ThinkPad X1

well price is always a factor of consideration for purchase for these laptops, if you can get them cheap then why not. Otherwise, i would go with a used X200.

Also, X1 is coming out with a dual boot hybrid model that can switch between windows and android OS.

In Australia they are constantly on sale for around 900 AUD with an i3 CPU, which is plenty fast for these type of machine.

Also, you have to remember these first generation machines always have quirk .

 

Most X1 bundles see saw came with i5-2520M processor but given she isn't a ' power user ' in terms of games / movies ......she wasn't sure whether to go with the i5-2520M or the cheaper i3 2310M ( $100 CDN cheaper ).

But if the i3 is ' plenty fast ' for her needs..that's good to know. Thanks !

 

yeap the i3 is fine.

 

Glad to see that Lenovo has confirmed that it will be replacing the X1 with ultrabook specs and ivybridge cpus next spring. http://www2.partnerinfo.lenovo.com/partners/us/resources/downloads/live/US_Channel_Update_101911.pdf

 

you are watching the X1 series update more closely then most people here.

 

I'm sorry, I'm a novice-what is the significance of the hybrid model? Just that you can web browse without loading windows, therefore saving battery life? touchscreen? I suppose it would be similar to the hp web os on elitebooks?

(I have dreams of sticking my sim card in my laptop and using it for my gsm phone calls.............maybe thats already possible?)

thanks so much for posting this!

my z61t died in january......not sure how much longer I can wait- I think I have an ulcer as it is I really wish I could see an X1 in person before buying!

the 14in "mainstream" thinkpad ultrabook sounds interesting- does mainstream mean T series or edge level? hmm

 

RE: X1 Hybrid- not sure what to make of these pictures- ad/webpage drafts?

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ThinkPad_x1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

I'm not sure there's a market for an X1 Hybrid.

I'm surprised Lenovo didn't bump the LCD panel spec to 1600x900 instead of screwing around with a "hybrid".

 

This has the most potential to be my next notebook. Glad to see it developing. My only question will be whether the Ivybridge CPU will be power enough for me to forego a dedicated GPU. I think it probably will for my purposes (ARC Map and other GIS work). Would love to see a quad in one of these and hopefully Lenovo follows up with plans to put HD+ display in it.

My Acer continues to perform flawlessly, so no hurry here.

As for the Hybrid ... it's a gimmacy way to refresh the X1. I agree that there is no market for it. I guess if you had an android tablet, it might help. With W8 release set for fall, 2012 and the potential to run W8 on ARM cores, Android tablets may become a thing of the past. As for the 14" ultrabook, I would assume they are talking about the T420s series.

 

Hard to say on that. Will Lenovo have a strong enough reason to produce the U300s, T430s and the X2 if the prices are all relatively close?

In my case I would opt for the X2 if they improve battery life and add the 1600x900 screen. If the screen ends up being an IPS screen and is equivalent to the MBA or better, slam dunk.

 

With a starting price of $800 on the 14" Thinkpad, it can't be the Edge that they're referencing. It has to be the successor to the T420, no? They specifically reference a 14" Thinkpad so they are not talking about the U400.

I'm wondering if Intel's incorporation of USB 3.0 support on the Ivybridge Chipset means that these units can be easily docked to external graphics?

 

i think the hybrid model is nothing more than a X1 that Lenovo tries to improve in a minor way to improve its appeal to the customer who may already want a X1 in the first place, or looking for a similar laptop.

From what i know ideapad and thinkpad are produced and managed by different division of the company, as such since they have a KPI they need to monitor, even if there are model overlaps they would still have produce them and actively compete for the consumer dollar.

 

What I see for Lenovo ultrabooks:
- U300s, consumer ultrabook.
- X1 Hybrid (X2), business ultrabook, possibly a Standard Voltage CPU since they already spent a lot of time developing the supposedly thinnest standard voltage cooling solution for the X1.
- E430s, successor to the E420s, loses the optic drive and some millimeters. The mainstream ultrabook they refer to. This would make more sense than the T430s being an ultrabook since the average T4##s buyer probably wants everything in a T4##, but under 4 lbs, which would be compromised in an ultrabook. Also, the T4##s series is expensive and the mainstream ultrabook will be relatively cheap.

 

T430s won't be an ultrabook, from what is said and reported the X2 would probably be Lenovo's next Ultrabook in the ThinkPad series.

