pulled off the best ultrabook/tablet in creating the Yoga. My spouse and I compare the yoga and Macbook Air, they are similar in weight, performance, and I think the Yoga 13 or 11 is really the best ultrabook to date. I have 256GB hard dive memory, i7 processor. Get all the GB you can as Lenovo hogs some of the hard drive with their own stuff so get the 256GB hard drive if you can afford it, and then add a 128 GB high speed flash and that is enough storage to work with for most of us. It boots super-fast, processes video capture super-fast, and can run 3 streaming videos at once without bogging. Windows 8.1 comes out and it will ship in June so just make a note to download that update, as not many of us like windows 8 out of the box but it does perform really well if you can just figure the damn thing out.
Pros: it's fast, touch screen works well even though finicky but between that and the big glass touchpad it works really well, very light and lean, feels sturdy well-built with good hinges, battery life is decent. Lookup adjustments for the touchpad after you get the Yoga, as just a few adjustments are important on these new touchpads but I like their sensitivity once I get used to it. I use the touch screen to navigate through Powerpoints and streaming video while teaching in front of a class and it is great to hold something in tablet form while teaching, or also great for leaning it up against something or putting it in tent position and watching a movie or sharing the screen with others. Screen is nice solid glass and cleans easily.
USB 3.0 and HDMI are awesome to have. The USB 3.0 dock accessory lets me work with 2 external screens plus the yoga screen so 3 screens at once in HD. I can have a movie going on one screen, work in PowerPoint in another and surf the web on the 3rd. Just plug the USB 3.0 from the dock in to the Yoga and all your peripherals (I use 2 screens, backup drive, wireless mouse and keyboard, external mic for podcasts, external HD USB camcorder and more) all work seamlessly. When you connect and disconnect from the dock your windows are not all screwed up as they used to be on the older docks. Windows 8 is smart that way. The dock also allows ethernet/Cat5 wired connection. Lenovo sells an ethernet adapter that you need if you travel (don't use the one from Cisco or Linksys that is sold on Amazon they don't plug and play with Windows 8-just start a chat with Lenovo shopping and they'll get you the right part and it is $17.99) and just carry that with you if you need cat5 or ethernet capability on the road). I carry a VGA to HDMI adapter as the Yoga has no VGA port and my university uses VGA in some classrooms for connection. Most of the thin ultrabooks took out the VGA and took out the ethernet, so those adapters are important if you travel. If you are anything close to a student or part of a school, you can get the accessories at a discount, just go to the Lenovo shopping site and start a chat and tell them you belong to a school and they take 10% off.
The internal modem is as fast as we can afford, we use centurylink 40 mbps and the Yoga keeps up with what the modem can deliver.
I've dropped this a few times, it's solid. I got the 3 year warranty just in case but I doubt this will break easily. Keyboard is pretty much sealed and I've accidentally dropped bits of water on it as well with no problem.
Cons: the keyboard is similar to all chiclet keyboards on most ultrabooks, not as good as the classic Lenovo full key Thinkpad keyboards and sometimes my fingers type on the wrong line, but it works just fine and for long projects I hook up an external keyboard or use Dragon Naturally Speaking-this computer can process dictation in real time really well.
-Main thing I don't like on this computer is that when you close the lid, the keys will leave marks on the screen. This is why they say you have to use the Slot-In case. What that case really does is covers the keyboard part, while you close the computer in laptop mode or close the computer in tablet mode-it protects the keys from either your hands when in tablet mode and from hitting the screen when you fold it closed in notebook mode. Or it can slide over the whole computer. The slot-in case is not padded, has places for accessories and power to plug in, and just provides protection for keys and screens depending on the mode you are in. It's not that big of a deal to use the case every time you close the Yoga, but if you don't you'll get these greasy keyboard marks in your screen and over time they become hard to rub out. I put tiny little felt pads just outside the keyboard of my Yoga, so when it closes it doesn't hit the keys. The Macbook Air closes and you don't' see keyboard marks so Lenovo needs to figure out how to do that as well. That said, having the Slot-in case is nice when you are in tablet mode as it does protect the keys and that's pretty much the only solution possible for these notebook/tablets that are trying to do everything. The case does provide something to put on your lap like a little laptop pad, so you don't feel the heat of the computer while you type. The fan and heat on my computer are not bothersome. And the case is made out of some pretty cool modern heat deflecting flexible material.
I'd buy this again, for sure. It's a great computer.
