Lenovo X1 Carbon Owner's Thread

Everyone I've shown the X1C to, mostly non-techie people, have noticed the screen door effect. I don't think it's a sensitivity thing. I think some people just have low standards, or don't care about quality of screen. Me, I do, and am still surprised they put this screen in an $1800 laptop.

And I've been told by Lenovo reps that the X1C has had high defect rates. Another one sais this launch was handled very poorly, that sales reps weren't even told anything about it and had to read the specs off the website.

 

Just found out from my Lenovo account manager that the i7 with 8Gb RAM and 256Gb SSD has become orderable with W7 immediately and with W8 from October 26 onwards. Just ordered mine.

 

what is the price difference between i5/8GB/256SSD and i7/8GB/256SSD? What is the shipping date for your order?

 

I take it this is only through a direct order and not on the site, since I don't see it.

If that's the case I'll be demanding one as a replacement. I ordered mine on Aug 14, received it a month later, sent it in for repairs and still don't have it 2 months later. I haven't even been given a solid date on the repair since they're waiting on parts on back order. So I might just request that I get the win 8 i7 as a replacement with no additional cost. This is stupid.

 

Ah, take it easy. It's just a tool, nothing to get too excited about. Life is never perfect. Coordinating a multinational order fulfilling system and product support infrastructure is extremely complex, and errors are bound to slip in. Just be grateful you still have access to Internet to gripe.

How does that sound?

 

I know there has been a lot of complaining with people having a large sense of entitlement, but this is really bad. I understand these things happen but it has been two months since I ordered it and I have several projects I need to be working on. I was given 5 false expected dates of shipment after my initial order, and 3 false dates for when my parts would arrive for the repair (not even for it being shipped back).

Sorry to vent, I know it is obnoxious to hear. I'm not usually the one on this side. If you read my posts from the last few months I have shown a lot of patience and enjoyment for what Lenovo was bringing to the table on this.

My options are to wait until the 26th for when the part is expected to come (last week it was the 19th) or get a replacement now which won't ship out until nov 3rd (where I'm not even guaranteed there won't be any problems).

Either way it's as if I will have a notebook that takes weeks to months for a repair if anything goes wrong. Hopefully they catch up to the demand for their inventory soon, but it's not looking like it. I just hope Lenovo will help me out here since I have been very loyal to wait without a machine. The only way I am typing this now is while I'm at work on a machine that is not my own.

Again, sorry to vent. If I wasn't out so much money from this without a product I wouldn't feel this way. I'm just doing it hoping some of you in the know may have a good solution.

 

^^^ No need to be sorry. I was not making fun of your problems, or trying to be "wiser" than I truly am. I was just being funny.

Hope things will work out for you. Take care.

 

Can anyone recommend if the slim charger is significantly smaller? Do I need an adapter for the x1c?

 

That's debatable.


urbanglowcam have you tried PMing Mark over on the Lenovo forum? He may be able to cut through the red tape and get you an answer. I think someone who has waited almost two months deserves an answer.

 

Lenovo Quick Pick is a great site for getting answers to questions like that. The AC/DC combo adapter is slightly smaller I think. You might shop around and see if you can find it cheaper than the Lenovo full retail price.

I'm sure Targus and the other third party power products vendors will eventually have licensed products.

 

Short answer: Yes, there is an adapter for the slim charger. Please see the second post in this thread for details (in an effort to not duplicate information).

 

Or you could just go to Lenovo 90W Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter | 41R4493 | Lenovo | | Lenovo | (US)

 

I personally think you have grounds for a refund. Especially if you sent the machine for repair inside the 21 day return period. Did you? If so, you should just initiate the refund request. I would get that completed first unless someone really can exchange the machine, for a machine you want.

If you go the exchange route, assert cruel and unusual punishment for the price difference.

 

Yes, it is smaller. I have one of last generation. The new one is even smaller (15%). It has multiple adaptors (including a connector to auto electric outlet).

 

The evidence against any manufacturing varation is that several people have reported buying several X1C's and all have confirmed that their screens were identical. This is from people whose views on the quality of the screens they recieved varied across the spectrum reported on the forum overall.

If there is variation affecting a significant percentage of screens there should already be a side-by-side comparison showing it. It gets less and less plausible every day.

 

Nobody has confirmed squat. Unless you mean suckage. Yea, that has been confirmed.

 

Thanks. Don't forget that I started this thread, where you will see my enthusiasm for my machine for the little time I had it.

No I have not. I didn't know who that was, but I will give that a shot. Thanks for the advice!

