X1 Carbon Gen 2 (Haswell)

The fingerprint-reader is still there, it just has a new position (it is now located right of the keyboard).

My guess is (could be wrong): The key next to the Backspace key is delete.

 

Eww. I hope not, but that picture does appear to be lacking a Fn row. That includes not only Esc but Home, End, and Delete as well! And now we've gone from dedicated sound controls in the X1 to no actual buttons at all in the X3. I had a Dell XPS years ago with capacitive buttons. It was not a good experience...

 

wow, that keyboard layout looks pretty bad. I thought someone said that it would use same keyboard as the Yoga 2 Pro : /, it either has function keys as capacitive or they hid them behind the Fn+1 = F1. Either way that looks bad. And while I do appreciate the larger shift key I don't like what they did with the backspace/del key. And the lack of an End key should be pretty alarming as I won't be able to Ctrl+Alt+End in remote desktop.

Right now, we are aware of 2 panels made by sharp that are IGZO. The 13" 2560x1440 currently found in the Fujitsu s904 and the 14" 3200x1800 found in the u904. If this uses the 13" 2560x1440 then it is possible for this to be an IGZO panel. the Fujitsu laptops also come with a touch version and matte non-touch so it is possible those 2 options are available from Sharp.

While Samsung did invest in Sharp and has access to IGZO, they have not released any panels with IGZO. I assure you the Yoga 2 Pro panel is not IGZO. We don't know how Samsung plans to use IGZO though no matter how desperate Sharp was, it would not make sense to give the tech away to it's #1 competitor. If anything, I would guess Samsung plans to use the IGZO tech on their OLED displays. Since OLEDs do not directly compete with LCDs (in the short term) the arrangement would work out for both sides.

 

I really hope this is just a case of 'render gone wrong'. Seriously, even 6 row can be a challenge for some shortcuts in an IDE or other specialized software. But 5 row with capacitive F? Heck even MS Office uses F keys. What's next? completely replace keys with a touch-cover like surface to gain another 1mm in useless thinness at the cost of usability?

If this is true my next (and possibly last) thinkpad is going to be an x230 which i will retrofit with a fullhd display (first success story by leokim was just a week ago)

 

Thats was not the X230. He only managed to retrofit it into the X220, X230 is impossible to mod because of the digitaly signed and secured UEFI-BIOS. And also for the X220 this mod will be extremly difficult to do.

I doubt that this picture is wrong. This appears to be the same solution as with their "ThinkPad Slim 9" Prototype.

 

bummer, i thought it was possible. Guess my last hope is that someone at lenovo marketing steals a page from camera manufacturers huge success story of retro designs and matches a good old ibm x series case/keyboard with up2date internals and screen (4/3 ratio pretty please?).

 

how do you know the Fn keys are capacitive? from the photo, there's no room above the top row of keys for capacitive buttons.

when i think capacitive, i think about the home and menu keys on cell phones which are integrated into the bezel of the glass display.

 

There's a strip above the keyboard where the capacitive buttons could be located.

But, for all we know, this picture that has slipped into the X1 gallery could be some kind of target render not representative of the final product: We'll probably know about the actual hardware setup of the X3 soon. Capacitive functions keys would certainly be a big bummer to me, but maybe not a deal breaker (I don't want touch and I prefer matte screens, so Lenovo's offering might still reign supreme of other manufacturer's ultrabooks).

 

do you mean the area that stretches across from the top right corner power button?

i'm hoping for a non-touch matte IPS FHD option, but the keyboard and touchpad experiences are crucial.

 

I'm betting that's more likely a poor render job than a representation of any actual product. It wouldn't be the first time Lenovo's had inaccurate renders.

 

As I said before, I think it will be a very similar design to the ThinkPad 9 Slim Prototype (not the same, but similiar). See this picture:


Thats a picture of the ThinkPad "9mm SLIM" Prototype. Also has 5 rows of phyisical keys, and one row of virtual/capacitve keys. The packspace key is also smaller. And now the X1 Carbon Gen 2:
View attachment 106186

Looks familiar. Probably the keys are only visible when the machine is on.