 

We get 2 Thinkpad ultrabooks though it seems from the pdf. A 13 inch and a 14 inch.

Though, I find it odd that they aren't making the E230s an ultrabook since its awfully close to meeting the spec as it is.

 

You probably be looking at a Ultrabook in the Edge series, and another one in X series. I wouldn't think the T series would meet the Intel Ultrabook specification.

 

Thanks.

In the end, we pulled the trigger on an X1 with the i5 ...it should get here in about a week.

btw - anyone have any ' low hanging fruit ' tricks and tweaks on how to increase the power efficiency and battery life on the X1 - i.e modifying some options of Windows ?

 

The best advice I can give would be to look very carefully at the power management driver version you are running, the version of Lenovo Power Manager, and the settings in the Power Manager profile you are using. In order to do that, flip Power Manager into Advanced mode.

Create a new custom Power Manager profile and get miserly with those settings.

Double check some of the Intel Graphics settings in the Intel control application for video. Some of their settings are too aggressive and can lead to some unnecessary application video lag.

 

Also make sure to update the battery firmware if you can. You should able to squeeze 4 hrs out of the X1's battery.

 

Hopefully, with the power improvements in the Ivy Bridge CPU, the X2 will have at least 4-5 hours of battery life and Lenovo makes available a supplemental battery attachemet that covers the entire bottom instead of the wedge design on the X1. That is just ugly.

 

the wedge design of the X1 actually makes the keyboard more comfortable to type on.

 

Hi all. I´m thinking about buying an X1, I have read lots of reviews, opinions, and hardly alls threads that talks about it.

Right now it´s my first option between others laptop but I have some doubts still, that I hope any X1 owner can solve me or give me their experience of use.

1- Anyone who work with design and video editing software asPremiere, Final cut, After Efects, and similars, can tell me how is the performance with video editing? and what about graphic design, photoshop, indesignt and others? Has the integrated graphic video good performance and quality for an external screen?

2- I have read in a review that the x1 is pretty noisy, is that true?

3- What about the heat? I have read that it became lil hot to work with it on your legs, anybody can tell me his experience ?

4- What is the real battery duration for normal use? 3 hours?

5- All review I read talks about the battery life for de i5 procesor, In the case of de i7 configuration, the battery duration is less ??


I hope anybody can answers this question to help me to decided definitely.

 

1. I got the software for video editing but don't have any files to test with. But for the Photoshop and graphic design packages, the X1 is really quite fast and capable of handling large files especially with a SSD installed.

2. The X1 fan is not that noisy, but sound pitch does increase as the fan spins up to the maximum RPM.

3. The great thing about the X1 thermal management design is that the laptop body stays cool, even when you stress the CPU/GPU, which is really amazing.

4. Define Normal use, for light word processing and web surfing with screen 50% brightness about 4 to 4.5 hrs on the battery saver mode. If you are doing CPU intensive tasks then around 2 to 3 hours.

5. i7 would be less, there is really no major advantage of getting the i7 dual core over the i5, the performance difference is minimal.

 

Unless of course it's a quad core i7. That is the cpu to get for video editing and encoding.

 

that TDP will be too high for the current X1, maybe the next Intel i core CPU will have a quad core with low enough tdp to be used in a ultraportable.

 

http://www.fudzilla.com/notebooks/item/24904-intel-expects-convertible-ultrabooks-next-year An X2T Ivybridge convertible notebook/tablet would be incredible. Wacom pen please.

 

in the future.... intel will control all the laptop design, the only difference between a HP, Dell, Lenovo laptop would simply be the badge.

 

+1 oh, and decent battery life wouldn't hurt.

 

In fact, it's Apple who decide how Intel's Macbook clones will look like.. ..god help us...

 

we will see how much longer Apple will be in the leader board without Steve Jobs.

 

given that the designs are used for several years, and its just hardware changes that are applied each year, I think they are pretty safe with ive and cook

 

Did someone else produce a better design? I must have missed that.

 

I have a question about the x1 noise emission. Will pitching sounds always happen?

I really want to know if it does because that is enough for me to go with the x220 or x120e.

 

When I evaluated the X1, I didn't notice any unusual sounds.

 

Better battery, lower weight, close to X220 weight and IPS as standart would be so much welcome.
Oh and hi-res HD+ screen standart as well !
Im repeating myself, I kow, just sayin!

