Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2012

The Gobi 4000 was a feature available on the X230 and T430s as well, but not the T530. Their TopSeller models don't seem to have it (looked at the ones on ebay) but the Lenovo's site ones did.

I'm looking forward to popping my ipad sim in

 

urbanglowcam: thx for your comments/feedback. may i ask if you'd be so kind as to post some pictures please? in this case, for me at least, pics are worth a lot to illustrate your points. thx in advance.

 

There you go. Am I alone on this or is anyone else seeing the same issue?

 

sorry to be so fussy...and thx first and foremost for being so timely and responsive in posting pictures, but would you mind taking some additional pics and try to focus more? sorry to ask, apologies in advance, but it is very tough for me to get your points with this level of fuzziness. again, nothing impolite intended here. it's just rather fuzzy. thx.

 

Has anyone posted pictures of the screendoor effect?

 

Terrible pictures but I can make out enough to where that would cause me concern. My policy on these types of issues are a swift return.

 

It's a little bit hard to see, but from what I can tell it definitely shouldn't be like that. I'd get it replaced or send it back for a refund.

 

Thanks a lot jerks!

Nah, its because my BlackBerry doesn't have autofocus. Here are some shots from an old DSLR. I really just hope they will be able to fix the issues I brought up. They all seem realistic, and serviceable. I'm afraid the lid being wobbly might be a design issue but we'll see.



It might not look as bad as it is in person. The right and top part of the trim are flush with no gap. The left side has a bit of gap and gets larger towards the bottom left-hand corner. The whole bottom almost looks warped with different areas adhering to the lcd more than others. But again, the bottom-left corner is the worst.

Here's a disassembled LCD display from the 3dnews.ru review awhile back. You can see there's a bit more wiring on the left than there is the right, which may be a cause. It's no excuse though.



After visiting a local, Lenovo authorized partner earlier, I showed it to the rep there and he said to send it directly to them. So that service wasn't very useful for me and I made the request with Lenovo already. I'm just waiting for their box to arrive for me to ship it.

He gave me a good tip though. Make sure to include a sheet of paper between the lid and keyboard with arrows pointing exactly where the issues are. This helps the technician immediately see the issue. I don't know how much it will help but it makes sense and I'll give it a shot.

 

thx for the improved pics

sorry, i can't see what you're trying to illustrate. in fact, your 2 new pics show the x1c as decently well-made.

if you or someone might be so kind as to point out specifically where i ought to look more closely at, maybe i'd be able to spot it. as of now, i don't spot anything out of the ordinary.

sorry to be difficult. i know this is not the response you're hoping for.

 

How about this picture? I think it's hard to tell from pictures since they're not really in focus. I think I got it on this one. The gap above the Lenovo logo is pretty obvious in person. I'm afraid dust will get trapped in there and the trim will get worse over time. Even the rep at the repair shop told me he thinks that is very likely.

 

you mean right above the lenovo name? sort of right above the left hinge? in between the LCD and the frame where the Lenovo word is printed? there's a bulge?

 

The improved pics make the problem harder to see, but I believe the issue is that the plastic around the LCD has not been fitted snugly against the screen. If you look above the white Lenovo logo, you might be able to notice it. It looks like the plastic at that point has been pulled away, slightly, from the screen exposing the wiring behind the plastic.

Edit: The newest photo posted shows it best.

 

Yes, exactly. You can see the glue/tape even in person. When you push on it, you feel it adhere and then pop back out since the adhesion isn't strong. It just doesn't say a lot for a notebook that apparently passes 8 rough military-grade tests. A laptop of this cost should have a tight fit and finish.

 

Wow,talk about shoddy workmanship,and I thought Sony's were bad
I love thinkpads,but must admit I am glad that I didn't order one of these,for now will hold on to my trusty X61T and T400,they are both SOLID

 

Was the machine like this before you booted it the first time? Or did the issue occur after you opened and closed the lid a few times?

If the issue was visually apparent before the first boot, I would never have even booted the machine. Return city. I really don't understand the strategy of sending the machine in for repair inside the 21 day return window. But I guess to each their own.

Good luck.

 

You mean return for a replacement or just for a refund? Besides these issues, I would like to keep this laptop because I am impressed otherwise. I'm afraid I will not receive one for another month if I refund and order another. This is on top of the almost exactly one month I already waited since ordering on 8/14. What's to say the replacement is any better than this was?

I requested to send it back the day I received it. I doubt (hoping) the whole return process doesn't take longer than 21 days. If I get it back and the problems have not been fixed, I will request my money back and look elsewhere.

 

Premium notebook. Premium money. Premium thought.

 

I can't tell if that was sarcastic or not, but with all the reports of quality issues including my own, there is no guarantee in that.

 

By the way, it was apparent when I first handled it and opened the lid. Of course I'm going to boot the machine and see if it's to my liking and even worth my time. There are other factors that many soon to be owners are dying to see to know if they spent their money on the wrong machine or not.

 

Yes, something is not right here. I was under the impression it would have both, an open sim slot AND the GOBI.

I'm having the same problem...no ability for Lenovo mobile to ID my computer.

Hmmmmmm.

 

More info:
Despite the current 'customize' list showing GOBI4000, this comparison sheet suggests that GOBI is not available on the X1C.

Laptops | Professional Grade PCs ThinkPad X Series | Mobile PC | Learn | Lenovo | (US)

Nice going Lenovo...