Well my case has been escalated and I have been speaking with a woman that gave me the option of a replacement unit, waiting for the repair, or a refund. I DID send it in 1-2 days after I received it. I barely even had it in my hands. Multiple reps confirmed with me that I would be eligible for a refund or replacement when I get it back. The machine has been with them way longer than it has been with me and I don't think it counts again until I get it back.

My options..

1. The replacement route means it probably won't ship out until Nov 4, like the site currently says. That means I won't receive it for another 3 weeks. There's also no guarantee that I will get a model that has better assembly than my original.

2. For the refund route, I will get my money back (with no guarantees there won't be a restocking fee) and will have wasted the last 2 months investing, getting discounts on the machine, only to be stuck looking at other notebooks that I didn't want in the first place. Not to mention I will have to spend more for them.

3. Waiting for the repair seemed like the best option. But now I realize they just keep moving the ETA for the parts back. It's as if my laptop has been lost. The woman from Lenovo is almost pressing me to just get a replacement. But that goes back to my concerns I listed in #1. If I would have known they would keep pushing back the ETA for the keyboard part I would have ordered the replacement long ago.

Now what I WOULDN'T mind waiting for is if they honored giving me the i7/256GB/8GB model with win 8 preinstalled as some incentive for waiting. But I'm afraid to ask for that until it's closer to being available. I'm afraid I will be told it's not the same model and they won't do it (especially with the discounts i was given for waiting throughout the 2 months), thinking I'm just trying to get something out of this. Again, I originally ordered the i5/256GB/8GB.

I don't mean to blab on about my issues with this, but some of you have been helpful and I appreciate that. In the end, I would at least really like the unit I originally ordered, in the premium condition I expect as soon as possible. Technology moves fast and everyday it gets deeper into obsolescence. I can't believe a refresh is already coming out..

I will get a call from the same rep that I have been working with. Any suggestions on which route I should take with her? Should I bring up the i7/256GB/8GB/win8 model that I heard someone mention on here? If it's true that it's coming next week, maybe she will be nice enough to offer me that as my replacement.

 

@urbanglowcam assuming the i7 is just a rumor, why not just order another one and wait to see which unit shows up first? The EPP discounts I'm seeing right now are identical to what we got with the original orders.

My rep refundedd my unit, because he and I both knew that the repairs could likely take longer then ordering a new one.

 

Well what I'm afraid of, is that I ordered my machine with the newsletter discount, EPP discount, and an extra $150 off on top courtesy of some reps throughout the delay period. So I got the 8GB/256GB/i5 model for $1350 after everything. So while I feel appreciative of this, this is why I was patient for so long. But now it's been months and they have had my money since September.

So I was hoping they could just send me the new model without charging me (keeping my in-repair machine of course). Or just refund and honor my original price for the new one.

 

If you do decide to go the refund route and they try to stick you with a restocking fee, I would raise cain.

 

Rest assured, its every unit. Some fans just don't admit or maybe haven't seen a quality display on a notebook before, afterall there's not many notebooks out there with decent displays.

Lenovo's had a reputation for using low quality displays for YEARS. Many hoped the X1C would have a better quality display since it's their flagship 20th anniversary notebook.

True to Lenovo form they ignored the importance of using a decent display and pleasing customers, instead they chose profit and convenience or quality.

Add in their blundered release of the X1C which is a joke in itself along with people opening the box and then having to send in their brand new notebook for repairs and waiting weeks not even knowing when they'll get their new notebook back - pathetic.

If this was Apple it would be front page news ... Lenovo somehow gets a pass? I don't think so, not in my book, consumers need to step it up a bit and not accept this crap.

Accepting it, calling this dissatisfaction "drama" or ignoring it does nothing but play into Lenovo's hand and make them more money at the expense of your hard earned money, eye strain, frustration and inconvenience.

 

+1. Not only that, but its becoming clearer every day that publications's reviews of the X1C were fradulent. At this point, anyone who doesn't think that Lenovo paid these publications to place Lenovo-written reviews is lying to themselves. Its such a joke. Reviewers complained about the iPhone's new map program but its just because Apple had too much integrity to bribe the media. Meanwhile who cares what software my phone or laptop has if if my eyes are hurting and I literally can't see the content on my screen? It's only a matter of time before we see a class action lawsuit by Lenovo customers against the publications which are taking bribes in exchange for fradulent reviews which are misleading customers. They think they can get away with this but not everyone is just a blind fan... clear-headed customers will force the truth to come out.

 

Trust me I've seen many good and bad displays, and I never saw anything like it. I think the fact most reviews never mentioned it, means there's some variance in the displays.

