Lenovo X1 Carbon Owner's Thread

As a result of Lenovo failing to cancel one of my orders (which I cancelled nearly 1 MONTH before receiving the machine!) I ended up with two and thought I should compare them and share my findings, similar to zackiv31. There are some noticeable differences that suggest they are really rushing during assembly.

The screens are identical as far as I can tell and I remain impressed by them. Good colors, crisp, I have no complaints. "Screen door" doesn't bother me at all. There are some subtle but noticeable differences in the quality of the keyboard and the trackpoint buttons. The ctrl key on one (lets call it unit A, the first one I received) was quite wobbly. Also the trackpoint buttons have a different feel on each unit. Neither is clearly better or worse but they feel, different, and sound different as well. There were a few spots on the rubberized coating of unit A where it looks like a piece of dirt or something was painted over, leaving small bumps. The biggest difference between the two was the trackpad, holy cow. On unit A it was loose and noisy, even after opening it up to try and tighten it down, and the one on unit B is solid as a rock and quiet. Perfect.

Both units have the poor screen frame attachment issue with parts of the bottom of the frame pulling away from the screen a bit, but neither is so bad that I would consider getting it fixed. But on unit B you can actually see a piece of adhesive poking out from under the frame onto the screen area itself. It doesn't cover any pixels so it's not a big deal but, c'mon...



Unit A was the one I originally cancelled so that's going back today and unit B is the keeper, which fortunately is the better one.

I also wanted to show you guys the difference in packaging, which I thought was odd. Unit A was inside of an actual X1C box within the shipping box, while B was just inside the big shipping box with styrofoam and stuff around it. I'm guessing that maybe one is intended for retailers and one is for bulk IT purchases? Strange...

 

Anyone else struggling with the WWAN? I've posted a few times here about it. A big part of the reason I wanted to get the X1, besides the obvious hardware reasons, was because of the a la carte mobile access.

I've heard different things about the Ericsson vs GOBI cards. I got the Ericsson. I tried to activate my mobile access account and after days of trying to work through the issue, I just got this response from their support department:

----

Dear Valued Customer,
We have received your LMA Service Request and will require the following additional information:
________________________________________

Lenovo Mobile Access Support, Sep 20 12:56 (CDT):
Dear Joshua,
Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, your machine the Carbon X1 will not work with our service at this time. The reason is that the Carbon X1 comes with an Ericsson modem which is incompatible with Lenovo Mobile Access. We appoligize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will close this ticket in a couple days if we don't hear back from you.
Best Regards,
Wilfred
LMA Support

As soon as we receive this information from you, we will begin to work your issue through resolution.
If you have any questions regarding this issue, you can contact us at [email protected].
Thank you,
Lenovo Mobile Access Technical Support
----

This means that all of the marketing surrounding on demand mobile access is essentially wrong. I'm pissed that one of the big selling points was the built in WWAN, and now I'm stuck without it unless I return the laptop and get something else.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

I think you need buy a SIM card. Plug it into the back slot and then it should work. In the case with Gobi 4G, it may be associated /contracted with one company. With this Ericsson card, you are supposed to be able to buy a SIM card from any company who can provide WWAN service that is compatible with Ericsson card... Go talk to Verizon or ATT or Sprint....

 

Could you clarify this a bit? You can't use Lenovo's service with the Ericsson (which I have too), but you can put a sim card in and use your regular broadband service - is that right?

 

I just put my sim card from my iPad into the sim slot of the X1 (using a microsim adapter) and connected up just fine. Went into Access Connections and selected AT&T Mobile Broadband option which was already present.

I don't know what they are thinking with the X1 not shipping it configured correctly. What good is it paying for the WWAN if it's not set up to even use? Makes no sense.

My speeds were pretty lackluster on 3G, I sent the machine back.

Edit: I tried it with my TMobile Sim Card as well and it did not work. I was a little surprised that it specifically said "AT&T" when I went to connect, wondering how on earth it would know, but I imagine Lenovo has the agreement with AT&T so these must come "locked" to a certain carrier?? Who knows, all I know is my TMobile sim didn't work but my AT&T one did.