 

With 35 to 50 ultrabooks on display at CES, hopefully, we'll see a prototype X2. http://www.fudzilla.com/notebooks/item/24950-second-wave-of-ultrabooks-to-hit-ces-2012

 

Yeah, but given that X1 starting price at first was like ~2000$? You cant put it into u-book category for that fact alone !
And poor battery life...
That is, IF X2 turns out to be the same in this regard.

 

We know we're getting a 14 inch ultrabook and a 13 inch ultrabook. The X1 is the only 13 inch Thinkpad on sale on this side of the big pond. If the 13 inch Thinkpad ultrabook isn't an entirely new line of Thinkpads, there aren't that many options to what line it will be in.

On the topic of price. A lot of manufacturers including Lenovo don't seem to be taking that requirement seriously, just "don't make it Sony Z2/Fujitsu SH771 expensive" instead of well under $1k. Actually, manufacturers don't seem to be that concerned with matching Intel's spec at all for this generation. U300s is over $1k, along with the ASUS UX31. Acer made a lot of sacrifices for their ultrabook to get it under $1k which makes it fail the ultrabook spec. The upcoming HP ultrabook is too thick. Unless I'm missing something big, the only true ultrabook that follows everything is Toshiba's.

 

The problem is that no one can or has the parts price bargaining power like Apple does, also none of them are producing the laptop at huge volume. If they are producing them at MBP Air quantity and selling them like so, then they could push the price down to 800 dollars USD. But no one wants to make such a large bet and flopping like HP TouchPad with a firesale at the end.

 

You are diminishing a business strategy.

Simply put Apple created a line that uses across their board very similar components, and that line is small.

There are 5 notebooks in that line, Even the T line from thinkpad is larger than their entire notebook ecosystem.

Thats how they can put the pressure on system builders and suppliers, large quantities of similar parts.

I dont see why the other OEMs cant see that, no they have to have several and several lines, diluting their bargaining power and diluting their marginal gains by adding more R&D to their line, by adding more diversified parts in the ecosystem. Pretty stupid.

Its simple:

Business - T and W

Consumer - Y

It wasnt even that hard, by doing that I have cut the Z, V, X... and by doing that there are diminished R&D, less parts, a tighter ecosystem, more marginal value, since it aint distributed across several subsystems

 

The attempts to compete with the MacBook Air are pitiful on so many fronts.

 

If you copy Apple in its strategy then you would flop without their kind of marketing and customer following.

I mean people at HP, Dell, ASUS, Lenovo, Acer aren't blind to what Apple is doing, and most of these information of how Apple bargain are all well known. If they can copy it and be as successful as Apple, then they would have done so ages ago.

This is like saying that Facebook is popular, okay lets copy Facebook down to the tiniest detail, thinking that it would somehow make you as rich as Mark Zuckerberg, without having same customer base or marketing strategy.

The problem with strategy is that it may look good on paper, but in implementation stage you may not always get the same condition that you originally thought you would get.

 

I didn't say copy. My point is that most of the attempts just suck. Their keyboards, trackpads, screens or chassis suck. Some of them do have a good chassis or trackpad, but none of them do everything with excellence.

I really would not have a problem with the attempts if they didn't try to pass them off as "ultra". They aren't.

Recommend we start another thread elsewhere since this has nothing to do with the X1. It isn't an ultrabook. Well, maybe the price is ultra and the keyboard is cool, but the rest of it is ultra #fail.

 

@Thors.Hammer i wasn't directing the comment at you, i was talking to Mr MM. I should of quoted, and got lazy on my iPhone.

 

''

Of course, if the strategy was general and could be applied to all, it would lead to higher cpu prices, since there would be quite a waste in production, and that is just one component.

However its undeniable that R&D costs are going to increase as you increase the product line, it depends on the marginal increments of that aside some other micromanagement to achieve what would be a good cost.

And sincerely as I posted the lenovo line, as I think it would be best, it would still be:

T - 11'' - 13'' - 14'' - 15'' - 17''
W - 15'' - 17''
Consumer - 11'' - 13'' - 14'' - 15'' - 17''

That is still a lot of models, and if you add the ultrabook initiative there would be 2 more for the T and the consumer line (11'' and 13'')

I must say that the current 30+ models is a bit exaggerated

 

X1 design grew on me, love it, I see nothing Appleish in its design
Future ThinkPads will probably move into X1 direction

Was a bit lazy from my tablet, so heres the full explanation:

Lenovo folks have mentioned that chiclet might become the new default ThinkPad keyboard, built in batteries are going to be common thing, getting rid of optical disk drive on systems up to 14" has been mentioned as well.

