Support NeoGAF

[jagowar]

Tablet mode meaning you use it for doing artwork on a desk. Like a Cintiq. This is a productivity machine, not an iPad competitor. 14" is too unwieldy for arm handling. No one wants to draw while holding with one arm anyways.

Disagree... a light 14 inch tablet is not too unwieldly (and it is light for its size compared to a normal tablet) to use. A larger screen tablet is actually better and even apple has realized this with the ipad pro.

You want to talk unwieldly... that would be this device flipped around at almost 4 pounds.

 

[ElyrionX]

This is a Thinkpad line. Yours was part of Ideapad line. Better quality materials and construction. Business market, not consumer market.

I use Thinkpads at work. They are absolute shit. From the goddamn trackpoint not starting up to not being able to adjust the brightness sometimes, the thing is glitchy as fuck. And these are brand new X1 Carbons.

 

[coolasj19]

I'm gonna go stop by Best Buy and see what's what after the Texans game. I can't just buy it now, but I only got 2 questions.

1. Isn't Lenovo the people who got in trouble for Spyware stuff?
2. Can that GPU play XCOM 2 at native res OR 60fps when it comes out next year?

 

[Shogmaster]

Disagree... a light 14 inch tablet is not too unwieldly (and it is light for its size compared to a normal tablet) to use. A larger screen tablet is actually better and even apple has realized this with the ipad pro.

You want to talk unwieldly... that would be this device flipped around at almost 4 pounds.

Most if not all iPad Pro promotional videos show it being drawn on, on a desk. I have a bunch of 1.6 lbs tablets and they are too heavy for drawing while holding in arms. You won't be doing it that way much if at all, trust me.

And no Thinkpad Yoga 14 review or owner complains about converting as unwieldy. I currently do it with a 13.3: unit that is even heavier so...

 

[Shogmaster]

I'm gonna go stop by Best Buy and see what's what after the Texans game. I can't just buy it now, but I only got 2 questions.

1. Isn't Lenovo the people who got in trouble for Spyware stuff?
2. Can that GPU play XCOM 2 at native res OR 60fps when it comes out next year?

Yep. Lenovo got caught with Spyware. The scrutiny on them is super high, so ironically I feel safest with them atm; we would know immediately in reviews if they are present.

No idea if 940M with DDR3 is good enough for anything modern @1080p @60fps tbh.

 

[PushTheButtonMax]

I'm gonna go stop by Best Buy and see what's what after the Texans game. I can't just buy it now, but I only got 2 questions.

1. Isn't Lenovo the people who got in trouble for Spyware stuff?
2. Can that GPU play XCOM 2 at native res OR 60fps when it comes out next year?

Yes to #1. Please don't reward this company and its shitty practices.

 

[redlemon]

Any idea of a European release? I tried looking on lenovos site and didn't see any mention of a wacom screen

 

[Shogmaster]

Any idea of a European release? I tried looking on lenovos site and didn't see any mention of a wacom screen

They don't mention Wacom but call them Lenovo Pen Pro or something instead. But be assured that the Thinkpad Yoga 14 has had Wacom Active ES screen since the Haswell version.

The Thinkpad Yoga 460 was slated to come out in October, but this Best Buy exclusive version has been the only sighting. I think in Europe, you should expect early 2016.

 

[wachie]

Guys, Donald Trump would never buy this and so shouldn't you!!!

Thanks Shog for this thread, will check it out.

 

[Chezzymann]

Most if not all iPad Pro promotional videos show it being drawn on, on a desk. I have a bunch of 1.6 lbs tablets and they are too heavy for drawing while holding in arms. You won't be doing it that way much if at all, trust me.

And no Thinkpad Yoga 14 review or owner complains about converting as unwieldy. I currently do it with a 13.3: unit that is even heavier so...

I have a surface pro 3 and I draw with it in my arms all the time. Also, general use like browsing the internet or watching videos. This being too heavy to do that and also not having a screen detachable functionality means the tablet experience is virtually non existent on this. That's what people are upset about, they want the tablet experience and the laptop experience. Its the original purpose of these devices, after all ("the tablet that can replace your desktop")This is just the laptop experience but with drawing functionality.

 

[faint.]

Was checking to see if it had USB 3.1, found that it's packing 2x USB 2.0 + 1x USB 3.0 instead. :/

 

[Spinluck]

I'll wait for reviews.

