Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 4

If you look at your screen on less than 100% brightness using your cell phone camera, it will look like my photo here:

This is my X1C that has PWM dimming. Chances are good that your LCD, if it is the LG type, does not suffer from this. If you wouldn't mind taking a photo of your screen that would be very helpful.

 

Lenovo has the reputation to use poorer quality displays. I miss the quality on my old T43 years ago.

 

Seems fine to me

 

That's good to see, thank you!

I did notice some eye fatigue after using my laptop for a few hours which didn't happen with my MBP and doesn't happen with any of my desktop IPS monitors at home and at my office. Didn't think it would affect me. None have PWM. So I called Lenovo support to explain the issue to see what they would say. The rep I spoke with was sympathetic and she herself was sensitive to PWM flicker (surprised she knew what it was) and agreed to replace the screen. I gave her the FRU for the LG screen and she was able to request it for the replacement. Call it what you will, maybe I am wrong for doing this, but I don't want to return the laptop. Moreover, it is not a cheap laptop and I specifically bought the X1C for a quality hi-res matte IPS screen and gave up a perfect MBP for it. I don't have a problem with component lottery if the parts are nearly identical. But when one screen uses PWM and the other doesn't, that's major in my book and not acceptable.

 

Notebookcheck.com has just reviewed the i7/WQHD model, and has given it 89%. Google translation here:
https://translate.google.co.uk/tran...bon-2016-Core-i7-WQHD-Ultrabook.161587.0.html

 

The 1TB NVMe hard drive option is on the US site for the X1 Yoga.

Upgrade cost is $740 retail, $666 actual and $555 B&N Gold.

Hopefully the price will go down in a little while. (Based on the 512GB NVMe history)

Also the WWAN option has shown up.

 

@jlp0209 : it would be great, if you could keep us posted about your "case" and your experience with the new LG panel.

 

I'll believe it when I see it. The tech called me to schedule a repair but Lenovo never sent him the part. I'm guessing that my initial online chat session with support led to this appointment. The rep had no idea what was going on and said 1) I have the regular FHD screen (I don't) so they can't replace it with the QHD, and 2) I would need to send the laptop to the depot for inspection (I paid for 3 year onsite service), so I told him he has no idea what he's talking about and ended the chat. When I called them and spoke to someone by phone, a new service reference number was given. So hopefully they shipped the part yesterday / today and a new tech appointment will happen tomorrow. Ugh...

 

I think that you've made the right call to replace the display. Keep us posted about the repairment; it is also a test of Lenovo CS.

I still hesitate to replace my perfect MBPr with X1 carbon.

 

Update: Lenovo sent a tech out to get the FRU of my current screen. Which happens to be 00HM878. This screen is not on the parts list for the X1C 20FB (parts list shows FRU 00HN878 as we know) and moreover can't be ordered / not available as a spare part for purchase. Neither 00HN878 nor 00HM878 can be ordered. Fine by me! The LG, however, FRU 00HN877 appears on the X1C 20FB parts list and is available for order as replacement and as a spare part for purchase. Welp, if my current screen isn't able to be replaced / no part number, who am I to complain if they have to use another part. The tech successfully ordered the LG screen 00HN877 for my replacement and should be here tomorrow or next day. So I am cautiously optimistic about this.

 

I hate this now. I was planning on having the laptop shipped to Dubai, since they are ridiculously expensive here. So now I need someone to turn it on and check which panel is installed before getting it shipped.

Bummer.

@av676 Could you tell us which panel you got. Actually I guess I'm the only one who is interested in FHD

There should have been some way for us to request for the LG...

 

On the parts list it appears that the FHD screen in the X1C 4th Gen is made by AUO and there's no option for LG. It is the QHD that uses Panasonic and LG. At least that's what the list shows...I see that the LG FHD screen is listed for the T460s though. I am not sure which screens use PWM and which ones don't. All I see so far is that the LG QHD on the X1C (and probably the T460s since it is same FRU) appears to not use PWM.

