Lenovo Launches ThinkPad Yoga 260 And 460 Models Plus ThinkCentre M900 Tiny SFF PC
by Brett Howse on September 2, 2015 3:00 AM EST
In addition to the consumer PC refresh, Lenovo is updating and relaunching some of its business devices. The ThinkPad Yoga is the prosumer level version of the Yoga series, and includes the 360° hinge which allows it to be used as a laptop, or in three touch modes. Lenovo is also rolling out the ThinkCenter M900 Tiny, which is its latest rendition of the ultra-compact form factor for businesses.
The ThinkPad Yoga series started with just a single 12.5-inch model, but last year Lenovo added a couple of larger sizes as well. The Yoga 260 and Yoga 460 are the new 12.5 and 14-inch models respectively. Both are built like a ThinkPad, and include things like carbon fibre in the chassis and the ThinkPad trademark TrackPoint. The ThinkPad Yoga lineup also continues to offer stylus support.
The Yoga 260 features a 12.5-inch display with both 1366x768 and 1920x1080 offerings. The latest models are of course updated with Intel’s new Skylake-U series processors, with everything from i3-6100U all the way up to i7-6600U models available. You can outfit the laptop with up to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 512 GB of SSD storage. Battery life is rated at 10 hours on this model.
The ThinkPad Yoga 460 is the 14-inch version, and it can be had with either 1920x1080 IPS or 2560x1440 IPS panels. The processor choices are just listed as Core i5 and i7 models, but it should be the same U series as the smaller 260 mode but with an optional GeForce 940M GPU. The 460 can only be had with 8 GB of DDR3L memory, a 256 GB SSD, or a 1 TB HDD. Battery life is rated the same as the 260, coming in at 10 hours.
ThinkPad Yoga 260
Networking is now upgraded as well, likely with the Intel 8265 card which offers 802.11ac as well as Bluetooth 4.1. The 260 model offers LTE-A support as an option.
| Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga | |||||
| ThinkPad Yoga 260 | ThinkPad Yoga 460 | ||||
| CPU | Up to 6th gen Intel Core i7 U series | ||||
| RAM | up to 16 GB DDR4 | up to 8 GB DDR3L | |||
| Storage | Up to 512 GB SSD | Up to 256 GB SSD / 1 TB HDD | |||
| GPU | Intel graphics | Intel graphics or GeForce 940M | |||
| Display | 12.5" 1366x768 or 1920x1080 | 14" 1920x1080 or 2560x1440 | |||
| Weight | 1.3 kg / 2.9 lbs | 1.8 kg / 3.9 lbs | |||
| Dimensions | (mm) : 309.9 x 220 x 17.8 (inches) : 12.20" x 8.66" x 0.70" |
(mm) : 338 x 236 x 19 (inches) : 13.30" x 9.29" x 0.74" |
|||
| Networking | 802.11ac w/ BT 4.1, LTE Optional | ||||
| Price | $949+ | $1049+ | |||
| OS | Windows 10 or Windows 7 | ||||
Since these are ThinkPads, they can be custom ordered, and you can get options such as smart card readers and fingerprint readers if necessary.
ThinkPad Yoga 460
For those looking for small desktop PC replacements, the ThinkCentre Tiny series has offered some interesting solutions for several years now. The M900 can be equipped with a monitor with built-in mounting bracket, and the M900 is also outfitted with Skylake processors. The small form factor device can be outfitted with up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory, and a wide selection of storage offerings including a 512 GB SSD or 2 TB HDD. There are six USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, headset jack, card reader, and even a serial port option. Wifeless is either a single stream 802.11ac option or 2x2:2 802.11ac.
