win 8 ultrabook/tablet

VladDracule

[H]ard|Gawd
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With windows 8 having released it seems a whole new class of ultrabook is being released. I have seen many such as the Lenovo yoga, and i believe dell has a varient

what i a wondering is if any of these new modern ultrabook/tablet varients will have what i am looking for

I want anywhere from between an 11 inch to 15 inch screen (i think most of these are roughly 13) with at least 720p res

From what i am seing these all seem to run i5 ivy-bridge CPU's with intel HD 4000 graphics cards. Are these cards enough for casual low spec gaming? simple things such as the sims or other little games you may want to play on the go. I have a clevo p180 that does all my serious gaming (wow, BF and what not) but would like this ultrabook to be able to play simplier games for both me and my GF to use and enjoy on the go

My other option is in regards to interfaces. The yoga when in tablet mode has the keyboard still exposed which is odd and unsettling in if your outdoors or in very dusty city busses dust can be trapped.

The dell has a hinge on the screen and i much like this idea but am worried the hinges will wear out. I also would very much like one of these devices to support a digitizer stylus such as a wacom. I do currently own an asus ep121 but win 8 drivers are not supported as of yet

My last question is in regards to windows 8. I know there is the RT version which has its own marketplace like google play store or IOS marketplace. Will the apps that work on the Rt version of win8 be supported in the full version of win8? i ask because im sure there will be games a plenty designed to work with tablets that i would hope work on the full win 8.

Thanks a bunch everyone!
 
HD 4000 is fine for basic gaming.

Store apps will run on ARM and x86 versions of Win 8.

Win 8 Pro tablets aren't going to be released for a couple months yet, your guess is as good as mine as to which will be best.
 
Look into the Samsung 700T as well, depending on how lightweight those games are you could even get away with one of the Atom models like the 500T. There's always the Surface Pro, and ASUS has a bunch more models coming... There's several threads about these things. Release dates for the x86 devices are scarce tho (Surface Pro isn't even coming out this year), seems like MS focused on the Surface and WinRT launch first. Plus there'll be even more stuff coming once Haswell is out towards next summer.

Personally I'm holding off until then at least, we should have a better idea what next gen Atom will look like by then (though it wouldn't come out until end of 2013), and manufacturer's should have a lot more experience with the convertible form factors after one release cycle. Haswell will be a big improvement in the GPU department too.

I get the sense Windows 8 was released simply because it was ready (desktop launch was as seamless as Win 7 IMO) and because MS wanted to move to a faster schedule (and put pressure on Intel with WinRT too), but the products that are really really gonna make it shine won't necessarily be out this year.
 
I'm waiting for the Asus U500VZ.... ultrabook with a Nvidia 650M :D
 
the U500 looks like a very nice unit but it doesnt have the ability to transform to a tablet that i was looking for
 
My wife just got a Yoga 13 today, and all I can say so far is "wow."

The keyboard feels fine even exposed like it is in tablet mode, the screen is 1600x900, IVB i5 @ 1.70 GHz.

I've only been able to mess with it long enough to add myself as a user and run a windows experience (4.7, lowest score of course being graphics), but so far I love it.
 
My wife just got a Yoga 13 today, and all I can say so far is "wow."

The keyboard feels fine even exposed like it is in tablet mode, the screen is 1600x900, IVB i5 @ 1.70 GHz.

I've only been able to mess with it long enough to add myself as a user and run a windows experience (4.7, lowest score of course being graphics), but so far I love it.

Congrats! The Verge just reviewed the Yoga 13 and gave it 7.7. I'd be curious to see what you think of that review: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/9/3615468/lenovo-ideapad-yoga-13-review
 
I was pretty psyched about the Yoga 13 before handling it in person, the size/form factor seemed appealing, hadn't even read much about it beforehand...

A few of the issues I'd read in random comments immediately stuck out to me when I tried it tho, like the inconsistent off screen swipes and somewhat awkward combination of size/bulk and 16:9 ratio. Though most Win 8 convertibles are 16:9 regardless of size and the bulk/size is an advantage or disadvantage depending on what you're looking for, so it's somewhat subjective (on whether you want a laptop first/tablet second or a more balanced combo).

I wasn't really put off by the exposed keyboard tho, I knew about it beforehand obviously but I thought it worked well within the design and size/form factor. Gonna have to give that Verge review a read. Have they reviewed many of the new convertibles so far?
 
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Interesting review, on face value a 7.7 sounded low or disappointing but it seems pretty on point after reading it... Their conclusion is dead on too IMO, it's a very solid laptop that can act as a tablet (or a table tablet, or whatever ya wanna do with the 360 hinge), but it's a laptop first.

Same impression I got after 10 min with it. :p Seems it doesn't have any major issues outside the random touchpad/touchscreen inconsistencies. I had no issues with the touchscreen outside of trying to get at the app switching menu, always took me two tries.

Edit: Just read the Verge's Surface review, the 7.0 score they gave that actually feels a little high after having read the review... Though it makes a lot of sense, it's not a laptop replacement (no Win RT device could hope to be really) and it's hardly the best tablet experience out there either. I wish Anandtech was covering these Win 8 devices quicker. Their Surface and Vivo reviews were excellent as far as covering the hardware goes, but they were way too upbeat on Win RT while barely commenting on it (an OS article was promised but I haven't seen it).

The Verge's Surface review seemed a lot more balanced, and I don't even tend to like Topolsky's reviews, tho I do like the Verge's in general... It touches on the software issues even tho they put out their own Windows 8/RT article.
 
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I was pretty psyched about the Yoga 13 before handling it in person, the size/form factor seemed appealing, hadn't even read much about it beforehand...

A few of the issues I'd read in random comments immediately stuck out to me when I tried it tho, like the inconsistent off screen swipes and somewhat awkward combination of size/bulk and 16:9 ratio. Though most Win 8 convertibles are 16:9 regardless of size and the bulk/size is an advantage or disadvantage depending on what you're looking for, so it's somewhat subjective (on whether you want a laptop first/tablet second or a more balanced combo).

I wasn't really put off by the exposed keyboard tho, I knew about it beforehand obviously but I thought it worked well within the design and size/form factor. Gonna have to give that Verge review a read. Have they reviewed many of the new convertibles so far?

Too many people concerned with the keyboard....it does NOT touch the surface its laying on if its flat.....the keys are recessed in the laptop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVRt5KhRh_M


Edit, I did mess around with the display model at BestBuy (Yoga). The only thing build quality wise that was a concern.....if you hold the laptop while open.....and give it a slight movement....the hinge gets loose and lets the lcd move far too much. But the lcd frame has little twist/flex.....keyboard has little to no flex.....just a great built laptop.
 
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