Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i Is an Unprecedented Laptop For People Who Hate Foldables (arstechnica.com) 17
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica, written by Scharon Harding: Like it or not, companies are set on making foldable PCs a thing. Asus' Zenbook 17 Fold OLED turned out to be one of 2022's most adventurous laptops, and Lenovo is planning its second foldable, the 16-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold for this spring. Assuming an operating system and apps that play well with the form factor, foldables excite multitaskers, workers, and creatives who can benefit from larger, yet still portable, display options, especially those who don't need a keyboard and touchpad at all times. But foldable PCs are very new and have their faults, from durability and compatibility concerns to the crease that can visibly run down the display's middle. Lenovo's Yoga Book 9i announced today at CES in Las Vegas aims to boost pixel count in a way that feels both more and less obvious: replacing the keyboard and touchpad with another laptop-size screen. It's the dual-screen PC for people who want all the pixels but none of the fold.
Lenovo's press release calls the Yoga Book 9i the 'first full-size dual screen OLED laptop' among vendors selling at least 1 million units a year. Targeting creative consumers who also want a machine with strong productivity that's also fit for entertainment, the laptop has two 13.3-inch OLED panels connected by the soundbar hinge that Lenovo has been using in its Yoga convertible lineup for a while. Each OLED screen has 2880x1800 pixels in a 16:10 aspect ratio. That's 255.36 pixels per inch (ppi) for each panel and 10,368,000 pixels total. That's 12.5 to 25 percent more total pixels than a 4K screen, depending on whether it's 16:9 or 16:10. Each screen runs at a 60 Hz refresh rate and claims a max brightness of 400 nits. Each screen's brightness is individually adjustable. Lenovo also claims 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, and each screen supports Dolby Vision HDR.
The Yoga Book 9i will come with a physical Bluetooth keyboard that you can use detached from the system or magnetically docked to the bottom two-thirds of the lower screen. Alternatively, you can use a virtual keyboard on the southern screen. With a physical or virtual keyboard docked, you can use the remaining top third of that display for Windows widgets, such as the Weather, News, and Sticky Notes. But if you don't use Windows widgets, the area is kind of useless because you can't use it for anything else, like a shrunken window. With the virtual keyboard on display, I was also able to quickly bring up a virtual touchpad by sliding the virtual keyboard up with my fingers. If this touchpad works well, it's a clever inclusion for times that you want more traditional navigation but don't have a mouse on hand. [...] The Yoga Book 9i is designed for "users with large budgets seeking a premium system with a unique form factor that remains portable while providing more screen than the usual laptop," writes Harding in conclusion. The 2-in-1 will start at $2,100 and go on sale in June.
Lenovo's press release calls the Yoga Book 9i the 'first full-size dual screen OLED laptop' among vendors selling at least 1 million units a year. Targeting creative consumers who also want a machine with strong productivity that's also fit for entertainment, the laptop has two 13.3-inch OLED panels connected by the soundbar hinge that Lenovo has been using in its Yoga convertible lineup for a while. Each OLED screen has 2880x1800 pixels in a 16:10 aspect ratio. That's 255.36 pixels per inch (ppi) for each panel and 10,368,000 pixels total. That's 12.5 to 25 percent more total pixels than a 4K screen, depending on whether it's 16:9 or 16:10. Each screen runs at a 60 Hz refresh rate and claims a max brightness of 400 nits. Each screen's brightness is individually adjustable. Lenovo also claims 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage, and each screen supports Dolby Vision HDR.
The Yoga Book 9i will come with a physical Bluetooth keyboard that you can use detached from the system or magnetically docked to the bottom two-thirds of the lower screen. Alternatively, you can use a virtual keyboard on the southern screen. With a physical or virtual keyboard docked, you can use the remaining top third of that display for Windows widgets, such as the Weather, News, and Sticky Notes. But if you don't use Windows widgets, the area is kind of useless because you can't use it for anything else, like a shrunken window. With the virtual keyboard on display, I was also able to quickly bring up a virtual touchpad by sliding the virtual keyboard up with my fingers. If this touchpad works well, it's a clever inclusion for times that you want more traditional navigation but don't have a mouse on hand. [...] The Yoga Book 9i is designed for "users with large budgets seeking a premium system with a unique form factor that remains portable while providing more screen than the usual laptop," writes Harding in conclusion. The 2-in-1 will start at $2,100 and go on sale in June.
Honestly (Score:2)
This is the approach I've been hoping some foldable phone maker would take. With good engineering, you could make the division between the two screens very tiny - and users would almost certainly stop noticing it after a few minutes of use.
I'm not a fan of this approach on a laptop, though - unless you don't need to actually use the keyboard much (in which case, why get a laptop at all?). I am convinced this is where Jony Ive was intending to go with Apple laptops - those thin, horrible keyboards were inten
Re: (Score:2)
I agree.