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/tpad-fru-kr

 

Damn. I was not aware of the screen lottery issue. If I did, I would not have gambled on it. I have the QHD version on the way and I HOPE that it has the LG screen. If not, I'll be forced to sell it and look for another laptop. If there's one thing I hate, it's PWM!

 

Mine arrived yesterday (i5-6200 / 8Go RAM / WQHD / 192Gb SATA SSD).

Didn't have much time to play with it, but here's my first thoughts :

- Device seems flawless. No physical pb, zero dead pixels, slight (near-inexistant) backlight bleed, good screen uniformity, no speakers distortion.
- I lost the screen lottery (Panasonic) but PWM doesn't seems to affect me for now. Just a little disappointement with the yellowish tint of the colors.
- Screen is more wobbly than my previous XPS 13, but totally acceptable.
- Keyboard and touchpad seems in a league of their own.

What's next :
- My SSD replacement (Samsung SM951 256Gb) will arrive tomorrow, will change it asap and do a clean install of windows 10
- Must check which lenovo software is essential, and which is not.
- Maybe i'm gonna buy a screen calibration tool, as I'm not to happy with the yellowish tint
- Will check the temperatures / noise before deciding if a repaste is relevant.

For now, it's a keeper !

Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.

 

for now, you clould try the icc profile, that notebookcheck made available in their X1C 2016 review, as their test unit also had the panasonic panel: http://www.notebookcheck.com/uploads/tx_nbc2/X1_Carbon_WQHD_VVX14T058J00.icm

just make it the standard colour profile in win10... it helped a lot to get trid of the yellow/greyisch tint.

 

I got my Gen4 two days ago (i7, 128gb, 8gb ram). I will likely be returning it, however. My issues twofold: 1) coming from a Gen3, the hinge is wobbly. This is surprising given the much larger hinges on the Gen4. Overall the construction is nearly identical to the Gen3. The keyboard, excluding a few minor differences, is unchanged. The bezels are the same. Lenovo has moved the vents on the back of the main case (as a lot of laptops are now doing). This means that there is a fairly large gap between the base and screen (I find this ugly as compared with the seamless design of the Gen3).

2) I ordered the 128gb and swapped in a Samsung 950 Pro 512gb. The process went smoothly at first. I installed Windows 10, updated and installed my usual programs. After I installed the Samsung driver for the SSD, however, the bios would not recognize the SSD. I rebooted a dozen times, changing bios settings, but to no avail. I figured it was a fluke. I attempted to reinstall Windows again, but now the SSD was not visible in the Windows install. No problem. I pulled up the command prompt and searched. Nothing. Okay. I got a different USB I had lying around with another Windows 10 iso on it. This time it saw the SSD, so I installed the OS, repeated all the updates and installed the Samsung driver. Everything was working fine for the next couple hours. I then ran a series of speed tests and was getting lackluster results (ca. 800 read/write). Googling and looking around for hours turned up basically nothing. Then, again, after restarting randomly the bios didn't see the 950 Pro. That was pretty much the last straw. There may be, like the screen, a hardware lottery. Another user posted on here that s(he) had no problems installing the 950 Pro. It's also possible that I'm an idiot and am doing something wrong. But, I doubt it. I have installed dozens of harddrives over the years and have been building my personal PC's for the last 20 years, overclocking, and so on.

Even if I can get the 950 Pro to consistently work on the Gen4, I don't expect to see the advertised speeds (yes, I ran tests on Crystal Disk). So, basically, I have to ask myself: is a very similar laptop (vis-a-vis a Gen3) with a slightly faster processor worth $1,400? Naw. It's a shame. This would be my fourth X1 Carbon. But given the marginal differences between the models I can't justify the cost.

 

I'd be interested to know if they stick you with the 15% return re-stock fee.

 

@sacklunch- I had no issue setting up the 950 Pro with the X1C and got advertised speeds. Did you update to the latest BIOS prior to putting in the 950 Pro? That was the 1st thing I did, my system recognized the 950 Pro without me having to do anything within the BIOS.

