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In our multitasking test, the Intel Core M processor in the Yoga 3 Pro performed slower than a host of comparable systems, including last year's Yoga 2 Pro, Apple's MacBook Air and Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, each of which use a more common Intel Core i5.

As forward-looking and dynamic as the design is, the performance, both in applications and battery life, feels like a step backward. The Yoga 3 Pro is a clear example of design and performance falling into two different categories.

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The default $1,300 configuration, also the one available at Best Buy and other retailers, has a 256GB SSD, while an upgrade to 512GB is $1,500. The only differences are in the chassis color, and the size of the internal SSD flash drive. The variations available from Lenovo share the same display, CPU, RAM, and other features. The power connector can work as a USB 2.0 port when not plugged in, and there are two normal USB 3.0 ports besides. You'll need a special cable or dongle to take advantage of that. Stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jackДЇor a slim laptop, the only real compromise for the ports is the use of Micro-HDMI for a video output. Despite this, Lenovo manages to fit a backlight in behind the keyboard, which is a very welcome feature.

Other thin laptops, such as the MacBook Air, have much deeper key travel, and feel better suited for long-form typing. The keys are especially shallow, with a little bit of a plastic clack to them.

But, in order to make the system as thin as it is, compromises were required. The keyboard retains much of what we love about Lenovo keyboards, including the slight outward curve to the bottom edge of each key, which makes it harder to accidentally miss a keystroke. While the percentage difference may seem small, the difference from an older Yoga was striking. In our hands-on time with the system, it certainly felt like the thinnest Yoga yet, at 12.8mm thick. Instead of two hinges, typically plastic or aluminum, this new hinge has the look and feel of a long section of watchband material and is constructed of more than 800 individual pieces of steel and aluminum, with six points of attachment across the 13-inch display.Д«esides being visually striking, the new hinge allows the Yoga 3 Pro to be, according to Lenovo, 17 percent thinner and 14 percent lighter than last year's Yoga 2 Pro. But advanced tasks such as gaming or HD video editing are better served by more powerful PCs. For the type of work most of us do, running a few Web browsers, streaming video and music and working on office documents, the Yoga 3 Pro felt fast enough. If I were simply using the Yoga 3 Pro without seeing any of those application performance or battery life numbers, I'd be very impressed. Lest this sound like an unenthusiastic take on this new hybrid, remember, there's more to judging a computer than just on-paper performance numbers.

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Battery life is also below what a portable system such as this needs, optimistically hitting around six hours, while most of the PCs we compared it with add at least two hours to that, and the 13-inch MacBook Air more than doubles it. What we're left with is performance that's good enough for everyday use, but not as robust as competing products - and not the kind of multitasking performance one might expect from a $1,300 laptop (ВЈ1,300 in the UK and AU$2,099 in Australia). As the only Core M product we've been able to fully benchmark, it's hard to say if the issues are with the CPU itself, or Lenovo's implementation of the platform.

CORE YOGA PRICES PC

The Yoga 3 Pro is the first consumer PC with the Core M CPU, and at least for now, the victim of some early growing pains.

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