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After one month I am very, very happy with the Yoga 13. I got the one with the i5, 256 SSD, and 8GB ram. I never liked having a notebook, a tablet, and a smart phone. That was just one device too many. The Yoga notebook / tablet combination works perfectly for me (gave the tablet to my kid). Most of the time I use the Yoga as a notebook. Sometimes I want the tablet function if I am in a meeting, speaking to a group, etc., or if I am using it to watch a movie or just surf. Either way, this thing works great. It is light. It starts almost instantly. I type many hours a day and have found the keyboard to be excellent. The screen is pretty good even if not great. The several different screen position options turns out to very useful. It is so thin and light that I can easily take it along with a file to a meeting or to court. The battery life is somewhere between tablet and old style notebook. I'm getting about 6 hours of use and that works fine for me because I plug it in at my desk. All in all, I really don't have any complaints.
I read about some of the problems others have had but I have not had any of the same issues. Wifi works great (I don't need dual band). I had an old notebook before, so maybe this unit is "hot" by some standards but I really don't notice heat from it all. I have not noticed any noise from the fan either, and I work in large quiet room by myself for at least 2-3 hours of my day. The minor issue about smaller right shift and backspace keys bothered my typing for about 24 hours but the adjustment was quick and now I don't even think about it.
As for windows 8, I think is is a good OS for this device. I have no trouble using desktop mode when I'm using the Yoga as a notebook and then hitting the button to switch to W8 mode when I use it as a tablet. The absence of a start button is really an overblown concern, I think. I found it pretty easy to get reconfigure so I had various options where I wanted them.
If you want one great notebook / tablet hybrid this is it.
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I guess its my fault, I jumped into purchasing this laptop without fully realizing my needs, but you get some of these basic needs with a Mac book air for the same price.. Just a warning, I did own a mac book pro retina, but I really wanted a touch screen laptop with windows 8.
Pros:
Kind of cool with the multiple ways you can rotate the laptop, tablet, tent shape etc. (until you've done it a few times). Its not something I see myself doing very often.
Love the texture of the the palm rests and keys.
Love the touch screen
The keyboard feel is great except for the location of the arrow keys ( see in cons).
Cons:
No 5ghz wireless? Really? In 2013 a 1200 dollar laptop doesn't have a dual band wireless? (I get 44mbps over 2.4 ghz wireless, my internet speed is 110mbps, and I get that with 5ghz). that's why this is a big deal.
Touch screen is finicky, it doesn't always work, and it takes multiple taps to get the proper area for buttons which is annoying.
The touch pad, You can tell there is a lag, just not as much polish as what im used to. The 2 finger scrolling is not nearly as polished.
The fan noise, oh the fan noise is so bad, its non stop. It doesn't matter if its idle or doing something more intensive its always on and audible. It gets hot on the lap too, the position of the fan is intake and exhaust is in the bottom back, my mac book never got this hot unless it was either running windows or doing something like watching youtube videos for an hour.
The up arrow on the keyboard just right of the right shift key, just under the right side of the Enter key, you hit it all the time and it gets so annoying.
Performance wise, if this laptop is doing anything else in the back round, like installing windows updates, might as well just leave it alone, the lag and hesitation with button presses, say trying to minimize a window, you think it didn't register the command, then it does the command as many times in a row as you requested it about 8 seconds later.
No back lit keyboard (but it is interesting as a way around this they made the letters on the keyboard reflective from the light of the screen, as a result you can see the letters almost as if they are illuminated. Pretty smart.
Overall this laptop, its interesting, and kind of neat at first. But functionally I would much rather have more performance, no fan noise or less at least.
I should of done more research, but I guess when you are spoiled with these features of a laptop, you forget its a feature, not a standard one. They chose to get the hinge that folds back right, but it seems they left out some features one would thing is standard in 2013 on a 1200+ laptop. This isn't a budget 400 dollar one.
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This little white computer rocks. Don't know where they got them from, and how they are able to sell them for so cheap. I hope they didn't fall off the back of a truck. (Just Kidding.) I'm very impressed, though. I've been a Mac user for 8 years. This is just another example of Macs great craftsmanship. I would suggest this Mac to anyone who wants to have everything and be up-to-date in the Mac world without paying $1,2000 and up. There's only a few minor suggestions I have: download the newest software after installing Mac OS X Tiger (It costs about a $100 bucks.), google search Firefox and install it, and go to apple.com and search in the support section for this Mac, iBook G4, so you can get the user's manual. That's about it, and it will be running like you paid $1,400 for it.
