Lenovo Yoga Pro 3 #YouInspired

The Lenovo #YouInspired campaign is one of the most amazing campaigns I have been part of in 2014. Of course I’m biased because they picked only 250 emerging “influencers” from the creative industry from the whole WORLD and I am one of them. One of the best parts of this campaign is that the brand has no expectations from these influencers. The only encouragement is to be inspired and to create something using the devices Lenovo has sent across to all of us. Since creating is something all 250 of us do on a daily basis, it is akin to giving us a cool toy to play with and then to just sit back and relax and watch us go nuts!

The branding around this campaign deserves a special mention. From the illustrations and graphics, to the printed posters and the quality of paper and printing used, to the design of the box in which the devices have been delivered and the quality of material used in the packaging… stellar job. Lenovo commissioned awesome illustrators for creating these graphics and each of the 250 influencers first received a stunning poster announcing the campaign and introducing us to it. My poster is up on my study’s door.

It was a thrill to unbox / unpack this box. I had no idea what device they would be sending and was super-thrilled to find the most amazing Yoga Pro 3 in my box! The box did seem heavy enough that at one point I was wondering if they’d sent me another Y510P Ideapad ( which I had purchased a few months ago because I needed a machine that could power through my intense photo-processing ). The Yoga Pro 3 barely weighs anything and the weight of the box was from the padding and construction material to keep the device safe during its travels across the world.

Lenovo was also thoughtful enough to send in adaptive plugs for international electrical sockets. Now if I travel to any corner of the world, I don’t have to worry about charging my ultrabook – even though I usually charge it once in two days because it has a LONG battery life. The longest on any of my devices personally.

And there it is! Shiny silver! The metal eels great to touch. Later on I learned that they have an orange version as well and I’m still drooling thinking about THAT. We always want more – the more colorful the better!

One of the beautiful bits on this powerful machine is the watch-bracelet style hinge that connects the screen to the keyboard side. It is beautiful. And it also makes a sound like a clicking metal watch bracelet when I idly caress it while working on it in Tablet mode. Feels like a nice tactile bit of interaction.

The rubber padded surface is easier on my wrist and palm’s skin too. The metallic ones usually create uncomfortable pressure and friction.

Above, fully flat and below turned all the way around! I was recently out and about and had anticipated a few hours of waiting time. I carried the Yoga Pro 3 with me to utilize the waiting time. It was gleeful watching people’s eyes popping when I completely folded the ultrabook! I was using Pinterest and prefer using the touchscreen in tablet mode instead of using the keyboard. Notice how nonchalantly I slipped in the “touchscreen” in the last sentence? Yup. I can interact with the screen using my bare hands. OMG I died and went to heaven. For once the boy will not laugh at me when I attempt to drag something on the screen. I do that ALL the time with my laptop, especially when I’ve just spent a lot of time interacting with my smartphone’s screen. OMGOMGOMGOMG!

If I want, I can also do some image processing on this ultrabook although I would not try Adobe Photoshop on it, I have installed Adobe Lightroom for those times when I’m in a pinch and couldn’t be bothered to carry the heavy laptop. And the ultrabook has a memory card reader, so no additional piece of external hardware to carry for transferring images from my camera. One of the interface things that I still have to get used to is accidentally powering off this machine because the power-button is on the side and when I want to fold it or carry it, I end up depressing the button and the machine goes to sleep. Luckily it starts up so quickly that it isn’t a time-hog re-starting but still.

JBL speakers at the bottom of the Yoga Pro 3. Best used when you’ve folded it around and are watching something full screen. If the audio on the piece you’re watching is good, these speakers are quite powerful.

The Lenovo Ideapad Y510P that I use for my photo post-production has a beautiful backlit keyboard and I was wondering about that feature on the Yoga Pro 3 and behold! I does have that! Stoked. Now I can Pin at night in bed and fall asleep gently without having my eyes dying to adjust to the glare of the screen and the blank dark patch of the keyboard ( when I’m not using the tablet mode that is. )

One gripe that I have is that when the device is folded all the way around and I have to use the tablet mode only, while the keyboard does get deactivated because otherwise you would be pressing all kinds of keys at the back, there is no protector for the keyboard and touchpad. I have to be super careful about using the tablet mode only when I know I am either wearing trousers with no metal bits sticking out or I have a flat surface to place the tablet on or then I have to support the weight of the machine with my left hand. Supporting with the hand is not advisable because while the Yoga Pro 3 is light compared to laptops, it is by no means nice to your wrist. At least not to mine – I have thin wrists.

I am also investigating a strange screen flicker / violent on/off that is affecting my browsing experience on the ultrabook. Not sure why it is happening but the stuff on the screen disappears and keeps flickering. When I touch the touchpad, the contents remain on the screen for the duration of the touch. The moment I lift my finger, the screen starts to flicker again. It doesn’t turn off – I can see illumination on the screen – but there is no content on the screen. It has happened both in Chrome and in Internet Explorer and even when I turn those two off, the desktop screen still flickers. The last time it happened, just to try something, I connected the power-cord as the device was running on battery. The flickering immediately went away. I’m thinking it might be a power management issue and I still haven’t figured out how to get into the Yoge Pro 3’s power management. Will report on how it goes.

And this below is what I am doing so much more of since Lenovo sent in this beautiful device! Pinning! Yay! I love it.

I’m also looking at apps that might help me sketch directly on the screen of the tablet. So far no luck. The Android app store has spoiled me rotten. The Windows app store is bare at best.

Lenovo and Cool Hunting have a brilliant campaign at their behest. I am looking at more brands adopting a similar organic approach to dealing with influencers. No amount of money can buy the kind of content someone like me can produce for a gorgeous device like Lenovo’s Yoga Pro 3. Especially when I know that the brand considers me to be an important emerging influencer. One of only 250 in the whole wide world. When I know that the brand trusts me enough to have given me complete freedom on how I want to express my experience with their product.

You can track the various updates on the #YouInspired hashtag on Twitter / Facebook and Instagram