X1 Carbon Gen 2 (Haswell)

It seems they have some problems with short supply: Lenovo likely to resume ThinkPad ODM production

 

Where did you read that?

EDIT added quote for reference.

 

I called Lenovo.

 

LOL... in true lenovo fashion.....competitors will have broadwell gear announced before they get the custom x1's to market DOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

There's no other way to read that than Lenovo's entire Thinkpad/enterprise operation is a giant clusterf*ck right now. If that's the public story one can only imagine how bad the true situation is...

 

If Lenovo is anything like Dell, the people on the phones don't know anything, but are very good at improv.


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So, I'm assuming no reviews of this as of yet?

 

To the Europeans on here - can you make an educated guess as to when we are going to be able to buy this thing? (perhaps based on length of wait following previous releases)

 

"LIVE HANGOUT - MEET THE NEW THINKPAD X1 CARBON"

https://plus.google.com/events/cbl0cf3bsm55l780petkf90b3is

 

I'd like to know too...

The sales rep i talked to said end of january...

But that's not very reliable.

 

The next thing you know, the Thinkpad X2 carbon will be shipping with one row of keys and the bumps on F and J removed for a "smoother" typing experience.

Are there any Haswell ThinkPads that still have 3 physical mouse buttons?

 

I'm not sure if this question has been asked already but I'm thinking of buying the X1 Carbon Gen 2 with the matte display. The only matte display available is 1600x900 HD+.

Does the 1600x900 HD+ have the same sharpness, colours and viewing angles as the WQHD 2560x1440?

The reason why I don't want the WQHD display because I don't need that much resolution and I don't like having glossy displays on a laptop.

 

It's a real drag Lenovo didn't make the AOU FHD display an option on the new X1 Carbon.

 

The non-touch IPS WQHD panel is matte as well. The touch version is semi-matte.

Of course not, the 1600x900 is a TN panel and cannot compete with the IPS. In addition if they use the same TN panel as in the gen 1 X1C it will come with a screen door defect.

 

Anyone received one of these and tried it out. Can you give your opinion? thanks!

 

Dude, why don't you just go read what's there? Amazingly enough, this thread is full of people having received "one of these", having "tried it out", and giving their opinions. Sheesh...

 

Only saw a couple and one with a bad screen. Not really enough information. I was hoping a few others who have spent a few days/week with the Haswell X1 Carbon will post their impressions. thank you.

 

I'm kind of amused, as a T440s owner. When I saw you guys getting the first batches pretty fast I wanted to say don't get too excited. The same thing happened with the T440s, the first few orders shipped quick and then they rapidly got backlogged.

Anyway, I hope demand for this is low so that Lenovo realizes their mistake with the capacitive function keys and I can upgrade to a later iteration of the X1C in a few years. Some changes I actually like, after some time I prefer Island style keys and the click pad is pretty nice once you get used to it, but messing with the keyboard layout this much is just insane. It actually made me glad I got the T440s and didn't wait for the new X1C. I wish I could have the screen resolution and ridiculously low weight but I'll take my normal keyboard and pretty good screen and weight over those any day.

 

He, I just learned about the Fujitsu U904. The gen 2 X1C would have been the perfect ultrabook for me if it did not have this retarded keyboard. The U904 does everything the X1C does and has a non-batsh*t-crazy keyboard layout (as in random re-arrangements and missing f keys). See ya Lenovo, I wish you better luck with the gen3 X1C.

 

Is the Fujitsu u904 available in the U.S.? Can anyone comment on its keyboard?

 

I have not found a good in depth review yet. One german short-review mentioned the keyboard was a joy to type on.
No clue about availability in the US.

 

Unfortunately in Canada its about $3500 with virtually identical specs as the X1C before tax..with tax we are talking nearly the price of two X1Cs.

 

it's already available in US since late October 2013...

 

yes, it is available. I got one from newegg. I was gonna get x1c but decided to get fujitsu instead. After a day of using it, I do miss TP keyboard and rigidness of all thinkpad I had. OTOH, I can replace HDD (7mm) and memory (8gb total max) easily on u904. That's basically unheard of from ultrabook class like x1c, zenbook, or hp spectre 13

Please see fujitsu forum for my comparison of u904 and x230

 

Can you give me a link to that post please?

Could you write a little more about the keyboard please? Is it bad or just not-as-good as the TP keyboards?
What about battery life and fan noise?
I'd also be very interested in any linux experiences and how scaling is handled without turning the resolution down.

 

you actually visited that forum and posted there too yesterday. I posted some picures yesterday. The keyboard is definitely different but not bad. I can not compare the keyboard with thinkpad. TP has the best keyboard imho. U904 has a very shallow (not deep when typed) key but very high quality. Compared to asus zenbook I just returned, I prefer u904.

Also, did I mention that u904 is made in japan

 

shallow key travel would be a deal break for me. Unfortunately most ultrabooks (except a few) seem to have this problem.

 

I think the spec sheet says 1mm of travel.


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Yeah, reviews I've seen regarding the u904 say the keyboard isn't bad, but it's very shallow and flat. For someone used to a Thinkpad, that might be a problem.

I surprised how few good reviews there are of the new X1C. We're weeks past the release date now. Does anyone know at this point when we can expect configurable options?

