Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2012

Heh.. why is the i5 faster than the i7:

PassMark - Intel Core i5-3427U @ 1.80GHz - Price performance comparison
PassMark - Intel Core i7-3667U @ 2.00GHz - Price performance comparison

Any better cpu benchmark comparisons?

 

So the i5 performs better, comes with 8GB of ram, and is cheaper? I know which model I'm getting! .....jk

 

Well i7 and i5 are basically identical, the one has a bit more cache and a bit higher clock speed. At best 15% faster.

The passmark test is bs with a sample of 2. Either N has to be big or identical machines with identical software and identical user behavior, meaning not doing anything on the machine while benchmark running. Thus chances of this being representative are zero.

 

It depends on the source you find in the internet. Look at this side:

Core i7-3667U Vs i5-3427U | Compare Processors

But there is another error: The TDP of the i5 is the same as of the i7 (17 watts instead of 35 watts!).

 

Which image are you basing that on? The Lenovo lock screen (image you linked a couple posts back) looks poor on pretty much every display, even the X220 IPS screen, from what I've seen.

 

I saw the same passmark comparison when I was looking at the I5 and I7ULV U2442N and V figures. I had the same reaction. It won't be the first time Passmark was completely off-the-mark. It makes no sense. A ULV I7 should perform somewhere near a full powered I3.

 

Exactly. The background has a blue glow at the bottom which is intentional, but looks like a screen issue....but I realize that.

I'm talking about the pictures with the laptop in the background, where it's supposed to be black. But I won't completely judge yet.



It could be the outside lighting. But when you look at pictures of the Zenbook Prime, you can USUALLY, immediately see that it looks great.

I'm waiting for notebookcheck to get it since they do more scientific testing of their screens.

 

Ah, I see. Well, too early to say yet, so we'll see when some more (official) reviews of the X1 Carbon go up!

 

It was unboxed yesterday. hopefully we'll know within a day or two.

 

I've noticed in a lot of Lenovo's own unboxings, they don't even turn the display on...just talk about the direction they took with it and analyze it a bit from the outside. If that's the case, it'll be useless in regards to the display.

 

Till now, this is what we got:

"Me geeking on the flagship 20th anniversary ThinkPad"

And this from a professional writer...it sounds like him spilling something on it...something....

https://twitter.com/gavinohara/status/227832817445371906

 

I'm looking for an ultraportable for school starting beginning of September, and as of right now it looks pretty narrowed down to the Series 9. The only computer that might sway me is the X1.

I know an earlier post points to the X1 being "available August 15". This would be my first Lenovo, so I'm totally new to the brand and its types of releases. Two questions:

1) What does "available August 15" exactly mean? Do you think that means you can place a firm order for it and it will ship almost immediately, or does it mean you can put orders down starting then and they'll ship weeks later?

2) What types of retailers will Lenovo sell this type of premium ultraportable through? Online-only? I haven't found the X230 at any brick and mortar stores. Can I expect to find the X1 anywhere in person or not?

 

Similar question here. I am a student in florida. Wondering if there is a student discount for Lenovo online? Which is the cheapest place to buy thinkpad x1 carbon online? Thank you

 

I've heard you really won't find a Lenovo in-store unless you get lucky at a university bookstore.

 

I saw that and even tweeted some of those who were involved with that unboxing to no avail. As far as display, we should probably rely on someone else because part of me doubts they'll even turn on the display in this one. I hope I'm wrong.

Either way, hearing first hand knowledge of it from someone behind the project will be good.

 

I have almost decided on the HP Spectre XT with an i7 and 256 GB SSD. I have been waiting for the X1 carbon for a long time now and time is running out for me now as I need a laptop by the 30th of August. Can't just the prices and specs be released so that I know what I am waiting for else I can just say 'It's too expensive' and walk away because X1 carbon looks better than the Spectre in all departments. Also, I am not considering the Series 9 Samsung as it just has 128 gig SSD.

 

Battling insomnia tonight... I stumbled upon this Russian youtube video and the screen looks pretty decent in it... (not sure if if was posted earlier, in any case, I hope it helps kill the wait)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAfYhlyRsCE

 

I am installing a Crucial M4 256GB mSATA SSD in my Series 9 in the morning.