 

[Timo]

Eagerly awaiting a review. Ive been looking into some form of a tablet pc/cintiq, completly to draw on. Been thinking about a surface 4, havent seen a good video to prove n-trig has what it takes yet. Nearly 4 pounds is quite large though.

 

[Shogmaster]

I have a surface pro 3 and I draw with it in my arms all the time. Also, general use like browsing the internet or watching videos. This being too heavy to do that and also not having a screen detachable functionality means the tablet experience is virtually non existent on this. That's what people are upset about, they want the tablet experience and the laptop experience. Its the original purpose of these devices, after all ("the tablet that can replace your desktop")This is just the laptop experience but with drawing functionality.

I'm comparing the capabilities between this and SB. If you want to only compare usability then I guess you can look elsewhere. For the artist community, a 14" real estate convertible with good pen and discrete GPU is HUGE deal. That's why Surface Book was big impact at launch announcement. But with the realities of the pricing, many of the artists are cooling off on Surface Book. This is an awesome cheaper alternative.

But if some of you really need that detached screen mode, you are stuck with the SB pricing. Good luck.

 

[Shogmaster]

Eagerly awaiting a review. Ive been looking into some form of a tablet pc/cintiq, completly to draw on. Been thinking about a surface 4, havent seen a good video to prove n-trig has what it takes yet. Nearly 4 pounds is quite large though.

I've been living with a 13.3" 4.2 lbs convertible (Fujitsu T902) as my main machine for the last 3 years and I love it. You just need a decent carry bag. I tried to replace it with bunch of 12"ish 1.7 lbs tablets and I just am not as productive with them as the T902 due to the screen real estate and power. This Yoga gives me even bigger higher res screen, slightly more powerful CPU and lighter weight so it's huge win for me.

BTW, even though the T902 uses 3rd gen Core CPU, it was a 35W part so it's almost as powerful as this new Yoga with 6th gen 15W CPU. But now I should get almost double battery life now. Only 3 years to slash the power consumption in half for same capability. I love the tech industry.

 

[Spinluck]

Detectable screen is cool but it's whatever. Less battery than a fucking Wii U Pad, and is much more expensive.

I think I'm gonna wait for a second iteration of the SB as I feel they can really fix some things. If this is cheaper and proves to be reliable then I'm biting. But as someone who was massively hyped for the SB/SP4 I cannot justify the price for the models I want, even though they might be the best pieces of Windows hardware out there.

Hope this device is good. If not I'll gun for the SP4 or even the i5 build of the SB depending on where I am later this year.

 

[adamYUKI]

I've been living with a 13.3" 4.2 lbs convertible (Fujitsu T902) as my main machine for the last 3 years and I love it. You just need a decent carry bag. I tried to replace it with bunch of 12"ish 1.7 lbs tablets and I just am not as productive with them as the T902 due to the screen real estate and power. This Yoga gives me even bigger higher res screen, slightly more powerful CPU and lighter weight so it's huge win for me.

BTW, even though the T902 uses 3rd gen Core CPU, it was a 35W part so it's almost as powerful as this new Yoga with 6th gen 15W CPU. But now I should get almost double battery life now. Only 3 years to slash the power consumption in half for same capability. I love the tech industry.

Hi Shog -- thanks for the thread. I used your recommendation way back in 2009 to get the Lenovo X200 Tablet (convertible). It is STILL working flawlessly. Lenovo Thinkpads generally are a very good quality.

I also picked up a used X230 Tablet (Ivy Bridge Core i7-3520M (3.60 GHz, 4MB L3 Cache, 1600MHz FSB) last year. I love the tablet, but the build quality did decline somewhat from the X200 (crappy trackpad, creaking edges, light bleeding display, stylus calibration issues, etc.)

You think it's worth replacing the X230 Tablet with this new Thinkpad Yoga 14? Performance-wise, it should be considerably more powerful, right? Thanks in advance!

 

[enzo_gt]

I've been on a pretty desperate search for a new laptop that is a 2-in-1, at least 13", has pen support with decent sensitivity, a 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM and below the typical $1300 pricepoint so reading through this OP it sounded like a dream come true..

..until I realized this is not available in Canada.

Welp, guess I'm going back to waiting for sales on the Inspiron 13 7000 / Spectre x360 =/ Don't really care for a dedicated GPU though.

 

[Hesemonni]

I've been super happy with all my Lenovo laptops so far and honestly, after getting used to the trackpoint and the keyboard you can never go back.

