Ideapad Yoga?

Sorry you are having trouble getting the $39.95 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro. I would call again and give it another try, it was a simple request for me and they walked me through the process. I have done this on three different computers in the past couple weeks. I would have the link open because you will need this while they walk you through the purchase. By the way I called them yesterday before posting my message and they acknowledged the upgrade was available from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro for $39.95. Don't give up because it is available, give it another try.

 

The Yoga is here now, has been for months. When is a Helix going to be available? I can't get too excited about market hype before the product is available.

 

Here's a silly issue: the magnets that hold the screen closed exert a force down through the bottom of the case.

My table is metal and it is awkward to pick up the Yoga from the front since the magnets hold it to the table. I assume this is because the magnets need to hold the screen to the base when in tablet mode.

I know this isn't a big deal, it's just another in the list of small oddities on this machine.

 

I did call Lenovo and I get a guy with an Indian accent talking to me telling me that my shipment was now in fact delayed further. When I asked what the reason was he responded he was not able to tell me because that's all the info he gets from the manufacturing department. But, he assured me it would ship on 1/12 and arrive around the 16th. Today, I looked up the status and the shipment date has been pushed out AGAIN to 1/16, ETA 1/22.

What a huge EF'FING joke this company is!

 

So I decided to give the Yoga a try. Still sold out at many Best Buys, but found one available.

First impressions... Design is slim and cool, Keyboard is better than I was expecting, Trackpad is really nice.

The FAN though is loud! Was not expecting this at all. Any fixes to get the fan to quiet down?

Sent from my Incredible 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

Curious...

Of all the people here that bought the Yoga 13. How many of you bought the 128SSD setup and either replace or add on SSD?

#1 - Replaced your 128 SSD with a larger one

#2 - Use the second available slot and add a large one, as well as keep the 128 SSD

#3 - Both above 1 & 2, replace the 128 SSD && add in another one.

Question for ya'll.

1) Did you install fresh Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 than upgrade to Pro. What was your experience.

2) Any issue needing to be aware of doing this process? Was it simple and easy similar to any desktop putting in a new drive?

3) Did that really change the battery life. Did you notice some increase or decrease?


Would like to hear these feedback.

Thanks.

 

I can't wait for the refresh on this one as the Haswell GPU will give it omphh.

 

That's what everyone said waiting for Ivy Bridge to give more performance over Sandy. Why settle for Haswell when Broadwell is just behind it? You have to get in at some point, Ivy Bridge is here now and it is a solid setup.

 

Well the fan noise was too much for me, I took the Yoga back. I think it's a personal preference thing. A lot of people aren't regularly in an environment that is quiet enough to notice the continuous swoosh of fan movement. I am often in such an environment, so the persistent fan noise at moderate sound levels was not acceptable.

I exchanged the Yoga for an Asus Zenbook Prime with touchscreen (UX31A-BHI5T11). So far I am pleased with the switch. Keyboard is nicer to type on and backlit, touchpad is comparable, 1080p screen is more crisp, WiFi has all the bands it should have, weight is a half pound less, and most importantly at the moment, fan noise is very quiet. It comes on intermittently, and only for a few moments at low sound levels. The Zenbook of course does not do the acrobatics of the Yoga, and is not near as upgradable, but those are trades I'm willing to make.

EDIT: An update to my early post regarding the UX31A... I now realize that the touchpad is NOT comparable to Lenovo's at this point, it can be very finicky to work with at times and misses a lot of my single taps. Also, two-finger scrolling is very choppy, it is impossible to ease into a scroll on a web page without jumping first. Just wanted to let you all know, Asus has room for improvement on their drivers. Light bleed on the dispaly is an ongoing concern for many users.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience of the fans. I'm fortunate enough to have it not bother me.

Interesting to hear your feedback... I've been looking at the new Zenbook with touch, it looks like an amazing computer. My only worry was its keyboard... you say it's good to type on? Decent travel and feel?