And as an creative user myself (doing 3D + DTP editing and graphics work) I can see some use for it if it was as good as say a Wacom Cintiq drawing tablet, because then you'd have a full-range pressure sensitive foldable you could take with you anywhere but as far as I can see that's not remotely the case.
And I used to have a Sony ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] ) that had this concept 8 years ago but typing on a flat surface like that wasn't a big hit, and the thing is ultra-rare now, didn't ca
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft did it with the Duo and it sucked. Imo it's solved with the flexible OLEDs now, the first get was a bit rough but there are now many solid options that work well.
But I agree, it's great that they're trying stuff, but I don't see many usecases for this thing. Have to carry around a bluetooth keyboard and a stand would be a major pain in the ass, and you can't even use it as one big monitor for movies because of the gap.
Re: (Score:2)
And touchscreen keyboards aren't just uncomfortable, they're inconvenient and highly distracting.
Every time you move a finger to a different key you're going to get positional drift drift, return to the original key, more drift. And eventually that drift is going to add up to your fingers hitting between keys instead of near their centers. That's the reason old (and high-quality new) keyboards, typewriters, etc. all have curved-top keys, to provide mostly-subconscious tactile feedback to help you recenter
Re: (Score:2)
With good engineering, you could make the division between the two screens very tiny - and users would almost certainly stop noticing it after a few minutes of use.
I challenge you to tied a piece of thin black yarn around your monitor and see how fast you stop noticing it. Even thick thread. Or if you've ever used a monitor where a line of pixels has died. You can learn to live with it, but it never really stops being annoying.
At least on a phone most people aren't trying to work for hours at a time. And personally I'd prefer a perpetually annoying line than a failure-prone flexing screen.
And the hinge mechanism...
I mean, you could make it fold backwards with a norm
Re: (Score:2)
This is a usable laptop. Usable for what purpose, I have no idea.
No iconic red TrackPoint nub? (Score:2)
At first the concept sounded very gimmicky to me, but looking at the photo showing all the different configurations it can be used in made me see that it has a lot of interesting versatility. Personally I'd use it in the vertical dual-screen mode with physical keyboard the majority of the time, but then I noticed it lacked the iconic IBM/Lenovo red TrackPoint nub.
I would think including the TrackPoint nub would be a minimal addition for Lenovo to incorporate and greatly enhance usability and functionality
Re: (Score:2)
How many people actually use the TrackPoint nib though? I know that those that like it are very vocal about their love for the nib but how many people actually use it? The only time I think I have used it is when someone has turned off their trackpad to avoid accidental cursor movements while typing.
Re: (Score:2)
The included physical keyboard stand has no touchpad, and when used in the dual monitor configuration, whether vertical or horizontal, you can use the screens as touch screens but NOT as a touchpad under your thumbs. So in these configurations you run exactly into the situtation where you yourself say you would use the TrackPoint.
Re: (Score:2)
Honestly though, if you're using the keyboard/stand you almost certainly have a carrying bag to store the separate pieces, and have to "assemble" the thing before use anyway. In which case wouldn't you much rather just add a wireless mouse to the system?
Re: (Score:2)
Not just "Shiny!". The big driver for glossy screens is that they look substantially brighter and more vibrant when side by side with the identical matte-finished screen.
Those in the know recognize that, but Joe Average consumer doesn't, and they're responsible for the overwhelming majority of purchases. They go to the store and see two otherwise similar laptops for about the same price, they buy the one with a much brighter and more vibrant screen. Most TVs are glossy for the same reason, but at least t
Re: (Score:2)
I mean, most laptops since the beginning have had keyboards somewhere between barely adequate and terrible, and it's only gotten worse over time. So lets just stop lugging the damned things around...
Linux... (Score:5, Informative)
Newer Lenovo laptops are mostly using Cirrus Logic amplifier chips to control audio. Most likely the CSC3551 (which is supported by the linux cs35l41 driver). The problem will be that Lenovo won't add the entries to the DSD table so that the Linux drivers know how to configure the amp chips: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/sh... [kernel.org]
Lenovo has refused to do this for all of their laptops with otherwise supported Cirrus Logic amp chips.
Lenovo,
You have the model specific info needed by the amp drivers, because you have working windows drivers. Just add add this info to the DSD tables in BIOS updates to your various models that make use of such chips. There's really no reason not to at this point. The Linux drivers were written by Cirrus Logic themselves!
Other vendors are doing this. This is not even a Linux-specific thing. Asus has these requisite DSD entries for the CSC3551's in their laptops.
IIRC, The Steam Deck even uses CSC3551!
I'm not asking for official Linux support for your non-supported laptops. But there's no reason to not do the minimal work to get sound working outside of Windows. It's utterly ridiculous.
oh a slashvertisement (Score:2)