Lenovo yoga 900
The
Lenovo Yoga 900 keeps the slim watchband-style hinge from last year's version,
and adds major upgrades to performance and battery life. Even the lowest-cost
version includes a big 256GB SSD.
Dispplay It has a bright, super-sharp multi-touch display, with
a resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels ("QHD+"). It has a thick bezel
running along the bottom, giving it a 16 x 9 aspect ratio, which is great for
watching video but makes just about everything else a little awkward. Position
another 13-inch laptop next to the Yoga — whether it’s a MacBook (16:10) or the
new Surface Book (3:2) — and the Yoga’s display will look slightly compressed
in comparison. The Yoga 900 weighs 2.8 pounds and measures 0.59 by 12.75 by 8.96
inches. All of the standard ports are there, with the addition of a USB Type-C
port. It is slightly heavier and thicker than last year’s Yoga
3 Pro laptop. But it never felt heavy to carry around. And when you consider
the new stuff included in this one, it’s forgivable.
That "stuff" includes Intel’s sixth-generation Core i5
or i7 Skylake processor, a new chip touted for its speed, efficiency and
graphics support; along with an Intel HD Graphics 520 GPU. The previous Yoga
model got dinged for slowness; that wasn’t my experience with this one. In
everyday use, the Yoga 900 was more than capable of running multiple apps,
switching between tasks, and streaming video without any stutters. The Yoga 900’s battery life is definitely improved
over last year’s Yoga 3 Pro, but compared to other laptops in this class, it’s
still not the best. In a Verge battery test, the Lenovo Yoga 900 lived up to
the company’s claim of nine hours. During a more normal day of use, running
multiple apps, checking email, and browsing the web with some battery-saving
settings turned on, it was inconsistent. Some days it lasted around five and a
half hours, and other days closer to seven and a half. In either instance it
doesn’t match the new Surface Book or recent MacBook Pro models. Performance
This is where the 900 really does the
job. As mentioned previously, the review model I was using was the top-end
version of the 900 series. As you'd expect, Windows 10 ran perfectly smoothly
in both Tablet and Desktop mode, with programs loading extremely quickly and no
sign of any slowdown or crashes.
Whether or not you have the
super-boss level version of the Yoga 900, with the new i5 and i7 processors
backed up by SSDs and at least 8GB of RAM in each model, this device is
sufficiently equipped to deal with pretty much anything you throw at it – short
of hardcore gaming.
In terms of exact configurations, you
can choose between the Intel Core i5-6200U or i7-6500U processors, 8GB of RAM –
which can be upgrade to 16GB – and either a 256GB or 512GB SSD.
The integrated Intel HD Graphics 520
also does enough for the average user. The 900 scored fairly well on the PCMark
8 test, clocking in at 2,403. This puts it ever so slightly ahead of the
Surface Pro 4’s 2,396 and somewhat behind the Dell XPS 13 Skylake’s 2,543.
In the Geekbench multi-core scores,
the 900 beat both the Surface Pro 4 and theXPS 13. While the 900 had a score of 6,786, the
Surface came in at 6,727 and the XPS at 6,242.
In 3DMark: Fire Strike test, the 900
scored a respectable 834. This puts it in the range of the Surface Pro and XPS
13 (Skylake), with scores of 853 and 838 respectively. And in the Cloud Gate
test it came in at 5,860, behind the Surface Pro with 6,109 and the above the
XPS 13 with 5,844.
Essentially, you won’t notice much
difference between the Yoga 900 and similar Ultrabooks. The device is more than
capable of handling most tasks, but it obviously isn't a gamer’s dream in terms
of graphical performance.
But,Because of the change to more powerful processors, the body adds a
little thickness. A few keys on the keyboard suffer from awkward placement.
THE BOTTOM LINE Lenovo clearly listened to feedback about last year's
high-end Yoga, keeping the excellent overall design but boosting the specs to
match other premium 13-inch laptops. Specifications
·
Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U
(dual-core, 4MB cache, up to 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost)
·
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 520
·
Display: 13.3-inch QHD+ 3,200 x 1,800
IPS display, 10-point multitouch, 300 nits brightness
·
Storage: 512GB SSD
·
Memory: 16GB LP-DDR3 RAM
·
Camera: 720p front-facing
·
Ports: 2 x USB Type A 3.0, 1 x USB
Type C 3.0 with video out, 1 x DC input with USB 2.0 functionality, 4-in-1 card
reader, audio combo jack.
·
Weight: 2.84 pounds
·
Size: 12.75 x 8.86 x 0.59 inches
Price :$1199.00
VS
Microsoft Surface Book The Microsoft Surface Book packs high-end components,
including new Intel processors and optional Nvidia graphics, into a smart, slim
body. Some components and most of the battery are hidden in the base, so the
tablet half is lighter. The high-res screen looks great, and the included
stylus pen is excellent. The Surface Book has 13.5-inch display
offers 3,000 x 2,000 resolution for 267ppi. Microsoft also uses its new
PixelSense technology which essentially means a very thin, closely bonded,
glass screen for super responsive touch and stylus controls. The Surface Book,
also all metal, offers a detachable screen that doubles as a tablet. But this
has meant a slight increase in thickness to nearly 23mm when closed. The
Surface Book display offers
sixth-gen Intel Core i5 and i7 chip 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage.
While the tablet part of the Surface Book is limited to the Intel HD Graphic
520, there is a separate GPU in the keyboard section. This is an Nvidia GeForce
processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory. The Surface Book offers plenty of
connectivity options that vary and may appeal to different people's needs.
The Surface Book offers two USB 3.0 ports and full microSD. The MacBook features an HDMI port where the
Surface Book is limited to a Mini Display Port and using a 5-megapixel
front-facing camera. The Surface Book is no
ordinary Surface, sporting a sleek, all-silver, magnesium design with a unique,
flexible hinge designed to keep the laptop's removable display from getting too
wobbly. But while Microsoft mostly knocks it out of the park with its first
laptop, the device is still a bit top-heavy, and opening the lid is more
difficult than we'd like. Microsoft’s Surface Book offers SSD storage
options of 128 GB/256 GB/512 GB/1 TB. It also comes with a microSD slot. The new Microsoft tablet cum laptop hybrid bears
an 8 MP rear camera and a 5 MP primary camera and will run on latest Windows
10. Microsoft
is downplaying the Surface Book as a tablet by calling it "clipboard
mode," but you can remove the Surface Book's screen to use as a humongous
slate. This should be a big upgrade over the Surface Pro 3, as both the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 have big glass trackpads –
a lot like Apple's MacBooks.
Battery life
Battery life on the Surface Book is both pretty good and
surprisingly disappointing. While Microsoft has promised 12 hours of continual
usage and other outlets report getting even more juice out of the machine, our
best time for the device was 7 hours and 39 minutes. As for the Clipboard on
its own, the tablet can last for 4 hours.
While these are more than respectable numbers considering all the
hardware inside the Surface Book, I honestly expected a much longer run time.
The good news is this notebook recharges quickly, going from zero to 100%
charge in under two hours.
But,Configurations with the optional
Nvidia GPU and more storage get very expensive. There are some first-generation
quirks, including an awkward gap between the screen and base when closed.
THE BOTTOM LINE While
it's not nearly as refined as the new fourth-gen Surface Pro, Microsoft's
Surface Book is a powerful, feature-filled premium hybrid that doesn't forget
it's a laptop first. Price:$1499.00
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