 

Yes, I will say in all honesty that I think it's a better typing experience than the Yoga. I've been typing on a ThinkPad keyboard for the past 6 years, so it is a bit of adjustment for me to type on these more shallow Ultrabook keyboards. That said, the Zenbook keyboard has zero flex in it (unlike the Yoga), and the keys are not mushy at all but quite responsive. Note that this is an improved keyboard over previous iterations of the Zenbook, so not what you may have tried in the past. Backlight is also very helpful in a dark room, I never had it in the past, but probably wouldn't buy a laptop now without it.

 

#1 - Replaced your 128 SSD with a larger one - No, left original 128 in place, added a second 128 in the empty slot

#2 - Use the second available slot and add a large one, as well as keep the 128 SSD - Yes, exactly.

#3 - Both above 1 & 2, replace the 128 SSD && add in another one. No, 256 total is sufficient for my needs.

Question for ya'll.

1) Did you install fresh Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 than upgrade to Pro. What was your experience. No, haven't done it yet... although I'm considering doing it before the price goes up 1/31. Look at Willybug's post above, great instructions and help info.

2) Any issue needing to be aware of doing this process? Was it simple and easy similar to any desktop putting in a new drive? Nothing at all like a desktop.. not even similar to a traditional style laptop! I read so many others experiences and found the Lenovo manual, I was really intimidated, but it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Working really slowly and carefully, upgrading the SSD & memory took me about 20 minutes start to finish, had no problems. Do be careful of the cables, gently remove them.

3) Did that really change the battery life. Did you notice some increase or decrease? No noticeable change, but like Willybug, I didn't measure it before the upgrade. I use the Yoga on and off all day long and the batter has been great.

I'll add a caveat... not sure if this is related to the upgrade, but it's a new problem I've been having. Sometimes when I close the lid, the Yoga doesn't go to sleep properly... the lights stay solid and the fans continue, but it's in a state of locked up, unable to wake. Opening and closing the lid has no effect, the screen stays off. Only fix is to hard boot by holding in the power button to force off. After turning back on, it's fine. This happens about once every 3 or 4 days, since I added the second SSD and 8gb stick.


Would like to hear these feedback.

Thanks.

 

I'll add a caveat... not sure if this is related to the upgrade, but it's a new problem I've been having. Sometimes when I close the lid, the Yoga doesn't go to sleep properly... the lights stay solid and the fans continue, but it's in a state of locked up, unable to wake. Opening and closing the lid has no effect, the screen stays off. Only fix is to hard boot by holding in the power button to force off. After turning back on, it's fine. This happens about once every 3 or 4 days, since I added the second SSD and 8gb stick.


Would like to hear these feedback.

This has happened to me once while Windows 8 was installed. I can not say for sure if installing Windows 8 Pro was the resolution but it has not happened since.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

 

You know, I had the BestBuy model (that one with the 59340248 P/N that seems to be almost ubiquitous since it's the only model evidently consistently available in stores). I had an auto-rotation sensor problem on my first one for which I painstakingly ruled out driver issues, so I exchanged it for another. I grew tired of the always-on fan as well and can't understand why Lenovo doesn't release a BIOS or driver update to properly regulate the fan in such a way that, like on other laptops, it doesn't activate until it's needed. But my second Yoga had problems with the keyboard and spacebar so I returned that as well. I believe both the auto-rotation sensor and spacebar problem were likely aberrations, unlike the always-running fan problem that seems to be universal.

Since I really like the Yoga, I ordered a third from the Lenovo site--this time a Clementine, which has won my affection and might enable me to overlook the fan's over-zealousness a bit more easily. I have no illusions that the fan won't always be on, since it seems to be driver or BIOS/firmware related, but I figure I can try to "tolerate" it. In the meantime while waiting for Lenovo's ridiculously extended shipment process, though, I've been considering that UX31A-BHI5T11 you bought instead. I await my third and final Yoga while Lenovo considers updating my Order Status page some time during this Bak'tun, but with the capability to cancel during the lengthy wait.

