Lenovo X1 Carbon Owner's Thread

Several users including myself have been receiving their X1 Carbons and are giving mixed reviews. Let's hear what you all have to say.

Besides a few quality issues (LCD bezel showing gaps, wobbly trackpad, and difficult to press " ' " key) I am very impressed. The display isn't lacking as much as I thought it would. It looks bright and crisp. The viewing angles aren't quite up to par with the IPS on the Asus Zenbook Prime, but they are very good. Some owners and reviews are complaining of a "screen-door" effect. I do heavy graphics work and still haven't noticed.

The HD video camera is excellent and a big improvement over the one I had on my Samsung QX410. There isn't a lot of flex overall which is impressive for such a thin laptop. Typing and using the trackpad are great.

The performance feels great, but I didn't even get a chance to do a wipe and clean install of Windows 7. I'm sure it will even be better then.

There is a lot of negativity surrounding the shipment issues and some QC problems. I'm a victim of both but am still coming out pretty positive on the X1C. I just shipped it in for repairs for my earlier complaints and hope to get it back with them fixed. I have not had any experience with Lenovo in the past so I hope this goes well. For my few days with it, I was very happy. I can't wait to get it back with the QC issues fixed (hopefully).

What is everyone's thoughts on their experience with the X1 Carbon?

 

I wanted to add some useful information for those that own or will own the Thinkpad X1 Carbon:

1. If you have the existing Ultraslim AC/DC combo adapter for your existing Thinkpads, you can purchase this 20V tip for the X1 Carbon:
Lenovo Slim Power Adapter for X1 Carbon | Lenovo | (US)

And here is a user's review of the Ultraslim AC/DC combo adapter. Lenovo ships the X1 Carbon with a big 90W adapter and this may be an alternative for some people.
Lenovo 90W Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Power Adapter review – A masterpiece of Lenovo (Powertips) engineering

2. This is a useful link that Thinkpad X1 Carbon owners may want to reference. It is the X1 Carbon service training course from Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Service Training Course

3. If you are looking for a bag/sleeve combo that will fit your X1 Carbon. Lenovo will offer the following:
ThinkPad 14W Ultrabook Topload and Sleeve Sets - Overview

ThinkPad 14W Ultrabook Topload and Sleeve Sets - Service parts

4. This is the direct link to the Thinkpad X1 Carbon Hardware Maintenance Manual
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/x1carbon_hmm_0b48811.pdf

5. Direct Link to the Thinkpad X1 Carbon User's Guide (English language)
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/x1_2g_ug_en.pdf

6. If you are looking at a clean Windows 7 Install (though windows 8 is coming...)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/642274-hearsts-guide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

7. Updated drivers can be manually downloaded from the Lenovo site at the following link
Lenovo Support - Drivers & Software (US)

8. If you are looking at installing Windows 8 on your X1 Carbon now, here's a link to Lenovo's Windows 8 Beta drivers
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT072084

 

That's a very helpful post omarcastz, thank you! Those are common topics everyone has been talking about.

 

I received mine last week and been using it for a few days now. I'm also quite impressed with the hardware. I really like the machine a lot. The keyboard and trackpad are fantastic! My keys are all perfect, no problems there. I don't have any LCD or bezel issues, so it looks like I got lucky.

I've got the base model specs. Nothing upgraded, 4GB RAM, 128GB hard drive, i5 processor.

The LCD does look good in my opinion. No, it's not a Dell UltraSharp, but for a laptop that I use for business I can't complain at all. I do graphics art and CAD on my workstation at home with a bigger monitor, I don't need it for this. The colors are pretty sharp and so are the contrast levels. It's a far cry better than my old Dell XPS m1330 that I'm switching from. I'm fine with the viewing angle as it's quite good. In fact, I may want a privacy filter for business travel. I do wish it was a 1080x1920, but it's definitely more than optimal for my needs.

The size, weight, and build construction of this laptop are just plain awesome. In my mind, this is how a laptop should be built these days. Virtually no flex on mine. I can carry it easily with one hand on a corner. I can hold it aloft for minutes at a time with little noticeable hand strain. And I love the way it looks when closed. It looks more like a literal paper notebook than a laptop.