 

Like you I want a premium class ultrabook designed for Windows. I thought that was going to be the X1C. Based on the launch experience (ordering, communications and shipping) then the actual delivery and quality of the machines, I would pause before going for an exchange right now. I would give Lenovo time to assess the issues and correct.

There are a number of other machines coming starting October 26, and considering what has taken place here, I would not hesitate to get my refund and wait it out if you can.

I never have a single machine so I can always afford to send something back that doesn't meet my expectations or quality bar.

 

True. Unfortunately I sold my only other laptop, the Samsung QX410, so I might not be able to wait that long. There will always be something better nearing. But despite the problems I have with my X1C, they may be fixable. If they are, Ill be ecstatic. I think its just a case of early adoption. The display is great, size, speed, etc. Its really sufficient for my line of work.

I'd love to know how long-time Lenovo users feel about their repair quality so I know whether I'm completety wasting my time or not.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

Here is my experience with Lenovo repair service:

Lenovo's repair team is soooo good. I sent my Tablet on Day 1, and received it back on day 2. Unbelievable!

 

Nice, thanks.

All the issues you made them aware of were fixed? What were the issues?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

For the people who have the x1. How is your fan noise? The one on my is pretty loud even at idle

 

I'm feeling very disappointed right now. My order confirmation lists " Integrated Mobile Broadband GOBI 4000 for AT&T" and my last X220 that I upgraded with the Mobile Broadband came with a SIM Card, so upon seeing that listed in the configuration I figured the X1's were designed to be mobile so they included it by default.

If it doesn't have the 4G it's going back...too bad there's no good options to substitute for it.

 

I would send it back, that's just not acceptable build quality. In Lenovo's rush to get these out they are probably just slapping them together. Typical worker mentality, "the boss said he wanted to rush them, so I did, that's what you get when you rush".

 

I took this screen capture from one of the video reviews... Mobile Tech Review, I think.

Disclaimer: this is not my X1C, I haven't ordered one yet.

 

That is because the Lenovo repair team is part of IBM based in Atlanta, Georgia, per the agreement when IBM sold their PC business to Lenovo.

 

It's interesting that I saw no screen door effect on the X1 Carbon I had, but I have seen other reviews mentioning it.

 

Luck of the draw perhaps. Must be another panel lottery.

 

Yeah, seems to happen to various panels on different products. Trouble is, a person can only report something from the one notebook he/she is using right now -- let alone the past, when memories tend to be selective, anyway.

I find it funny when someone reports a certain "defect" (as minor as palmrest creaking), another person replies, "Doesn't happen on mine."

 

Good to know. Does this repair team belong to IBM or Lenovo?

 

I'm having trouble setting up the trackpad. I keep turning off the tapping function, but it keeps turning back on all by itself. Does anyone else have this problem, or know of something else I could try?


Regarding the lcd, I see a very fine screen-door effect, but even compared to my Series 9, this seems a good quality lcd, and I'm happy with it. I don't notice it in normal use at all. It's far far better than other Lenovo models I've looked at (the 420?), which I found completely unusable.

 

IBM, as part of its strategy to move more into service.

 

I can see it, very poor assembly compared to my current X1. Makes me very leery of what will show up from UPS on my own X1C when it arrives.

 

Thanks. I am happy to see the surprisingly good service provided by them. For I trust Thinkpad is the only brand I buy from, and together with the excellent service. I have a X301. When it was running with Vista, I had a lot of troubles... I complained it and hated it... I had thought I got a bad unit. It turned out, after I installed Win7, all problems were GONE! I like it so much. Hope this X1C is even better than the X301.

 

The X1 Carbon I had was rock solid.

 

You had a pre-production review unit, right? It would be helpful to disclose that otherwise people might the wrong idea.

 

I don't see how, but yes it was. In my experience pre-production models tend to not have all the kinks worked out more than the finished product.

 

It matters because consumers are receiving units that are not on par with reports from early hands on reviews such as yours... It appears the reviewed units were cherry picked... or even prepped for the reviewers... No offense, but like Thor... I think its pertinent info...

 

"The big fish... that... got away."

 

Everyone has at most one sample so far and one cannot blame his bad lottery pick on someone else. And to think that the big fishes got the best cherry is just funny.

 

Did you read the second sentence of my post?

 

Stating the obvious, but I read your entire post formed an opinion and posted it. Might I inquire, did you read my entire post? I said no offense was intended. It appears you may have been offended anyway, or maybe you did what you insinuated that I did. Either way the pre-production units in the case of the X1C seem to go against that assertion.

 

What's up with the pricing on these units? Seems too steady for a Lenovo product since it skyrocketed.

 

I am not offended, but it was just my experience that if anything the preproduction models, which I've seen my fair share of, tend to be less polished than the final production units. That would seem to be at odds with your opinion that the review units are cherry picked or prepped for reviewers.

 

Well probably because they're already having major delays from the demand. They've started disabling discount coupons for the X1C here in Australia since that last pricing error mess.

I just received mine this afternoon. This is my first Thinkpad, and so far it looks good. I'm curious why the SSD has 4 partitions already though. I'm curious about trying out Linux on it and doing a 50/50 split with Windows 7. Do you guys think its a good idea to nuke the Lenovo Recovery Partition? I tried using it but not having a USB-DVD drive wouldn't let me make a recovery image.

 

Fixed by manually downloading and reinstalling the driver from lenovo.