Lenovo X1 Carbon Owner's Thread

Thanks a bunch. I hope you enjoy your x1.

 

Just unboxed my X1C. Overall, pretty impressed. Posted over on the shipping thread that includes my thoughts on trackpad, bezel, screen door, etc. Dongle wasn't in the box and according to lenovo will be shipped within two more weeks but they wanted to get the machines out (great, still doesn't explain how the dongle was then the main reason for it still being delayed so much). Anyway, I have an odd issue with my screen. It looks like an LCD/Graphics/Driver issue. Its a vertical line that has pixels jumping. If I move a window over the area, or the mouse cursor, it goes away. No driver updates available for graphics according to system update. Right now I have lenovo scheduled to come out tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't have a USB dock to test an external monitor. See attached picture. Thoughts?

 

I agree but two reps already confirmed the option for a refund or return would still be present. I would just have to open a case if that became an issue. But then reps haven't always been so reliable...

I would hope this would be a special case due to this obviously being on Lenovo's shortages.

 

That's an interesting problem. So, I assume the problem doesn't occur in the BIOS screen? Or does it? If it were me I would also try booting from different operating system from a usb stick or usb cd-drive (linux, windows recovery, etc) to see if it happens then. If you can get it to happen in two completely different operating systems then that's convincing evidence its a hardware problem (in that case I would bet on a problem with the onboard graphics, from the sound of it.)

 

Yep. After hearing about that and other idiosyncracies that come with windows on a mac, I'm definitely not inclined to go that route.

 

My i5/8gb/256gb arrived yesterday. Overall, very impressed. Great build quality, feels very high-end, no bezel issue, no loose clickpad. The trackpad isn't quite as glassy as promised, but it works fine. But the screen. The screen! Talk about putting a moustache on the Mona Lisa. I can't believe they would put a screen with such a prominant screen door issue on an $1800 laptop. It's terribly annoying. I haven't used it long enough to see if I get a headache. The resolution is perfect for this screen size, so the screen door thing is a huge letdown.

But what do do?

Macbook Air? I hate OSX and don't want to deal with the issues of Windows on Mac
Zenbook? The resolution is actually too high and the trackpad sucks.
Vaio Z? Bad trackpad. Resolution too high. Average keyboard.

And the rest fall off fast from there.

I want to return it, but nothing seems to be better.

 

Every single laptop I've used or researched before buying the X1C had at least 1 glaring issue or a bunch of smaller issues. PC manufacturers are still pulling their heads out of their butts as far as I'm concerned. It really just depends on what your priorities are and what you can live with. I think the screen on the X1C is great so obviously my priority is not with the screen, so it works for me. I went through all of your listed options and many more and with everything I tried out I was either disgusted by the crappy keyboards and touchpads or just didn't like the feel of it. I purchased the XPS13 and I really liked that one a lot but ended up returning it because the touchpad wasn't quite there and it made an annoying high pitched noise (I usually work in very quiet environments). But the build quality was fabulous and the keyboard was actually not bad either, so maybe check that one out if you're okay with a lower res screen.

 

I've looked at them all as well, and that's why I ended up with the X1. I knew there could be a screen issue, just didn't know it would be this bad.

 

OK, my screen just starting doing this as well. Horizontal, about 2 inches from the top.

 

I'm sorry, that isn't possible. The X1 Carbon has no screen defects. It's purely perception by the owners reading forums. What you are seeing is a manifestation in your mind. Stop using the internet. It is bad for you, and your satisfaction with your purchase.



I know, it's not funny in your case. I am sad you are seeing some sort of defect. Hopefully it is actually a driver and not the hardware.

 

Lenovo should happy they are not apple. Can you imagine the press if the latest MacBook air shipped with these problems?

 

That's not really true, my wife has run windows on her iMac for the past two years with no problems and her 13" 2012 Air gets better battery life in Windows than the X1 - that's what sold me. Oh, and the screen, trackpad, keyboard and no defects out of the box swayed me towards the Air too

 

Every single Windows on Mac how-to or review I've read says the Macbook Air loses significant battery time and tends to max at about 4.5 hours.

The keyboard isn't set up for Windows.

Also, you don't get a delete key, which is a pain.