The performance is great. Multitasking is awesome. I'm able to sit on conference calls with wireless LAN using my bluetooth headset while surfing the web, checking / sending emails, and monitoring screen sharing sessions with no lag. I also multitask a lot with tons of windows open at once and I've not been able to overload the laptop!

The recharge rate is simply stunning. My colleague uses a 2011 MBA and is constantly complaining because he's running low on battery. Mostly, he doesn't plan ahead as he's slammed with work, needs to be mobile, and can't wait around to charge the laptop all the time. This thing would change his life. I got in at 8:25AM to work this morning. I had about 20% of my charge left from over the weekend as I was testing battery life. By 8:45 my battery was more than 80% and by 9AM it was full! Freaking awesome.

The battery life itself is quite good. I can get 5-6 hours easily. Of course, I'm doing office tasks and web surfing predominantly, no heavy computing or media. But safe to say it's more than sufficient if you want this for a business laptop. It will get you through a continental flight. Transcontinental is a different story, so look for an extra battery if that's your need.

Speakers are quite good, too, something I didn't expect. They're not a B&O system by any stretch of the imagination and they're a little lacking in the lower frequencies of the sound spectrum, but good enough. I always use my Sennheiser's anyway if I'm going to listen to music on any laptop, so there's not a difference here for me.

Cold boot and wake times are pretty awesome. I'm up and running in less than a minute from cold boot, and I mean running as in doing tasks with no lag even though I have a lot of start up programs launching, in less than 30 seconds from hibernate, and in less than 5 seconds from standby. This includes logging in with the fingerprint sensor, which is also quite good. Usually gets me on the first time no problem.

The keyboard backlighting is quite nice. You can select two different levels depending on your environment. I haven't tested how much it drains battery life.

Still looking to test WiDi as I'm very excited about the technology. When will manufacturers wake up and start making decent adapters? I am tempted to do one myself and put it on Kickstarter.

And the Mobile Access, ah, now that's where I have an issue. I have the Ericsson 3g card, not the GOBI card. I think it's a mistake from Lenovo. I'm hoping they will recover and help me out, get me a new card at some point, but I'm still in the throes of tech support. I'm excited to try it out and see what kind of speeds I'm able to get. I'm more interested in it for business travel and so really connectivity in most places is the big desire, but I doubt that will really be a problem considering the 4g deployment in the US has gotten decent. Even 3g is fine if I have to downgrade, but I really don't want to be stuck with a 3g card.

Overall experience summary, love the hardware, they executed on most things well (in my experience), and if they can recover from this WWAN card issue I will no doubt be a happy customer even though my shipping was delayed nearly a month. I would certainly buy it again as I'm more interested in getting what I want than getting something marginal a few weeks ahead of time. I've actually been waiting to buy this laptop since April and like the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

Cheers!

 

Thanks, Joshuaj99. You make me love it more with great hope on this machine, though mine was delayed and not sure when I will receive it.

 

omarcastz: Thanks for all that info! There's some great stuff there.

I just received my X1C this morning and so far, so (mostly) good. The only issue that I have with the machine is the "clicking" sound the trackpad makes when you tap on it. They really should have lined the keyboard cover between it and the trackpad surface with some thin felt or something, because when I tap on the trackpad the lower part of it rebounds into the keyboard cover and makes a clicking/clacking/tapping sound which is only amplified by the solid build quality of the laptop. It is quite obnoxious, but I will probably adapt to it. Nothing is 100% perfect, right?

Other than that issue, I'm happy with everything else so far. The trackpad, aside from that sound, is fabulous. It's large, feels good under the finger, and best of all I can rest my left thumb in the lower left corner while using my right index finger to control the cursor without the thing freaking out on me. That's a big deal for me.

When it comes to the screen, YES I can see a bit of screen door effect if I'm looking for it but it's really not that bad. It's loads better than my old Lenovo Y530, which I wasn't even aware had horrendous screen door until you guys made me aware of its existence. lol Is it as good as a rMBP, no. Is it just fine for what 90% of us will be using it for? IMO, absolutely.