 

Several people who have purchased multiple X1C's have already reported identical screens across their units (one was from someone who had 4 units side by side). This is from people whose views on the screen came from across the reported spectrum. (All the X1C LCD part numbers are also the same; this would be the first instance I know of in any product of significant variation in display characteristics across a single part number---so we should be inherently skeptical.)

If there is any meaningful variance we would expect side-by-side photos demonstrating it to have come out. The longer this doesn't happen, the less likely there's any difference.



As for my sarcastic post above, I have to say that while I have a lot of sympathy for people that are unhappy with a product they purchased and want to return it or otherwise make it right, I have very little understanding for the attitude of people who seem upset at other people for deciding the product the fulfills their own needs, and am a bit incredulous at people's sense of their own ability to judge the magnitude of QC problems overall based on reading forum posts. (I say this as someone who had a QC issue with my own X1C.)

 

Vow. That is a grand statement. Just curious, how do you know?

"Lenovo's had a reputation for using low quality displays for YEARS. Many hoped the X1C would have a better quality display since it's their flagship 20th anniversary notebook."


Obviously you have not heard about, not less tocuhed, X220/X230, T520/T530/W520/W530.

 

You must live in a parallel universe then - most 'professional' reviews I have seen don't really complain about the map, never mind the other hardware issue like backlight bleed...

As for the topic at hand: I would agree with others that all X1C screens have the screen door effect. However, different people put different levels of importance on it. To me, the machine is for working - the deciding factors being portability, build quality (as is evident it depends on the unit you get, but if it rocks it rocks), and most importantly the keyboard. The screen is secondary, and no other machine I have used comes close to the X1C with regard to the factors outline above (maybe some really expensive Sony laptops, but once I have added all the extra bits plus extended warranty it costs much more than the X1C). Does it mean they should ship it with 'screen door' screens? No, certainly not. But it means I will put up with it as everything else ticks the box - and that, at least to me, is more important.

 

I'm with you on your perspective on the X1C as a mobile work machine. It's got it where it counts for my uses. What's the next best option if someone needs a <3lb 14" ultrabook with a great keyboard?

As for the iphone thing, that was all just a joke anyways, but I do remember David Pogue writing a column complaining a lot about the maps.

 

I can't find anything else available that ticks the necessary boxes.

How is the screen (with it's screen door affect) during prolonged usage? Does it have a real impact on the experience?

 

I'm a long-time ThinkPad user and am now trying out an X1 Carbon. I don't really see the screen-door effect people are talking about. If I put my head 10 inches towards the screen, then maybe I see something but from normal viewing distances, the screen looks just like other LCD's I'm using on my desktop.

One factor which may affect what people are seeing is brightness level. I noticed that different levels show different degrees of the possible screen-door effect.

Overall for me though, the screen-door effect is minimal if not non-existent to me. If I can take a picture of it, I will so others can see for themselves.

 

I agree. That's how it was for me when I briefly had mine. I'm a web/graphic designer, so the display is important to me. I've seen the Series 9 PLS and Zenbook Prime IPS, but I was still impressed with the X1 Carbon's display.

 

For me there is no impact on usage. I use the laptop for work a lot. Lately my work has been heavy on the computer side of things so I'm looking at the screen all day, typing, programming, lots of small fonts, reading, etc, and I have no issues with it. My experience is like that of bdoviack and urbanglowcam, for me it is a nonissue. I am don't do professional graphics per se but am sensitive to color reproduction which I think is quite good on the X1C considering other machines I've used.

I did a side-by-side comparsion with a dell standalone LCD (that I've always considered to be a pretty nice display) and found the dot pitch to be comparable. I'll try to come back and edit with the exact model of the screen if I remember to check it.


I know someone else who is in the market for a light 14 inch laptop and want to be able to say something other than just "you should get what I have!" but its surprisingly difficult to find something that compares without compromsing on screen size. For linux users the ZaReason UltraLap 430 is not at all heavy at 3.25lb, but its screen is 1366x768 and glossy, both disqualifiers for me. If they had a higher resolution and matte option it would really be an interesting option for a buyer who doesn't insist on having a trackpoint.

 

Thanks for the feedback, vanagon.

My trigger date is fast approaching with the impending W8 release and the potential of the i7/8/256 config.

 

Good to know it.

 

But please don't get that confused with me saying it is superior to the Sam/Asus. In terms of brightness and viewing angles, it doesn't live up to those two. But honestly, this is one of the main factors in my decision and I was happy with the Lenovo X1C from what I saw. I read the reviews (starting with Engadget) pointing out the dot pitch issue with the display. I'm pretty observant (as I found other QC issues) and did not see an issue with the screen. Looking closely, you MIGHT be able to see it. But I really didn't.