While I'm not thrilled with the X1 screen, the Air screen isn't great either.

 

So Lenovo's solution to the screen defect is to replace the entire unit. They said they could send a box and have the depot replace the screen, but he said "Honestly, when it starts out bad like this, it usually ends bad." So now I get to decide if I want to take a chance with the depot repair or wait for another unit. Yippee.

 

The reviews that say that about battery time usually refer to the dual GPU MacBook Pros and you do take a pretty significant hit if you are running Windows 7 on the native hardware (bootcamp) because Apple doesn't supply an Intel/NVIDIA Optimus driver. There are other technical reasons but that is the jest of it. On the MacBook Air, the difference shrinks some due to the fact both environments use the Intel integrated GPU only. I counter this further by running Windows 7 in a VM if needed. When Windows is in a VM, there is no difference in battery consumption, heat, fan noise, etc.

The keyboard is pretty easy to get used to. You can make a keyboard cheat sheet for the first couple of weeks. After that you are trained on the new key sequences for cut, paste, etc.

My MacBook Air has a Delete key. What you don't get is a separate destructive backspace key. Fn + Delete is destructive backspace. Again, easily learned.

My only beef with the Air screen are the glossy reflections. I prefer matte screens and the diffusion. Andrew Jackson did a reasonable side-by-side video comparison of the two machines. Better than most. Right at the end of the screen comparison you can see the stark difference of the florescent light above both. Pay close attention to the last couple of seconds on the X1 screen. It's a trade off. Deeper colors and blacks for gloss. The Retina MacBook Pro reduces the glossiness some by removing a glass pane. I am waiting to see the 13.3" version.

 

You know my solution to their solution, right?

 

I take it this sarcasm is mocking my view that there is no varation in dot pitch in X1 Carbon LCDs? If so, I'm eagerly waiting a side by side comparision proving me wrong! :thumbsup:

 

I was pointing out how absurd it is to ignore the fact there is an issue. You can dismiss the reports all you want. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

As for the side-by-side comparison you seek for proof, most people here are buying a unit at a time so that isn't possible. You might check with aikimox and see if they still have the four machines he mentioned.

I don't know if there's any variation in the dot pitch or not. I choose to believe the owners are seeing something they dislike. It isn't a mirage. It wasn't a mirage with the T420 and T420s. I don't believe the community is being inaccurate now.

 

I honestly can't tell whether you actually haven't understood my point or are just choosing to ignore it.

akimox's experience was that he had 4 screens (that he did not like) that were identical. This is some of the strongest evidence yet that the dot pitch is identical across the machines. Every person who has recieved multiple machines so far and reported on it has had screens with identical dot pitch.

I agree that some people are seeing something they dislike. That is not subject to dispute. I just think they are seeing the same screen that other people find acceptable, and that others yet like a lot. There seems to be a lot of variation in how different people react to dot pitch.

By the way, in case you didn't realize it, the T420 and T420s had multiple different LCD's used in them from different manufacturers, unlike the X1C. This illustrates the relevance of this "debate" (and it has nothing to do with sleeping at night): with those machines, if you didn't like your screen, if you had somehow managed to return the laptop and get another one, there was a chance you'd get a screen you liked more. With the X1C, if someone doesn't like the dot pitch, your view that there is varation would suggest that they might get a screen they're more happy with if they manage an exchange. This is false though. All X1C screens have the same dot pitch.

People that like the screens, people that don't like their screens, they all have screens with the same dot pitch. It's all perspective.

 

Do you believe some of the X1 Carbon owners have received machines with a screen issue or not? It's really a simple yes/no question.

My answer is yes. I certainly believe them.

 

+1.

For instance, does my X1C have the screen door effect? Yes. Is it an issue (for me)? No. Is it an issue for some users? Yes. Really it just comes down to your user experience.

FYI, as a comparison, the dot pitch looks to be the same as the T420, however the contrast appears a bit better so for me, I notice it a bit less than on the T420. Also, the viewing angles are much better, so for me this screen is an upgrade and I am happy. Is it a Retina/IPS, high-end, the GOAT displays? Heck no, and if that is what you are expecting (not sure why) then you may be disappointed.