 

The selling point for me was that they advertised a la carte, no contract Lenovo Mobile Access. My machine came with the LMA software, which will not work with the Ericsson modem. I guess I don't understand if buying a SIM and popping it in requires me to get a contract with AT&T, or if that will give me the 'no contract' 3G that was advertised with the X1.

 

My recommendation is you go talk to local WWAN service provider and try a SIM card.

 

So it finally arrived today, my i7 128GB version ordered on 08/17. No Ethernet dongle.

Impressions:
Build quality fairly good. My touchpad is not loose like others have been reporting. CPU-Z and HWMonitor both cause my mouse input to go to hell and I have to reboot the machine. Keyboard is exactly like my TP Edge 13" I bought in 2010, and that was awesome. This is even further improved. Fan noise is quiet in an office environment. The screen door effect is very noticeable. I think that it is a glaring flaw that is a huge drawback. I think the idea Lenovo had was that anyone who was looking for this type of system could bear with it. I have very good eyesight so it's hard to miss. Looking at pictures/graphics especially makes it noticeable.

It's a shame they skimped on the screen. I would never recommend this laptop to anyone. I'm fine and will get used to it because I wanted Thinkpad quality/ruggedness, but I can't think of anyone who would shell out the money for the X1C and not expect a top notch LCD.

And of course on top of it all, the completely awful customer service experience.

 

I intend on doing a clean install of W7 after I create the factory recovery disks. Aside from drivers for the fingerprint reader and stuff like that, what thinkpad/lenovo software do you guys think is worthy of reinstalling? I assume everything is available from the Lenovo support sites? Is there any functionality that is lost in a clean install?

 

^^^ At this stage, it is safe to assume that the files in C:\SWTOOLS folder is pretty much up-to-date. That would save you a trip to Lenovo support site to download individual files. A clean install is alway "cleaner" (duh!) and smaller. You can go down the list in Device Manager and, for each unresolved device, point to the SWTOOLS folder that you have saved to a USB drive and tell Windows to search its subfolders for the right driver to install. As to Lenovo applications, I install Power Manager (which requires Power Management Driver) and On Screen Display.

 

interesting. Mine came in the generic box. I was a little bummed (mostly for resale and because this is supposed to be a 'premium product') and I think I read someone saying the packaging was nice and I thought "what are they talking about?"

Oh well. In the end it's just a silly box.

 

Below is an interesting report on most and least common problems with the current round of ultrabooks, including the x1 carbon.

Ultrabooks - FixYa Report

 

Interesting report? Hmm, below is "the fix" they offer for the X1 Carbon:



Nice try.

 

DON'T THINK SO! I read many reviews including users who recently received them. NONE complained issues on multitasking...

 

I find that "report" ridiculous. (I was not criticizing nor praising the Carbon. No need for ALL CAPS.)

 

So let's talk battery life. How are you all finding it? I'm not impressed. From looking inside, and seeing how miniscule the battery is, I can understand why it's not that great.

I looped an xvid avi movie at 60% brightness from under Windows (windows media player) and Linux (Ubuntu 12.10, vlc).

Windows: 4 hours 27 minutes
Linux: 4 hours

 

I get between 4.5 and 5 hours doing work in linux with brightness at 40% (and not doing much CPU intensive stuff).

So it seems we're probably pretty much on the same level. I'm very happy with the battery life, though; I guess we just had different expectations.

 

This is from several pages ago, re: my problems with the X1C's mini Displayport out. This may be common knowledge, but it wasn't for me. It turns out that not all mini Displayport-to-VGA adapters are the same. I'm a college lecturer and use VGA projectors routinely. The A/V staff provides mini Displayport-to-VGA adapters in all classrooms, since academics tend to have Macs, and the newer Macs mostly have mini Displayport out.

The adapters the university provides are clearly aimed at Mac users -- they're white and have the Apple logo on them, etc. I had thought adapters were adapters and it wouldn't matter, but there's some sorcery in them that apparently makes them work only for Macs. I bought a "generic" adapter (Startech), connected it to the projector's VGA cable, and presto, all was well.

So, for all you folks looking to connect to an external monitor or projector, be warned!