An update on my screen situation, a tech will be out tomorrow morning to replace it...the part was ordered on Tuesday and I called Lenovo today to get an update and they said the part arrived and I'm scheduled for service today. Tech called me, he can come out tomorrow (Friday). So much for "next business day" service. I read in the terms that next day service is not guaranteed, but 3 days? What a load of BS.

 

Just ot repeat, I have FHD: 1920x1080 and am happy with it, compared to the Gen3 which was horrible.
Works outside with sun etc, comparable to Gen1. No idea how the QHD is.

After fumbling around in Linux to figure out how to id the LCD, it's an AUO:

/sys/class/drm/card0# cat card0-eDP-1/edid | parse-edid
Checksum Correct

Section "Monitor"
Identifier ""
ModelName ""
VendorName "AUO"
[...]
EndSection

 

Can you tell me what bios you updated to? I attempted to update the bios per Lenovo's website (drivers for the Gen4) and it informed me I already had the bios downloaded. I would consider keeping the thing if I could get the 950 to work correctly. How, if at all, did you format the drive when installing Windows 10?
thanks!!

 

See my post #72 on page 8 of this thread, I typed out exactly what I did. Also sent you a PM, good luck!

 

Sigh...my build has been delayed now until the 26th. I hate this!!! At least I hope to get the LG screen, since I waited so much.

 

I feel your pain; mine went from "Ship on April 7" to "Ship on April 19" at midnight on the 7th

 

Same here! It ships on the 19th and will be delivered by the 26th. This is just killing me. It gets worse because they just lowered prices even more now, so if I waited a bit and ordered now, I could've gotten a better deal. This sucks!

 

Final update: Technician just left, I now have the LG QHD display in my new X1C and can confirm no PWM flicker at any brightness setting. Good luck guys / girls with your orders hopefully you will get lucky.



LG QHD display:


Old Panasonic QHD display:

 

congratulations, you made it! and apart from the absence of PWM, how is the LG panel with regards to brightness, black level and so on?

 

Yes, it's a relief! Honestly they both appear similar to my untrained eye in terms of brightness and color. Neither are insanely bright at 100% but they are bright enough for me. I do notice some backlight bleed, actually it may be flash lighting, at a small area at the bottom of the LG. I can't see it during regular use, it's visible at max brightness on the black boot up screen. I don't mind it, it's a great display and otherwise uniform and no yellow tint.

If I feel ambitious one day I could always try loosening a screw, that may eliminate the flash lighting. The LCD is simple to replace actually. You just take out the screws and unplug a small cable and that's it. Don't need to remove the bottom case or anything.

 

Excellent. That is good to hear, as I may go down that road if I receive the Panasonic screen.

 

Hey all, how do I tell which screen I have on my Gen4? The one I have looks pretty damn nice (not yellow).

 

@jlp0209 : thanks for your evaluation of the LG.

im going to see an ophthalmologist next week, as im struggling with severe eye fatigue at the moment, but can't say for sure whether its due to PWM on my new X1C , or just an coincidence. so it's good to know, that there might be a way to get the display replaced, just in case. i have searched a long time to find a business notebook/ultrabook that suits my needs... so theres basically no alternative to the X1C .. for me at least.

 

An update on my trials installing the Samsung 950 Pro. Per the recommendation of another forum member, the thing is running great now with as advertised speeds (around 2500 read speeds). I'm not sure why it should make a difference, but using Windows Recovery to capture an image of the factory OS and then just installing this onto the 950 did the trick. So, FYI for those of you wanting to upgrade to an NVMe drive. Save yourself the hassle and just migrate the factory image over to the new drive.

 

Does yours have the PWM dimming? Sorry for the targeted questions, this is the final piece of the puzzle for me! I'm 99% going for the FHD as I really don't need the WQHD screen.

 

Easy moving object test: Set the monitor at 50-75% brightness. Wave your hand / fingers in front of the screen, or wave a pencil back and forth. Or move your eyes back and forth very quickly horizontally across the screen. Or look at the screen through the camera utility on your cell phone. If your fingers are very blurry / split into pieces (for lack of better description), or the same with the pencil, you have the Panasonic screen and that's the PWM effect. If you see ripples through your cell phone camera app, that's PWM. If when you move your eyes back and forth quickly and you see weird blurring / artifacting of images (again hard to explain, but you'll know when you see it), that is also effect of PWM. All signs would then point to the fact that you have the Panasonic display.