I've only just booted it up and played around with a few things so I'll have more feedback later but I'm pretty happy with this machine overall. I can see myself using it quite comfortably as my main laptop for years to come.

As a side note, I opened it up to make sure the touchpad screws were tight (which they were) and I'm just amazed at how they managed to pack all the guts in such a slender chassis. Pretty amazing engineering I think.

EDIT: Has anyone received an ethernet dongle with their X1C? I had one on my build sheet but didn't get one in the package. Are they shipping them out separately as they become available?

 

While forums like this do an overwhelming amount of good, this one of the problems with them. Congrats on the X1C, it's one fine ultrabook.

I believe there should be an Ethernet dongle. Call sales and ask what's up.

 

I think it started with the Engadget review. But I don't really see it.

Anyway, the display is waaay better than your average in terms of viewing angles, contrast ratio, and brightness. Not to mention there is very little glare with it. I know a lot of you might be afraid of its quality, but it is and will meet my graphic design needs.

Can the other owners of the X1C look at the plastic trim around the lcd display and tell me if there are any gaps? Mine had this issue in the corner and I just sent it in for repairs. I haven't heard of others with the issue so I may have just been unlucky. I can't wait to get mine back.

 

I got mine last Thursday. After getting a message from Lenovo that it would be delayed, it arrived anyway. So, yay, I guess.

For the most part, everything is as expected and satisfactory. The trackpoint seems stiffer than on my T410, but on the other hand the trackpad seems far superior -- to the point where I might actually use it.

One big problem: the mini displayport port doesn't seem to work!!! ARGH. I hooked it up to a VGA projector with a mini-displayport adapter and ... nothing. It wasn't the cable or the projector, because my teaching assistant lent me her Mac and things worked perfectly. Is there any reason why the mini displayport might not automatically work? (I'm pretty sure the answer is no.)

 

Mine has a slight gap on the bottom, to the right of center, in a similar style as yours but not quite as severe. There's also the same on the left side but it's very minor. It's a little disappointing to see on a laptop of this caliber but all in all i'm not too worried about it. I think it's a consequence of however they decided to attach the trim. Does anyone have a pic of the screen with the trim removed? Might be nice to see that to figure out what the culprit could be.

 

Not to sound like smartass, but did you toggle projector mode? Its set to computer only by default.

Got mine yesterday, everything feels great. Nothing to point out other than what's been stated. I can see some of the screen door effect but that's only if I start looking for them. I also found the 1mm gap you guys are talking about, but I've checked other laptops with a plastic bezel. Its the same thing with my older laptop and I can probably live with it.

I've done a clean install, although I didn't realise that you needed the main partition in order to access the Recovery partition. I don't think there's a fix for that is there? >.<
The only minor problem I've had so far is with the fingerprint reader. After having to deal with the slow lenovo support page, I had to use the old X1 software to get it working again

 

On mine, I think the left corner shows a gap due to there being more three wires there that are pressuring it outwards. The other side only has one. Just my thought. I hope they can reapply the adhesive, replace the plastic bezel alone, or just replace the whole screen.

Part of me thinks they won't bother with any.... I hope I'm wrong.

 

I did indeed toggle through all the Projector modes. Nada. Probably will have to contact Lenovo.

I haven't even tried the fingerprint reader. I never ordered one on my three previous ThinkPads and don't even remember specifying one this time around -- it must have come standard. I ought to see if it works, too.

 

I dig the fingerprint reader. It's "always on" so with one swipe you can both boot the machine and log into windows.

 

The bezel on mine bends out very slightly just to the right of the "lenovo" logo. When I push in i can hear the glue sticking, but it doesn't hold. It's as if the bezel is a bit too wide at the bottom, creating pressure to spring out a bit.

It's very minor, and I would never have noticed if not for this forum. But I'll probably call about it, in case it gets worse in the future.

The only other problem concerns the microphone - it seems to create a lot of squeaky noises when I'm on Skype of Google talk. Has anyone else noticed this? Switching from "normal" to "only my voice" helps but doesn't eliminate it.

