Yoga 2 Owners Thread (11 and 13 Inch)

Does the Yoga 2 have a metal casing or a plastic one? Reviews seem to say different things. What actually makes the 2 Pro lighter than the 2?

 

My head is spinning from reading thousands (literally...) of messages on various forums about the Yoga 2 Pro, Yoga 11S, Yoga 2 13 and Toshiba Radius, so I want to make sure I haven't blended features of them together into a non-existent composite.

I found a "Lenovo Yoga 2, Intel Core i5-4200U, 13.3" FHD Touch Display, Refurbished Notebook With 4GB, 500GB Hard Drive + 16GB SSD, Windows 8.1" on frys.com for $698, which sounds like a decent deal.

HOWEVER, am I correct that:
(a) I can install my own M.2 SSD, probably a Crucial 240GB M500,
(b) I can upgrade the RAM (i.e. not soldered on to the motherboard), and
(c) the Yoga 2 (non-pro) has the backlit keyboard?

If the RAM is user-upgradable, is it DDR3L? And, is there one slot or two? i.e. Would I insert a second 4GB SODIMM, or would I need to replace the existing one with a single 8GB SODIMM?

Even if a replacement 8GB SODIMM is needed, I figure that with the new RAM & SSD, it will still be about $250 cheaper than the Yoga 2 Pro 8GB/256GB SSD model at Best Buy, though granted the Y2P has an i7. On the balance, the Yoga 2 13 has 500GB of storage and a less-fussy LCD resolution with supposedly better color representation.

Sorry for so many questions, but I want to make sure that I'm buying what I think I'm buying.

Thanks!

 

If you live near a microcenter - check them out. They are getting in a number of refurbs will a full year warranty. Also check out Slickdeals: The Best Deals, Coupons, Promo Codes & Discounts they have the yogas posted about once a week for some sort of refurb deal. I was able to get a yoga 2 13 with the same specs you listed above at microcenter for $549.

 

You will not be able to upgrade the ram - it is soldered.

 

Sounds like a great deal, but I don't live in the USA, and I will be visiting family next week in California but not near a Microcenter. :-(

Whoops. I must have been confusing it with the original Yoga. Dang. But, that's why I asked. Glad I did! Back to the drawing board.

 

A and c are true. That's why I got the 8GB.

 

It's a plastic casing. The yoga series uses a lot of soft touch plastics, but the yoga 2 pro uses softer soft touch. There is what feels like metal behind the LCD screen. Nonetheless, I wouldn't worry about the durability. I just the extended warranty direct from lenovo.

What makes the yoga 2 pro lighter? Beats me. The yoga 2 pro actually has a double fan configuration do you would think it would be heavier. The yoga 2 pro also makes extensive use of magnesium alloy, maybe that helps.

 

The Y2P is magnesium alloy, with a soft touch coating. And the screen is far superior to that of the non-pro model. It covers 97% of SRGB. Brightness is measured at 350 nits. Neither model has RAM that is upgradeable. I have read that the hard drive on the non-pro model is upgradeable, but there is some kind of weird connector. Not sure though, as I don't own one. They both have a backlit keyboard.

 

The screen on the Y2 13 is 95% SRGB. While you do lose some pixels, I could not tell much of a difference between the screens. Using Eclipse IDE (and other programs) is near impossible on the QHD screen due to scaling though....

 

Yeah, the color gamut is pretty decent on the non-pro model as well. I think it was measured at 275 nits. You can always adjust the resolution to 1080p on the Y2P. You can definitely see a difference when viewing text, and obviously watching 4K video(at full resolution).

 

Any of you with the Black Y2 13 noticed that the top cover (along side the hinge) is convexly bowed and not parallel with the lower half in the closed position? This causes the top cover to lightly interfere with the lower half when flipping to tablet mode. I really wanted to exchange it for another one, but the display model was even worse, so I returned it for a Y2P. Now I am wondering if I was being too picky because the Y2P is really over kill.

 

So I went to Best Buy yesterday and took another look at the Y2 13. In all fairness, there are some things that I like over the Y2P. The lid is much more sturdy, and had a lot less flex, than on the Y2P. That is probably where most of the added weight comes from. I like the texture of the trackpad on the Y2 13 a lot more as well. I am a fan of the black, too. However, that's about it. The keyboard deck on the Y2 13 is very squishy(extremely annoying to me. That's the main reason I did not buy the Sony Flip), and the key travel is noticeably less. Plus all of the other things I mentioned before. The Y2 13 is a great machine, especially for the price, but I still feel the Y2P is superior.

 

Well, my microcenter yoga 2 13 refurb started getting memory errors.... I have had really bad luck with refurbs these days. It seems companies are simply flipping the refurbs without doing any work on them. Lenovo is currently offering the Y2P orange for 779.99 - new. This is the i5, 8gb ram, 256 gb ssd 3200x1800 screen etc. With 10% shop discover this brings it down to 699.99 plus you get the additional year warranty with discover. This makes the y2p cheaper than the y2 13 on the website....