Easy PC settings test: Go into system config right when you boot the PC, I can't remember what button I pressed. If you see LCD part number VVX you have Panasonic. If you see LGD for manufacturer and part number LP..... you have the LG display.

 

Check on this video, exact the same reason why I returned my x1c.

http://v.qq.com/page/h/v/0/h0191h2jev0.html

anyone has the same problem? Is it a design flaw or just QC?

 

Mine is fine? If I press on the edge of course it moves but overall the bottom of the laptop is even and sits flat on a flat surface and there's no wobble.

 

Mine is fine as well .... Did you check if all the bottom screws were OK ?

 

Yes, I remembered that I checked all the screws. But it was no problem when the lid closed.

anyhow, disappoint about QC, it is a 1000+ laptop. Maybe my expectations were too high.

 

Otherwise, I just received my Samsung SM951 (256Gb), so for those interested, a quick word on how it went :

Couldn't have been better : I just replaced the drive, reinstall windows 10, install lenovo drivers, done a Crystal Mark => advertised speeds

 

I had the same painful experience with a Dell XPS 13 : it cost me a kidney, but I ended up selling it, after one complete replacement, then 3 motherboard changes .....

 

Sorry sheFs, got no idea how to check for that. Colleague noticed it on old Gen1, but I never did. The test with the pencil or moving the finger revealed nothing to me, no matter how much I waved the pencil in front of my phone cam etc

With regards to the wobble of the right corner, don't have that.

 

I see no x1 yoga forum.
I'm debating between x1c and the yoga.
I have x1c 2nd generation.
Any thoughts?

BTW, I also have the right corner wobble. Lenovo tried to fix it few times, they made it better but not perfect.

 

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/threads/thinkpad-x1-yoga-2016.68750/page-25

 

Little feedback after a few days of use :

For now, it's a nearly perfect experience, but still remains certain hitches :
- Color tint of the screen. I've just bought a colormunki display, hope I can calibrate the screen correctly.
- The keyboard backlight is off every time the PC is on sleep/rebooted. Not a big deal, but annoying.
- Ctrl and Fn keys placement. I didn't really see the problem before using this keyboard. It's a nonsense, but a least, it's possible to chang this in the bios.

But my main problem actually is the trackapd becoming non-responsive after hibernate...... Nearly each time the PC goes to hibernation, after resume the trackpad is totally unresponsive for a minute or more, and finally wakes up..... This is a major problem
It clearly looks like a software pb, but I'm not sure if it's related to something i've done wrong when reinstalling windows.

Do you guys have the same problem ? I've done some reaserch and it looks like it's a common issue ....

 

It appears that Windows 10 has a multitude of problems associated with sleeping, hibernation etc. Especially when resuming, things seem to go haywire pretty fast (I'm not talking specifically about the X1, lots of laptops seem to have developed this problem recently). Even M$'s own SurfaceBooks are riddled with these problems, so even they don't seem to have a full grasp of what's going on. It could be a deeper problem with the kernel itself and how it operates. Just keep your fingers crossed that some update from M$ or new BIOS flash fro Lenovo will fix these lingering issues.

 

Or don't use hibernate.

 

... Well, one of the things I like about modern laptop, is to never shut them off. You know, just close the lid when I'm done with whatever I do, then re-open it whenever I want and find things where I left them. Like a tablet I guess.

And BTW, hibernate is an advertised feature, it's not like I'm trying to do some sorcery... it should work. Worked flawlessly on my XPS 13, on Win 8.1 and Win 10.

 

Use Windows 8.1. I switched back to it. I also use Start8

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo...6-Core-i7-WQHD-Ultrabook-Review.162631.0.html

Review up. WQHD screen, though.

Battery life is all right, but the display is below average. Better than before, but Lenovo's been lagging behind for so long now.

 

Seems like they got the Panasonic screen, that's why it's a ****ty one.

 

Nothing new there