My reservations with the Asus are:

* I've read that it's only 5pt touch, not 10pt like the Yoga and most Windows 8 touchscreens. Asus did manage to cram this into the UX31A without significantly increasing weight, unlike in other machines (e.g. the Carbon X1 Touch's additional .5lbs), so that is indeed an oddity. Have you got any idea?
* Some users still lambaste its touchpad, which was a big problem on the non-touch UX31A. Jumpy cursor, for example, which I find absolutely maddening and unfortunately common on non-Lenovo Windows machines. Has this been your experience, or do you think Asus got a handle on it?
* I can't understand why BestBuy has this black version exclusively. Do you think the quality of that finishing will hold up, or is it something inexpensive thrown together for BestBuy?

By the way, I also considered the Carbon X1 Touch but I canceled that order when the high anxiety about the touchscreen appeared on this forum. But I also really appreciate the Yoga's versatility. I'll tolerate the fan problem for that, but boy do I wish Lenovo was a little more QC conscious.

 

An update to my early post regarding the UX31A... I now realize that the touchpad is NOT comparable to Lenovo's at this point, it can be very finicky to work with at times and misses a lot of my single taps. Also, two-finger scrolling is very choppy, it is impossible to ease into a scroll on a web page without jumping first. Just wanted to let you all know, Asus has room for improvement on their drivers. Light bleed on the display is also an ongoing concern for many users.

 

UX31A Touchscreen - I don't know why they did 5 pt instead of 10 pt touch, but either one is overkill for my needs. It is remarkable that they put the touchscreen in such a low profile.

UX31A Touchpad - Yes, definitely needs improvement and is not up to par with Lenovo. The jerkiness is especially exhibited by choppy two-finger scrolling.

UX31A Black finish - I actually like the black finish, and I think it will hold up over time. Yes, it shows fingerprints, it is not any concern to me but might be to someone else. My feeling as to the reason why BB does so many 'exlusives' is so they don't have to price-match competitors on their product, seeing as they are the only ones selling it!

 

Thanks, swenpro. That's a shame about the touchpad. I think that will keep me safely away, but I hope you find a driver resolution or other means of solving it for yourself (or it doesn't bother you). Thanks for your thorough and complete answers; much appreciated. It's been hard to get such an accurate response on the Internet about this particular model.

 

Mine is the fact I only get 4GB. 4GB is fine if surfing the internet or simple Office functionality is all I am doing. But if they want to target power users who want Ultrabook, should have an 8GB option.

Really, only 5PT touch. HOW DARE THEY! Lol! Like I am ever going to put all 10 fingers on the screen to use. Most of the time it'll be one or two and maybe three.

I compared the UX31A Touch @ BB against the Yoga @ BB. The sound quality on Yoga is better IMO. It is louder and clearer. But hands down the Asus got the upper hand on screen. That thing is gorgeous! I also prefer the black finish over the current dark gray / silver.

 

I agree that the 5pt vs 10pt touch issue doesn't sound like a big deal. The trackpad is my primary concern with that machine. And of course the Asus has a brilliant screen. That's what tempted me to compare them to begin with actually.

The Yoga does have nice sound output. I don't use more than 4GB of RAM consistently, so that's not a factor for me personally (but I empathize and think 8GB should be standard; very inexpensive for them to do that probably, if they wanted to).

 

Hi all,
Since a few of you have owned a Yoga for a little while now, I would like to ask you if the paint chipping is a real issue? Do you usually carry your laptop in a sleeve? Is the lenovo sleeve sufficent to protect the laptop all arround?
And finally, does the orange color goes easier away than the grey one?

Thanks in advance for your feedback! I am really looking forward to get it (mid-february, switzerland).

 

I've had mine for two months, no paint chips but the bottom does scratch pretty easily. IMO it really needs a skin or stickers otherwise it will start to look a bit rough.

 

I just got this computer and I think I like it, but the lack of dual band wifi is killing me. I have a asus RT-AC66R router and I'm not having signal issues, but I would like to upgrade the internal card. Is it confirmed that the empty pcie slot is in fact mSata only? I would like to replace my wifi card to enable dual band.

I have one more question. Does anyone run TF2 (Team Fortress 2) on this machine? I tried to run it last night and I wasn't impressed.

I got the $1000 Best Buy Yoga for only $800 with tax so it was a good deal but I'm thinking about trading up to something better. Just so you guys know, I am used to Thinkpad T series.

