Ideapad Yoga?

That doesn't seem right at all.... I upgraded to 8gb also but have no significant differences in laptop/vs tablet mode in processor ability. I ran benchmark tests in both modes earlier and found there was about a 5-8% drop in overall performance in Tablet mode but nothing close to what you have described... processor constantly hits 2.5 in Turbo Mode even in tablet mode..... I would download run this.... PassMark Performance Test download page in both modes and see what is dropping out the most......

 

The point is that it is equipped with a SATA III drive that doesn't perform as an SATA III drive. If it was supposed to be an i7 processor and you only got an i5, you'd probably be upset even though for the majority of applications you probably wouldn't notice much difference. Coming from my 3 year old laptop, this is a great improvement, but I still want it to perform optimally.

 

Judging from your benchmarks, all of your drives are running in a SATA II system. My Samsung 830 SATA III drive benchmarks (using Crystal Disk) at twice that. I can run the other benchmark at home if you are interested. Here is what Intel's website says for the rated speed of the 510:

6Gb/s 450 MB/s / 210 MB/s
3Gb/s 265 MB/s / 200 MB/s

Your speeds are right where they would be expected to be running in a 3Gb/s (SATA II) system.

 

Benchmarking is just that... bench-marking.... it's a tool and used for information.... if I am going to go out and spend $400 on a new SSD drive (or anything in that regard) and there's 2 256GB SSD's at the same price but one performs twice as fast as the other.... even if I have no applications that may ever use that double speed I would rather spend the same amount of money on the one that gives me the better performance....even if I never utilize that extra performance... just want the optimal specs for the $ when given a choice and the information.

 

Can you confirm that your findings was in Portrait mode? It works fine in tablet mode for me as long as I stick to Landscape mode. Once it flips over to Portrait mode, the CPU throttles it to 0.78 ghz. Perhaps they assume that we're going to use it for reading books? Only to forget that games are in Portrait mode also?

TIA.

 

PassMark Performance Test download page

Using that Passmark benchmark test it does throttle down to .78ghz periodically when it starts its image rendering about 2 minutes into the test in landscape tablet mode.... when switched to portrait mode it basically throttles down to 78ghz during the entier graphics imaging part of the test....... so it does seem to be a characteristic of tablet mode.......

 

Everyone needs to see this. Works great. I knew it was software related... I had a hunch the touchscreen was being put to "sleep." I wonder how much battery life this actually conserves, and if lenovo has is set this way on purpose.

Touchscreen gestures are working 100% of the time now. Before, some actions would take two tries if the touchscreen has been inactive.

 

woolooloo,

If you get a chance to run those benchmarks at home later I would be interested in what your results are.

kind Regards

 

View attachment 86601 View attachment 86602


Let me get this straight, the first picture is clearly a Crucial mSATA. But the second picture looks like you can add another mSATA drive on the bottom right hand corner? Please confirm it that's the case. If so, that would be awesome!!

 

Yes, you can add a second SSD in that slot.....

 

Thanks to everyone for exploring the possibilities of Yoga. I'm really drooling over it, but was originally waiting for the 256GB version, but I'm now thinking of getting the BB version and installing a 256GB drive myself.

However, some people have mentioned issues with Wi-Fi, and that really concerns me. Today I checked out the Yoga on display at a local Best Buy, and indeed, both Yoga's available there kept losing Wi-Fi connection. I checked some other laptops around there (Samsungs, Macbooks, etc) and all of them seem to have a solid connection. The Yoga's on the other hand display a strong signal, but with a "limited" connection. On each one I then disconnected from the network, and connected again, and it seemed to work. However when I returned in a couple of minutes, the connection was back to "limited" again. So it seems like it's probably a software issues.

Has anyone figured out why this happens? Or should we just wait for new drivers?

I really want this laptop, but I wouldn't be able to tolerate Wi-Fi disconnecting every few minutes!

