Razer Blade Stealth vs Lenovo Yoga 900

[Brye96]

Looking for a new laptop for college and have narrowed it down to these two devices. If I go with the stealth I do not intend to get the core, as I plan to use it for its functionality as an ultrabook, I already have a desktop for gaming. I am torn as both devices seem good, the lenovo has slightly higher specs but I have heard that it may suffer in construction quality. Any pros or cons between the two would be appreciated, as well as any comments on build quality or customer service.

 

Razer Blade Stealth: 12.5" QHD (2560x1440) Screen, i7-6500U Dual core cpu, HD 520 graphics, 8GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1199.99

 

Lenovo Yoga 900: 13.3" QHD+ (3200x1800) Screen, i7-6560U Dual core cpu, Iris 540 graphics, 16GB ram, 512GB PCIe SSD $1249.99

[Drunk_Klaus]

If you're just going for portability, word processing and browsing the web I would just go with the cheaper one.

[Enderman]

there are TONS of better ultrabooks than the stealth

[Brye96]

 

10 minutes ago, Enderman said:

there are TONS of better ultrabooks than the stealth

If not one of these two, which would you recommend?

[Enderman]

35 minutes ago, Brye96 said:

 

If not one of these two, which would you recommend?

idk about the lenovo one, i havent seen it

 

the dell XPS, asus zenbook, and some HP ultrabook that just came out are really good

[Snikerdoodlz]

If you can and want to, look for a used one. They can be hundreds of $$$ off of the new price and often work perfectly..

[FairyTwinkle]

I am in the exact same position as you Brye96 and I was about to post my own post on the forum until I saw this one.

 

For me, the factors that would help me decide the best between these ultrabooks are:

 

1) whether or not the type-c thunderbolt port (Stealth) is significantly better than the type-c non-thunderbolt port (Yoga) if I do not plan on using the Razer Core, at least for the foreseeable future

 

2) Whether or not the 16 GB of ram and 512GB ssd that comes with the $1400 model (currently $1250 for some reason) is important/worth it.

 

3) Which hinge design is actually better (the Yoga watch band design is more versatile though flimsier than the wonderful Razer clam-shell design)

 

I hope to have this laptop for 5 or so years, and use it as a secondary computer since I have a desktop for gaming and CPU/GPU intensive activities. 

 

I would love to hear some opinions from some people who have used one or both of these devices!

Thanks!

[Brye96]

Looking at the xps, if I went with the 13 I would want the i7 version

 

xps 13: 13.3" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6500U dual core cpu, HD 520 graphics, 8GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1499.00

 

However, looking at a bit higher end there is the xps 15 and razer blade 14"

 

xps 15: 15.6" 4k (3840x2160) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 960M, 16GB ram, 512GB PCIe SSD $1999.00

 

blade 14": 14" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 970M, 16GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1999.99

 

If I go for the high end here, I am kind of leaning towards the xps 15, thoughts?

[FairyTwinkle]

3 minutes ago, Brye96 said:

Looking at the xps, if I went with the 13 I would want the i7 version

 

xps 13: 13.3" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6500U dual core cpu, HD 520 graphics, 8GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1499.00

 

However, looking at a bit higher end there is the xps 15 and razer blade 14"

 

xps 15: 15.6" 4k (3840x2160) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 960M, 16GB ram, 512GB PCIe SSD $1999.00

 

blade 14": 14" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 970M, 16GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1999.99

 

If I go for the high end here, I am kind of leaning towards the xps 15, thoughts?

Since you have a dedicated machine for gaming, you may want to save a couple hundred bucks and stick with integrated graphics, unless its important for you to be able to play games or edit media content on the go.

[Dackzy]

3 hours ago, Brye96 said:

Looking at the xps, if I went with the 13 I would want the i7 version

 

xps 13: 13.3" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6500U dual core cpu, HD 520 graphics, 8GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1499.00

 

However, looking at a bit higher end there is the xps 15 and razer blade 14"

 

xps 15: 15.6" 4k (3840x2160) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 960M, 16GB ram, 512GB PCIe SSD $1999.00

 

blade 14": 14" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 970M, 16GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1999.99

 

If I go for the high end here, I am kind of leaning towards the xps 15, thoughts?

Stop looking at shitty at razer laptops, I think we have been over all the problems with them so many times here on the forum. Some of them: Heat problems, thermal throttling, bad build quality, no quality control.

build materials =/= build quality.

[LordLeewee]

3 hours ago, Brye96 said:

Looking at the xps, if I went with the 13 I would want the i7 version

 

xps 13: 13.3" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6500U dual core cpu, HD 520 graphics, 8GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1499.00

 

However, looking at a bit higher end there is the xps 15 and razer blade 14"

 

xps 15: 15.6" 4k (3840x2160) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 960M, 16GB ram, 512GB PCIe SSD $1999.00

 

blade 14": 14" QHD+ (3200x1800) screen, i7-6700HQ quad core cpu, GTX 970M, 16GB ram, 256GB PCIe SSD $1999.99

 

If I go for the high end here, I am kind of leaning towards the xps 15, thoughts?

 

either xps would do you well, battery life is great on the 15" if you go for the 1080 screen. 

[Brye96]

21 hours ago, FairyTwinkle said:

I am in the exact same position as you Brye96 and I was about to post my own post on the forum until I saw this one.

