Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro (2 in 1 Ultrabook) – Practical Applications


[Tech & Gadgets]

 
I’ve decided to share with you some practical applications for the very versatile ultrabook, following up to my previous post on the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro-13 which you can read here: https://timchew.net/2014/07/05/lenovo-yoga-2-pro-13-tech-specs/
Now as I’m sure you don’t want to see pics of me using the ultrabook (as I’m not a pretty hot chick), I enlisted the help of my friend Grace who was kind enough to help model the ultrabook for me!
Being the Managing Editor of Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers involves me wearing many different hats. As it’s a small operation, I am involved in A to Z and everything in between which includes editorial, sales, marketing, payroll, etc. etc. Most weekdays (and sometimes even weekends) will see me running from one event to another and it’s generally fine if the events are back to back but that’s not always the case. On most occasions, there’s usually a one to two hour gap in between which leaves me with time which is rather unproductive if I’m not doing some work.
Before I started using the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, I used to not carry my laptop around as it’s the normal heavy type weighing over 2kgs and it’s quite a pain to bring it around with the charger (as the battery only lasted around 2 hours) in a big laptop bag. With the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, it is so lightweight and portable, weighing only 1.39kg or slightly over 3 pounds, that carrying around with me is really very convenient.
During the periods between events or while waiting for events to start, I’ll just pop it open and get some work done at a WiFi equipped cafe or if there’s none available, simply enable the WiFi hotspot on my smartphone and I’m connected to the net. The Yoga 2 Pro takes roughly 12 seconds from boot up till you get to your home screen and less than 10 seconds to shut down. This I believe is due to the powerful Intel i5 processor, SSD hard disk and the 4GB of RAM giving fantastic performance. In fact, I can even have multiple windows and programmes running at the same time and the Yoga 2 Pro doesn’t lag!
The keyboard is also comfortable to type on while the touchpad is pretty responsive.
 
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro in Tent Mode
 
I like to use the Tent mode for watching movies depending on the angle of which I’m viewing it from of course. It’s great when the Yoga 2 Pro is just located below your eye level otherwise a quick change to Stand mode (pictured below) will solve the screen angle issue. This mode is also great when there’s not much room on the surface where you’re lying it on.
 
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro in Stand Mode
 
Stand modes is great for Skype calls if I’m not multi-tasking as it makes me feel somewhat close to the person I’m taking to instead of having the keyboard in the way. The 720p HD webcam is adequate for the calls.
What about the keyboard? Well the in-built Lenovo Transition software recognizes when which mode the Yoga 2 Pro is in and only enables the keyboard in Laptop mode. For other modes, there’s the on-screen keyboard for you to use.
 

 
The Tablet mode in landscape mode (pictured above) is great when accessing the apps and when you’re mostly using the Yoga 2 Pro for more leisurely activities.
The Tablet mode in portrait mode (pictured below) is fantastic for reading e-books although it does get a little tiring if you’re holding it up for extended periods. Nevertheless you could always rest it on your lap.
 

 
I have fascinated a lot of my friends and clients by rotating the screen to suit the task at hand. The first question most will ask is “is it a tablet or an ultrabook? and I’ll answer “both” ha ha!
Guess the whole concept of “2 in 1” devices is still new to the market but I’m sure sooner or later it will catch on as it’s the next step in the evolution of notebooks.
 

 
This baby is so light and portable that I pretty much bring it everywhere with me. And as it boots up/ wakes up from standby and shuts down/ goes into standby in just a few seconds I can get my work done from pretty much anywhere thus really adding to my productivity. There are times where I upload updates to Facebook or this site right from my clients’ events as I can quickly transfer the pics from my camera, and connect to the venue’s WiFi, or set up a hotspot to make a quick update! Sure I could also use my smartphone to make updates but sometimes typing a couple of long/ complex sentences especially with some technical terms or specific names in a smartphone’s Facebook app can be a real pain and can end up with some typos.
 

There are a lot of times where I find the backlit keyboard just so handy. Sometimes I’m in a cafe which is rather dim or sometimes I’m in my room and I don’t feel like having so many lights on. Such a useful feature!
 
The Pros

Lightweight and portable
Great looking and slim design
4 modes to suit most tasks/ situations – Laptop, Tent, Stand and Tablet
Super fast SSD
Powerful i5 processor
Backlit keyboard
Long battery life

 
The Cons

Small-ish 128GB SSD (although you could opt for the 256GB SSD version which is more expensive of course)
Micro HDMI port (the cable detaches itself rather easily compared to mini-HDMI or HDMI ports)

 
The Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro (i5 with 128 GB SSD) has a suggested retail price of RM3,699.00 and comes with a one (1) year warranty.
More info at http://shopap.lenovo.com/my/en/tablets/lenovo/yoga/yoga-8/