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CYOD – The Device Selection

by asdfasdfasdfasdf on September 12, 2013

As pointed out here we are working through a Choose Your Own Device program (CYOD) to weigh the benefits against BYOD.

We were offered to choose one of a standard group of devices. The goal of the program was for the participants to use the device either as their primary or secondary device.

These are the devices the pilot group was offered, where I landed, and how I got there.

My goal was to choose a device that was as far from all of the other devices I currently use, and use it as my primary device.

These two points led me straight to the Lenovo Helix

All of the Ultrabooks were eliminated quickly because I already have one. They are definitely some slick options and I am partial to the Lenovo X1 Carbon. Super slick design and very strong hardware.
The tablet options are powered like traditional Apple and Google tablets of recent years. Definitely great tablets it’s just that I already have that too so this wouldn’t have been much of a differentiator.

The fact that it’s convertible is very attractive. The screen pulls away from the keyboard. So while you’re mobile if you want to drop some weight and don’t think you’ll be creating too much content you can leave the keyboard around and be left with a really powerful Windows 8 tablet. It also happens to have more ports than many of the other devices to choose from.

With the keyboard it’s not really an Ultrabook at just under 4 pounds, and is heavier than my existing Ultrabook which was a concern. Once you pull the keyboard away though it’s only 1.8 pounds which is slightly heavier than a typical tablet today and significantly lighter than my 3 pound Ultrabook. So far I’ve been leaving the keyboard at the office and traveling with the tablet only and definitely notice the weight difference in my bag.

The specifications are like an Ultrabook. Where most tablets have an Intel Atom processor, this one has a full Intel i7. Most tablets may have 2GB of memory, this one has 8GB. Most tablets have 32GB of disk space, this one has 128GB. Very much more powerful than a traditional tablet.

It’s running Microsoft Windows 8 which is taking some getting used to.

It’s only been a couple of days with the device and so far I’m really enjoying it.

Using it as my primary work device it’s docked most of the time. While docked I’m finding myself in Windows 8 desktop mode pretty much all of the time. I was also happy to find that my Apple Thuderbolt VGA adapter works with this device so I can use my 22 inch display while in the office.

The device is super peppy right now. It will be interesting to see how Windows 8 holds up after some use and some updates over time. It’s been very nice traveling with only 1.8 pounds in my bag. At home I’ve been using the Windows 8 tile interface just to go through emails and it’s been nice to use. Some of the gestures are interesting and convenient.

– Swipe from the left of the screen slightly AND back gets you the currently running programs.
– Swipe from the right side of the screen gets yo the search and options menu. This is definitely an important one to know.
– Swipe from the bottom of the screen up gets you the menu specific for the application currently in view.
– Swipe from the top down allows you to pinch the current program and close it.

Something to realize about the different interfaces is that they are almost two different operating systems.

For example the mail program in Metro isn’t going to configure Outlook on the desktop or vise versa. As another example configuring Box sync on the desktop is not going to configure the Box app in Metro or vise versa. Installing Google Chrome however gets done on the desktop and when it’s running is technically running in the Metro interface.

Just some brief observations for those who may be giving Windows 8 a whirl.

Check out the specs below. Here is a direct link to the Lenovo Helix website http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-helix/