I'm confused about the mobile broadband - when I click on the icon I get a lenovo screen about specifying my country (which isn't listed) and signing up through lenovo. Can't i just pop in a provider's sim card in whatever country I'm in?

 

I've got a bit of bulge as well and can hear a similar noise when I press on it. I'm not too concerned about it right now, but I guess it's something I'll have to flag if I have to send my unit in for a WAN card change.

As far as the country issue, sounds like you have the same broadband card I do, which I believe is a mistake on Lenovo's part. I have the Ericsson 5321wg, which is only a 3g card and requires a SIM to work. I believe they should have put in the GOBI4000 instead.

 

A few notes:

Love it thus far, though I'm having a few issues:
1) trackpad - I've got the same loose/noisy/clicky trackpad. Can't decide if I'm going to try and DIY fix it.
2) Upon opening my laptop for the first time, the "S" key fell off of the keyboard. I reattached it and it is working, but it is slightly loose if I hit the key on the upper-left corner.
3) I'm having trouble running Windows Updates.I can successfully get it to download the appropriate updates (33 important and 3 optional) but when I restart to complete, the update fails and then has to restart 'reverting'. Anyone else experiencing this at all?

 

FYI, though no official announcement, the GOBI is not listed anymore as the wireless card on the online configuration page, it lists the Ericsson, so it appears the GOBI is not/will not be available. (and that it's inclusion on the firsthand was either a mistake or a last-minute change.

 

This is actually a documented issue, somewhere. I just read a thread on this in the past day or two. Apparently if you install one of the updates first, then they rest will work after that. It's documented either here or on the forums at lenovo.com. I could not find it a few minutes ago when I looked.

[UPDATE] Found it. See http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Serie...ws-update-new-computer-W530/m-p/865359#M32918

 

Is anyone else having issues with the mouse pointer jumping around the screen when using the trackpad? I'm coming from a MacBook Air glass trackpad, so I probably have some habits formed from using that one, but I prefer to leave my thumb on the bottom of the trackpad and scroll around the screen using my index finger. When I do that, anytime my thumb moves, it applies that movement to the cursor as well.

Please don't respond and say, "Well, just take your thumb off of the trackpad." I'm just looking to see if anyone else is experiencing the issue or if they have found a way to adjust the trackpad settings to prevent the issue. Personally, I have tweaked about every setting imaginable to fix it, but no luck.

For the record, I have not experienced any of the aforementioned problems with the hardware.

 

Could you clarify what you are implying here? Are you just taking exception to the word horrendous? I would not have used that word for the X1 Carbon, or the T420 for that matter. But that doesn't mean the issue should not be discussed.

And regarding your review of the X1 Carbon, were you paid for that review?

 

I have the exact same habit since my old laptop had actual buttons that I would rest my thumb on (which I still prefer over these ridiculous "buttonless" touchpads), but I'm not experiencing that issue. I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how stable mine is. I'm not sure if it matter but usually when my thumb is on it, it's the whole side of my thumb that is in contact with the touchpad surface, not just the very tip of my thumb. Maybe it's more sensitive otherwise?

 

I recieved my laptop yesterday. This is definitely the nicest laptop I've seen. I love the screen. The keyboard might be the best I've ever used, and I'm including desktop keyboards with good mechanical actions. I'm not a touchpad guy myself but it seems nice.

The SSD is really great. I have the 128GB and its a sandisk. It's controller seems angnostic to the compressibility of data so its running great with the encrypted fileystem I'm using (LVM, dmcrypt, AES 128-bit, AES-NI extensions enabled). I'm running Xubuntu 12.04 and everything works great. I got more than 4.5 hours runtime without tweaking anything---that is with brightness at 40%, wireless on, constant working (typing, using network connection), but not very much cpu intensive action . I did hear there's no support for this model fingerprint reader yet though, but I imagine that doesn't concern many linux users.


As far as the screen gap issue. I did have a screen gap, but it was not bad. But I have the onsite warranty so I called them yesterday to ask about getting it fixed. I figured it would least be interesting to see what the problem was, and to be sure that it wasn't something that would worsen.

