Got the Yoga Book yesterday, really nice but...

[bmad7136]

Hi everyone.

I got the book yesterday. Really like it. Seems to run just fine considering it's not the most powerful machine out there! However I do have one really annoying issue. The machine does not wake up from sleep if left for more than a few minutes. It just seems to turn off. I have to press the power button to start it again. I think my Surface Pro had a similar issue so maybe a firmware update might sort it out. I have checked the power settings and nothing seems to be set wrong. Hopefully when Lenovo start releasing a few updates, things might start improving. Don't get me wrong though, other than this issue I proper love this little machine.

 

[Character Zero]

That sucks.
How is typing? I have a Transformer T100TA and trying to decide if I want to upgrade given the Yoga Book is so much thinner and lighter. Does it have Windows 64bit?

 

[bmad7136]

Hi. Typing is very good though my initial message was written with the pen. The keyboard is surprisingly useable. Good haptic feedback. I also had the T100. This is way ahead in every sense. In fact I am typing this message now in tablet mode, holding the unit with one hand using the crappy windows on screen keyboard. It is very light and the thinnest windows 10 hybrid I have ever seen. Oh and it is Win 10 pro, 64 bit.

 

[Frans van Bellen]

Sounds good, I was already pretty hyped for this machine. Really looking forward for more in-depth reviews and to see if the sleep issue gets fixed.

 

[Character Zero]

Yeah the T100 seems to have a sleep issue also. The workaround was to hit the button to make it sleep before closing and it worked much better. Thanks for the comparison. One thing when I pulled the T100 out to see how I liked the size since its about the same size (but thicker and heavier), the keyboard is really cramped. How is the key spacing on the Yoga Book?

 

[James Falconer]

Very cool. Sorry to hear about that wake issue, but like you said hopefully a firmware update will sort it out!

I'd love to hear more about your typing experience.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Nice! Congrats on the new laptop. Hopefully they'll release some firmware to fix that issue.

Just curious, how did you get your hands on it? I thought they were only up for pre-orders right now.

 

[kristalsoldier]

Looks good actually!!! This does not have the 3:2 Aspect Ratio does it?

 

[anon(5415472)]

Is the Halo keyboard prone to scratches?

 

[Tarwinia]

I too would like to know about its hardness. Is there any mention of gorilla glass (or equivalent) in the manual for the screen or the create pad (as there are use cases which pot either surface face down on a table).

Also, can you tell if the ink cartridges can be replaced with normal ones or if they have to be sourced from Lenovo? I saw sites claiming both do it would be nice to know (so I can buy some extra at ghee same time I get around to ordering it).

Thanks for everything!

 

[Frans van Bellen]

Is the Halo keyboard prone to scratches?

Great question. I hadn't considered this yet, but when using just the tablet the keyboard will be flat on the table.

 

[bmad7136]

Great question. I hadn't considered this yet, but when using just the tablet the keyboard will be flat on the table.

Typing is actually really good! You get used to it very quickly. It's not perfect though. For example I think the space bar is to close to the bottom row of letters. I keep hitting 'n' and 'b' for example when trying to type quickly. No biggie.

The halo pad does seem pretty scratch proof so far. I have had it on hard surfaces and cosmetically it's as new. The whole unit is a finger print magnet though! As for the screen I've no idea if it's gorilla glass. Sorry.

The pen refills look like Lenovo specials though I'm sure 3rd party versions will appear if it becomes popular. Incidentally the accessories on the Lenovo site don't look like being in stock anytime soon.

I got it from very.co.uk here in gb. Pretty sure they are not meant to be sending them yet but hey. I certainly wasn't expecting it until next week.

The sleep issue is still present. I got a bit of success by disabling Windows fast boot but it's still not great.

Today I had chrome, excel, OneNote and kindle open and it was absolutely fine. That's as much as I'd ever have open so I'm happy. For now!

Any other questions please feel free to ask.

 

[DrWMJ]

How well does Cortana /voice control work?
Any lag or omissions with inking (i.e. does the ink appear clearly and fluidly as you write)?
Do video calls with Skype work well?
Thanks for reporting on this!

 

[Frans van Bellen]

The problem of getting new hardware early: you spend half your time testing features for other people .

 

[Tameem Kareem]

How about screen protector can put one on the wacom side?

 

[bmad7136]

Ok so I don't use cortana. I just tried it and it was ok. I said something and it did something a short time after! Sorry. Not tried video skype yet but audio skype is just fine as you'd expect. As for the pen it is great. You write on the halo bit and it appears instantly on the screen. Very little lag. In fact it is the best pen experience I have had including the surface pro and galaxy tab pro s. For writing mind you. I am no artist so cannot comment on that side of things. I have yet to attach the paper add on thing to the unit yet so have not tried the "real ink" experience. This was not something I bought the Book for tbh but it looks cool!

I have not put any sort of screen protector on. I don't think one is available yet. I don't see why you couldn't put one on the halo bit if that is what you meant.

 

[Tarwinia]

Two questions regarding the writing experience:
How small can you write? I know it may sound weird but but on the OG Galaxy Note tablet, it would reject movements that weren't "big"enough and I don't like having to constantly resizing and panning when annotating PDFs.
2) how easy is it to change tips? (Honestly they should should have just gone with a double-tipped pen like with so many markers, hard to lose that way)

 

[LyricalNonsense]

The yoga book seems perfect for a on-the-go artists. That pad and the Holo keyboard just seem to fit.

- M

 

[bmad7136]

You can write pretty small. I just gave it a go and was actually amazed how small I could write. The pen tip is not the thinnest in the world but it is still quite fine. Changing tips could be easier tbh. I agree they should have made a dual tip pen.

Bad news now folks. The latest bios update has pretty much screwed mine up. The halo keyboard now won't turn off so the pen is pretty useless now. You must shut the system down before closing the lid. Not good. Others are experiencing similar issues. It is such a lovely machine but clearly still being beta tested. By us!! I cannot reset it either for some unknown reason so must wait for Lenovo to push a good update out. Sigh

 

[ozaz]

Shame about the BIOS update messing things up. Hope it gets resolved soon.

Couple of questions

1) Does the virtual keyboard support swype input?
2) Can you charge the device and use a USB peripheral at the same time (via some kind of adapter)?
3) If you have the virtual keyboard on and are using the pen to write directly on the screen, does the device reject accidental touches of the keyboard?