Possibly no one has noticed it yet, but there is no FN key on the X1 Carbon Gen 2. Only 3 keys on the left side of the spacebar. The same for the 9 SLIM prototype.

 

do you know if this has happened yet?

 

CES 2014 is Jan 7-10, so (having no actual information about this) I would expect it would be then. It wouldn't make sense to have a major electronics show coming up and not take advantage of the press coverage for it.

 

I hope you are right - I'm thinking along the same lines

Exactly

I agree, executing shortcuts could be a real PITA with virtual buttons.

But glossy screens are the worst (my current laptop has one, I really despise the fact how it's very uncomfortable to use in bright environments due to all the readily visible reflections). It's one of the main reasons I'm weary of buying something like the Dell XPS 13. I'd also prefer a non-touch display as well, to minimize any chance of accidental input.

 

i'm starting to doubt it's an incorrect photo render.

in this angular picture of the ThinkPad 9 slim prototype, you can clearly see it's only a 5 row keyboard and that there's a row of circular capacitive buttons right above the top row of keys.. at this angle, you can see their circular imprints even with the machine off and they stretch across to the left.

of course, but lead_org first posted this info in late November. so if it's correct, the press would have access to these right around now while CES is still about a month away.

 

You really love dashing one's hopes, don't you

But is that even the X3? The side looks markedly different from what is seen on the ThinkPad website - or is this kind of deviation from the final form normal for pre-production models?

 

hah, wasn't trying to dash hopes.

no. that's a picture of the ThinkPad 9 slim prototype. but seeing that this high-end prototype machine has the capacitive buttons, it makes sense that Lenovo would want to bring that same technology to the X1/X3. and the fact that the current picture of the X1/X3 on the Lenovo site shows them too, it's just a logical conclusion at this point.

 

The X1 Carbon Follow on will indeed have a Virtual Function Row above the standard KB. The User will be able to cycle through several virtual Rows that will also change according to what application you currently have open on the desktop. The FN Key will be in that row as well. However the Slim 9 Prototype will not share the same Keyboard as the X3 since you will have a backspace and delete key in the upper right hand corner.

Also just to clear up confusion the X3 will have Lenovo's 5 button Clickpad for those who were previously inquiring about this. As well as no caps lock key. That is now replaced with your conventional Home & End key in the traditional caps lock location.

Thoughts?

 

I just signed a NDA for new releases, and this NDA won't lift till 5th Jan.

 

So you have yet to see one in person. For some reason I thought you worked for Lenovo.

 

So can't disclose if my above statement is true ?

 

So I guess that means they will announce it on CES 2014...

@B00STED,
nice informations. Yes, now that I look closely, it seems there is no CapsLock key. I am very curious about the new design and the virtual F-keys, sounds interesting.

 

Sounds more worrying than interesting to me, I can't imagine such a setup being comfortable and practical. But I'm willing to keep an open mind: And if this type of keyboard turns out to be unergonomic, I'll always have the option to just get a Dell XPS 13 instead

 

CES starts on 7th January 2014, and the Embargo on NDA lifts on 5th of January.

 

Well, there are some always some pre-events some days before the CES, I guess they will announce it then (the CES Unveiled event is on January 5, see: Full Schedule - 2014 International CES, January 7-10 Last year they announced the ThinkPad Helix on the Unveiled Event).

 

That would explain the "dynamic keys" written in the first page picture. I don't know how to respond to the news, I am going to have to see it in person. Somewhat regretting not signing up for CES since I am going to be there around that time

We are going to have to resort to water boarding then :/

jk

 

Well I feel now that we have a date to look forward to. Thanks!

 

no, it means he's either seen it hands-on or seen official pictures and specs.

 

Oh I was just wondering. I've have gotten up close and really personal with one. Hence my comments about what you should all expect and be excited about.

 

@B00STED,
I guess F-key functions are also available over this virtual 6th row? What about the Esc key, do you know where it is on the new layout?

 

The fn keys will still be available as one of the virtual rows. The FN key will be present in that row. It will be a virtual key as well.

