With enough time, even the best products start to feel stale. Take the original Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13: Thanks to a unique hinge that allowed the screen to fold all the way backward, it was the most versatile Windows 8 convertible on the market (and it had lots of competition, too). But as other PC makers started releasing newer Ultrabooks with sharper screens and longer battery life, it became harder and harder to recommend it. In fact, though we made a nod to the original Yoga in our last laptop buyer’s guide, we basically told people to wait for a refresh.
Turns out, that was wise advice. Lenovo recently started shipping the Yoga 2 Pro, and it brings a little more than just a fresh CPU. In addition to running new Haswell processors, it rocks a thinner and lighter design, a backlit keyboard and a 3,200 x 1,800 display — a big step up from the 1,600 x 900 panel used in the last gen. And, given that this makes use of Intel’s fourth-generation Core chips, it also promises longer battery life — up to nine hours, according to Lenovo. One thing that hasn’t really changed: the price. Even now that it has a crisper screen, it still starts at around $1,000, with a special promotion driving the starting price as low as $929. That sounds fantastic on paper, but what’s it like to actually use?%Gallery-slideshow122110%
