Lenovo X1 Carbon vs Lenovo T530 vs another machine?

Hello,

I am looking to buy a machine for personal use, but am leaning to lenovo still due to their excellent build quality. Having a very nice screen is very important to me, which is why I've narrowed my choices to the X1 Carbon and the T530. The T430 would be perfect, but it has an inferior screen, and the screen on the X230 is just too small for me.

I will be using this mostly at home as a desktop replacement, doing a bit of work, watching movies etc... I am studying for standardized exams, so I will need to take my laptop to and back from the library, but weight isn't a huge criteria. Having good battery would be a huge asset as well

What do you guys think I should buy? I'm leaning toward the X1 Carbon as of now. Also if there's any other machines you guys could suggest that are known to have good build quality and meet my criteria it would be greatle appreciated.

Criteria:
Excellent Build Quality
At least 13" screen (very good TN panel or IPS)
good keyboard/touchpad
Good battery
Light-weight is a plus, but not the most important feature.

 

Just to clarify, I am in Canada.

With the T530 I would be getting the FHD, and also adding an SSD.

 

I have looked into the Sony Vaio Z, which seems to cater to all my needs? What would you guys say the Carbon does better than the Sony Vaio Z? And do you guys know where the Sony can be purchased for cheap in Canada

 

You already know what you want.

(You may be fascinated by the look of the X1 Carbon, but your needs do not really point to it.)

 

Carbon has physically larger screen, Trackpoint, better keyboard, capability to connect a high-resolution monitor (i.e. above 1920x1200) and more/longer warranty options.

If you don't care about these, and the price difference, Sony Z is lighter, available with more storage/higher screen resolution/external GPU/quadcore CPU/dock/proper Ethernet connector etc.

 

The sony vaio Z is awfully expensive now that I look at it, although it does seem like the ideal notebook for me.

 

The Ferrari F12 seems like the ideal automobile for me.

 

The Samsung Series 9 might be worth a look.

 

Sony Z in base config, with 1600x900 screen etc, is probably about $100-200 more expensive than similar X1C (X1C with 256GB SSD is an upgrade), and is lighter. There are Sony store coupons too, -$100 of anything above $1000 shouldn't be hard to find. Both are great devices, but Sony has many more extra options, not available for X1C, that easily double the price if you want them.

If you want value, X230 or T530 will do a lot better than either X1C or Sony Z.

 

Just be aware the 13.3" model is limited to 4GB of memory, and the machine will only drive an external monitor at a maximum resolution of 1920x1080.

See the well documented impressions of the various models in the forum at Samsung Notebook Forum

 

I was in the same boat, wanted a Thinkpad with a nice screen and narrowed it down to those two. I already have the X220 with IPS and while I love the laptop, the screen is just too small for primary use. As a second machine or travel machine it's almost perfect though.

I just had the X1 for a few days and bought the T530 for my partner as well. Both are very nice and have different strengths. The X1 is thin, with a sealed battery, not a lot of ports and has an ulv chip. The T530 is pretty loaded, but obviously bigger. I never had a problem carrying my W500 anywhere, except on an airplane which can be too cramped, but for just putting it in a bag and going, it's not a big deal.

I ended up returning the X1 and am going to order the T530.

 

Right.

There you go.