 

Interesting, thanks. What about the Escape key?

 

Just out of curiosity. Will these keys require a driver? Like say I went into BIOS or dos, will the F# keys still work?

 

ESC key will be in the first row under the virtual keys. Of course it will remain a physical key

 

My initial reaction to virtual keys is really bad, but then I think about something like the Optimus keyboards and maybe it's not so bad. Function keys are not something you generally use when typing (maybe daily, but not nearly as much as regular keys). The biggest concern for me is Esc, since I do use that frequently. If that's a physical key (though placement seems strange, as well as the movement of the caps lock key), it might not be so bad.

 

The virtual fn row Will work in bios so that you can make changes and save them using the traditional methods.

 

how's battery life?

is the touchpad glass and superior to the T440s touchpad which has bad owner reviews?

what are the panel options?.. is the FHD non-touch matte and IPS? and who makes the panel?

any input on the above would be appreciated.

 

The Touchpad is glass and similar in design to the T440s. There is a WQHD IPS display for the touch which outputs 2560x1440 resolution and for the non-touch there should be an HD+ which outputs 1600x900. However keep in mind configurations might change after.

Oh and yes the panels are matte and not highgloss.

 

the QHD IPS touch display is matte?.. are you sure?

 

Agreed the changing virtual function row takes some getting used to but it is a really nice feature once you get used to it. Also the ESC key should trouble you too much. I mean its still in the upper left hand corner of the physical keyboard so reaching for it should feel rather natural. Oh the removal of the caps lock is what might be a bit puzzling. Looks like we all we have to get used to hit the Shift Key twice for Caps lock now.

As sure as can be. Its layered with an Anti-Glare film so it does pretty well in outside conditions.

 

but it still has a glass surface like all other touch screens on the market thus far, correct?

 

It will be similar to the original X1 Carbon with infinity glass.

 

Will there be a 2560x1440 non-touch option?

 

The more I think about the Caps lock, it kind of makes sense too. I was worried about accidentally hitting a key there, but then I realize that I've spent the past 20 years making sure to avoid that part of the keyboard, so an errant keypress there is much less likely than the PgUp/PgDn keys near the arrows.

I was ready to be really annoyed about it, but now will be sure to keep an open mind. If the Fn key really is removed from the bottom-left corner, this just might be perfect!

 

Off the top of my head I cant remember if there was one in plan. I dont want to say No flat out and misinform you.

I would agree so too. Only thing now is making yourself relearn the location of the Home and End. Just have to reach for the original location of the caps lock key now for these two keys. As for the FN key it makes sense to have it in the upper left hand corner now since that is the key that must be invoked in order to cycle through the Virtual Keys.

 

I disagree. Moving keys around it one thing you have to relearn. But turning physical keys into touchable areas is another that won't be easy to adjust to. Haptic feedback is very important (and the person/comany who invents a usable touchscreen with good haptic feedback will become filthy rich) and is the key to why the thinkpad keyboard is 'best in class'. This change waters down on this very feature. You can have programmable keys without turning them into touch areas. You could even add oled or eink embedded displays into the keys as an option for the executive show-off type that they are marketing this device to.

Again, i hope lenovo will also provide a model aimed at professional it workers who depend on their laptop as an unfailable precise tool (x250p anyone?). But i am not holding my breath.

 

@B00STED,
will the different functions of the 6th row also be programmable? Or can you just switch between F-key functions and the typical Multimedia functions?

 

Thanks for the information B00STED. This is great news. I think the issue I had with the X1 Carbon's display is it had a slight screen door effect. I always thought that was because of the anti-glare film. What are your thoughts. Did the display look good to you? I'm usually very fond of IPS displays, but I wonder how this film will affect it.

Thanks!

 

Something interesting: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 | Lenovo | (US) So it seems the successor to the X1 Carbon Gen 1 is called "X1 Carbon Gen 2"?

 

really hope it will comes with at least HD 5000 processors instead of just HD 4400..and max 512GB SSD option just like Asus Zenbook UX301LA :\