Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2012

Well the "rollcage" being carbon is described here...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5839/lenovo-announces-their-3rd-generation-intel-core-laptop-updates

The casing being carbon here...

http://new-best-gadget.com/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-ultrabook-business/

Lastly, a description of the carbon they use here...

http://blog.lenovo.com/design/developers-on-the-x1-carbon-mechanical-engineering

I'm not sure which to completely believe but I know the chassis is at least fully carbon. The body itself, I'm not so sure.


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Cool, thanks. This article also reiterates your claim. I was hoping the whole thing would be CF though.

 

Well, magnesium alloys do lend strength as well. This article seems to mention that the palm rests are made of magnesium alloys.

 

Yeah, and glass too. Which is what I believe the macbooks trackpad is comprised of. That's great news if others don't have the same. That could be a reason why the sensitivity of the macbook is as smooth and responsive as it is, while other windows based laptops are not. But I'm not 100% sure. My QX410 is pretty responsive and feels like a smooth, aluminum surface. I'd still put the macbook ahead, but then it could be due to better software optimization. Maybe Windows 8 will improve further on this.

As I said, with the translated Chinese link I posted above, the user MAY have said the Lenovo X1C's trackpad is superior to the Macbook Air and S9 Samsung. But if anyone else reads Chinese a little better maybe they could confirm.

Anyway, hopefully we get more on that within the next 2 weeks before release.

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Kind of scratching my head here over the arguing about microscopic theoretical spec sheet details between the X1C and many other alternatives. The X1C looks like a nice clean, and somewhat original design. The splitting hairs over the specs is pretty useless IMHO, as if you get one, and you like it, this conversation will be long forgotten. Interestingly, we all see people who work themselves up into a crazed frenzy over features that make little difference when you use these machines daily. Once you get used to whatever the machine you have has, you completely forget what your imagined objections were.

Personally, as I get bored of my laptops every year or so, I can't imagine any of these spec sheet differences actually mattering. I've been using a Thinkpad Edge E220s for the past year, as well as an Acer TimelineX 4820TG (for traveling internationally when I want to play games on the plane). The Edge is a terrific daily driver, and the Acer will play most modern games. Also have a few year old Toshiba 11 inch mini laptop (not a netbook, but a real full featured lappy), that now hangs out in the house as a beater for the kids.

Given that the X1C may be the first really different looking ultrabook, I have to get one on principle, as all the others are either ugly or ridiculously expensive for what they are. Or worse, they are blatant MBA clones that simply run windows.

At least the Lenovo guys are finally breaking out of their rut of making 400 lb bricks that you can run over with a car.

 

Its just harmless discussion over the details. Because some of these notebooks were comparing are so close in terms of specs, we want to make sure were getting as much for our money as possible and see where they differ.

I also know which areas I want to be upgraded based on where my current laptop is lacking now. Something that's REALLY important is the screen. Since Lenovo is leaving us in the dark a little on this, I'm just trying to find what I can.

All I'm saying is, doesn't hurt to discuss this while were waiting.

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I was referring to the second statement and the "So.." which normally follows premises, never mind does not matter.

Metal will get deformed(and thus absorb part of the kinetic energy of an impact), which is why it would be better for human survival, if it were on a bumper, try deforming the door of the car, easy, try deforming the bumper, very difficult, you can take a hammer to it. Plastic is elastic and much more so, than most metals. What they did to make ppl survive getting hit by a car better, is make them round, there is regulation about that, so that ppl "role" over the car. Naturally does not work that great with SUVs.

The Samsung might have a deformation, a dent, even from small falls, darn I even had some when hitting a corner of a table, with USB drives. Which is why most of these components are made out of plastic, much more durable, becaue it is elastic. Look at survival equipment etc. Compare plastic expedition bottles to metal ones, after 1 year a plastic bottle is the same as before, the metal one has a gazillion little bumps, from where it fell down.

