Best Convertible Laptops

Lenovo Yoga: A folding Ultrabook/tablet that's not just a gimmick

The best laptop that's also a tablet, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 (Est. $1,000 and up) relies on a simple but sturdy backward-bending hinge. You can use it like a regular laptop, fold it all the way back for tablet mode, or stop partway to set up your Yoga like a stand or tent.

And that's actually useful, experts say. "Surprisingly awesome," says PC World, awarding the Yoga a nearly perfect rating. "The best hybrid design we've seen so far," adds PCMag.com. TheVerge.com's David Pierce finds himself using tent mode constantly: "It's an ideal way to watch movies," he says. "There's something different when you can't see the keyboard -- the screen doesn't feel so far away, and I found myself somehow more immersed than I normally am watching things on my laptop."

Otherwise, the Yoga is "a pretty normal machine that does wacky things with its hinge," Pierce says. As a full-fledged Ultrabook, it's slim at 0.7 inch thick and light at 3.4 pounds, with speedy internals. Normal tasks will be a breeze whether you choose the base Core i3 version with 4 GB of RAM and speedy 128 GB SSD, or a step-up Core i5 or i7 model with 8 GB of RAM. (The latest Intel Haswell processors hadn't hit the Yoga as of this update.) A 13.3-inch touch screen, comfortable keyboard and solid battery life of 5 to 6 hours add up to a very tempting Ultrabook. In fact, critics name the Yoga one of their favorite ultraportable computers, period.

Its main rival, the Dell XPS 12 (Est. $1,100 and up) , also converts from a laptop to a tablet and gets good reviews, but it's held back by its more complicated folding mechanism. Its screen is smaller at 12.5 inches, but the touch screen is brighter and higher-resolution at 1,080p. One concern is less-than-stellar tech and customer support, as reported by PCMag.com and Laptop Magazine.

Which is the best convertible laptop? We give the Lenovo a slight edge. Still, experts recommend them both; it just depends what you're looking for.