Finally, I've uploaded the highest res photo I could of some text on a white background to show the difference in the laptops I have available.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8319/8055207897_c53e45d296_k_d.jpg

 

All machines has this "issue". The screen door effects depends on the brightnes, distanze, viewing angle and the eye quality. For example my father cant see any screen door effect but a friend of mine notce the effect on the same machine!

Edit:
If you open your lcd over 90° does right front side of the baseunit lift a little bit or stays it straight on the ground.

 

On mine it appears both feet stay on the table. But, since you mentioned this, I tried and with the screen far back enough, I can slide a piece of paper under the right front foot without too much force, while sliding paper under the left front foot takes more force. So I'm guessing the internals are heavier on the left front than on the right front.

mine is 4gb/128gb.

 

A picture is worth a thousand of words.

 

Here's the problem with this. You send it in, tell them they have a "screen door effect" and then they tell you they "can't replicate the problem." which is what happened to me. If the effect bothers you, best to move on or live with it, as they don't consider it a defect, and hence can't fix it.

 

This is not someone who is unhappy with his dot pitch. This is someone with a hardware defect (bad pixel line).

 

The Air screen is a thousand times better than the x1 Carbon screen ... everyone I've showed it to agrees.

People are getting 4.5 hours on their X1's ... about the same as the Air running windows.

Delete Key and Keyboard takes only a few days typing to become a habit.

Regardless, I too want a great laptop built for Windows, that's my complaint ... manufacturers need to get their heads out of their asses and build a great notebook as least as good as the Air.

They can do it, but they don't, not one model, that's pathetic. Profits over end user experience I guess, but I'd be willing to pay a premium for an excellent windows notebook. I don't understand it.

 

Please, don't anyone take that photo as a deciding factor to purchase or not purchase ... it's VERY misleading.

At normal viewing distance, side by side, an X1C and a MacBook Air you'll notice immediately the X1C has what appears to be the 'screen door effect' or "stretched panty hose effect' on the screen.

With the MacBook Air there is none of that - zero. The difference is huge, not to mention the Air has better contrast, viewing angles ... it's just a better quality panel.

 

This depends on what you want to do with it. My X1C is for work, and the 14 inch 1600x900 is crucial (need to be able to program side by side with output, etc.). Much more important to me than another factors. It seems narrow minded to assume that one product is better (a "thousand times" better!) than other in all respects. The lack of trackpoint alone disqualifies the Air for many thinkpad users if productivity is most important.

 

I totally agree on this. I think it comes down to a company's leadership and organizational structure. I've always felt that Apple hardware gives you the feeling that *everything* was analyzed over and over and is the way it is for a reason. With pretty much all PC hardware you usually just get the feeling that it was thrown together by a bunch of businessmen or an algorithm and assembled by some very well-trained chimps. Maybe it's possible that Apple is one of the few (only?) companies that can afford to be so particular? It is extremely frustrating though, because as you said there IS a market for high-quality PC's but they keep deciding to mess it all up.

 

An on-site tech showed up today with an LCD panel and I turned down swapping it out. I'm convinced this vertical line was/is a software issue. It doesn't appear in bios, logon screen, applications, etc and goes away when I drag other windows over the line. The only way I could get the line to appear, and I was able to show it to the tech, was to toggle back and forth to the default Lenovo theme. I ran color test applications to see if a certain color triggered it and couldn't get anything to appear. The other reason to not swap the panel is because I don't want my brand new machine torn apart. I have years left in the warranty should this be an actual issue. The tech admitted to never having seen an X1C in the field yet, and I'm not blaming him, but I'd rather not have my machine be the trial run for taking one apart. The dispatch company he works for didn't even have the X1C service manual in their inventory yet. Additionally, they only sent an LCD panel, no replacement bezel parts, adhesive or anything. The last thing I want is to have the same LCD line problem but now have gaps all over the bezel. I ended up creating recovery CDs and blowing away everything on the drive and installing W8 pro. Don't see the line but I also have near no drivers... thanks Lenovo for taking down System Update 5 for bug issues, and not having many W8 drivers up yet. Laptop is awesome, screen door is there but not an issue for me at least. Got 5 hrs on first battery test today doing minor things like browsing the web.