Lol. No we don't. When a car hits you, whether it is plastic or aluminum does not matter, aluminum might even be better because it deforms. A Bumper is extremely hard to deform, that's why we use them, so you can bump into stuff and it bounces back into form. Plastic is elastic, metal is not. And that is the point I was trying to make, metal, when it falls down, will get a dent, plastic will not. That is why we use plastic for some of the most durable requirements, like surfboards, sailing boats, arrows...I am aware that there are many different plastics, some are brittle, etc, but the normal plastic in laptops is not brittle. Drop a plastic glass or a metal glass.

Believe it or don't let's not bore others further with this, if you want take it pm

I am on Thinkpad #13 or so. 70% I had to sent back at some point, so I would not consider them great, though I guess all laptops have improved compared to the old days. BUT, what was always excellent, was the service, always guarantee, never an argument and all done swiftly and professionally, as long as I was the civlized world. With Sony and Samsung I had major issues with repairs and guarantees

Thus, I would say no decline of quality, this was always the case and the earlier after release you buy, the higher the risk of this happening, as with any product.

(sry for bad style, but very tired)

 

It's an enthusiast's forum, people debating these things is normal

I disagree with this. Objections about a bad screen, bad keyboard, heat underneath, heat next to the trackpad(where I have my hands), short battery endurance,...will not go away when I use a machine for a month, rather it will make me want to throw her against the wall. Which is what happened when I for the first time in my life, caught RSI from a laptop with a bad keyboard and after switching back, it went away(and no I was not trying to prove a point, as anyone who has had RSI, will know )

X301, not as thin, but just as light.
X1 anyone?
Though it was a badly usable machine with its idiotic gorrilla glas super reflective screen...

Wrt CF, I really really hope that it doesn't show and looks like a normal machine. Don't want anything show-offy and then get it stolen...

 

Guys, look what I found .... pricing is officially out for North America at USD $ 1399 for the base model including 3 yr depot warranty. Also looks like the official launch will be on August 14th and not on August 20th as reported earlier. Sweeeet !

Click on the link below and select the X1 Carbon from the drop down list under product Family and you'll see clearly what I am talking about !

Lenovo Solutions Center

 

That's just the list price. It doesn't mean they'll actually sell it for that. The price of the X230 is $1485, but after the web price and coupons, it's $721.

 

Looks like another site with confused specs. This only lists the i7 processor with 4GB of RAM. Only the i5 processor has 8GB as an option. I guess I'll wait until 8/14 when it's actually announced.

I feel bad for anyone needing the "Global" model, which costs $860 more for no difference in specs. It's in US dollars, so I hope it's not representative of actual price differences for international purchases...

 

I sure hope this is the before discount price. I am deciding between the SS9, X1C and soon to be released Mac Pro 13 Retina

 

I never meant it to read as "$ 1399" is the price YOU are gonna pay. It's the first official confirmation we have of pricing for North America - LIST/ RETAIL / BACK ALLEY you name it ! And what I like about it is that it is below 1400 bucks which is great !

 

The 8GB RAM 256GB SSD model is $3000. LOL

Why does Lenovo create these ridiculous list prices?

 

Hmmm... Does 14" Premium HD+ mean IPS? When you check the specs of the X220, the IPS screen is called "Premium" as well. Here's hoping!!!

 

Not necessarily, I am not sure about the model, but there have been non-IPS 'premium' screens in the last years.

[edit] It must have been the original X1 which is, for whatever reason, no longer on the Lenovo shop page. The Google-abstract quotes '13.3" premium HD' on the X-series page, which must refer to the X1 due to the screen size.

Actually, the screen of the X1 was in no means premium. It was glossy, very low res, TN... I could not stand looking at the pixel matrix for more than 20 minutes.

Still I do as well!

 

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I just noticed the same..wow. Even at the discounted price I'm getting, it still won't be worth it. I think I'll have to look into the 4GB model if this is accurate.

