Lenovo's unveils its newest keyless 'Yoga Book' laptop with an electronic ink keyboard

[Polycount]

Lenovo is known for creating a pretty wide variety of products, and their notebooks are arguably some of their most popular devices. Though they can be hit or miss at times, they're generally reliable and reasonably priced.

However, every now and then, the company seems to get a particularly wild design idea; Lenovo's Yoga Book was an excellent example of that.

Launched back in 2016, the device features a keyboard-less design and incredibly thick bezels.

Our own Tim Schiesser reviewed it shortly after launch, and while he wasn't impressed by the device's touch keyboard or its many software problems, he praised its innovative 2-in-1 hybrid design, long battery life, and above-average stylus functionality.

It seems Lenovo is taking some of those frustrations into account with the Yoga Book's latest iteration while doubling down on some of the things that made its predecessor great.

The latest incarnation of the 2-in-1, dubbed the "Yoga Book C930," boasts a few unique new features. Naturally, the touch keyboard is making a return, but it uses different technology this time.

Instead of using a "halo" touchscreen, the Yoga Book features an electronic ink display, similar to what you'd find in Amazon's Kindle e-readers. When you don't need to use the keyboard, it can be converted into an e-ink sketchpad, which can be used with the Yoga Book's included stylus.

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Though I haven't gotten my hands on the device, Ars Technica's Valentina Palladino says the new keyboard feels much better to type on than its predecessor, due in large part to the C930's new haptic feedback features.

The C930 is also getting a few hardware upgrades, such as 4GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and the choice between Intel's m3-7Y30 or i5 7Y54 processors, according to Ars.

Want to take the device out for a test drive? You'll be able to get your hands on it this October, but pre-orders aren't available just yet.

Image courtesy Ars Technica

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https://www.techspot.com/news/76224-lenovo-unveils-newest-keyless-yoga-book-laptop-electronic.html

 

[Carlos GarPov]

Well, I have to try it out. I have a touchscreen laptop and a tablet and honestly tell you, there is nothing like typing and feeling the pressure of your fingers getting into the keyboard. This is something I’ve thought through very much and since I’ve worked for tech companies developing concepts as such, I can say objectively speaking that we are hooked to the conventional keyboard. But the concept is really nice…

Good Luck

 

[m4a4]

I like the concept of customizing the keyboard area. But realistically, proper tactile feedback for a larger keyboard will always be more appreciated.
I know for my laptop, I rest my fingers on it all the time. Couldn't do that on a touch keyboard.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

If you've seen or used the existing Yoga Book, this appears to be an interesting upgrade. It's a strange but fun form factor that I'd really like to see more of, and more competition against too. You actually carry it like a paperback book, not a laptop at all.

It has all kinds of great uses in the field for many types of jobs, although it's just not quite durable enough for construction. But I could see it still being helpful. If there were a Toughbook style device in this form factor, I'd be all over it.