Lenovo X1 Carbon 7th Generation 2019 - X1C7 - Pre-Order Start and Delivery Dates?

Lenovo X1 Carbon 7th Generation 2019 - X1C7

Pre-Order Start and Delivery Dates?

Hi there! I am in the market to update my X1 Carbon 1st Gen(!) to the current, upcoming X1 Carbon 7th Gen (X1C7). Obviously, the only available option currently (as of January 28, 2019) on Lenovo.com is the X1 Carbon 6th Gen.

May I ask if anyone knows when pre-order will begin and when delivery will start please?

I saw the initial press announcement at CES that "delivery is June 2019", though that is very broad and doesn't differentiate between pre-order start date and actual delivery date.

Thank you in advance.

 

They tend to keep this stuff on the QT until they're ready to announce it, so any information you get here is likely speculation.

 

This site has a good, super short summary of the essential pros and cons of this new generation X1C7:

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/24380-2019-lenovo-thinkpads/

"... Hopefully Lenovo will also keep their quality-control in check this time around. Last year’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon was highly praised by reviewers, but retail models suffered from various inconsistencies in the keyboard, display and finishing quality, which are unacceptable in such premium and highly priced computers."

Additionally, I like this summary of the screen options, which often are either incomplete or convoluted on various other sites:

1) 14.0 inch, FHD matte (400 nits),

2) FHD touch (400 nits),

3) FHD ePrivacy (400 nits),

4) WQHD matte (300 nits),

5) UHD 10-bit with HDR (500 nits)

My thoughts are that something more current, i.e. greater resolution than Options (1), (2) and (3) FHD above, would be desirable, as we're now in 2019 with good scalability via Windows 10. That leaves me with Options 4 or 5.

Option 5 is overkill for a 14" screen, imho. I'm on a 42" monitor with UHD 4K and it provides just the right amount of details for this large a monitor, and often, i have to scale it up to read dense text more comfortably. To think that this level of pixel density would be on a 14" screen would seem downright silly to me, unless one were some type of a media or photography specialist or enthusiast. Still, I find it hard to believe that a media/photography specialist would be satisfied with a 14" screen for any type of serious editing type of work.

That neatly leaves merely Option 4 as the only viable, reasonable, real world option for me: the WQHD. Sadly, this is the panel that @EricX smartly noted is the identical panel from 3 generations ago(!), i.e. for X1C5! That's just plain lazy or greedy on Lenovo's part, imho. They could easily have upgraded this WQHD to a more current model, with greater power consumption efficiency or superior viewing angles, etc. Something...just to indicate that they aren't merely churning these out to make a higher profit margin.

Alas, this isn't they way Lenovo is going. They are content to just churn these out with little tweaks here and there to increase margins and not give too much away in each iteration, each generation. What can one do? They are at the top of the market currently, even above the Dell XPS series.

That said, it is unconscionable for Lenovo to have suffered the quality control issues last year with the X1C6 and also the X1C5, with the loose screw issue causing possible electrical shorting of the internal battery, inter alia.

It is what it is. Once you're at the top, I suppose the temptation is to get a little lazy and increase profit margins to reap as much profit as one can after attaining such a position. Disappointing to say the least.

 

The FHD Touch panel should also just provide a brightness of 300 nits, probably the same as the X1 Carbon 2018. Only options 1, 3 and 5 are new.

 

@ibmthink:

may i ask if you feel that Option 4 is a smart option or do you think it might be a mistake, or a sub-optimal option please?

thank you in advance.

I just didn't want an FHD, as we know that Windows 10 is able to scale QHD/WQHD very well, though it is not as capable of scaling 4K that well, so I feel that 4K is an overkill, and FHD is a tad too lower a resolution for 2019's optimal 14" laptop panels.

look forward to your reply. Thx.

 

Personally, I do not mind FHD on a 14 inch screen at all. If I were to choose, it would be either the base FHD 400 nit screen or the UHD 500 nit one. The UHD screen has the advantage of much better colors than all the other options, while the FHD screen is matte, less power-consuming and cheaper. For media consumption, the UHD screen is the best choice – for general usage,the FHD screen should be fine.

I wouldn't consider the QHD option. Unimpressive color gamut compared to the UHD option and worse brightness than the base FHD screen. The only thing going for it I think is that it is matte, which makes it the highest-resolution option available with a anti-glare surface. I also do not need touch or an ePrivacy screen, so I would not choose option 2 and 3 either.

 

I would argue the XPS13 is still around the Thinkpad X1 Carbon. The XPS15 has plenty of flaws, then again, so does the X1E, many of which could brick your machine. Only last week, did BIOS 1.18 come out, promising the patch away the latest round of device-bricking bugs.