The tech came by and fixed it today! It took him less than 10 minutes. The bezel is replaced without removing the screen. Actually, absolutely nothing is touched except for the bezel, which is held on by plastic tabs and adhesive strips. I took a photo of the old bezel. You can see that one of the adhesive strips is misaligned; this was the source of the problem in my case. It was lying a bit over a raised part of the bezel, causing a bit more space than there is supposed to be. (Once it was removed, it also turned out that there was a small piece of paper attached to the other adhesive strip, although I'm guessing this by itself wouldn't have been enough to cause problems.)

The adhesive strip is part of the bezel part---at least, that's how it is for repairs. Assuming that's how it is in manufacturing also, then this was not a final assembly problem.

Obviously I have no way of knowing if this is what was wrong with other anyone else's screens that also have gaps. But if it is: its a simple problem, it doesn't look like it was going to get worse or cause any problems, and it is very easy for a skilled technician to fix. (In spite of how quick and localized this operation was, I personally would be reluctant to replace it, without extensive experience working with the plastic parts in laptops).

If I had a second X1C and it had the same problem as mine and I had a depot warranty, I would probably not bother to get it fixed. (Or, I might get it fixed at some later point when I was going to be without my computer anyways.)

 

To those of you who purchased an extended warranty along with the X1C, did you receive any kind of warranty documentation? I have the 3YR Onsite Next Business Day + Accidental and I'm surprised that nothing referring to this came with the machine. I was expecting some paperwork including the warrant terms, contact info, etc. Every other extended warranty I've purchased usually comes with a packet detailing the terms, etc.

 

What do you see when you look-up your machine at Lenovo Support - Check Warranty Status (US)

 

Wow, this is great news! It gives me hope that my X1C that is currently in Lenovo's hands for repairs, will be fixed. The issue with yours actually sounds like the problem with mine. It makes sense. Was the tech from Lenovo directly?

Thanks for sharing the photo. I hope they can fix that and the slightly wobbly trackpad.

 

The onsite service is generally contracted out to third party service providers that do repairs for several manufacturers. Actually, the guy that came had done a repair on a Dell under warranty for us earlier this year.

I have to say, I was surprised that they already could get the part, and so quickly.

And, like I said, the repair seemed pretty standard. I think the guy had looked over the manual before coming, but he didn't have to look at any instructions or anything during the procedure (and, of course, this was the first x1c he had seen).

 

You were more fortunate than I was. I took mine to one and he didn't want to touch it thinking Lenovo wouldn't cover him for the parts. The other local place I called said the same. What's the point of using their local service providers if they don't cover anything? Instead, they told me to send it directly to Lenovo.

So I did that. I hope they do it right. I don't think you can beat seeing the technician face to face. But I'm glad it seems to be a standard procedure. Glad it worked out for you.

So there aren't any gaps in the screen bezel for you at all anymore? Pretty flush all around?

 

I think we're talking about slightly different things. The way the Onsite service works, is you call IBM, tell them about your problem, and they send a technician to your home or work once its determined what parts need to be changed to fix it. Obviously this only works when you have the onsite warranty upgrade.

Then the person comes with an IBM work order.

I just happen to know that the person who comes actually works for an independent company. But the work order is placed by IBM. You don't communicate with the technician until he calls you to confirm the appointment.


But yeah, my bezel is flush all the way around now.

 

My X1C arrived today, and I opened the box with some trepidation, given the number of issues other have reported.
I'm happy to say that on my notebook:

a) no noticable gap between the screen and the bezel
b) fan is very quiet. I basically have to put my ear within a inch of it to hear anything.
c) no issues shutting down and waking up using the battery
d) no loose trackpad (and clicking on trackpad is not especially loud)

In addtion, I ordered the 128GB model. In terms of usable disk space, on C: 68.6 GB free out of 96.1 GB. On the recovery partition D: 3.42 GB free (but you aren't allowed to use it) out of 13.6 GB. In retrospect, spending the money for a 256GB HD might have been better, as it would have more than doubled the amount of free space for actual use. I guess I'll put that money towards a massive USB 3.0 HDD.