 

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64
Seq Read 488.4 MB/s Write 251.9 MB/s

Anvil Storage 1.0.50 RC5
Read 1561.77, Write 975.56, Combined 2537.34

I think these are more along the lines of what you should be seeing for SATA III systems. All of your bench results seemed like SATA II speeds. I can send you screen caps of all the numbers if you want them.

 

Yes, those numbers seem more in line with 6gb/s.... thank you....

 

Ok I figured out the problem. It's the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework that's causing the throttling. I uninstalled it and it works fine now (don't need to disable it in BIOS).

Here is the surprising thing. In tablet mode, everything is more responsive -- including the touchscreen in tablet mode. Another thing that really struck is that my battery life has improved. Power consumption according to batterybar and coretemp shows approx 2 watts on near-idle (IPS screen accounts for majority of consumption). I will have to try to use this laptop through a full battery cycle to see if there really is an improvement. But I am happy that it is no longer throttling in tablet mode.

I've been monitoring the temperatures in coretemp and they're no different than when Dynamic Platform was installed.

 

has anyone tested the transfer speeds across the SDXC slot with a modern high capacity Class 10 card?

 

Great question! I've been using an ext4 formatted sdcard for linux builds so as to cut down on SSD writes. The card is a class 6 and I get mid 20s (MB/s) writes to the card. Hope this helps any?

 

Hmm.. the only issue I've had with WiFi is that there's no Linux kernel module (yet). WiFi performance in Windows has been great at both home and work. Perhaps there are some power consumption settings at play there. Fortunately, I cannot replicate your experience.

 

cheers, it does.

hopefully the bottleneck is the card in this instance, so a Class10 card will get at least 32MB/s which is the limit of USB 2.0 which probably forms the bus this port is connected by.

 

That's good to hear. I agree that it seems like during a period of inactivity some power saving kicks in which ruins the connection (like what people have noticed with the touch screen), but on the other hand, the display machines are plugged in, so power saving shouldn't really be an issue.

 

I should have my Yoga and Integral 128GB Ultima Pro SDXC 95MB/s Read / 45MB/s Write - Class 10 card in a few days and will post up transfer rates when I do.

 

Keep us informed of the results, particularly the effect on battery life. Interestingly I cannot find a single thing about this framework on Intel's website, it's like it doesn't even exist. So I can't really figure out what is being lost by uninstalling it.

 

Memory upgrade is a breeze with some patience and some courage. Using a laminated business card, I pried the keyboard up from the top right corner by the delete key. Once you pop that corner off, gradually run the same pressure leftward along the top. As previously pointed out, the keyboard is held down by double-sided tape. Prying the keyboard up and away will release the tape, but be sure to support the left, right, and center of the keyboard, so as to not cause any breaks.

Reattaching the keyboard was simple too without any bumps, just align the clips and slide 'er in. A few spots need to be pressed and held down for a second for the tape to adhere. Since I am removing KB again this weekend to install SSD upgrade, I can imagine having to replace the tape to keep the keyboard secure. No big deal.

 

excellent, i shall look forward to the results.

 

It is so great to hear how several have upgraded their RAM. I appreciate what has been posted about changing and adding an SSD but would like to hear more (with very specific steps and detail).

I wonder if Lenovo will market a Yoga 13 model with two 256GB SSD's (why not)? I am also interested in understanding more about the partitions as delivered.

I have a request to Lenovo to email me a notice when available with i7 and I will then purchase one. I would like to have as much up front home work done as possible before ordering (thanks to everyone for all the help and information).

 

There is a 256 SSD version to come out, will probably be out the same time as the i7. Now when that will be ...

 

Best Buy did have an I5 with 256gb drive on their site as coming soon but they removed it... now they only have an I7 with 256gb and 4gb ram... and a I5 w/ 128Gb and 8 gb ram... both for $400 more than the current i5 model on sale w/ 128gb and 4gb ram..... I don't know how they can justify selling the same Yoga i5 with 8gb ram for $400 more than the 4gb model when any knowing person can just upgrade that 4gb chip for $50......

