Lenovo has brought a new version of its Yoga Book laptop/tablet/e-reader
hybrid to the IFA technology conference in Berlin, and I now realize I've been
looking at it all wrong. As a laptop, it's not great: I don't think I could
type on its E Ink-based keyboard without throwing the laptop out the window in
frustration.
But as a tablet/e-reader hybrid, it might actually be good —
if you can swallow the price.
The Yoga Book C930 is an improvement over its predecessor in
every way, but it's conceptually the same thing: A laptop which has an E Ink
screen instead of a keyboard.
This secondary screen can be turned into a virtual keyboard
and be used for typing. It can also be a surface for drawing (a pen is
included), or it can simply be an e-reader.
The device is extremely thin and
has a hinge that lets you flip the screens 180 degrees, in which case it
basically turns into a two-sided tablet.
The Yoga Book's main problem is that it looks like a laptop.
I spent a few minutes with it, and it was immediately obvious that the Yoga
Book can actually be a laptop replacement for only the most undemanding of
users. Its flat, virtual, E Ink keyboard just doesn't cut it for fast
typing.
However, if you compare it to something like the iPad...well,
Lenovo might be onto something here. The device is thin and light enough to
pass as a tablet and as an e-reader, and if you really must bang something on
the keyboard, the option is there. It comes with Windows (there's no Android
variant), which can be a blessing and a curse, depending on your preferences.
Windows-based tablets do exist, so it can't be that bad, right?
Lenovo has addressed several issues with the Yoga Book C930's
design with some cool features. For example, the device is hard to open with
one hand, but if you knock on it, it will open on its own. It's a little thing,
but it makes the $999 price a bit easier to swallow.
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