As for the screen door issue, yes it does exist, but is very subtle. I can understand why many people can't see it at all. I remember seeing a similar issue on the Dell XPS 13 in the store, so it is by no means exclusive to Lenovo. The best way I can describe it is, if you have ever put a high quality matte screen protector on a shiny screen, afterwords the screen looks like it has some "texture". That's what it looks like. You can't see individual lines (unless you put your nose to the screen), but your brain is aware the solid colors aren't quite solid. Does that make sense?

My computer also did not ship with the USB to Ethernet adapter.

On the plus side, the screen has some really good contrast levels. In fact, excellent contrast levels for a non-glossy screen. Viewing angles are also excellent. Also, I'm immediately using the TrackPoint instead of the trackpad, but being able to two finger scroll up and down pages is great.

 

Well, after two days of light use, my "S" key is totally messed up. Tap it on the upper left corner and it becomes detatched from the white plastic mount below, coming either completely or partially off. Between that and a trackpad that seems to be getting more loose, I'll be bring this in to a local authorized service provider to see what next steps should be. Ugh. What a bummer. Love the computer but quality control seems to be very hit or miss. Come on Lenovo, jeez.

 

What I am saying is that often people come here with what they think is a perfectly good notebook and see someone else with the same notebook is having am issue. The person with the notebook then presumes that's an issue with their notebook too, when if they had not seen the post in the first place they would have been perfectly happy with their notebook. More information is not always a good thing.

I don't see how whether I was paid for my review is any of your concern. I would give the same opinion regardless. That's how I roll.

 

I just discovered that the Thinkpad X1 Carbon has built-in GPS. That's pretty cool.

 

The reason I asked is because it could help explain your bias. That and FTC regulations govern bloggers, reviewers and social media.

 

If you want to discuss our reviewing practices, please contact the administrator Chris Leonard or our lead moderator Chaz. It has been my experience that reviews, if paid for, are funded through advertising revenue to this site and not by any third party -- specifically to avoid even the potential for a conflict of interest. I don't know about this specific review but I can say that Zaz has been an outstanding contributor to the site. I do not appreciate the insinuation you are making and I doubt the rest of the team will either.

 

Agreed! I don't often visit the Lenovo forums, but the assumption you are making here whether voluntary or not is rather insulting.

Could there be QA issues with the first batch? Possibly
Could there be small design flaws? Possibly
could the people who have posted about their problems simply ended up with sub par units? Possibly

A few people reporting issues on a forum is normal and doesn't mean there is a widespread flaw. People with fully working units are less likely to join a forum to say how great their notebooks are. If there are design flaws or QA issues, you will see an onslaught of complaints which so far hasn't happened, it's a bit soon for that given how recent the model is. As ZaZ said, forums can emphasize rarer issues sometime. It is good to let others know so they can at least look for those though.

 

The way my post was written does make it sound like I expected the same OnSite service with my warranty. I realize the difference but I'm just pointing out that I'm hoping if a technician helped you with the same issue, that Lenovo (or their local 3rd party service providers) could fix it directly with the same method.

Glad yours is flush all around. It means it is more of a manufacturing issue rather than design.

 

Yea, I didn't really want to bring it up because it is a touchy subject. But it was odd to see a glowing endorsement right in the middle of a discussion on issues owners were seeing. It sure seemed to conflict to me and others.

Information sharing can be good and bad. If you can't discuss the issues brought forth by members of your community, then you really don't have a community.

 

the first round of builds tends to have more qc problems than the late ones. the earlier adapters will have more risks to get a lemon but also will have the advantage of first movers.

this discussion reminds me of the controversy about X220 last year.

 

I don't see glowing endorsement. I see self promotion.

Right. I'd rather read issues raised and possible resolutions suggested by owners.

What is noticed here is counter-comments of the "I didn't see it on the one I had for a few days" sorts.