 

I think you are 100% correct on that assumption. Seems like they would rather deal with the complaints. I had a RAM problem on the first Y2P that I had. It was the i7/8GB/256GB model. I sent it in and they had to replace the mother board. Then my screen started making a weird humming noise. Then a key on the keyboard popped off. After battling with Lenovo for 2 weeks, they issued a replacement. They gave me the 512GB model, so I am happy. That is a great price for that machine. I love the Y2P myself. I would jump on that offer.

 

I chose the Y 2 13 500GB 4GB over the Y 2 Pro because of the newer design (fewer bugs), better resolution support in Windows, better color fidelity (no yellow issues), higher contrast ratio, large data storage, M.2 SSD support, and price ($799). Five months later, I have not found a better notebook to fit my needs. It would be nice to have 8GB of RAM but none of my PCs have ever had more than 4GB. My Dell Windows tablet has only 2GB of RAM and I have not found that limiting.

However, the pricing of the Clementine Y2P is a great power/price ratio.

BTW, there is no bowing on the hinge side of my Y213.

 

How do you figure that a newer model has fewer "bugs"?? You realize they are still producing the Y2P, right? If anything, all the "bugs" have been worked out.

 

Why are you in the Yoga 2 (11 and 13) owner's thread if you're a Y2P owner? Do you really need to mention how you made a superior choice in every page of this thread?

 

I actually participate in both forums, and will continue to do so for as long as I choose. There is nothing wrong with voicing my opinion. Maybe there are some people who are on the fence concerning both machines. Maybe my thoughts have helped in their decision, maybe not. Either way, I do not understand why your butt is so hurt over it. Do you feel you made a bad choice? You mad bro?

 

I'm just pointing out that you are the one who is all defensive about the choice you made. Grow up kid.

 

I have repeatedly stated that both are great machines. I have also said there are things about the Y2 13 that I like more. But thinking one is better than the other makes me defensive? Ok kid.

 

Hey guys, I've just about made my mind up on getting the Yoga 2 13 non-pro as my next laptop this coming week. I've debated among a lot of different ultrabooks and wanted to know if there are any widespread issues / general disappointments you guys have found with the laptop? It's easy to search online and fine the multitude of problems the Yoga 2 Pro has and I just want to make sure these issues don't carry over to the non-pro version. Any advice is appreciated!

 

Two disappointments. First, the cooling system is inferior to the pro version. Secondly, like the pro version, it uses a pentile screen. But at least the yellows are good.

 

Would you say that the heating system causes the laptop to overheat excessively? The other laptop I'm still somewhat debating is the Dell XPS 12, which I believe uses the same pentile screen as the Lenovo so that's a moot point. Also, how do you find the trackpad on the Lenovo? Trackpads seem to be a bit of an issue with most Windows laptops, having previously owned a Macbook I'm a bit spoiled in this regard.

 

Both machines are great. The XPS 12 is not using the same screen as the Y2P. It has the same screen as the Thinkpad Yoga. Tested at 400 nit. The XPS 12 has an awesome keyboard, and the build quality is outstanding. The price for it on Microsoft Store's website is really good. However, it is smaller. I like the 13.3 size a lot more. That's a tight choice though. The Surface Pro 3 is awesome as well, if you don't mind the smaller screen size.

 

I hate clickpads. So I hate this trackpad. But it seems like everyone is using clickpads these days. At full load, it goes up to 75 C. I wouldn't say it overheats, but I wish it was better.

 

Bought Yoga 2 13 recently, and can't get three finger swipe (back/forward) work on touch screen. Am I just doing something wrong, because clicpad gestures works perfect after changing synaptics' settings?

"Pen and touch" item on Control Panel didn't offer same functionality for touch screen

Edit: Installed M.2 SSD following instructions from https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Idea-Windows-based-Tablets-and/Yoga-2-13-Internals/td-p/1472366. OS boots way faster now. Had 500GB HHD model without SSD cache.

 

As an owner of the Y2 13 and a heavy user for the past 3 months I would say I don't see many faults and I can also say it's not overheating or running hot, stays about 50C when browsing when outside temp is about 30C. Overall a very nice machine built quality above average. I would say the wireless is on the crappy side single stream wireless N max 150mbps which converts to a maximum of 10mb over wireless in real world also right now there is no way to change it as lenovo has a bios white list in place.

 

I got the Intel 7260 AC in mine.

 

I don't know what you mean by "real world", but I easily get 28 Mbps download and 5.8 Mbps upload from/to Internet from my home network. I haven't used my Yoga 2 13 outside my home network, but I have used several other laptops in motels, hotels, airports, coffee shops, etc. And, poor connection, low throughput, etc. is always because of poor local routers/APs, not my laptop.

Good luck, Jim