.... YOGA 13 - Best Buy

 

When I try to delete the factory touchpad driver and install the latest one from Synaptics as some have suggested, the touchscreen keyboard misbehaves and won't stay popped-up, even while you are in the middle of typing. If I uninstall that and revert, the keyboard goes back to normal. Tried it a couple times with same result. It's definitely the newest Synaptics 64-bti Windows 8 Driver causing the problem.

I noticed that in the instructions that one poster gave for hacking the touchpad here that that "updated" synaptics driver version was slightly older than what is available on the website now. I don't believe that that version even listed Windows 8 in the description. Perhaps this older hack did not cause a problem. Anyone else notice this?

 

That definitely happens, but you have to install the Yoga's touchpad driver over top of the Synaptics one. You get the best of both worlds that way, the extra features in the Synaptics version and the stability and Yoga specific fixes from the Yoga driver. Believe me, I'm surprised that installing the Yoga driver doesn't wipe out all traces of the Synaptics driver, but it really is much improved since installing both of them.

 

Start with Synaptics' (website) drivers, regardless of version. Coming from Synaptics, the features are based on the hardware model (ver 8.1 on ours) and synaptics' website drivers automatically show only the features available to the hardware model. Unfortunately its just that Lenovo's custom drivers disables those features. If you insist on the Synaptics version that I posted, I can post it onto dropbox when I get home. But any (newer) version will be fine, if not better.

 

Thanks. I did try to install the Lenovo driver after the new one was installed and configured. I went under D:>drivers>touchpad>setup (v16.2.10.14) After I click yes to the User Account Control popup though, a message comes back that there is a newer version installed, and I can only cancel. It says that I need to uninstall the other one first if I want to install that one (don't have the message in front of me right now for exact quote)

Is there a way around that? Does that driver version sound correct?

 

I'll play with it when I get home in an hour or two. Hopefully I can figure out if it's the latest driver thats causing the message or the Lenovo's.

 

Does anyone know how to use the function keys normally - like a function key lock ?

I use Visual Studio which requires me to press things like F11 / F10 repeatedly and this means having to press the Fn key all the way on the lower left of the keyboard, then reach across to the upper right to hit the function key. What usually happens instead is that I forget to press Fn, because coming from my W520 (which has a Function key lock), I don't have to. Then I inadvertently change the brightness or bring up the multiple displays sidebar, etc...

Not liking Windows 8, and this computer, for development so far.

 

I have to agree. Mine will be here Friday and my order from Crucial will be here next week.

I really want to see some info on battery life from those of you running two SSDs. If it takes away too much battery life I will just swap the 128 for the 256.

 

I just tested the one you downloaded, and the drivers are TERRIBLE. I do not recommend using v16. v15 is what you want to use. Here is the link to it:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55148962/S..._Win7-64_Signed_Marketing_SGS94_UI-Scrybe.exe

I also updated my walkthrough PDF to reflect that--refresh it.

Let me know that works for you. If you need me to send you the Lenovo synaptics, let me know and I'll dropbox it for you also. Good luck.

 

That did the trick, I guess because the Lenovo version ends up being newer than the one you linked to above. Thanks for figuring that out.

 

While I agree, in their defense, the $999 Best Buy i5 system is really a good deal, while the others are likely MSRP. $999 is the "sale" price for the base i3 config (regular web price $1099), and you are getting the i5 upgrade essentially for free. But considering you can upgrade the RAM yourself for under $50, and there is a port for a second SSD, the $999 version from Best Buy is a steal unless your NEED the i7, which is apparently only a marginal upgrade.

 

Power cycle and press F2 to enter BIOS. There's a function key preference in there to default to function key or the hot key/special feature.

Are your development quarrels to do with design or performance? I'm rocking the i5 w/8gb memory; VS2010 runs like a champ. I also have no gripes compiling c apps/modules in linux.

 

Does anyone know the trick to get the battery to charge to full strength? Mine seems to stay in the 50% range, and that doesn't allow me to take it to class and last through the day... any help would be great...

Thanks

 

Yikes. Try a power cycle, or charging with device off to see if it makes any difference? Otherwise, I'd definitely be calling lenovo about that one.