With the teardown, wasn't it found that the ram would NOT be self upgradeable?

On the X220/X230, wasn't the regular "HD" the standard TN and the "Premium HD" screen the IPS? I think it's been

HD = 1366 x 768
HD+ = 1600 x 900
FHD = 1920 x 1080

So those acronyms were referring to the resolution. But the PREMIUM added apparently meant IPS. But this is arbitrary and it could just refer to an above average TN display in the case of the X1C. But like everyone else, I'm hoping for an IPS as well. A few pages back I posted a link to Dolby's spec-sheet which listed IPS. I'm hoping it was information directly from Lenovo and they squealed.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon with Dolby Home Theater v4

 

More evidence to an IPS display just posted today along with some new photos.

小黑超极本 ThinkPad X1 Carbon现场评测 - 站长之家

But be warned it could STILL be off. I guess what would help is Lenovo officially stating it themself. But we're seeing some good signs.

Edit: I apologize for the triple post! I should have kept this with the others.

 

Look at that USB 3.0... is it broken already?

 

Yah, I know. Only the additional premium was of relevance here. But have a googling on 'premium' on the Lenovo pages... ;-)

My point was, that in the X220 and X230, this is the case. BUT there was another model, the original X1, which was listed with a 'premium' display (per default). I found an old tabook in my download folder, see below.

Therefore, we cannot say for sure, that the display of the X1c will be IPS, what most of us hope for, but it can be as 'premium' as the ugly screen of the original X1.

I bet this machine is some non-final item, without looking at any labels, Rob, but just by the glossy screen bezel in this picture:



source: 小黑超极本 ThinkPad X1 Carbon现场评测 - 站长之家

 

FYI:
http://www.partnerinfo.lenovo.com/partners/us/resources/downloads/toolkit/Lenovo_TopSeller_Quick_Reference_Guide_US.pdf

 

When will it come to the UK! I don't care if it is the equiv of $3000. My X300 is finally falling to pieces =)

 

Very nice link, though the data seems a tad confused.

The T430u is also on there, with an announce date of Aug 28 and with discrete graphics option, normal HD(can be swapped), but not great display...

With regards to X1C, the pricing is strange, seems like the same machine is twice listed on this list, the one discounted as topseller, the 2nd not. Price difference for identical machines is USD990.



Hmm and no 8GB for the i7, strange.
[edit: also on the "Canadian" site no 8GB, 256gb, i7]

So seems like the 15th from the earlier topseller pdf was correct. Hooray

 

Ahem...

Not that it says anything new, though.

 

Pictures and yada yada from the launch event
a pdf stating why it was launched in China (gna icedog beat me to it )

"Lenovo took the unusual step of unveiling the new computer in China because of the fast growth of its
market and the local popularity of ThinkPads, said Bhatia."

So I guess this is the long waited for launch...

 

Yeah, pretty boring if you ask me! If they'd at least confirm the damn screen panel (IPS or TN) I can decide whether to choose this or an Asus Zenbook Prime, which is getting more enticing by the minute, especially with the new $999 price drop. Too bad it doesn't have a Lenovo keyboard though, which is something I almost can't live without. Decisions, decisions.

LENOVO, release the X1 Carbon already! I have $1500 burning a hole in my pocket.

Edit: it looks like it has a Kensington slot after all. Very nice!

 

Ah, gotcha. Well I'm still leaning towards this being a higher quality TN display. But from what I remember hearing, the X220/X230 came with IPS screens out of nowhere and Lenovo wasn't mentioning it prior. It gives a little bit of hope that we're seeing some sources mention IPS, but with the inconsistencies we've seen I won't fully trust them.

Great pictures and info in that link!

 

X1 Carbon News

"The computer's chief developer, Arimasa Naitoh, vice president of ThinkPad research and development, said he has met a Chinese collector who owns 100 ThinkPads."

Someone on the ThinkPad forum?

