Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 4

One question for the x1 carbon gen 4. Is the Ethernet adapter included as a default? Thanks.

 

yes.

 

Does anybody know what audio chip is implemented on this thing? A realtek? If so, what kind?

 

X1 Carbon Gen 4 uses a Conexant CX11852.

 

How does it sound compared to other laptops? Does it produce any kind of hissing, garbling noise?

 

Prepared to my gaming laptops, like ****, the speakers are at the bottom sides of the laptop, so for instance watching on a duvet, you won't hear much you always have to have them in the air. And then, they are slits, look at the pics, plenty of them around. They work for telcos, but for anything else, I would nearly always recomment headphones, for any kind of laptop speaker. Unless it is a audiobook....

I find them also not very loud...

I think overall, the X1C has never been great, speaker-wise. Tried Gen1, Gen3 and now Gen4.

My Bose soundbar blows them out of the water. They basically have not base.

But then again, that's not the purpose of the X1C, so I am fine with that.

 

Oops, I meant with headphones, obviously! Sometimes the audio output of a laptop (with headphones) is abysmal, to say the least.

 

Not a real audiophile, though listening with quit eexpensive Shure headphones, I cannot see a major difference between my Galaxy S7 and the X1C Gen4. That's as much as I can say. Sry.

 

I have awful luck, my screen developed a circle in the middle of the screen that is brighter than the rest of the screen. About the size of a tennis ball. It does not really show in a photo and is already packed up for return. Again I had a shift key issue where it crunches when I put pressure on it. Keyboard has been back ordered for over a week now which is ridiculous, it's a keyboard assembly. They can't just replace the LCD and then the keyboard when it gets re-stocked. If I re-order I am going to just get the FHD IPS screen and not worry about lottery again, I don't have the time or patience for it. Also my remote login apps don't play nicely with scaling. I tried using 1080p on my screen and it is small but very usable. I can leave scaling at 100% in Windows and zoom to 110% in Chrome for internet. Seems that these QHD screens are just hit or miss, in my case mostly miss. Man, a 1600 x 900 IPS screen would be perfect for this size

 

Damn. Sucks about the screen issue. I'm STILL waiting for mine to arrive. Hopefully it won't have those annoying issues. I pray to God it has the LG screen in it.

 

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Screen wobble is a deal breaker for me; the hinge is too loose. Probably the loosest one among all laptops. It was the reason I returned it.

 

i cant confirm that, the hinges on my X1C are perfectly tight and only wobble a bit if you shake the notebook... so no problems with screen wobble when typing, even if the NB is on the lap or some other unstable surface

 

How strict are they on the restocking fee?

 

You can always find excuse to return it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Received another X1C with the FHD screen option this time in the hope of better luck. It has the AU Craptronics (AUO) FHD IPS panel. Sure enough, living up to its name, a speck of dust within the LCD screen. I know this issue well because it's an issue with AUO gaming IPS monitors that I've gone through. Unbelievable that this happens. I am planning on just returning and not requesting a repair, may throw in the towel on the X1C. I've never had so many issues with a laptop in my life. My old 2013 MacBook Air is better than this POS with its TN screen.

 

That's really unfortunate and downright irritating news. I thought all panels were IPS, shouldn't the FHD be IPS too?

 

Um, he never said it wasn´t IPS. He was referring to his old Macbook Air, which has a TN screen...

 

Yes all the panels on the 4th generation X1C are IPS. I was referring to my old MacBook Air which is TN.

EDIT- the good news is that there's no sign of PWM dimming being used in the AUO FHD screen to me. For those who happen to receive one.

 

Sorry about your experience, really disturbing, giving the fact that it is a $1000 plus laptop.

 

However, unless you're going to work in a dust free environment, you'll end up with dust on your screen anyway. I have the same issue with my XPS 15 - it has a speck of dust under the screen. It annoyed me when I first received it and tested the screen but I haven't noticed it since. I can't tell it apart from the dust, spots and other junk that's on my screen.

 

Heyo, this is the guy that was talking about the screen wobbling. Long story short, I have been considering returning my x1 carbon 4th gen, but now I am having my doubts. I went to a few computer stores and tried out their ultra books. None of them had keyboards that were even close to as good as this one and none of them had as good of trackpads too. The XPS 13 had a good trackpad but the keyboard was complete ****.

In terms of the screen wobbling, I sort of tested out a bunch of different models from different manufacturers. I discovered that a lot of them have a wobble too and many had an even bigger wobble than the x1 carbon. Overall, when I take into consideration how fast this computer is, the keyboard, the trackpad and the screen (which I think is good with the LG) this ultrabook is probably the best. The wobble on this laptop is so small and minor and insignificant and lots of the models have it too so I think this is the best bet. Now I probably wish I would have gotten the t460s cause it is sturdier. This one is lighter though so overall I probably did make the right choice. Sorry for the ramble but those are my conclusions. This is an amazing ultrabook if you value a good keyboard and good trackpad and quick speeds.

 

What do you guys think about the zenbook UX303UA?