This time around, I chose the X1C6 for a lot of novelty features and legacy ports. WQHD display, trackpoint, different KB layout, slightly larger battery, etc. However, I've found after 3 months of use, that it doesn't matter. I already have to deal with dongles (vs my old laptop) for VGA. DP is another dongle/adapter cable (since it's an USB-C alt mode on this laptop). Trackpoint is nice, but a touchscreen would still be better in cramped conditions (I do ride the train a lot, but that's not guaranteed to be forever).

KB layout is ultimately a regression vs the Latitudes in my opinion,(and the XPS 13 9370/9380 have adopted the Latitude layout). The KB's feel is nice, but not so much nicer as to lock me into the X1C lineup (I also have an E485 that is no better than my old Dells and Vaios, so I cannot guarentee all thinkpads have superior KB HMI). Not to mention, when I first got the laptop, I had a lot of strange typos (first keypress being put after the second character was a common one) that were never present on my older laptops. I've since learned to slow down a bit, but I should not have to.


As for the resolution question, like some others, I am fine with 1080p on a sub 15" panel. I chose WQHD this time around, and Windows 10 scaling is still hit or miss. Not application-breaking, as it was in the past. However, even many Microsoft Windows 10 internal applications still end up being quite blurry. Microsoft has had years and years to fix this and we still have to rely on the dual control panels for some functions (where most of the blurry Windows 10 applications still reside). I'm on 125% scaling, since 150% basically removes any workspace advantage from having a 2560x1440 panel (vs a 1920x1080).


I only bought a laptop last year for the same reason I bought the laptop before it (and the one before that): my old laptop broke. I'm still waiting on a compelling reason to upgrade. Maybe Intel's renewed focus on graphics will draw me to their 10nm platform. Maybe AMD will stop treating mobile like an afterthought. Either way, 2019 may finally be the year that I upgrade away from a perfectly working laptop.

 

thanks for your reply and i'd like to ask a few follow up questions, please.

the WQHD's color gamut is identical to the FHD's color gamut. if one were to be ok or satisfied with FHD's color gamut, one would be similarly ok or satisfied with the WQHD's color gamut.

as for brightness, when has 300 nits been insufficient? i ask that in earnest as i've never heard of, nor found myself, that 300 nits is found to be insufficient.

thank you in advance and look forward to your reply.

 

Yes, but the QHD screen is more expensive, consumes more power and is less bright. The only benefit is the higher resolution, which I don't care for too much – as I said, for me, FHD on 14 inch is fine. If I would want an upgrade in screen quality (sharpness & colors), I would jump straight to the UHD panel.

In bright environments, such as outdoors or on a train (with the sun shining into the train), the additional brightness is appreciated. 300 nits is just a little constraining and not close to being sufficient when sunlight is a factor. Of course, even with 400 nits you will have trouble against the sun, but it should be enough for indirect sunlight.

 

@ibmthink: thanks for your reply and valid points. Here are my thoughts to your reply:

the power consumption differences are very small between the FHD and the QHD, but the power consumption differences between the FHD/QHD and the 4K UHD is much larger. it is fair to think of the FHD to QHD power consumption differences as around 30 minutes. It is far greater when jumpig to the 4K UHD - in the area of ~ -2 Hours.

the inability of Windows 10 to properly scale 4K UHD under certain circumstances is well documented and disconcerting for me - it might even be a deal breaker, as I consider the 4K resolution on a 14" screen to be superfluous, if not ridiculous. The additional color gamut and HDR, etc, are indeed sweet bonus features. However, for a person who intends to use this strictly for business-types of uses (I watch media on large home screens), I see little reason to opt for greater color gamut when I hard consume any video media on a 14" screen. When I do watch videos on a 14" screen, it is often as a "by the way" type of thing and not at all critical.

in terms of brightness, i use a 350 cd/m2 42.5" monitor for my desktop PC, and despite being unfavorably close to large windows with lots of light, it has been on 18 out of 100 for 1+ year.

i also have an X1C1 (1st generation). i did not look up the brightness of my current X1C1's panel, but i'd suspect it is no more than 300 nits.

so, i am guessing that in my usage scenarios, this is more than sufficient brightness for my personal usage scenarios, of course, ymmv and everyone has different circumstances.

also, i keep reading how overly bright screens are not good for eyesight. so there's that.

look forward to hearing your further thoughts.

this has been very helpful for me, btw, and i want to thank y'all for commenting. the educated replies here have been invaluable.

 

I wouldn't be too sure about this. Resolution is not the only factor that contributes to energy consumption.