 

We have just received 4 of these machines and after a brief hands-on, - I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I absolutely love the size, feel, keyboard&trackpoint. This is how the perfect notebook should look and feel. But on the other hand it's unacceptably weak and limited in storage/RAM/connectivity. They should have offered more USB ports, 2 SSDs and maybe a 35W quad-core CPU with 4 ram slots. But I do understand the reasons behind the chosen internals.

 

Can anyone make a list of what bloatware is safe to remove? ie:

- Norton
- Sugarsync
- Lenovo SimpleTap

 

Well, I gave in and decided to call Lenovo/IBM support regarding my broken "S" key and loose trackpad. Spoke to someone in Atlanta. Since I only have the regular 1-year depot warranty, they're sending my a pre-paid UPS box (will arrive tomorrow) to send it in. They said that they'll replace the keyboard and the trackpad. Should take 5-6 business days.

 

I received my second x1 carbon today, and this one actually came with a wireless card. Having two builds to compare side by side here are my thoughts (I have a 4gb and an 8gb one). For comparison, I'm coming from an X61 Tablet with 1400x1050 screen on a 12" screen running Ubuntu 12.04.

Screen: Screen door effect is apparent to me, but I think I have better eyes than most. If I can get past this issue, the screen is great. Colors/brightness are much better than what I'm use to.

Battery Life: Haven't had extensive testing, but running Ubuntu and a semi intensive `dd` command took the battery down to 50% in 1 hours 20 minutes. This isn't too great at all, but I'll see how more normal usage holds up.

RapidCharge: From dead to 75% in 30 minutes. To 100% in an hour. Very good.

Trackpad: It feels great, but one of the two I received has the loose/slanted trackpad. I'm going to pull it apart and see what I can do.

Keyboard/Trackpoint: It's why we buy Thinkpads.

 

So the two screens you've seen are basically identical?


As far as normal use, for another reference point, with brightness at 40% (quite fine for me indoors) and using wifi to browse, type, etc., I got a little over 4.5 hours on Xubuntu 12.04.

I think that with these ultra-low-power machines, there is a big difference between power consumption when under load and when not.

 

i5 3427u w/ 8GB+ 128GB. I ordered mine on 8/16 and got it 9/17. no ethernet dongle in the box. I called CSR & was told it will be shipped later when it's available. but no actual ship date can be given at this moment. anyway, I'm pretty happy with this machine. Built quality & overall performance exceed my expectation. screen door effect is noticeable but it doesnt really annoy me. Trackpad is really awesome even though the top right is slightly protruding.

 

I would ask where my endorsement was glowing or did I even give an endorsement?

That the case with most ultrabooks. The X1C is no different.

 

can we stop attacking ZaZ's review and talk about the machine.

thanks.

 

Screens are identical.

I did notice that my second machines palmrest wasn't fully seated on the front. I firmly pressed down on it to snap it into place. It's like these things were on an assembly line with managers screaming and people pushing them out as fast as possible (or maybe that's how it always is). The palmrest where it meets the laptop isn't very flat. It kind of looks like this: |) . It's apparent on both my machines, and absolutely affects nothing... it's just odd to me.

I managed to fix my loose trackpad as well by opening it up and tightening the screws. Works like a charm right now. And with some some Xubuntu settings, disabling the trackpad while typing, I'm going to leave it on for those occasional lazy browsing sessions.

I'm keeping both my machines (once I get the 8gb wifi/bluetooth replaced), I just don't know which one I will be keeping for my Xubuntu machine and which I'll give to the roommie. $400 difference between nearly identical computers is a tough once. Having only 3.6gb memory free in Xubuntu worries me since thats only a 600mb increase from what I currently have.


And one more thing concerning the screen... I swear my older laptops had white screens... now when I look at the X1C and then look back at them, they're getting darker and yellower. The vivid colors on this thing are great. These older panels must have been blurring the screens and eliminating the screen door effect, for loss of quality/color. I think I'll eventually get use to it.... I only code, browse and watch movies.

 

Just wondering what are discounts if any?
I just returned hp spectre xt ultra book that cost 959. same as basic x1 c' minus screen resolution.


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