 

The configurable options should come in early next month, at least that is what a Lenovo chat representative told me.
I'm wondering about the keyboard, will key travel be comfortable as a 'regular' Thinkpad like the T440s? If not, it might sway me toward an HP Elitebook 840 G1 which has some pretty good configurations available, and docking.

 

When you say "good" reviews, do you mean "reviews that are positive" or do you mean "thorough reviews, done by professionals at techreport, anandtech, notebookreview, pcmagazine, etc."? I initially took your statement to mean "reviews that are positive," but since I've yet to see a professional review, I think you mean "professional reviews."

I figure as soon as there are any real, thorough reviews out there in the wild, someone here will link to them. Heck, someone even linked to that kid in Germany who landed an X1C and made a youtube video.

I also am guessing that the longer it drags on without professional reviews, the less likely the professional reviews will be universally positive. Else, wouldn't lenovo have gotten a review unit to at least one of the big sites by now?

 

I've played around with the t440s the 1st gen X1C, and the Yoga 2 Pro, and the keyboard's depth of travel does get progressively shallower across those three models. It's a noticeably different feel for each machine, but I thought X1C keyboard felt good in the limited time I had with it. I didn't like Y2P keyboard, and that was one of the reasons I decided not to get one. I'm operating under the assumption that the X1C keyboard hasn't changed with the new model (aside from the layout).

 

Thanks, that is very helpful. Since I can really only try a Yoga 2 Pro in a real store, I'll take a look and see if that's passable (ie the other options are even better).

 

The one thing that I have seen from Lenovo's site is the X1C battery is terribly inadequate. Dont know if anyone can comment but just was reading the reviews on Lenovo's site itself. Will be interested to see what people report.

 

How is the battery life and Wi-Fi problems on this machine?

 

Yes, I meant professional reviews. After the initial flurry of clips from CES, I was hoping for something a bit more thorough. An objective battery test would be nice, for example. Not that I don't find a video of a 12 year old in a dark closet with his Mom's computer interesting...

 

I'm so frustrated the customization option isn't available now. They could open up the option and ship it later if they have a shortage of supply. I want to see what customizable options are available. I don't need that ty touch screen option which adds another 200grams of weight, making it 1.4 kg! Touchscreen is for kids. I need a mattee screen with 1440 display. Come on Lenovo!!!!!!

 

Sebae, where did you get the information that the WQHD Touch version, weights 200 grams more ?

 

Based, on Kickert's comment on the Elitebook, i decided to read a couple of reviews. Some of the manufacturer's claims are farcical. Take the battery life for instance. HP is promoting it as having 33 hours battery stamina (albeit with an optional second battery). The following review, under normal settings, finds battery life to be closer to 4 hours and one of the weak points of this laptop !!!!!
HP EliteBook 840G1: Sometimes it's an Ultrabook, sometimes it's not

I'm not attacking HP in particular, just trying to emphasize the point that other people here are making, which is the need to get a 2-3 independent reports from quality/pro reviewers on the X1 Carbon 2014, before taking Lenovo's description and numbers for granted. I wonder for instance how the claim for 9 hours battery holds, particularly for more power hungry configurations such as i7 and WQHD Touch.

 

The product expert's answer on the lenovo website explicitly says it weights 1.4 kg.

It's really bad the spec says "starting at 1.28 lb".
This is so misleading. I'm sure many people ordered the touch one under the impression it's lighter than other ultrabooks.

 

Sebae, I failed to locate what you refer as "product expert's answer". Can you please provide the link to that page. Thanks again.

 

Unfortunately, it seems a bit early to be expecting professional reviews. The notebookcheck.net review of the T440s wasn't published until approximately 2 months after the announcement of the laptop and I'm still waiting for an in-depth professional review of the Dell XPS 13, which was on sale for at least 1 month before Christmas.

 

New ThinkPad X1 Carbon Business Ultrabook | Lenovo (US)
On the right hand side, there is "questions/answers". Click on that and you'll see people's questions ans answers.
The "product expert" says WQHD with touch weighs 1.4 kg

 

I'm curious whether it would be possible at all to put the gen 1 keyboard inside the gen 2 machine or the gen 2 screen inside the gen 1 machine. Assuming one has a spare/broken x1c.

 

Should be impossible, due to the very different mechanical design. It only looks different from the outside, but the inside is very different.

 

I can't remember if I read this correctly, but is the X1C 3G compatible? Or was that the Sony Vaio Pro?

 

I just saw an auction on ebay for the "old" X1 carbon with the i7 and the LED backlit 1600x900 display and now I'm wondering if haswell will really make such a big difference. Right now it seems the display of the new carbon will either be a 1600x900 non touch matte or the glossy high res display. The new keyboard doesn't strike me as an upgrade, neither does the removal of the trackpoint buttons. I guess I'll wait until it's possible to configure the new X1 to be sure they're not adding additional options, but still is haswell worth the wait and price?

And another one: Can anyone with the new X1 tell us if it works with linux?

 

This german shop lists them with LTE!

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon New 20A7005JGE - ok1.de - Shop für Lehre und Forschung

 

Intel HD Graphics 5000 as well!

 

So disappointed with the HD 4400 provided on the US page.
These lenovo people just want to sell the extended warranty.

Let us customize!!!!