 

True, but I keep a microfiber cloth in my laptop sleeve to wipe dust away whenever I please. I would never accept any device- laptop, cell phone, TV, monitor- if it arrives with dust under the screen. If dust gets under there after I've been using the device for awhile, that's different. I've never had that happen.

 

Ordered mine on first may and I can't wait to work on it
i7-6600u, 16gb RAM, 192ssd, fhd display. I'll change the ssd with my 512gb and install my lte card as soon as it arrives

 

Does this happen to any of you? You are scrolling with the trackpoint and the middle click and unless you are pressing the middle click really hard it will often release and mess up the scroll.

 

Here is a video I made of the screen wobble for anyone worried about it. It is pretty minor but it does move even on a flat surface.

 

Looks minor and you bang the keys pretty hard.

 

Hmm.. That could be a deal breaker for me. Those coming from older Thinkpads will expect it to be rock solid while typing. I don't think that it being thin is the real culprit, tighter hinges?

 

LG QHD screen, tried 1 last time. Horrible uniformity in my opinion. Am I expecting too much?

 

Wow! Are you sure that is the LG screen? That's piss-poor quality, to say the least! And no, on a $1000+ machine, it's not "expecting too much", it's our damn right to receive a quality product. :-/

 

Yes- it shipped with another Panasonic and they replaced with LG. I have to say after spending time with both LG and Panasonic QHD screens on this laptop, my totally unscientific opinion is the Panasonic is the better screen in terms of uniformity, color and contrast. Just basing it off of eyeballing them, have not used my colorimeter. No evidence at all to back up my claim, just my opinion. Shame the Panasonic has PWM flicker.

The tech saw the bad uniformity right away and created another support ticket for me while he was at my office, yet another screen replacement should arrive Monday. I have to really hand it to Lenovo support, they have been so awesome toward me.

On a positive note I did win the keyboard lottery! This one has the very quiet and softer / mushier / muffled sounding keyboard that I love with no clackety sound when I type.

 

I think the screens are fine on these laptops. Even compared to people with macbooks in my class, I still prefer the matte screen. On theirs you can pretty much just see the reflection and they have it pretty dimmed. Overall I think the battery life on this thing is good too compared to the t460s.

I have one question though in case anyone is willing to answer. I was messing around with the laptop and I ended up tightening up the screws on the base plate. My question is whether or not this could have any effect on the keyboard. As I am typing right now it feels like I have to press a little bit harder than normal for the keys to register. Otherwise it's fine though.

 

Glad your screen is fine, mine is not. When one half of the screen is white and the other half is yellow that's bad news. I don't think tightening the base screws will have any impact on the keyboard, but it could warp it? Why did you need to tighten the screws? My keys don't require any unusual amount of pressure to register.

 

I tightened up the screws thinking maybe it would reduce the screen wobble. The screen wobble really only happens if I am pushing the laptop around a lot when I type. I think it's one of those things that I will notice a lot since it's a new laptop, but over time that will go away. I just have this perfectionist type of thing when I buy anything expensive. I automatically focus all my energy in some flaw in whatever that thing is and it drives me crazy. Laptops are the worst cause they are such a big investment and they really stress me out but over time that smooths down.

And again, being a particular guy myself, if the screen were any type of issue I certainly would have noticed it by now. I find it to be pretty damn bright. I can do full brightness with disabled dimming features and by the end of my three hour accounting class the battery is still over half. After hearing about the Lenovo screens I was expecting much worse. This is absolutely good enough for me and the matte factor of it makes it even better than a really bright touch screen.

But ya man, aside from those little things I mentioned I think this is the perfect laptop. I had another question though. When I purchased this thing I ended up getting the lowest amount of SSD possible. I really am not very well versed in the technology world and was wondering what upgrading the SSD would do and how much it would cost. But ya man if you have any other questions feel free to ask. The keyboard is feeling fine now I must have been tripping out or something.

 

I replaced the 128gb ssd with a 512gb samsung 950 pro (now $317 at amazon). It's very
easy to open up the laptop and the 950 pro really flies.

 

http://www.notebookreview.com/notebookreview/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-review-2016/

Tested by notebookreview. 4.5/5 stars, Editors Choice.

 

Tech came out again today and the latest replacement (LG QHD) LCD is much better in terms of white uniformity and no dead pixels either. I can finally stop wasting my time and get on with actually using this sweet laptop.

 

My screen wobbles too but I really have to hammer down on the palm rest to make it move. There's no wobble on mine at all when I type.

I am OCD when it comes to anything with a screen- cell phones, TVs, monitors, laptops. I see dead and stuck pixels right away and use a lot of MS Office and PDF viewing, so I'm sensitive to poor uniformity too. Add PWM flicker on top of that and I was pulling my hair out over this laptop for awhile. My latest replacement screen is perfect.

As for your SSD question, see my post back on page 8 of this thread where I detailed what steps I took to install the Samsung 950 Pro. It works perfectly and is super easy to install. Just use caution when working with the m.2 screw, it is screwed in tight and you can strip it very easily if you're not careful.

 

I'll talk to Lenovo support tomorrow about it. It honestly is something that I will slowly get used to over time. I'm really just one of those perfectionist people and this computer would literally be perfect for me if it had a really study hinge. On a flat desk it is generally fine to me but if I am on a wobbly desk then it really does become apparent.

