Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2012

I'm sure you'll be able to customize it for 8GB but it will be a steep premium.

 

ThinkPad X1 Carbon -- Able MacBook Air competitor (review) | ZDNet

 

Thor already beat you to it a few posts back. But CNET got their hands on it. No mention of an IPS display, but they agreed it's the best trackpad they've used on a Windows notebook.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon - Laptops - CNET Reviews

 

Great review. Looks like Lenovo got it right. Is it really IPS?

 

I still have my doubts even though some are reporting it has an IPS. It's similar to last year when Engadget claimed the X1 had an IPS screen.

Lenovo adds ThinkPad X1 to laptop comparison guide, outs IPS screen, USB 3.0, and optional SSD -- Engadget

 

he replied to urbanglowcam's comment. he confirmed the x1 carbon has an IPS display. according to him, lenovo told him so themselves.

 

Yep. I hope he's right, though there could still be some confusion there.

If Lenovo just stated it themselves it would help a ton. Either way, I'm sold. The screen looks great.

 

Well the screen looks good anyway. I am wondering on that 8GB RAM !?
I need no less than 8GB for my work. And Also that proprietary SSD connector drives me crazy. would it be mSata - there is a possibility for upgrade in future when 512 drives become available. But his one does not looks like msata.
Look here. The WWAN card is msata but not wifi and ssd. Anyone knows that connector?
http://www.3dnews.ru/_imgdata/img/2012/06/07/630595/ltpx1c-inside-6.jpg

Perhaps WWAN could be replaced with second drive but most likely only a short one up to 32 GB now.

I would really love at least 350 GB on laptop these days..

 

Not the biggest fan of Walt Mossberg, but he claimed he only got about 4 hours on his test with the Lenovo during his "harsh battery test, where I turn off all the power saving features, crank up the screen, play music continuously, and play music in the background".

So 5 hours sounds reasonable. I think I should believe the 6.3hours battery life rather than the 8.2.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Hewlett-Packard Envy 6 Sleekbook Review - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

 

Processor spec comparison: Compare Intel® Products

Does anyone know if there are any real uses to "Intel® vPro Technology" or "Intel® Trusted Execution Technology" if I'm going to be using this for personal use? If it matters, I'm only going to be running Ubuntu. Do either of these have to do with hard drive encryption?

 

I have to agree, as a matter of fact lenovo itself said that it will have IPS but it didn't but I would say we only have wait very little now to ensure ourselves. I actually are less concerned about display now as i would have gladly accepted a good quality TN too. The battery life is one of the most important factor for me as am looking this to be my main laptop for travelling. Also am really excited about reports for great trackpad... the main reason I holded off the asus ux31 was really disappointing trackpad and very shallow keys.

 

Good trackpad, trackpoint, resolution, IPS, 5+ hours battery life. It seems like they really nailed this one. Aside from the proprietary stuff, of course.

 

Has anyone posted on the ssd's upgrade possibilities... I know I'm getting one but I'd like to know if I missed that tidbit...

 

http://mashable.com/2012/08/07/lenovo-x1-carbon-hands-on/ :

 

Does not look like IPS
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/66402.jpg
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/66399.jpg

 

The SSD device is a non standard gumstick design. It is similar to the ASUS and some of the ultrabooks that don't use the mSATA standard form factor. I am beginning to wonder at this point if all of the gumstick devices are the same form factor, or is each proprietary?

 

I knew my friend at lenovo was right it does indeed have TN panel and not IPS.

Notebook review really can't be wrong here along with the pictures that speak for itself:

Speaking of reading what is on the screen, the viewing angles on the X1 Carbon's display are good for a standard TN panel but we'd be even happier if this Ultrabook was available with an IPS display ...


Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review: The New King of Business Ultrabooks

 

I'm hoping the WWAN slot will accommodate a ssd. Or thet this gum stick after market picks up the pace.

 

I think they summed it up perfectly with that. I think an IPS display would have driven the cost up on top of the carbon, glass, and magnesium materials they're already using.

A good TN panel is a good compromise and I'm glad they didn't use an average matte display like say the dull 15" Samsung Series 9 or T430s.

 

Yeah I have to agree... and for me its perfectly fine... lack of IPS is not a deal breaker... what most of worries me is really the battery life. I really want/ need good battery life everything else seems that they have nail it!

 

If there was 1 more model with a i7-3517U option, it could have fit in at $1700 which would have been great with a 3 year warranty.

