Review of Acer Travelmate B115-MP-C2TQ Netbook

This small Acer laptop has a good Acer battery life, an IPS panel and runs silently. Windows 8.1 Professional (64 bit) hints towards the business uses of this model.

The Travelmate B115-MP-C2TQ is the "serious" sibling of the Acer Aspire V3-731 and Acer Aspire E3-111, which we previously tested. Potential buyers of this notebook will be business users, which explains the Windows 8.1 Professional (64 bit) OS found on the notebook. The Aspire V3-111P was able to score points with us thanks to its long battery life and good keyboard. In the following in-depth review, we will find out what its sister model has to offer.

The Travelmate has the same build as the Aspire V3-111P and the Aspire E3-111, so we will not discuss the case, connectivity, input devices or speakers any further (unless there are major differences). For more information about these topics, we suggest taking a look at the reviews of its siblings.

Case & Connectivity

The Travelmate has the same build as the Aspire V3-571. However, their is a major difference, aside from the case colors, the Travelmate has a display cover made of brushed aluminium whereas the Aspire uses synthetic material. As such, the Travelmate cover is sturdier. the Travelmate is intended for business users as is shown by the Windows 8.1 (64 bit) Pro OS. The Acer security software 'ProShield' is pre-installed, but additional security features, like a Trusted Platform Module or a fingerprint reader are not included. The Travelmate buyers get an accessory which the buyers of the Aspire will not get: a HDMI-to-VGA adapter.

Display

The Travelmate uses a glossy 11.6 inch display, which has a native resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. The brightness (181.7 cd/m²) of the panel is not impressive as we have come to expect a value higher than 200 cd/m² as a minimum. After all, this is a small, portable laptop which is supposed to be used in various places. The contrast (744:1) and black value (0.27 cd/m²) are quite good.

Performance

The Travelmate B115-MP is a simple 11.6 inch notebook which is predestined for typing and surfing thanks to its long battery life. The Travelmate is aimed at business users, whereas the Aspire V3-111P puts the focus on private users. Our test model is available for around 420 Euros. Acer offers various other configurations - with or without touchscreen.

Review of Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro

Advantages of Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro:The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro's versatile design features a built-in kickstand and pico projector. Its HD screen is sharp and battery life is long. Its The front-facing speakers and rear subwoofer sound loud and crisp. Moreover, it has a long Lenovo battery life.

Disadvantages of Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro: There's no app tray. The projector's brightness is rather dim in most rooms and its low resolution will disappoint fans of high-definition video. Also, it's a bit heavy.

The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is the most innovative tablet I've seen all year. The 13.3-inch mammoth features a familiar design with a unique twist; it packs a built-in pico projector.

Performance-wise, it's not a monster, but feature-wise, it's a unicorn. Like last year's Android-based Yoga tablets, this model has a distinct rounded spine with a built-in kickstand that makes hands-free movie watching and on-screen typing easy peasy. Turn on the projector with the push of a button and it also doubles as a quick way to set-up a mobile movie theater. It's a unique, versatile design that works well for entertainment and practical purposes.

Design

If you're familiar with Lenovo's Yoga line of Android tablets, this one should look familiar. If you're not, this 13-inch mammoth probably appears a little odd. It looks like a normal tablet, with the exception of its chunky, rounded spine. The silver, cylindrical looking appendage houses the front-facing speakers and, if you flip it, you'll find the built-in stand.

The rear kickstand easily pops out with the push of a button and can flip out to 180 degrees. You can stand it upright for an all-in-one-like experience or flip it over and place it down to stably type out an email. It feels sturdy, though it's a thin piece of aluminum, and, thanks the addition of the button, it's easier to adjust than last year's models.

Software

Running Android 4.4.2, it comes with a medley of pre-loaded apps, including the full suite of Google apps, and it features a custom overlay that's slightly better than last year's Yoga tablets. The tweaks simplify the Android experience from its often overwhelming customization options and settings, but in a way that I consider more limiting than user-friendly.

 Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro looks very iOS-inspired, especially due to its lack of app tray. After being downloaded, apps are meant to be placed into prearranged categories like games, shopping and social. The categories can't be deleted or edited. You can place individual app shortcuts on one of the home screens instead, if you'd like.

Review of Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro laptop

Advantages：
 
The Yoga 3 Pro adds a unique new hinge to be thinner and lighter than ever. The high-resolution screen looks fantastic, and the hybrid design still works great as a laptop.

Disadvantages： 

This first outing with Intel's new Core M processor fails to impress, with mediocre performance and Lenovo battery life.


Lenovo's Yoga 3 Pro is so close to perfect that its shortcomings feel all the more frustrating. In terms of form and usability, this is easily my favorite new laptop design of the year. The iconic 360-degree fold-back Yoga hinge has been radically reimagined as a thin strip of watchband-like metal, allowing the body to be especially thin, while still just as flexible as previous versions for transforming into a kiosk or tablet.

It's remarkably thin and light, and feels just different enough from every other slim 13-inch laptop or hybrid to really count as a major step.

The other half of that step forward was supposed to come from Intel's new Core M CPU, a chip designed to be a perfect fit for thin, upscale tablets and hybrids that needed just the right mix of performance, battery life and energy efficiency. The big pitch for Core M is that systems using it can run with minimal cooling, or even without fans at all, allowing them to be thinner and lighter than ever.

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. 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. 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. But advanced tasks such as gaming or HD video editing are better served by more powerful PCs. 

 
Battery life was close to Lenovo's promised 7 hours during casual use, although even that feels skimpy by today's standards. Playing video seemed to hit the Core M, designed to throttle computing power to fit your usage, particularly hard, draining the battery in under six hours.