 

[PdotMichael]

I would love if there is an alternative which can fill the hole in the Surface Pro 4 series with a i5, 128GB, 8GB setup.

 

[neurosyphilis]

My High School uses these things. They kind of are terrible. And it was also bad because I didn't know crap about Windows being a Mac user.

 

[Beerman462]

This is the kind of thing my daughter would love. Even at that price it's a bit steep to buy for a 15yr old. Maybe I can get her something like this for college.

 

[Hesemonni]

I don't think it's a good full-on alternative. I wouldn't want to, like, play Civ with one.

You wouldn't want to play Civ with trackpad either

 

[neogaffer1]

That's one of the compromises, but frankly, I find the SB clipboard mode kinda meh since you only get 3 hours battery life and no GPU power.

Besides, a 14" tablet in your arms as you draw? Sounds like would super unwieldy to me.

a 13" 3:2 screen is perfect for reading comics tho. wouldln't want to haul 4 pounds everytime I want to read a bunch of issues in a row.

You wouldn't want to play Civ with trackpad either

Eh, it works fine. Turn-based game and all. I've been playing them on laptops for years. Pretty much my go-to portable game.

civ works incredibly well in normal mode using the stylus, i had a friend who used one of the old pen and touch convertibles (with the rotating screens) and played civ with it all the time, and he always used the stylus.

 

[redlemon]

They don't mention Wacom but call them Lenovo Pen Pro or something instead. But be assured that the Thinkpad Yoga 14 has had Wacom Active ES screen since the Haswell version.

The Thinkpad Yoga 460 was slated to come out in October, but this Best Buy exclusive version has been the only sighting. I think in Europe, you should expect early 2016.

Thanks, It seems on the Irish/UK store though they don't even have the previous 14 inch with a digitiser screen (only the 12 inch) so I'll keep my hopes in check.

 

[longdi]

I use Thinkpads at work. They are absolute shit. From the goddamn trackpoint not starting up to not being able to adjust the brightness sometimes, the thing is glitchy as fuck. And these are brand new X1 Carbons.

Thinkpads are slowly but surely turning to shit under Lenovo. The last good Thinkpads were the Wx50 series with Sandy bridge CPUs.

Right now, Dell Precision is the last hope in turns of reliability. Even then, they have their own problems of hardware/software bugs that remains unfixed until the next versions.

They dont use to make laptops like the old days, what with the need to slim down the chassis and the yearly CPU refresh from Intel. :/

 

[Forsete]

My latest Thinkpad (T450s) has an intolerable coil whine. However, Lenovo listened to my whining and offered to have some engineers look at it. Hopefully they solve it.
Seems to be a common problem with this version of Thinkpad. :/

If they solve it I am on board the Lenovo train again. But I agree, the quality seems to have dropped off.
I am curious about their retro Thinkpad project though.

 

[neogaffer1]

You wouldn't want to play Civ with trackpad either

Eh, it works fine. Turn-based game and all. I've been playing them on laptops for years. Pretty much my go-to portable game.

Thinkpads are slowly but surely turning to shit under Lenovo. The last good Thinkpads were the Wx50 series with Sandy bridge CPUs.

Right now, Dell Precision is the last hope in turns of reliability. Even then, they have their own problems of hardware/software bugs that remains unfixed until the next versions.

They dont use to make laptops like the old days, what with the need to slim down the chassis and the yearly CPU refresh from Intel. :/

the idea is, why throw engineers and designers at the "professional" work laptops when that area is shrinking and the people who do buy those don't really care for changes outside of spec bumps when you need an increasing amount of those people just to stay competitive in the consumer area as everybody else is making thinner and thinner laptops that do crazier and crazier things every year (convert into a tablet, have no bezels, have a super high res screen, etc.)

 

[Quonny]

Doesn't even detach? How is this comparable again?

Oh, I see, you're specifically only talking in terms of laptop performance.

 

[BlackClouds]

Naw, this ain't going to cut it, too many compromises.

 

[ElFly]

Suscribed.

 

[neogaffer1]

another thing the op didn't really mention, with the surface book you're getting a high resolution, high quality display. with this the quality may be decent, it may be shit, but it's likely not super high quality at that price point with those specs.

 

[Shogmaster]

Hi Shog -- thanks for the thread. I used your recommendation way back in 2009 to get the Lenovo X200 Tablet (convertible). It is STILL working flawlessly. Lenovo Thinkpads generally are a very good quality.