 

I've had pretty good luck with Lenovo doing the right thing by customers, especially in urbanglowcam situation, where he spoke to a CS rep in advance (good advice to keep name and employee # of that person). I find retailers to be more likely to try to force you to keep a bad unit than mfrs. With Lenovo, the best thing to do is to purchase it by phone and bring that very issue up.

 

Just received my i5/8GB/256GB, to replace my trusty T400s.
Observations:
- Can definitely see the screen door effect. I'll give it some time to see if I can get used to it. I'm not sending it back for that alone. The screen is much more bright and colorful than the one on the T400s. I also put it next to my wife's MB Air 2011 and although that display is pretty good too, I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than the X1C. Actually I think small fonts look a bit better on the X1C. For the rest it's more a matter of taste.
- No dead pixels, no weird jumping pixel lines (so far).
- No bezel gap.
- Keyboard feels great, better than the MBA. All keys work fine, but the space bar somehow feels a bit stiff - like it needs to be broken in.
- I do have a track pad with the rubbery finish. It's definitely not a glass surface and doesn't feel just as smooth as the one on the MBA. It works very well however, better that any of my previous thinkpads. Fortunately for me I'm not a track pad user, but if I where I would prefer the one on the MBA.
- It's less silent that my T400s or the MBA. Even when it's idling the fan will come on occasionally. Not disturbing by any means, but it's audible. Maybe that's because of the 8GB of RAM?
- The finish is beautiful. And it's so thin and light. Awesome.
- Battery life: t.b.d.

 

this video (by a very senior member of this forum) indicates X1 C has better viewing angles

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Vs. Apple MacBook Air 2012 Comparison - YouTube

 

I have been using thinkpads for a decade and rarely use the trackpoint. The primary reason is that I much prefer a mouse as a high speed precision pointing device. I carry a small mobile mouse when traveling. At my desk, the KVM has a high speed gaming mouse. With a 6400x1200 desktop, you really don't want to be using a nipple.

The mouse is equally at home on the mac or pc. No loss of productivity here.

I realize people swear by the red nipple but one size does not fit all. That's the great thing about the ThinkPad. They cover all the bases rather well. But the Air isn't disqualified by any means. They still have the best trackpad on the planet and combined with a nano receiver based mouse, it's a powerful combination.

 

Not sure what you're disagreeing with. Of course not everyone uses the trackpoint. But for people for whom the trackpoint is a must-have, the air is disqualified.

In general, its increasingly hard to get trackpoints on non-thinkpads. I think toshiba makes some, maybe HP still does?

 

Actually, the most recent review I read was on the 2012 Macbook Air. Said it lost a good hour of battery life.

I have no interest in running Windows in VM because having OSX, for me, is just a waste of hard drive space. I can't stand that OS. It's slow, clunky, etc... The only thing it has going for it is it's pretty, but even that is dated now. And I buy for productivity.

I've owned 2 Macs in the past few years, so I'm familiar with the keyboard. Learning the "Fn + Delete" is just a work around. It doesn't make it better. It slows you down and makes it less productive. But worst part is I switch between 5-6 computers during the week. If one doesn't work the same as the others, it makes it a giant pain in the you-know-what. It's just not an option, at least for me.

I hate the glossy screen on the Air. I hate glossy anything. Drives me crazy, including my S10. And the Air has a lower resolution, making it less productive.

I really tried to make the Air work, but it's just not something I can live with.

 

I was going to make the same exact point. The difference in resolution is huge. I bought this laptop to work, not for watching moveis. 1600x900 is the sweet spot that makes a laptop of this size usable, for me. The Air resolution slows me down enough that even though I hate the X1 screen, it's better than the Air.

This doesn't even count the glossy surface on the Air. This is another big productivity issue. Glossy screens are good in dark environments. I don't work like that. I'm on the go. Glossy screens make it imposible to work in some situations. I have a laptop with a glossy screen and I can't use it unless I'm in a very controlled environment. So again, the X1 screen is better than the Air. And again, this is for me.

 

I don't disagree with any of the points about the Air screen. Matte screens rule.

