Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Ultrabook Review

The IdeaPad Yoga 13 boots very quickly. In just six seconds, the system was displaying the login screen. After logging in, you'll see the standard Windows 8 Start screen. Out of the box, the Windows 8 desktop is clean: only the Recycle Bin is displayed.

Taking a look at the list of installed programs, you'll find a 90-day trial for Absolute Data Protect, McAfee, Lenovo EasyCamera, Lenovo Transition, Lenovo Cloud Storage by SugarSync, Microsoft Office 2010 (trial), Nitro Pro 7, and others. If you're watching a movie, giving a presentation, or using another compatible app, Lenovo Transition will automatically switch the application to full-screen mode when you rotate the computer screen to use it in tend, stand, or tablet mode. The Windows 8 startup screen includes a number of Lenovo apps including Skype, AccuWeather.com, Kindle, eBay, Evernote, and more.

Lenovo's Motion Control software uses the IdeaPad Yoga 13's webcam to enable you to control the PC using gestures. For example, you can swipe your hand to rewind or fast forward music and videos or to flip through photos. Supported applications include Windows Media Player, Windows Live Gallery, Picasa, Windows Photo Viewer, Adobe Reader, and Microsoft PowerPoint. During our tests, this functionality worked well most of the time, but we did experience a few occasional hiccups where the software didn't respond when we made a gesture.

Lenovo Cloud Storage by SugarSync comes with 5GB of storage for free. You can purchase additional storage space if you like. Prices range from $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) for 30GB to $39.99 per month (or $399.99 per year) for 500GB with various options in between these two plans. In addition, SugarSync offers a few ways that you can get additional storage for free. Currently, the company is offering free storage for referring friends, sharing a folder, or by installing the SugarSync Manager.