 

$800? How so cheap

 

It was an open box for $820 and Best Buy has a deal for 10% off. It has the full warranty and is in perfect condition so I'm good.

 

Nice..:thumbup:

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

Do you plan on rewiring the antenna to your mSata wifi card? If so, how?

 

lenovo epp today $1299

i7 + 8GB RAM + 256 SSD

There is an advertisement said 50% off warranty add on, but i don't see that...

 

I am actually planning to play that specific game on my new Yoga i7. Can you make some test (try with different settings) and tell us what is your average frame rate?

I currently have a Lenovo Y450 (intel HD4500) which is really not performant for playing TF2. However, with some little tricks, I manage to lower the settings at a very low level. I am not expecting hardcore gaming on the Yoga, but TF2 should run pretty decently on it...

Thanks for your feedback

 

I definitely do but I don't know how yet.

 

So I have a couple of updates. When I put a intel 6205 card in the pcie slot and booted to windows, the card was not recognized. I will irder a 6235 to try again. Also I found this random switch in the laptop. Does anyone know what it does?



Should have been more specific. The white dot on the top corner

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

I just had the same thing happen. I put an Intel 6235.in the open slot. Windows isn't seeing it. Ubuntu isn't seeing it either. I put it in while I was installing a 256gb ssd. On the first boot I went into the BIOS to make sure the ssd was showing up. In addition to the ssd another boot device showed up as HP v125 (not sure if that was the exact number), but the first boot was the only time that showed up.

 

does yoga come with a realtek wireless card?

Realtek

 

I'm having a BT issue that I'd like to have some others test please: streaming BT audio works fine as expected, unless I put my hand on the lower right corner of the laptop. Resting my palm on the ideapad logo results in the BT signal breaking up to the point that the audio gets very choppy. I'm guessing this would affect other BT devices as well but I don't have any.

Can someone try streaming BT audio and cover up the lower right corner of the palmrest and see if they have the same issue?

 

I think you have to get a Lenovo branded 6230/6235. Lenovo is bad about black listing non-certified cards. The BIOS has to contain a white listed card. Maybe a ThinkPad card like this will be on the whitelist in the BIOS: Lenovo Thinkpad T520 T520i w520 Wireless wifi N Card Intel Ultimate-N 6300 AGN

 

Mine says "Realtek RTL8723A Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter"

 

I just tried putting an Intel 6300 from my Lenovo T410 into my Yoga, no luck. It doesn't even see it.

 

That doesn't surprise me. Someone should try this particular card. New Intel 6235ANHMW 6235 WiFi WLAN BT Bluetooth 4 0 HP Envy 4 6 Lenovo E430 | eBay If no one has it laying around, I will order it and report back. This crappy realtek card is killing me when I transfer files over the network.

 

I wish I could remember where and find the source for you, but I'm sure I remember reading either in this thread or on the IdeaPad / IdeaTab Slate Tablets - Lenovo Community that the Yoga motherboard has completely disabled the options for anything other than an MSATA drive in the slot. That, and the connector for the Realtek wireless is proprietary, which we all already know.

As many of us have opened the Yoga up, added SSD and RAM, I'd be surprised if it was possible to upgrade the wireless and no one has actually done it yet. If you do have a chance to do it, that would be awesome, I'd love to hear about your success! I'll be very surprised though.

 

Hi, I just got my yoga and its awesome !

I have some questions, maybe someone can answer them:

1 - If I buy a Windwos 8 Pro Pack Key( $69.99 ) , and then go to add features , enter the key and upgrade , do I lose my Windows 8 oem license that came with the Yoga??.

2 - After upgrading to Pro, and then use lenovo recovery (using novo button and then use recovery to restore like it came from the factory , do I go back to windows 8 oem?, no licence problems ? (Can I use the pro pack key later?)

3 - Should I save my Windows 8 Oem Key (using a third party software to view it) , before upgrade?

4- Has anyone tried the the $39.99 Windows 8 Pro upgrade Key to upgrade to pro ?

Thanks in advance!

 

I decided I will return the yoga and grab a surface pro. Even though ill end up paying 400 more and having no upgradability it seems awesome and I can store everything on my cifs.

Maybe ill change my mind but you guys are awesome.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

I know it's a long shot, but...