The QHD HDR screen of the last gen X1 Carbon was a higher-quality LTPS IPS LCD panel – this panel type consumes way less energy than a normal a-Si IPS LCD panel. Probably, the new UHD HDR screen will also be a LTPS panel.

Also, I think I have read somewhere that the new FHD 400 nit screen used in the new X1 Carbon should be a low-power panel (though not 100 % firm on this), which would further distance it from the plain old QHD IPS 300 nit screen.

I have a different experience with 4K UHD screens. My ThinkPad P51 features such a screen and I find that 200 % scaling works very well with most applications I use. What is problematic is when an external screen with a different, lower resolution is connected, this complicates things.

Also, if you have a general problem with scaling, QHD is no better than UHD. The resolution is also too high to be used without scaling, though it is just 125 or 150 % scaling instead of 200 %.

In this case, I would choose the FHD 400 nit screen. I doubt your use case would profit much from the QHD screen, unless the increased sharpness is an absolute must for you.

Yes, that is true. But of course, you don't have to use a screen with max brightness all the time. It is just nice to have the option to max out the brightness when it is needed.

 

Wow, it's been a while since I posted in this forum. But the new X1C7 has brought me back! I'm looking to replace my current perfectly working laptop with the 7th gen X1C, so I'm hoping launch info comes out soon so we can get some more details.

Does anyone have experience with the touchscreen models of the previous gen? That's the model I'm looking to get as I would be using this in bed and non-desk scenarios so a touchscreen would be appreciated. Any complaints or issues with the touchscreen panels?

 

Given the X1 Yoga 4th gen will be a lot more similar to the X1C7 than previous generations have been (in terms of footprint, in particular), it may be worthwhile seeking out information on that model, too.

 

I’m excited to get one as well. Wish they kept the same HDR screen as last year though.


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Dear All:

i'm trying to decide whether the FHD at 1920x1080 or the WQHD at 2560x1440 would be the smart option to order for the X1C7. my current laptop is the X1C1 (1st Generation!) with a 1600x900 screen from 2012. However, i use my X1C1 only when traveling (1 month out of the year) and my desktop is my main computer, which has a 42" 4K display, so i am accustomed to very high resolution, but with a very large 42" monitor (not a tv, but a pc monitor).

Intended Use: I do not watch videos extensively at all on my laptop - business oriented work, lots of text and emails and web surfing. No gaming at all, minimal videos, mostly text reading and web surfing.

i will not process my digital images on my laptop much at all (will use my desktop for that).

some have said that the scaling issues with the WQHD for the small 14" screen size will be troublesome, as it would require a LOT of scaling. additionally, there may be some programs that will NOT allow for scaling if not written for Windows 10 (though i have no idea which programs they may be). Would I encounter lots of scaling issues (or situations where i cannot scale)?

may i ask if the FHD at 1920x1080 will be plenty good and the resolution will be very crispy (text and basic images) for an essentially business-use machine, with a good amount of web surfing use as well?

i am a somewhat picky person as i use a 42" 4K monitor on my desktop currently and it has beautiful resolution - crispy clear. but, at the same time, i want to be realistic and practical so if the FHD is all that is really required, overdoing it with WQHD will be of little benefit to me unless the user were to be a heavy duty video user, etc (or some other more specialized use).

Does anyone know if any of these FHD screen options are "HiDPI" (pixel doubling) or are none of the HiDPI screen options?
Thank you in advance.

If the FHD options are indeed HiDPI, then chances are these FHD 14" screens would look very smooth! If the FHD options are non-HiDPI, then there is a chance that one may see some jagged edges.

Most people seem to say that FHD is plenty good, plenty high resolution, very refined looking, only very few says that they see jagged edges on a 14" FHD.

looking forward to hearing your thoughts, advice. thank you in advance.

 

Is it possible to add the LTE card afterwards? Does Lenovo sell the LTE card by itself? Would it void the warranty if I buy it and install it myself?

 

I am thinking of getting a X1C7 myself, and was hoping to get some input from other users.

However, in the question on FHD/QHD/UHD on laptops in general I find both QHD and UHD to be pointless overkill in basically any screen smaller than 27 inches. Granted, I only do office work, gaming and some light movie watching. A good FHD is awesome on a 14 inch screen - In my oh-so-humble opinion of course... ;-)

 

FHD is my way to go as well for lots of reading as I had a X1C with QHD and the fonts were so small. The Windows 10 scaling option is not mature enough and lots of software can show lots of visual errors so instead of the scaling option I prefer to buy directly the FHD option and save some battery, money and eye strain (and BTW, I don't wear glasses)

 

You can buy the card, but the antennas will be missing.

At least that’s the way it been for awhile now

 

No owner yet? Dying to hear what's what on this thing! ;-)