I also picked up a used X230 Tablet (Ivy Bridge Core i7-3520M (3.60 GHz, 4MB L3 Cache, 1600MHz FSB) last year. I love the tablet, but the build quality did decline somewhat from the X200 (crappy trackpad, creaking edges, light bleeding display, stylus calibration issues, etc.)

You think it's worth replacing the X230 Tablet with this new Thinkpad Yoga 14? Performance-wise, it should be considerably more powerful, right? Thanks in advance!

The 3520M in the X230 was a 35W processor. This Yoga employs 15W processor. I think your X230 would bench better slightly. The reason to replace it is if only you need a discrete GPU for GPU accelerated tasks, and of course, the bigger and higher resolution screen.

 

[Shogmaster]

Just came home with it. I have a freelance job to finish today, but if can get that out of the way, I'm going to start loading some apps and testing it. Maybe I should do the freelance on this thing, if Clip Studio Paint doesn't get too cranky with the license transfer.

 

[Divvy]

Have you had the chance to try the surface pro 4 yet Shog? I'm really considering that as a portable cintiq replacement. I'd consider this, but it's not available in Canada, thanks Lenovo

 

[Shogmaster]

I tried SP4 and SB at the MS store, but I can't tell any pen improvements with the built in apps. Also, only having 1 side button pisses me off.

But at the end of the day, I really want 16GB of RAM to properly replace my T902, and I don't feel like spending $3000 to get that tbh...

 

[mrklaw]

For those also thinking about the lower end surface pro 4, Lenovo also have their copycat miix 700 coming out soon

 

[SMattera]

If you don't want the Surface Book but want something similar, I think you'd be better off going with new XPS 13 or XPS 15

 

[Divvy]

If you don't want the Surface Book but want something similar, I think you'd be better off going with new XPS 13 or XPS 15

Shog is an artist. I'm pretty sure he's writing from the point of view that the stylus and digitizer is a major factor

 

[Shogmaster]

We're lucky it's even 1080p in the first place, honestly. Thinkpads are always last ro update display tech.

Lenovo will sell a 2560x1440 version but the Best Buy version is 1080p only.

I actually prefer this. Most desktop apps UI get too small for pen and finger use at above 1080p, and desktop Windows scaling is too ham fisted to deal with it. 1080p @ 14" is perfect IMO.

 

[Timo]

Ooo yes if you could record a video at any point with just a bit of you drawing on it that would rock my world.

 

[Shogmaster]

Oh man,... the pen performance is FANTASTIC! It's got the same pressure curve behavior and responsiveness of the Wacom EMR as my T902, but the edge accuracy is MUCH better. No more edge jitters either.

I can't wait until the thicker barrel pen arrives next week.

I will try to do a quick video today.

 

[Maximo]

Was interested but had a look at the Australia prices and Yeeeaaahhhh way too expensive sadly.

 

[pinsomniac]

I keep telling myself to stay away from Lenovo, but that Yoga 260 looks like a potential upgrade from my X230.

Any major differences between the two models aside from the screen size, resolution, ports, & option for HDD? You can still upgrade RAM on the 260, right? May need to keep an eye on this one.

Edit: Looks like there's no discrete GPU on the 260. Hmm.

 

[FunkyDealer]

I love my Thinkpad S430. But then that is a few years old at this point. It's a shame to hear their quality has fallen in recent times. Thankfully mine will probably outlast me, so no worries! ;-)

 

[Shogmaster]

I keep telling myself to stay away from Lenovo, but that Yoga 260 looks like a potential upgrade from my X230.

Any major differences between the two models aside from the screen size, resolution, ports, & option for HDD? You can still upgrade RAM on the 260, right? May need to keep an eye on this one.

Edit: Looks like there's no discrete GPU on the 260. Hmm.

Also, probably soldered on RAM.

 

[To Far Away Times]

Lenovo is just a tiny step up from being one of those Visio or Westinghouse brands.

 

[Shogmaster]

Well thanks for that nugget...

Anyways, here's a quick video of my first sketch test with the Yoga 14.

https://youtu.be/puFE9-luWzc

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Does it come with the Lenovo malware or without it?

Thinkpads are the business line, it's the Ideapads which have the malware.

 

[Dryk]

Are Lenovo still using those garbage custom AC plugs?