 

Another new option is now up for pre-order. See Samsung NP900X3D-A01US Ultrabook PC - 2nd Gen. Intel Core i5-2537M 1.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 13.3 Display, Windows 8 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

$999 USD.

[UPDATE] This particular machine has some unusual specs. I can't tell if tigerdirect.com published specifications are correct or not. It would appear this machine is a Sandy Bridge based machine. If so, I guess Samsung is dumping some older machines on the US market that didn't sell elsewhere.

I'm hoping the specs are wrong and the NP900X3D is really Ivy Bridge and Intel HD 4000 based. If it starts showing up on amazon.com and other sellers, the specs will get clarified. If it is Ivy Bridge, $999 is a good price.

 

I'm still looking for the holy grail of good screen, durable backlit keyboard, 3G card, ultra portable. Maybe if I ever get mine back from depot I can give it another shot.

 

Aren't we all.

 

Torture testing the ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Torture testing the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook | CNET TV | Video Product Reviews, CNET Podcasts, Tech Shows, Live CNET Video

Wow

 

The ultrabooks with 3G seems to be the hard part.

 

Lenovo just sent me a messenger bag, mouse and the usb ethernet adapter...but no mini vga adapter...see screenshot...anyone else get a free bag/mouse?

 

"This is just wrong" as she puts it in a 200 degree oven

 

Yeah. Kinda disappointed in the spill test. It made the trackpad/point unclickable and the keyboard didn't work after either. Then again, that was hot/steamy coffee lol. Interesting how the screen bezel warped after the oven. That's the same piece I sent mine in for.

 

Hi guys, new user here from Australia - I've have been lurking the thread for a while but I thought it was about time to sign up and introduce myself.

I'm a IT / telco systems programmer who's been looking at getting an Ultrabook for the last year or so, and I finally got a X1C 8/256 about a month ago - paid for by myself but with the primary target use of learning new work related skills (there's just so much happening in my field, it's all very exciting and daunting at the same time). My previous laptop was the Dell 9300 from 2005, and an HP TC4400 from a bit after that. I have been totally loving the X1C except for the fact that there was buckle on the bottom of the case out of the box.

After one tech callout didn't resolve the issue properly - and also did something to the speakers, I'm DOA-ing it. Seeing that the 8GB i7 wasn't too far away, I told Lenovo Australia two weeks ago about my desire to change to this one instead of getting like for like as I'd be out for a while anyway .. and they said no problem, hang on to it for now and when you've got the new one ordered let us know and we'll pick it up for a full refund that they'll put towards the new order.

So I find their flexibility great, and I'm very happy with how this has been handled so far. This morning I just put my order in for the i7 8gb 256, and even as I upgraded my warranty to include accidental damage and also added the NIC, I didn't have to pay too much more. I was well looked after.

Personally I find the form factor of the X1C fantastic; the keyboard is a dream to use in particular. I can see the screen door, but it doesn't bother me too much. Also my eye sight is -2.25, so if I don't have glasses on I can just adjust my distance to a sweet spot where I can't actually see it. In this sweet spot I find the screen very sharp, and colours spot on. For programs like the Sublime Editor, the rendering is just great. Also the effect is mitigated by wearing glasses or contacts. Other impressions: Performance is great, the 10 second cold boot to lock screen in Windows 8 RTM is fantastic; I'm using the Trackpoint more and more, and overall I really like this Ultrabook.

Anyway, I thought I'd say hi, and also let you know the i7 8GB is now available for ordering. On an amusing funny note, the sales guy hadn't seen the update so I was the one to let him know it was in fact available.

 

I see the i7 8GB 256GB on the AU site but not the US site...wonder why? Anyone know about this!!!?

 

It's a vast conspiracy.

 

I think your intellect left everyone speechless.

 

Ethernet dongle:

i've had my x1c for a couple of weeks now and have zero signs of the ethernet dongle coming to me. will Lenovo notify us that they are sending it? i certainly have not received any "care packages comprising of a free messenger bag, mouse, and the ethernet dongle" yet!!

wonder if the folks who received the "care package" are special folks who ordered through special channels?

that said, my USB 3.0 dock is indeed finally coming next week after its ship date slipped something like 5 or more times. its status went directly from "order received" to "shipped", completely bypassing the "in production" phase!

as i'm going on a trip for 6 weeks soon around Thanksgiving, i'd certainly like to receive my ethernet dongle sufficiently early prior to that so i may test it out first before my long trip!

anyone else knows what's going on with that?

 

Could someone point me to a list of X1C model numbers? I forget what these documents are called... but I haven't been able to find a link to them anymore via search or stickies.