 

Somebody said a while ago that the X1C might come with thunderbolt on the i7 model. Do we now know this to be false?

 

Not heard anything about that...currently we facing the conundrum of the top processor(i7) only coming with 4GB of RAM. Btw, if I am not mistaken, we thought this to be a mistake when it first appeared in firsturbanglow's Taiwan blog leak links, but it seems for real. And ofc it is soldered in. So, this COULD be an indication, that due to them bringin thunderbolt, there not being enough space for an 8GB module. This would be the only way I could make sense of this 4GB issue.

Of course lenovos official twitter account is mum on the Chinese launch, maybe somebody tell them that it happened, then they would stop posting NBR's Ideapad review and write something relevant...

Maybe Lenovo has its main social media account on the Chinese twitter clone(whatever it's called).

 

That could be 98 T60p's, a T43, and a X300 for all we know.

Do you really think Lenovo would launch a mainstream corporate ThinkPad only capable of having 4GB of RAM in the 64 bit computing era? Please. There's going to be an 8GB RAM model.

 

I certainly hope NOT. Its another obscure connection mechanism that has very little industry support, and the ASIC (chip) that makes it work costs over $100 in OEM quantities. Additional cost for no apparent real current value.

USB 3 is fine for now, and that still has minimal industry support. I'm hoping that they stick to normal laptop stuff, so the cost doesn't balloon to silly levels. All these fancy bits that everyone seems to want cost money!!

 

The reason I was hoping for Thunderbolt is because, once a solution is available, I would like to use an eGPU such as the MSI GUS II. So I can have some more graphics power when I am at my desk.

I admit that right now the adoption of TB is low, but part of that is due to the fact that not enough computers have the port. If we want manufacturers to make TB peripherals, we need give them a market to sell to.

 

I certainly hope you are right, but someone at Lenovo could have reasoned that tbolt could be more important than the 8GB model for their top model, see T430s and discrete graphics.

...and cost space and require power...do not underestimate the idiocy of our fellow earthicans....and btw they did that with the T430s, the i7 and only the i7 model has the tbold AND thus cannot have discrete graphics!!! (because why would anyone want the top processor and discrete graphics at the same time, tbold much more important, NOT)

 

That kind of stuff is why laptops shipped without USB for years, or without wifi, and so on. Thunderbolt is slowly making its way across laptop lines. If you plan on keeping your laptop for 6 months, fine, leave it out. Otherwise, this port is going to be needed for futureproofing, especially one without any internal expansion.

 

This is an ultraportable, I don't see any high demand for a thunderbolt port. I highly doubt it will have one.

 

Thunderbolt was slated for native support in Ivybridge. When the IB CPU could not be certified, Intel elected to release it without the native support as promissed. I seriously doubt that you will see it on this X1C and I doubt that intel will provide native support in IB CPUs by Q4 as promised. I suspect that it wont be provided now until Haswell. So, don't hold your breath waiting for TB on this model.

 

Today, Bhatia mentioned that the X1C's battery life is to reach up to 8 hours. I was under the impression it was more like like 6.5 hours based on what we've heard, so if he's right (he of all people should be), this is good news.

Lenovo shaved the 14-inch (35.5 centimeter) laptop computer's weight to three pounds (1.3 kilograms) from the 3.7 pounds (1.7 kilograms) of last year's model, Bhatia. He said it would have up to eight hours of battery life and the startup time was reduced by as much as half to under 20 seconds.

Lenovo unveils lighter, quicker ThinkPad laptop | 9news.com

 

I bet you a beer that he is mistaken. He is a VP, they reside in their own realms of reality...all spec sheets say 6.5h...

 

For what it's worth, my Samsung Series 9 (8GBx256GB, i7 processor) cold-boots in less than 10 seconds.
Battery life up to 10 hours.

 

Just reporting what I'm seeing guys.