The All-in-One offering is a 23-inch 1920x1080 monitor which can be had with or without touch.
| Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny | |||||
| M900 | |||||
| CPU | Up to 6th gen Intel Core i7 U series | ||||
| RAM | up to 32GB DDR4 | ||||
| Storage | Up to 512 GB SSD or up to 2TB HDD | ||||
| GPU | Intel graphics | ||||
| AIO Display | 23.8" 1920x1080 | ||||
| Camera | 1920x1080 with 2 microphones (Lync Certified) | ||||
| Networking | 802.11ac w/ BT, Ethernet | ||||
| Price | $749+ | ||||
| OS | Windows 10 or Windows 7 | ||||
I’ve been a big fan of the Yoga series over the years, and the ThinkPad Yoga seems to be a pretty well built two-in-one device. Hopefully we can get a couple of these in to test and review.
Source: Lenovo
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edzieba - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
The original 12" Thinkpad Yoga (Haswell) had the very useful OneLink dock port, as did the previous generation (Broadwell) Thinkpad Yogas. The new Thinkpad Yogas appear to have lost this feature, leaving this generation with NO dedicated docking connector. USB 'docks' are sadly still pretty garbage in terms of performance and display quality, and do not take care of charging on the same cable.k3davis - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
The OneLink+ Dock and Pro WiDi Adapter will be available in Q4 2015. - full press releaseValantar - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
The large connector next to the power socket on the Yoga 260 looks like a docking connector to me. It's definitely not any standard connector for anything else, at least. might be that they have redesigned the connector though, which is probably necessary from time to time with ever thinner designs.Visual - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
I hope there are 3e GPU options. What are the chances that will beat even the 940M?ddriver - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Having the keyboard on the underside in tablet mode is just silly. Come up with a decent slider design already, don't be lazy.Einy0 - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
I'm not sure about these new units but the older generation units had a mechanical connection that made the keyboard tray come up to meet the keys. The where barely above the tray so the surface area on the back felt more like a slightly bumpy textured area. It's not ideal but I think it's the best convertible design I've seen. I prefer to skip the convertible all together; I feel like it's not good enough as either a tablet or a laptop.ddriver - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Convertibles are great if you do artistic work. Naturally, that implies the presence of a decent pressure sensitive stylus. Pure tablets are often too weak in specs (cpu and ram) to handle professional artist software, whereas convertibles, being bigger, do have the room to fit and displace the heat from more powerful cpus.The slider is by far the most practical design, the touchpad is pretty much obsolete due to the presence of a touch screen. Due to the lack of a touchpad the slider is compact and the keyboard can be used even without tilting the screen as in "laptop mode", when the screen and the keyboard are flat at the same angle. The slider is also sturdier in laptop mode due to the extra support behind the screen.
I do realize tablets are 95% about content consumption, and very few people use them for serious work. But I don't care about content consumption, I care only for the professional aspect of using a device, so I care about the device being practical and useful. I don't mind the extra weight. Quite frankly, if all you are after is content consumption, get something light and thin. 2 in 1 devices are much better fit for people who are in content production.
Arthur B. - Friday, December 18, 2015 - link
A lot of smoke there... Tablets don't only consist of 8" HP Streams and Dell Venues, which you're not going to do any artwork on, but just take notes if you use the stylus at all. There are powerful tablets, the most obvious of which are MS Surface Pro 3/4, Sony VAIO Z Canvas (i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD), etc. that people use for artwork.Convertibles (a.k.a. 2-in-1's) are the best of both worlds, targeted for 'prosumers', which most users are, and they actually don't usually come with as good of styli for artwork.
ThinkPad Yoga's are among the best for the prosumer category. The hinge mechanism works amazingly well in that all that rotation doesn't cause an iota of slack in the laptop mode, and the sturdiness of the screen is retained. But in that mode, you use the touchpad or the trackpoint more often than touches on the screen, as those are closer to the keyboard, since if you're getting a ThinkPad keyboard, you probably touch-type with 10 fingers.
They have the Lift'n Lock mechanism in non-laptop modes where the keyboard frame in-between the keys is raised so the keys are not pressable on the back. (Otherwise MS Surface would have the "problem" when you wrap the keyboard back, but that also disables the keyboard.)
kaidenshi - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Do they all come with a free spyware/rootkit upgrade as well? Can't have a Lenovo without that!ddriver - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Well, it does come with windows 10, so that goes without saying.