 

I use the same thing. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031SEMBQ

 

Yes. That's precisely the one I got.

 

Does battery stretch work on the x1? I mean, is it effective?

 

Exactly my point. I don't want to get a SIM card on a contract, I wanted Lenovo Mobile Access to buy 30 minutes of data when I need it (travelling for business, taking web conferencing calls on the road, etc.). I don't need these services often enough to justify a monthly fee and I don't want to deal with carrying dongles and hotspots.

It still says today on Lenovo's Shop page for the X1 Carbon that it will be compatible with Lenovo Mobile Access. The email I received directly from Lenovo Mobile Access support they told me the Carbon is not supported and MAY be supported eventually. I'm not sure how they'll support the Carbon if you need to have a SIM card for the hardware because Mobile Access service is provided by Sprint, which does not use SIM cards.

To quote from Lenovo's website on the Carbon details page:

Just last week, that quote read "4G", not "3G" and the card in the details was the GOBI4000. That's obviously not the case any longer, but even that's not a big deal, I just want to be able to get the Mobile Access service.

I'm surprised that so few people are interested in the built-in card, a la carte service Mobile Access service. I would think that would be a big selling point for those that don't want a data contract but need mobile data on a non-regular basis.

 

Yep, you hit it on the head. I was looking at the WWAN as built in, pay-as-you-go, so it's a big part of the reason I was willing to pay so much for the laptop. But now the built in WWAN is AT&T and I'm pretty sure they have no prepaid / pay-as-you-go wireless data plans, so you're stuck on contract with a low speed service. Makes no sense to me.

 

I am, but I can put in any payg card that I want - so no problem for us UK/Europe folk.

 

I received my X1C a couple of weeks ago, but sent it back for a refund. It was a beautiful looking machine, lightweight and sturdy, but there were too many niggles to maintain peace of mind. From the loose trackpad, to the gridline infested screen, to the paltry three to four hour battery life, it just wasn't all that I hoped it to be. Lenovo's customer service didn't help either (websales, not technical). I'm glad others like their machines, as on paper, it ticked a lot of my boxes with regard to what I'm after in a laptop/ultrabook (backlit keys, antiglare, excellent touch typing, etc). It just wasn't good enough to match its price and marketing spin.

 

... Since you own the equipment, you don't need a contact. Just pick up a SIM and pay as you go with normal rates.

AT&T has the fastest (coverage varies by region) 3G network in the US so I'm not sure where the low speed service comes from.

 

I think the issue is not even so much the contract but whether you can just pay for what you use without having a monthly fee.

Here are the AT&T data plans:
AT&T Data Plan - 4G LTE Data Plans with Wi-Fi & Tethering from AT&T

I don't see one that doesn't involve a monthly fee.

(I didn't buy the X1C for mobile broadband and am not trying to weigh in on whether there was misleading advertising; just saying that true pay-as-you-go would be nice and I think its not available with the Ericson chip.)

 

Can anyone tell me if the SD Card slot is the spring loaded click and lock type or no spring just slide in? In other words, I'm hoping to be able to use an SD Card for storage and want to just leave it in the slot. Does it sit flush with the edges of the machine or does it stick out?

 

It's spring loaded and doesn't stick out very far.

 

How much free space can I expect if I do a fresh install of win7 on the 128GB version?

I've removed the recovery partition and have 67GB free now, and wondering if its worth doing a fresh install?

 

Windows 7 without applications (Lenovo and others, like Office) takes about 25GB. So, you should have about 100GB of free space on that drive.

A fresh Windows install with selective Lenovo apps can be 14GB smaller than the factory image, 4GB of which is the SWTOOLS alone. The advantage of doing a fresh install (with the necessary drivers) is that you can selectively add the Lenovo apps that you really want. (I only install Power Manager and On Screen Display.)

 

You know, when I first starting using this X1C, the screen door effect was very obvious. But it has been a few days now, and I don't know if it is my brain which has adjusted, or the screen just needed some burn-in time, but I don't notice it at all now.

