Lenovo is taking a slight deviation from the recent yet well-trodden path of the ultrabook with a number of new products. One of these is the Yoga, a 13.3-inch tablet PC made for Windows 8. At 17 mm thin and weighing a mere 1.47 kg, what makes this ultrabook differ from the rest is its flip-and-fold touchscreen.
The multi-point (10-point) capacitive touchscreen has a resolution of 1600 x 900 and its solid hinges allow it to fold into several different positions. For example, you can flip the keyboard all the way back to use the Yoga as a tablet, lay it horizontally with the screen facing vertically forward to watch movies, or flip the device into "tent mode" as shown above.
The IdeaPad Yoga will be made available in multiple configurations with different specs, including Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Ivy Bridge processors, up to 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of SSD storage, at an initial sale price set at £1,200. The ports include two USB, an HDMI port, an SD/SDHC/SDXC card reader and a 3.5-mm headphone jack.
As for the finishing, the finalised model we got to play with at MEDPI left us impressed with the manufacturer's skill.
The leather lining around the keyboard and trackpad was a bold move, but not a distasteful one. The exterior is covered with a thin layer of sturdy yet elegant soft touch rubber. The only detail that might detract from the overall sense of quality is the glossy frame surrounding the screen.
As long as the tech stars are properly aligned, the Yoga should become available for the launch of Windows 8 this coming October.
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