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.
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
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.
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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