 

Yeah I've watched this one countless times. The screen looks great in it. I hope its accurate. Like I said before, I'm sure the brightness and whites will look great. Viewing angles have said to be great too. I'm mostly worried about the black levels and color contrast.

Is it pretty easy to do the swap? This is the 13" were talking about right? If the Lenovo doesn't work out, the S9 will be my backup. Thanks.

 

The only thing concerning in the videos so far is that the hinge looks particularly loose for a Thinkpad.

 

Firstly, is it possible to do so?
And then, it totally exceeds my budget to first spend around $1400-$1500 on the Series 9, and then a few more hundred dollars on the mSATA SSD.

 

Is this thinkpad going to follow the trend of the ultrabooks were nothing is upgradable? like you cant replace battery, upgrade ram, etc

 

Maybe thats possible with the X1 Carbon too.

 

I'm fairly certain the RAM isn't upgradable. The SSD could be, but only with an aftermarket SSD (if it is made). Battery: nope.

I've always bought a 3+ year warranty on my IBM/Thinkpads. I have seen in those documents, that a 3 year warranty covers the battery replacement as well.

 

Not true: Series 9 13.3

The A04US is a 13" S9 with an i7 and 256 GB SSD. On sale at a few online retailers for ~$1,700. A user on the S9 thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/656442-13-3-samsung-np900x3c-ivy-bridge-cpu-109.html) has one and likes it very much, and reports the LITEON 256 GB SSD is much better than the U100 128.

 

Yes, the 13.3". I bought it during the microsoftstore.com sale for $799. It came with the 128GB Samsung mSATA. I created the Samsung Recovery Solution DVD set (Ghost), then also did a full backup with Acronis True Image Home 2012 for good measure. I swapped the mSATA drive with the new Crucial M4 256GB mSATA I purchased. I have the Acronis restore running.

Eventually I'll flatten the image and scrap it in order to recover the recovery partition, the Intel hibernation partition, etc. No need at the moment. I want to study the Microsoft "Signature" installation.

 

I saw that, but that's the Sandy Bridge model right? Great machine nonetheless.

 

Yep, it's the old slow Sandy Bridge model.

 

New pictures and a review from a Chinese site
[

Screen is actually looking pretty good.

 

Looks like a 128gb Sandisk [insert moans] + i5 ... so those 4/8GB i7/i5 values were most likely switched.

 

I realized this fact with frightening too! Hope the 256gb SSD will not be a Sandisk!!!

 

I allowed myself to copy some from the Chinese webpage you posted, great link, some interesting data from them:

This is the 4GB i5 5427 system(the slower one, which also has less RAM as suspected)

The screen:



Also the screen(strange effect, though probably artefact) + battery life, he probably has as shown medium power saving and is currently listening to a song, is at about half the battery and it says 1:42h remaining. So overall 3.5h-4h, with medium power saving and not too much stressing the system



The internals and Windows Experience Index of 5.8

 

So that's 3:24 if you times his life expectancy that's showing in his screenshot by 2. But that's if he/she is at 50% battery left. It could be at 40-45% even. But also consider, like you said, that he's listening to music and is on medium setting.

It might be a little generous, but I'd say with the lowest setting, this thing might manage 4.5-5 hours. Not the best, but not terrible given how fast it charges.

 

Lenovo says 6.5h on the lowest setting.

 

That's good to hear. Where have you seen this?

Update: Another brief Chinese review with photos
碳纖ç¶æ‰“é€14吋Ultrabook：Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon - IT.OC.COM.TW

 

Thats in the offical presentation of the 2012 X-Series, the sice of the battery is 45Wh, the original X1 had 38Wh (but thats only preliminary):

 

That PDF was filled with a lot of errors but I think this bit might be pretty accurate. This is good to hear. It also lines up with NotebookCheck's battery testing of the original X1.



Here is a blurb from NotebookCheck's review on the ORIGINAL X1. Don't confuse it with the X1 Carbon.

What's interesting to note on the topic of RapidCharge technology that the X series uses is..

"According to Lenovo, batteries with this technology should have a life span three times longer than conventional lithium-polymer batteries."

 

Same chicks

 

Btw, a bit strange....