Aside from that though I really can't see any problems. The screen is great (to me) and obviously the keyboard and trackpad are great. This is my first trackpad and it has really ramped up my ability to get through these excel spreadsheet excercises and such for my financial accounting class. The other laptop I heard great reviews about was the xps 13. I ended up buying it and returning it because the keyboard was horrible. I literally had to retrain myself how to type with it and even if I typed perfectly the spacebar would often double tap or do something wonky.

 

I ordered mine on 18th and confirmed this morning. The specs:

- Intel Core i7-6600U Processor (4MB Cache, up to 3.40GHz)
- 14.0 WQHD(2560 x 1440) IPS Non-Touch
- 16GB LPDDR3 SDRAM 1866 MB
- 1 TB Solid State Drive PCIe-NVMe

I am really nervous for the screen and other manufactured issues.

 

Yeah, see what tech support can do. They really handled my screen issues well. There may be nothing that can be done and it is how it is? I also tried an XPS 13 before and couldn't stand the touchpad. I found it to be so inaccurate and jumpy no matter the setting, and didn't get much benefit from the Synaptics driver fix. The X1C touchpad comes in second only to MacBooks, I love it and it is so customizable. And the TrackPoint is still a killer feature.

Pay for onsite warranty service, it is worth it if you have concerns about the screen. You'll love the laptop. I'm just sensitive to PWM flicker, many people aren't.

 

The trackpad, trackpoint, keyboard, are all great. People told me Lenovo screens would be really weak too and to me at least, the max brightness is perfect I wouldn't even want to go brighter. I looked at other people with laptops in my class and all their screens were either dimmed out (due to poor battery life) or they reflected like a mofo. I had my laptop full brightness taking notes for the three hour class with over fifty percent of my battery left. I am really not able to understand how people actually need 18 hours or so of battery life on the go. Maybe if you are on a business trip and are using your laptop in the airports but right now I am just a college student. For college this laptop is great and in Canada nobody seems to have any thinkpads so I feel pretty unique with this one.

I notice no flicker even at lowest brightness btw

Oh and by the way I never even payed full price for my laptop. Google "reddit corporate discount lenovo" and you should find websites that give you big discounts. Like I got $600 dollars off with this one http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...e?home=ibmeppfriendca&affinity=ibmeppfriendca. They give these discounts to anyone that finds the website

 

Oh and by the way, I just called up Lenovo support and they were top notch. I told them about the hinge issue and they are letting me send it back for free for them to tighten up the hinges. They said it shouldn't be moving around when I am typing on a flat surface. I'm interested to see if they can actually tighten them up cause I thought it was just built that way. But ya great support I was not expecting that and it's all for free most likely because I am within that 30 day mark.

 

Chances are you will not actually see PWM flicker during regular use. My eyes get tired after a few hours if there's PWM dimming used. If you are fine don't go looking for flaws, haha. There's an easy way to tell if your X1C LCD uses PWM, take a cell phone photo of your screen at less than 100% brightness. If the photo captures lines going across the screen vertically or horizontally your screen uses PWM. If you see no lines, it does not. Here's a link to my post earlier in this thread comparing the two QHD IPS screens used in the X1C. Post #175. Panasonic uses PWM at any brightness under 100%, LG does not use PWM.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/thinkpad-x1-carbon-gen-4.786312/page-18

 

I owned a 1st-gen X1C and just got a new 4th-gen -- 1TB PCIe-NVMe SSD, Core i7 model, 16GB RAM, IPS display. There are two build quality issues I noticed right off the bat. I wonder if anyone else has noticed them with their units. I'm considering sending the unit back, as I firmly believe a > $2k machine shouldn't have any issues at all new out of the box.

1. When the fan is running at high speed, it sounds very smooth and pleasant. When the fan is running at a lower speed and when it is stopping, I hear an audible wobble. After the fan turns off, I can hear it "skid" to a stop in its housing. Maybe I'll just ignore it for a bit and see if it stops as the machine breaks in.
2. The down arrow on the keyboard audibly rubs against the keyboard side as the switch moves. Also wondering if I should just wait for it to break in a bit.

 

The fan can get loud when I play league of legends. Only at certain times though it's no issue to me. Never noticed anything wrong with the down arrow key. In terms of the keys the only thing that I notice is having to press down really hard on the middle click scroll thing for it to not let go of the scroll if that makes any sense. I am talking about the middle click thing used with the trackpoint.

 

Yeah, when it's loud it's fine, a good "loud," like a turbofan on an airliner, but when it's quiet I can hear rubbing and other unwanted noise from the fan. I'm going to get in touch with Lenovo support and see what they can do.

 

That's definitely not normal. Hopefully Lenovo support handles it.

 

I've been using my new X1 Carbon for 1-2 weeks now, and the PWM is really tough on my eyes. Called in, my case is being escalated, but at the moment getting an LG screen replacement is proving a little difficult... They keep telling me to order a new one with the LG screen, if only it were that simple! New screen for self installation runs $275. Should have ordered the FHD display...