Can we expect the prices to come down, on 21st August, under any kind of discount/coupon deal?

If not, I have the following 3-4 options to choose from :

1)Samsung Series 9 $1699 Intel Core i7-3517U, 1.9GHz (upto 3.0GHz), 4MB Cache 256 GB SSD 4 GB Memory Intel HD 4000 1600 x 900 (13 inch) Matte 1 year warranty 2.55 pounds 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, Ethernet Dongle 7-8 hours battery

2)Thinkpad X1 Carbon $1649 Intel Core i5-3427U, 1.80GHz (upto 2.8GHz), 3MB Cache 256 GB SSD 4 GB Memory Intel HD 4000 1600 x 900 (14 inch) Matte 3 years warranty 2.99 pounds 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, Ethernet Dongle 6 hours battery

3)Sony Vaio S Premium $1489 Intel Core i5-3320M, 2.6GHz (upto 3.30GHz) 256 GB SSD 4 GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (1GB) 1600 x 900 (13 inch) Matte 1 year warramty 3.7pounds 2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, Ethernet, Optical 6 hours battery. Upgrade Warranty $149 ( 2 years) $229 (3 years)


I am joining college this Fall and am going to major in Computer Science and want the laptop to last 3 years. X1C gives me the 3 year warranty but Samsung gives me a better processor and a better battery life but with only a 1 year warranty ( and I do not see anyway to upgrade the warranty). On the other hand, the Vaio gives me a standard processor, dedicated graphics, an optical drive, inbuilt Ethernet and an extra USB 3.0 port. With the warranty upgrade, I am looking at $1700 again like the other 2. Any advice in choosing between these three. Thank you.

 

ZDNet certainly seem to think it's an IPS panel

ThinkPad X1 Carbon -- Able MacBook Air competitor (review) | ZDNet

 

A quick google and it seems the reviews are coming in. Its everything that I want right now, that and maybe a Nexus 7

I really hope we don't get late release here in Australialand. Can't wait!

 

Another Review of the X1 Carbon: Lenovo X1 Carbon Review | Ubergizmo

There are some very detailed images, which are showing that it is not IPS: lenovo-x1-carbon-review-27 - Ubergizmo But overall, the screen seems to be fine and the rest of the Notebook seems to be awesome.

 

Minimal use, you can buy a tracking service, in case it gets stolen. No it has nothing to do with hard disk encryption, this being in software. No it has no influence on you running Ubuntu. You can ignore all that safely.

 

The carbon is everything Lenovo promised. Add Thinkpad support and it is the only choice for premium ultrabook workbook. Congratulations to Lenovo.

 

I would seriously consider picking up an S9 X3B from the MS store, which can be had for about half the price of your choices. It will be slightly slower with less storage space, but you can upgrade that if need be. With the remainder and ebay you can upgrade to a haswell machine next year. Ultrabook prices will plummet over the next year, and you may regret picking up one of these machines and see it selling for $400 less in a few months. There's not much point in getting the i7 on an ultrabook, in fact the only i7 worth getting is the 3612QM if you need the cores.

 

I'm wondering if Lenovo sent out two different types of X1C for review...

 

One really does have to wonder! Kendrick touted his mobile devices connection dating back to when mobile devices weighed 30 lbs... He has to know IPS from TN... Comparatively, notebookreview aficionados are sufficiently versed in their craft as well... Certainly makes me say hmmm...

 

so at this point we have two conflicting pieces of information:

1. IPS screen: the ZDNet reviewer states both in the review and also in the comments, when he is repeatedly questioned about his IPS claim, that it has an IPS screen.

if he can't tell the difference by looking at it then either a) he's not very familiar with IPS screens or b) the X1's non-IPS screen looks very much like an IPS screen.

2. 4GB vs. 8GB of RAM. Both Ubergizmo and Mashable are reporting that RAM is upgradeable to 8GB, but other sites are saying that the configuration options only allow for 4GB.

My hunch is that the screen is non-IPS and that the ZDNet reviewer was simply given wrong information by the Lenovo rep, but that that RAM is in fact upgradeable to 8GB.

Can anyone definitively answer these two points?

Also, what kind of student discount can we expect on this machine and does the student discount depend upon the country?

 

On the ram question, my guess is 4 GB soldered and an empty slot. I saw a pic of the guts earlier but it wasn't obvious there. Tweet the query to Kendrick, he seems responsive...