More pics I dug up from some Chinese forums. Using Google translate, I can't fully understand what they're saying but from what I CAN tell, they're definitely discussing the same things we are (IPS speculation, aluminum vs carbon, i7 with 8GB, etc.). Maybe some of you more technical people can come up with some answers with a few of the dismembered parts photos.



Edit: I'm pretty sure the screen is NOT IPS based on the disappointment everyone is showing on the forums. Oh well.. I still hope it's good. But apparently the picture I uploaded with the display dismembered shows it's an LG.

 

That's also what I think based on the photos that travelled around.
I know that some think that it "must" be IPS from what we've seen so far, I'm afraid not and I hope that I'm wrong.
If not IPS, Lenovo has lost me as a 5 year long customer who buys at least 1 new latop each year.
If they sell this baby without a super high end display, I'm gone for a long time. My T420 display has been a pain all along for demos in meetings because of terrible viewing angles... me not doing this again!

 

Personally, I don't care if it's an IPS or not. I just care that it's a great display. From what we've seen, it's not an IPS but an above average TN. If it's disappointing, I might fall back on the Samsung. I think it was just released in China today so hopefully we'll see some more hands-on testing throughout the week.

I want notebookcheck.com to do their test on it because they give a very thorough review of everything. I think at that point, my decision will be clear.

 

The FRU on that image of the LCD matches the T430s' display, which isn't good...

 

I guess it makes sense that it's not an IPS since we haven't really seen any 14" IPS panels used.

I just realized it was the same photo posted from the Russian review from months back.

Ñóïðåìàòè÷åñêèé óëüòðàáóê: ïðåäâàðèòåëüíûé îáçîð Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon | Íîóòáóêè è ïëàíøåòû - 3DNews - Daily Digital Digest

But remember, this same review mentioned the X1C display had great qualities including..

-Matte
-Great viewing angles
-Very bright / great whites
-High contrast ratio (400:1 which isn't the best but above average)
-Much broader viewing angles than your average display
-Very large color gamut

To put this in perspective, the Samsung Series 9 13" has a 520:1, Asus Zenbook Prime has a 800:1, Macbook Air at 656:1. This pretty much describes the variation between darks/lights, with the higher contrast ratio being more vibrant.

It's a bit lower than the other big guys, but higher than some others. The Samsung Series 9 15" has a contrast ratio of 111:1 and the T420 is at 162:1.

 

That's the same display as in the Russian review from a couple of weeks ago, which was pretty detailed and compared it to the samsung:

Russian review

 

I already posted this message couple weeks ago here but according to my friend at marketing here in US told me explicitly that X1 will not have IPS panel. I guess hope dies last but am 99% sure it will not have IPS display.

 

Yeah, I remember. I guess I was hoping your friend saw a non production model, or there would be another option offered.

It is disappointing, but I hope it's still a great display. With all the other positive standouts of the X1C (keyboard, trackpad, carbon chassis, fingerprint reader, 14", etc.) I might have to overlook this if the display is not much worst than say, the 13" S9. The way the Russian review described it, it might not be too bad. I'm just not expecting the amazing Zenbook Prime IPS vibrancy.

I've seen some inconsistent reporting of the contrast ratio and white/black levels between review sites so I'd like to see a few more on the X1C.

 

I think it will be above average TN I currently also have asus n56 which has tn panel but really good viewing angles. And am personally very happy with it. What i really like about x1 is lightweight laptop with good keyboard because most people in our company travel this would be perfect fit for us.

 

I'm not too familiar with the N56 but is it the N56VZ or N56VM? While they're both better displays than the X1C, I did a quick search and the VM has a better display than the VZ. The X1C should have brighter whites than the VZ but slightly less deep blacks.

Judging by the Russian test of the X1C, the thing that might be holding it back in the display department are the black levels. While they're probably not as dull/gray as say the T430, they're not quite as deep as the IPS of the Zenbook Prime. This might make it appear less vibrant and what prevents it from having a contrast ratio up there with the other top contenders.