 

For me, the factors that would help me decide the best between these ultrabooks are:

 

1) whether or not the type-c thunderbolt port (Stealth) is significantly better than the type-c non-thunderbolt port (Yoga) if I do not plan on using the Razer Core, at least for the foreseeable future

 

2) Whether or not the 16 GB of ram and 512GB ssd that comes with the $1400 model (currently $1250 for some reason) is important/worth it.

 

3) Which hinge design is actually better (the Yoga watch band design is more versatile though flimsier than the wonderful Razer clam-shell design)

 

I hope to have this laptop for 5 or so years, and use it as a secondary computer since I have a desktop for gaming and CPU/GPU intensive activities. 

 

I would love to hear some opinions from some people who have used one or both of these devices!

Thanks!

I think Ive decided on the razed blade stealth, I like the look of it more and the storage is upgradable, and as I don't see myself doing much if any gaming on it in the foreseeable future, I think 8 gigs of ram is fine. It's portability coupled with the versatility of a thunderbolt port means that I can probably squeeze 4-5 years out of it, and with a $1200 price tag I'd say that's decent. Also, if I do end up wanting to game it is easy to get a core, although I doubt that will happen, but it is an option that is open which is not avalible on the yoga. I'm probably going to be getting my stealth at the end of this month, so if you haven't gotten it before then I will let you know if I have any regrets! 

[Dackzy]

uh I will come back and say I told you so when you see all the problems with it.

[neoxid501]

I'm in exactly the same situation you are. I'm looking for a light laptop that can get a lot done and you actually introduced the Yoga 900 as an option for me. The XPS's with specs that I'm comfortable with are out of my price range, and the Stealth with the 256GB SSD seems like the perfect solution. 

 

At a Microsoft store, I actually had the opportunity to see the Stealth (along with using the Htc Vive which was AWESOME). My impressions of using it for light browsing:

 

1) I'm not a keyboard expert, so all I can really say is that it worked. Linus said that he felt the keys were shallow and while I can definitely say that my mechanical keyboard feels better to type on, I didn't have a problem with the Stealth's

2) It looks cool with the RGB keyboard (duh)

3) The performance while web browsing was fast.

 

But worries me about it is the 8GB of RAM that its stuck with, and it only having two cores. I've had my Asus G75VX for about 4 years and I've been spoiled by 4 hyper threaded cores. From my understanding hyper threading lets a core "act" as two while not necessarily making a single physical core's performance more efficient.

 

My usual set up is left side of the screen: web browsing, right side: eclipse, gamemaker, or whatever else. But now that I'm in college, I've found that an accurate low latency touch screen, VGA and Ethernet ports (thanks to a thread I posted here actually), and comfort are very important things to have on a laptop.

 

I'm not saying "Don't buy the Blade Stealth" because I'm considering it as well but I will try to throw a few more options that I'm also considering your way in the $1000-$1200 price range that it seems that we're both looking in to (along with the first two links in case you do go for the Stealth):

 

HDM to VGA Adapter

USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet

 

Lenovo Yoga 900 - only one on this list with touch

Sager NP3240 - dump the HDD, throw in an 2.5" Samsung 850 and 16GB RAM and it's ~$1100 

Asus Zenbook UX305UA - tech spcs say 256GB SSD, ignore the title 

Venom Blackbook 13 Zero - Linus reviewed it here

[Dackzy]

13 minutes ago, neoxid501 said:

I'm not saying "Don't buy the Blade Stealth"

I am because it is a craptop that thermal throttles, has other heat issues, poor build quality, no quality control, bad keyboard. You can get better laptops for the money, the razer laptops might aswel just be Acer laptops.

Remember this: Build material =/= Build quality

[neoxid501]

2 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I am because it is a craptop that thermal throttles, has other heat issues, poor build quality, no quality control, bad keyboard. You can get better laptops for the money, the razer laptops might aswel just be Acer laptops.

Remember this: Build material =/= Build quality

Ultrabooks aren't as well covered as the high end gaming notebooks so the OP and I came here looking for suggestions from people who know more than us.

 

I get that there can't be one answer to the question: which should he buy?, but making it an easier decision would really help. It's like what you said "Build material =/= Build quality." Well I've never used the Stealth extensively so I wouldn't known about its problems until you told me.

 

So I'll ask for both of us: what would you recommend? A model, specs, price, and maybe even a link would be great!

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, neoxid501 said:

Ultrabooks aren't as well covered as the high end gaming notebooks so the OP and I came here looking for suggestions from people who know more than us.

 

I get that there can't be one answer to the question: which should he buy?, but making it an easier decision would really help. It's like what you said "Build material =/= Build quality." Well I've never used the Stealth extensively so I wouldn't known about its problems until you told me.

 

So I'll ask for both of us: what would you recommend? A model, specs, price, and maybe even a link would be great!

If you can take something that is a little thicker the T460s is amazing and is also the ultrabook that has scored the highest here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Ultrabooks.91067.0.html (that score is insane) Well it is a thinkpad so you can take it to hell and back and it would work. If you want something that looks a bit nicer XPS 13, if you want something with good power in it the HP EliteBook 845 G3 is good, it is really good if you use CAD software. 

[neoxid501]

lol I don't know the t460 he brought up looks pretty solid as soon as I can find a reputable seller and that has a SKU in my price range

 

Edit (elaboration): I'm not saying the Stealth is bad, but I have ZERO intention of gaming on my device. The lenovo being of a more business grade suits me better anyway

[neoxid501]

Update: Byre, if you are currently a student like I am make sure you check for special student discounts. Asus, Lenovo, and even Razer have student discount programs that I am more than happy to take advantage of