 

I agree with your hunch. Another inconsistency is the claimed 8.2h battery vs 6.3h. But I think it'll be the latter as were seeing real world testing give about 4-5 hours with medium-harsh use.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

3dnews' photo of a pre-production X1C does not show any slots for RAM upgrade, it looks like the memory has to be soldered.


And in their laptop config description they explicitly state:
RU: Оперативная память 8 Гбайт DDR3-1333 (распаяна на материнской плате, нет разъемов расширения
EN: Memory 8GB of DDR3-1333 (soldered on the motherboard, there are no expansion slots)

 

It's safe to say it's not IPS assuming there's only one screen available. Given the price and lack of dock connector and IPS, I think I'll stick with the X220 and get a couple monitors.

 

A tear is forming in the well of my left eye as I think of all the "out of memory" errors pending.

Holding out hope for two monitors... Even thinking that the more expensive one may have IPS standard and the less expensive ones may have a nicer TN...

 

I've been debating between the Series 9 and Sony Vaio Z, but have been holding out to see the X1 Carbon, and it seems like Lenovo pretty much nailed it. The main reason I was waiting was the keyboard, and sure enough everyone's raving about it.

I had a few questions:

1) Am I correct in reading that all of the X1C configurations come with a 3-year warranty? What does this warranty cover? Does anyone have a link to the explanation of this warranty? I'm assuming it's mail-in, limited hardware.

2) So it says available August 21 - what does that mean in terms of when I can get it in my hands? For those who've purchased laptops from Lenovo (I haven't): if I purchase an X1C first thing the morning of August 21, when can I expect to receive it?

3) Lastly, can I expect any extra or student discounts at launch off the $1,399-$1,849 prices or will those be the most reduced prices?

 

Lenovo Unboxing, ThinkPad X1 Carbon:

 

just found this i5 model with 8GB Ram and a 256SSD in a (reliable) German store

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon N3N2SGE / 34602SG

 

Impressive review.

 

On that site you seem to be able to configure your x1c with a wide variety of harddrives

 

they will remove the 3g module and replace it with a msata SSD if you want

 

Are the announced prices the "suggested" retail prices? If so, most retailers will sell at a certain percentage under.

 

everyone that is except Laptopmag:

ThinkPad X1 Carbon First Test Results: This Ultrabook Means Business

If Laptopmag's view is correct and the Carbon X1's keyboard is inferior to the MacBook Air's then this would be a devastating blow. I'm concerned because Avram Piltch of Laptopmag has done some extensive testing and analysis of the various Lenovo keyboards, so he should know.

ThinkPad Type-Off: Is Lenovo’s New Island Keyboard Better or Worse?

 

I didn't think the review had very much detail at all.

 

Wow, that's an ugly and thick power brick. What happened to this one?

 

i'm wondering if it needs to be that way to support Rapid Charge?

 

He closes that review with this: "Though the keyboard doesn’t offer the level of feedback we expect from ThinkPads, it is one of the best Ultrabook keyboards around."

It can't be that bad... My guess is that he is one of the ThinkPad purists that will never be satisfied with the precision keyboard.

 

I wish someone would just open up something like hwinfo and post the exact screen. Hopefully notebookcheck posts a review soon. If the screen isn't half bad I may go for it if the price drops.

 

I don't think so. Here's Avrim's closing quote in his review comparing the new Lenovo style keyboard with the old one:

He definitely prefers the new Lenovo keyboard style and layout so it's disconcerting that he's underwhelmed by the CX1's.

I'm sure the CX1's keyboard is still loads better than most other ultrabooks. But I've used the 2011 MacBook Air book keyboard a lot and am not a huge fan of the limited travel and depth on it. I was really hoping the CX1's keyboard would be as good as the other great Lenovo ones. In other words, I was hoping that the CX1 keyboard would be more than "one of the best" ultrabook keyboards but instead THE BEST by far.

Anyway, not sure the keyboard and the reports from Uncle Walt and others of middling battery life is enough to dissuade me from getting the CX1. The things the CX1 got right are extremely impressive. If there is a good discount (student or otherwise) on this unit that puts it at or below the MacBook Air price then I think I'm sold.

 

My problem with his statement is that it is conjecture. Unlike the previous keyboard analysis, he didn't measure it or even confirm with Lenovo there was a change before spouting off. So the credibility he gained with the T420 and T430 comparison got thrown out the window.