The pictures of all reviews have clearly all been made in _one_ location, with 5 Lenovo laptops on the table. So I guess that this is kind of an official Lenovo presentation, it looks like an office and this being the relax area or quiet area, with computer books lining the walls. These are not leaks. This is in their office being shown with other machines, that are not even "unveiled". With the _same_ Lenovo girls, who both have Lenovo "tats".

While we have that lame presenter on twitter chatting up an unboxing Lenovo China officially unveils together with specs, weight and price!?!

Nobody leaks with tatted girls.

Two explanations for this:
1) This is the new Lenovo strategy, we do not care about the West and the 20 year anniversary system, the long-awaited system by all enthusiasts, is first shown in China and then the rest of the world.
2) This is all part of the marketing strategy and they want ppl like us longing for any piece of information to being scouring the web for info and trying to deduct the specs etc from a thousand darn Chinese webpages.

Clearly this is a sanctioned event in China.
Thus either the Lenovo USA guys are not being told by HQ (nobody cares about them) or we are being played!

Either way...

Just be done with it and release the darn thing, with a proper press release and stop this teasing, mocking and playing around...


The two "leaks":

techbang.com

it.oc.com.tw

 

Man, chill out. It's the new way to build buzz.

Regarding the specs, I don't think there's a lot left to surprise anyone at this point. And I don't think the prices will be a surprise either.

Unless of course you are expecting Lenovo to sell a premium Ultrabook for $999. Then you might be in for a surprise.

 

I get that it might be the new way, but fake leaks are to be called out.
Secondly, this is an official event, so let's see what Lenovo USA says, also tweeted them.
Not nice for them either, as they were trying to build up expectations using the "unboxing" etc, not spreading any official numbers etc. And the Chinese come out, I wrote in my post, that they might have been left out in the dark.

Besides, the prices are about 2k, just read the cn pages, you can calculate it from the numbers they are naming...

Might all be fake, yes, but the machine is not, the 5 other Lenovos are not, the offices do not look like a bloggers backroom and the two girls with Lenovo tats, not the official blogger smurfs either

[edit: I already wrote, that I will buy one X1C for sure, so it's not that they have lost a customer, I just find all this very childish, if on purpose, and unprofessional, otherwise.]

 

I second the relax notion...

The laptop will be announced in the next 2 weeks. There have been countless other previews of this machine all over the web, mostly pre-production units. Lenovo USA just shot an unboxing video, which I'm guessing, was only just done because *they* just got the thing.

There is no conspiracy against western civilization. For the most part, us Americans are spoiled in that we get *most* of the great tech before anyone else. I can't imagine being a European...

 

I am completely relaxed, even though I am a European
I just don't like this last uncoordinated bit of release teasing...

We beat you with the phone releases...
You beat us with game/film releases...
China beats us with Lenovo releases...
Fair enough...

As stated before, I am just pointing out there confusion or lack of leak setting up capabilities...but hell, what do I care as long as the screen rocks

 

Ugh, if that $2000 is true, I'm not going to like it, not one little bit. This waiting is killing me!

 

That's at least the number that three China&co blogs reported, the leaks today too. Don't forget though, this is the list price, without the discounts that you normally find on their webpage....

earlier post

 

Man, if only there were some high-resolution press photos of the X1 Carbon.

 

Maybe this is not important, but actually the three leaks (techbang, mobile01, overcolock) people talking about are famous tech news websites in Taiwan, not China. I believe the event was also held in Taiwan because one of the girl is a little famous in Taiwan.

 

Yup, thx, realized that when trying to find which currency they were referring to with NT(New Taiwan Dollar) in the first articles, that's why I called it China&co (back to the motherland...) them using a minor female celeb for the presentation would corroborate my earlier assumptions, this being official, I can't imagine this all is according to plan.

Because there had been earlier debates about the msata drive being custom form factor etc., me not being an expert in this, but do these images from the Russian review not look as if this were just a standard msata ssd, so we can replace/upgrade it at will?

 

We will see. It is a standard mPCI slot, maybe mSATA.

 

If it's anything like the current X1, and also without a latch to keep it closed, "yes" it does loosen up over time such that, when you put the lid down, it doesn't go all the way down for a snug, tight fight like when it's brand new. A consideration for when it goes into and out of the laptop bag or satchel. I put mine in with the back down first.