If anyone sees a Yoga for sale third party in the San Francisco area, I'd appreciate a heads up. Mine was stolen from our car over the weekend - the person got all my grad school books and other things, too. I would love to track my stuff down, so I;d appreciate any leads. Mine is identifiable and I would love the chance to do just that. It's a gray i5, 4GB, 128GB. Worst thing is that I had until the 24th to return it to Best Buy and I was considering doing so and maybe getting a Carbon Touch, Surface Pro or Series 7 Ultra. But I did love the Yoga even with it's flaws. I am really heartbroken without it in fact.

Thanks for any help - Brian, [email protected]

It went missing on Saturday 1/19 from 18th St. and Dolores near the Mission - actually right between Mission High School and Dolores Park. Middle of the day, high traffic, lots of pedestrians. Ugh!

 

Sorry to hear that,

I recommend everyone to install Prey ( preyproject.com ) .

 

1 - your original license is still valid, though it can not be used on any other machine then Yoga. Yes, you should save your license # and store is someplace safe in case you would want to reinstall Windows 8 from scratch.

2. Lenovo recovery would recover your Yoga to the original configuration, so you would need to reapply Windows 8 Pro again. I would suggest never to use it. Do backups instead and recover from them. Windows 8 has several built in utilities for backups (File History and System image). You can read more about Windows 8 backup here: windows 8 tip picking backup strategy

3. Yes

 

I got my Yoga from Best Buy yesterday and have been very impressed with it so far. Never thought Windows can be so much fun to use. Does anybody use the Lenovo sleeve? I got one with the laptop but not sure of its usefulness. Yes, it protects the keyboard but the keyboard itself seems to be easily removable and replaceable if needed. Does Lenovo sell spare part for Yoga such as keyboard or keys, etc?
Also, I registered Yoga on Lenovo website and it seems that the warranty starts from the manufacturing date and not the date of purchase? I am new to Lenovo so I’d appreciate any feedback on that.

 

Has anyone been able to activate a different wireless card on the Yoga? This garbage Realtek card is pretty bad. Elan and Realtek should just stop making garbage like this.

 

Yeah, the Wi-Fi function in the Yoga 13 is critically important because that's the only way to get onto the network. Mine works flawlessly when I connect in public places, home and secured networks (of course if the public place does not have a good signal that would be an issue) . Mine generally shows all the bars and has never dropped a connection (home network connection download speed is 49.94Mbps and higher in late evening - see attachment). All that being said, normally I would not be looking for a better solution but I would be interested in what others are experiencing (for those with issues I wonder if it's their computer or the Wi-Fi signal strength - please provide data).

 

I think its the router. I have a asus rt-66ac and its great but I can only connect at 72mbps which makes writing to my cifs a pain in the

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

On the Yoga 13 virtual keyboard I have been trying to find the "Windows Key". I find a "Smile Face" icon key where I would have expected to find the "Windows key" but can not find a "Windows Key" to use with the Windows 8 hot keys (i.e. Win+Q, Win+E, Win+R, Win+D, Win+C, Win+F, Win+P, etc.). I know there are other ways to get the Windows 8 functions but expect to have a Windows key on the virtual keyboard. If others have identified how to get the "Windows Key" on the virtual keyboard, help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

If you look at Microsoft's "behind the scenes" discussion of the on-screen keyboard you find this quote:

"The touch keyboard is not intended for 'commanding,' which is why you don’t see things like the Windows key or function keys. That is a deliberate decision to stay focused on the goal of being really great for typing."

But then...reading a bit further there's this:

"We also include an option for a standard keyboard layout, which can be useful on a PC without a keyboard when using desktop software that requires function keys or other extended keys. This is easily enabled from the settings Charm, in the General Settings section of PC Settings."

If you go to General Settings as they describe, there is a toggle button that says "Make the standard keyboard layout available". If you turn that on, you will then have 4 options for the virtual keyboard: the normal one you've been using, split for use with thumbs, handwriting recognition, and now a 4th option which is the old-style complete with Windows key. Use the button in the lower-right corner of the virtual keyboard to select which of the 4 keyboard styles you would like.