Remember the T400s, it was first from redesigned T/W series, all the new T/W had the same design elements.
X1 could take its place, quite franky I love its minimal design, to be honest I dont understand why X1 has been moved into this sub forum rather than being placed in main ThinkPads forum.
Why? Just because it has chiclet style keyboard and not the old one ?

Remeber how Dell/HP revamped their designs? Lenovo could be next and I couldnt care less as long as they offer the same build quality(or better given the frequent lemons and issues etc), ability to self service it without voiding warranty and offering plethora of additional options and make then all thinner, lighter at the same time.
I do think that ThinkPads could get some new life in design, nothing dramatic, yet visible enough.
X1 with its chiclet keyboard and semi-glossy screen might seem like to much to some, but I bet Lenovo will sort their business out, because X1 is one damn sexy looking beast and it would be shame to lose its DNA and not continue it in other future models and in different sizes !

 

I don't like what Dell is doing with it's business laptops. I feel like they're moving away from the subtle business designs and becoming more consumerish. I'm not really a big fan of their new XPS lineup either. I really liked their Studio XPS lineup from a couple years ago. I actually like HP's new business laptops. The design is simple and elegant at the same time. Obviously, Lenovo has plans of it's own, but I would prefer if Lenovo kept the classic Thinkpad design for their T/X/W series. I could really care less about what other designs they're offering because I know that I'm going to stick to what has been proven to excel.

I wouldn't mind changes but the three most important things for me are probably keeping the classic keyboard, high resolution (even if it does and probably will shift to 16:9), and a matte screen is essential. Easy accessibility to parts is also nice to have.

 

The thing I want is ThinkPads to be higher quality - I hate when there are so many plastic parts on its outer shell that are not straight-lined when they have to.
All ThinkPads Ive seen, my previous R400, T410 both were not perfectly straight on their sides, speaker grills were not straight, they were "sunk" in above major ports, none of recent ThinkPads pictures Ive seen online from reviews have had perfect side panels, all defective and dont tell me that its engineering solution, its ugly.
See the 2nd laptop from bottom, lid closed, yet the speaker grill/side is not perfectly straight, look at the huge dent above VGA port:
http://msinetpub.vo.llnwd.net/d1/keithcombs/blog/images/t410/left.JPG
And thats how it is on both sides!

What about X220 screen bezel deforming in sunlight? Failure, if you ask me.
How come other companies can manufacture all metal shell laptops for much cheaper than plastic ThinkPads? I doubt that Lenovo would lose so much money if they started to use magnesium alloy/aluminum on their palmrests, screen bezels and overall streamlined their laptops exterior not to have so many parts assembled together.
Look at the cheap Edge series - they look VERY simple, yet maintain geometrically straight lines and carry none of those defects Ive encountered with "real" ThinkPads. And they cost less!
I know what supposedly makes X/T/W series more expensive than Edge, you dont need to tell me that, but I dont want to accept low quality engineering/workmanships/materials on a supposedly premium laptop

 

Lenovo's direct competitor are the tier one computer companies like HP, Dell, Acer and if Lenovo move towards the Apple business model then there will be lot of segments of the market left unfulfilled.

But i do agree that Lenovo has too many different model line up...

 

HP is another example of a much smaller ecosystem and dell as well. Larger companies have already saw that the cost to produce too many line ups is too high for the pretty small marginal profit that you gain from it.

HP - Dell

High consumer - envy - xps

Consumer - pavillion - inspiron

Small business - Probook - Vostro

Business - elitebook - latitude

Workstation - elitebook w - precision

and this is a huge ecosystem, for example dell has 18+, hp has 14+

Another example would be Sony, it has the E, S, Z, F and Y lines, giving it a grand total of 8 models, although its not business oriented.

Reinstating that the problem aint that you dont follow apple, but its that you just have too many to receive too little

Regarding market segments its a basic thing, there are more non tech people than otherwise, they want something that works, some want something that can game, and most just want to surf the web and do some office stuff. It aint that hard to design a single line up that can fulfill the consumer market. And with a single line up the production cost, the variety of parts, the R&D and so forth would be diminished.