 

Go to your Energy Management (in your tray bar). It's the icon that looks like a car. Change it from Optimize Battery Health to Maximum Battery Life.

 

The double-sided tape is not adhering the keyboard down after the RAM change. Where can I buy double-sided tape at?

Oh, also, do you guys notice a slight lift on screen's the rubber area between the hinges and the Windows Start button?

 

Question on warranty - anyone notice when their warranty started on the yoga... i just checked my serial number and it says I have 344 days left of my warranty and that it started on Oct 9th 2012.... even though the Yoga wasn't even availble until Oct 27th......

 

Those who have the Yoga: how would you feel about the Yoga versus an X1 Carbon Touch (if it actually ever materializes)? I could live without IPS, although it certainly is nice. I also could live without tablet convertibility. I think tent mode is neat, but like others have found, I don't know how much it would be used, save for movies or quick presentations, and that still doesn't make that configuration necessary. After the times I have had with the BB demos I have concerns that the Yoga is just not a very robust device - the screen wobbles a lot when touch is required, and I have to think that the special hinges don't help in that respect. So, an X1C Touch seems like a better fit for me, and I could trade the IPS and 360 deg hinge for a stiffer hinge, backlit keyboard, fingerprint power on, and a trackpoint. Of course the Thinkpad would come at a cost premium.

I still really want the Yoga to work for my needs, though, and maybe it does. Perhaps the BB demos have been a bit abused and are not representative of the real feel of the machine.

 

Okay, so I upgraded the memory on my Yoga from 4gb to 8gb. Had no problems at all, very straight forward.

I also have a 256gb SSD I'd like to add. I'm comfortable with hardware, but have mostly deal with desktops and servers - not often with laptops.

I followed the hardware manual from Lenovo's website but was not able to remove the keyboard bezel. I removed the 15 screws identified in the manual, five on top and 10 on the bottom - but I couldn't get the stupid thing to release. I'm sure I'm missing something, but I can't figure it out.

Any insights from those who have done the upgrade?

Thanks!

Mitch

 

I have played with the screen at my local BB and dont see any wobble in the hinges. The only time i see movment it is because the Yoga is so light it picks up the base a little.

I would love a X1C touchscreen but it would most likly be exorbitantly expensive and far more then i could justify for my uses.

 

you can get some sekisui frag tape on ebay for 99 cents.

or you can go to walmart to get a whole roll.

frag tape is stronger. you only need a small piece to hold a lot.

 

That's good to hear. I can't recall from when I first tried it out on Hayward, but the one at a Best Buy in San Francisco had a pretty sloppy hinge. Every touch caused a noticeable bounce and three straight light touches would leave the screen in an obviously different position. That said, the machine was missing a key, too, so it could have been pretty abused.

Agreed about the x1c touch. Maybe the yoga will get me by.

 

If you're using the Yoga in "laptop mode", on a flat surface, the screen hardly moves as you mash away at the keys. The screen does have some wobble/rebound if you sporadically tap at it in this configuration, though the clarity and brightness of the screen really makes this wobbling unnoticeable if you're sitting infront of the unit. I've had some onlookers ask about the wobble, and that's the only time I ever noticed it.

Changes are, once you get your initial Win8 touchscreen frills, you'll use touch sparingly in "laptop mode", and when in any other "tablet friendly" mode, the screen will have more support where wobbling won't be an issue.

The only thing I haven't tested yet is using the Yoga in "laptop mode" while on a train or plane. If the screen wobbles a lot then, it could quite quickly become a deal-breaker to any road warriors out there.

 

would definitely like to know the answer to this.

 

Yet another revision to my Synaptics Touchpad Hack.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55148962/Enabling Synaptics Touchpad Advanced Features v06 11092012.pdf

v06: Adjust PalmCheck. When you have palm check greater than the 4th tab, it tends to freeze up. This happens especially when you use your thumb to do the left click (not tap), then you quickly resume scrolling, it will freeze up for 1 second, thinking you have your palm over your touchpad. [See slide #13]