I consider my Air a stop gap measure until a machine comes along that clearly kicks it's . I still want that to be the X1C but if Samsung ships a 15" Series 9 with a PLS screen during the Windows 8 launch timeframe, I won't look back.

 

I'm coming around to your thinking as well. I've been doing tests and is deffinetely dependant on what is being drawn on the screen. What's funny is it does it the worst on the default Lenovo theme.

Could it be noise with the cables? Graphics card defect?

 

I'm now thinking the X1C is my stop gap until something better comes along. I like the Series 9 on paper, but that keyboard is pretty bad. My error rate jumped quite a bit with it and I certainly could not type on it all day. Too tiresome.

 

I think if it was hardware the issue would be more prominent. But, the issue has appeared even on my W8 clean install which is making me lean more towards hardware. In W7 it only appeared on the home screen but in W8 it appears across multiple types of windows, photo viewer, etc. Whats odd is when I unplugged the AC adapter, it went away, and plugged it back in, it returned. However, yesterday I was on battery all day and got it to appear by switching to the default Lenovo theme (still running W7 then).

I think im going to schedule them to come out again, and bring a new trackpad (to see if the new one is rubberish), bezel parts, LCD panel, and mainboard. Doubt they'll bring all that in one trip but im going to try, this is BS.

Has anyone gotten a clear explanation as to the trackpad surface being rubberish matte black vs a smooth gloss finish? Mine is definitely the rubberish version and most review sites with pictures show no difference in glare/matte finish between the palmrest and trackpad. However, some sites definitely have review units that appear glossy. Look at the last picture in this review below.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review

When I put moderate pressure and slide my finger back and forth, a surface layer appears to rub off the trackpad... like an old school No. 2 pencil eraser shavings left on paper after erasing something, except these are white in color and finer grained. My X220 trackpad is smoother than this X1 trackpad. What is going on at Lenovo!

 

One way to isolate a hardware problem to the graphics chip is to reproduce the problem with an external monitor.

Of course, since the X1 Carbon doesn't have a direct VGA port, you need the adapter to do this, and using the adapter probably makes it more likely that a graphics card problem might not be reproducible in this way---I don't know enough about how the adapters work.

 

Here is a great explanation of the TrackPad issue from the administrator of the Lenovo forums. Includes pictures and explanation of everything being discussed. May answer most of your questions:

(scroll to top of page below)

X1 Carbon Touchpad appearance - Page 2 - Lenovo Community

 

Until tonight I didn't see the issue reappear as I mentioned above but it is now intermittent on W8 also. I also didn't have any display adapters or a USB dock to test. A colleague of mine had an Apple mini displayport to DVI adapter and we tested it. The line was NOT on the external display but was clearly on the LCD, in the same place, every time. This must be a ribbon/signaling or LCD panel issue. I'll be calling to have it swapped out and let you know the results.

Thanks, I think this makes sense and aligns with the comments and models we've seen. Still interesting to me though that there seems to be a film on the trackpad that rubs off and the rubbery trackpad sure doesn't feel like glass.

 

I'm glad other people are pissed about this. I was supposed to have my trackpad replaced earlier this week but the part is on backorder...and I'm assuming when the new one comes it will be the same...I'm def. going to be returning it now...Unacceptable.

 

I sent my X1C last week and have been waiting ever since for the part to become available. I should have just returned it. Its ridiculous when you have to wait for two weeks to fix a brand new laptop.

 

Does anyone notice that some of the keys are not as responsive as the others...it takes a few taps for my '0' key to register, and my left ctrl button came crooked. I do not want to have a new laptop where I need to replace the keyboard....except for this problem I love the laptop. I dont know what to do now. Should I get myself a samsung 9 13 inch?

 

My "X" and "Y" keys sometimes do not register unless pressed hard. Not sure if this is just me getting used to the keyboard or a flaw in the keyboard design. Don't think there is much that can be done at the moment as both spare parts and and new laptops appear to be back-ordered.

I do replace my keyboards every year or two due to wear and tear so that may be an option in the future.

 

I don't seem to have a surface issue with my trackpad. My fingers slide easily and it responds well. Best trackpad I've used.

I do have a very slighy metalic buzz when I click on the left button though. It's not the loose trapad issue. It's something else.