 

can anyone compare the keyboard quality of the X1C to the original X1? I really liked the original X1's keyboard, even though I prefer the classic style. I recently bought T430, thinking it'd be at least as good as the original X1. WRONG! The keyboard of T430 was far inferior in every way to the original X1.

I'm now thinking about getting X1C but would like to hear from the owners first about the keyboard quality.

thanks

 

Love the computer, quick question though, on my Vaio Z the keyboard backlight comes on automatically when the keys are pressed and it's dark.
Is there a way to enable this option on the computer so I don't have to do a hotkey combination every time I want the keyboard on?
Thanks.

 

No, there is no automatic setting.

 

May I suggest to any new owner to calibrate the display? Seems that the gamma settings are a bit off, contributing to the screen door effect.

 

What is the best and easiest way to calibrate this screen?

 

Under Windows 7: go into Control Panel & type "calibrate" in the search box (It's called 'calibrate display color').

 

thanks kaso!

so has anyone done a fresh install and managed to get around 100GB free?

 

A blank 128GB SSD is actually 119GB free. It's the new math.

After installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 you should have just above 100GB free. Pay attention to restore points, pagefil size, hibernation file size, etc. to further reduce the footprint of the OS. Those sizes depend on the amount of RAM installed so there can be a significant difference in the 4GB versus 8GB RAM machine.

 

Dear X1C owners, I have a favor to ask of you.

I've read somewhere that the screen door effect may be caused / exaggerated by poor calibration or gamma setup.

If one of you has a chance, can you please go into the calibration settings in the Control Panel (just type "calibration") and try moving the gamma to see if it impacts the screen door effect?

I'd be delighted to learn that the screen door effect is (mostly) poor setup, and can be fixed via gamma or other calibration correction! The darned effect is the one thing holding me back from buying this machine.

Thanks a million!

 

Unfortunately the gamma adjustment doesn't seem to make a difference for me. But I also can't really notice the screen door so I may not be the best person to ask about this.

 

I can do you one better. I calibrated my screen first using the Windows utility, then using a Huey Pro. It has absolutely no effect on the screen door effect. It did detect however that the default setting are cool (blue tint), and adjusted it to be warmer.

That said, after using the X1C for a couple of days, I don't really notice the screen door affect at all anymore, unless I specifically look for it.

 

Hi,

Could anyone try if the card reader on the X1C is compatible with UHS-1?

I'm planing on buying a 64GB sd card to extend the X1C ssd but I'm don't want to buy a UHS-1 card if it's not compatible.

Thanks!

 

It supports 64gb cards. I'm not sure about the speed. I ran some crystalmark tests the other day but I seem to have misplaced the screen grabs.

I opted for the same thing... get a 128gb and use a $50 SD card for media.

 

Anyone know if the ssd supports hardware encryption?

 

or get a 128GB SDHC @ $139.

SanDisk 128GB 128G Extreme SD SDHC SDXC Card UHS-I Class 10 45MB/s 300X with USB 3.0 RV32 Reader

 

I am expecting my X1 tomorrow. I've been using an X61 Tablet with my Verizon 4G servcie. You can download a program called PDANet2 for an Android phone & "tether it" to your laptop with the charging cord. There is no additional charges from Verizon & tour smartphone stays charged up since it's plugged into the laptop. Even though the laptop has a WWAN card, why use it? If you have a 4G phone, you don't need it & you'll save the riduculous costs that Verizon (or any of the carriers want to charge you). Also, there's no limit on the amount of data that you use.

 

Sonic, Neil - thank you. Not the answer I was hoping for, but good to know regardless.

Ended up pulling the trigger on a Zenbook. Let's see how that goes.

 

Just got my X1 carbon today. I basically love it. The only issue I see is the screen door effect. It is definitely exacerbated the higher you set the screen brightness. It also is easiest to notice on screens with white / light backgrounds. It's much less obvious viewing deeper color / darker images. Otherwise the screen is beautiful. I'm hopeful I'll just get used to it - this is a second laptop for sitting on the couch, traveling with...

Overall build is amazing. I love the keyboard, which was a surprise. It's nice and quick, and the few Lenovo pieces of software I've used I thought were well done.

Anyway, I love it, very happy PC owners now have a decent Mac Air competitor.