X1 Carbon Gen 2 (Haswell)

If this new successor can accept any mSATA drive, that means we can install one of these babies in the machine, right?

Samsung Introduces Industry

 

looks like there is a Intel 1218 Ethernet Adapter. how do they fit the rj45 port on that slim chassis?

 

I was not a "non-believer". What I said was HD5000 is a part of i5-4250U, i5-4350U, i7-4550U, i7-4650U 15W CPUs and i5-4258U, i5-4288U, i7-4558U 28W CPUs -- we might look forward to see one of those beasts under the skin of X1C New. As of now, only configs based on i5-4300U and i7-4600U were revealed, these processors sport HD4400, not HD5000. That's what I said.

Anyway, I'm glad you've shared a screenshot with us -- it seems like you have it in your possession for quite some time now. Are there any exterior changes compared to Old X1C?

 

It will come with a Micro Ethernet dongle since they couldn't possibly fit a network port on it. Not to be confused with the previous X1 that came with a USB to RJ45 dongle. This will be a micro ethernet to RJ45 dongle.

 

It ok The processor on this one is an i7-4550U. That is what you will see on the i7 core model. As far as asthetics goes it look similar but of course much thinner. Also hinge design is different as this one will have a supported lay flat mode when the screen is pushed completely back. Basically there will be a button that appears on the virtual row that allows the user to easily rotate the screen 90 degrees at a time.

 

This is starting to sound like a Yoga-style laptop/tablet. Can't think of another reason you would need to rotate the screen...

 

Well if that Yoga form factor doesn't take away any significant functionality, I would be all for that--I was checking out a Yoga in a store the other day, and for the first time I realized why there's some benefit to it. I could definitely see folding it back in a few situations, like on a plane.

 

Oh not it wont be a yoga laptop. Thats why Lenovo put out a Thinkpad Yoga already. This will just be a conventional clamshell.

 

Thanks for answering this question: Fantastic news, a real Ethernet port is something sorely missed with the current X1.

 

This can't get released soon enough. I am tired of lugging my W510 around.

 

The non-touch screen better be matte and have a decent resolution. Why you'd have HD+ for non-touch and a massively-large resolution for touch is just daft. Hope this isnt the final configuration.

 

How is an Ethernet dongle any different than a USB adapter dongle?

 

I've had problems getting full Gigabit ethernet out of a USB 3 dongle in the past, but there are most likely better adapters than what I've had out there. An internal port means I won't have to worry about USB Ethernet bridges.

 

you don't need extra drivers and get more bandwidth.

Too bad that the onelink pro dock still uses a realtek chip for Ethernet over USB (likely for wider compatibility with other series).

 

what is the speed of your RAM?.. 1333 or 1600 MHz? and is it single or dual channel?

 

Public should get 1600 MHz and dual channel.

 

Will the QHD screen be available in a non-touch version?

 

Is the power brick the same size as the old X1? Would be nice to have something a little slimmer and more portable.

 

From the specs so far, I'd expect this machine to sport the Lenovo 45W Slim tip power brick in either form factor (slim or brick shape), which is quite a bit smaller than the X1 power adapter. But, of course, this is pure speculation

 

My guess is, Lenovo will use 65 w or 90 w bricks, as the new X1 Carbon will come with Rapid-Charge, which means that the power brick has to be big enough to charge up the Notebook quickly.

 

Please be slim...

 

I stand corrected, then. From the specs so far I was expecting this to have the same 45W power adapter as the T440s.

 

In fact, nothing can stop you charging x1 carbon with ideapad 45w slim power adapter if you do not need rapid charge. You can always buy a new one instead of the original power adapter.
For the ultraslim power adapter lover, I suggest FINsix project. That is the future.

 

We now have an official teaser pic from Lenovo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...91943844634.169881.27678194634&type=1&theater

 

that function row looks... horrendous...

 

I'm not thrilled about the prospect, either - but I expect to be able to live with it.

A matte, full HD non-touch display is the most important thing to me.

 

I agree. The color and texture of the palm rest are unusual too. It looks more like the Yoga. I hope they aren't importing features from that machine. I didn't like the look or feel of the Yoga's palm rest, and its keyboard was definitely inferior to the X1 as well.

 

The texture of the palm rest will not be like yogas with that grainy textured feel. On the bright side everyone finally was able to see a teaser pic.

 

God this drives me batty. How can apple release a charger the size of my wallet 4=5 years ago, and still we get this massive power brick now? What's the point of a small laptop, if the charger is huge?

P.S. I hope they fix the problems with the 45W slim charger. Mine would heat up and make a buzzing noise every time. Well discussed problem between 45W and X1C.

 

the obnoxious Lenovo branding on the display is equally horrendous. Lenovo has zero concept when it comes to styling.

 

This isn't new, and I don't think it's too intrusive. I'm just not sure about the keyboard. If Lenovo had just upgraded the screen and the chipset, I would have ordered one without a thought. As it is, I feel like I'm going to have to wait for some reviews to see how the new changes pan out. And being even slimmer than before, I still wonder if they've further reduced the key travel like with the Yoga.

 

yeah, they've been doing that for a while now, but i hate it on their top product. branding should be very minimal for such devices, but now it's on the screen, palm rest, and on both sides of the lid. that's totally overkill and makes it cheap looking.

if Lenovo ever wants to become an elite (and not just mass produced) brand, it needs to start learning from Samsung, Sony, and ASUS when it comes to style and design.

as for the functionality of this new form factor and keyboard, i agree with you in that i won't be jumping on this new release before there's some solid reviews. in addition, a quality FHD matte screen would have to be an option as well. so there's some real skepticism at this point.

 

You're welcome :thumbsup:

 

Thanks, B00STED! Those look like X1 Carbon keys, which is a relief. But that layout is bonkers. I can already hear the screams from the Thinkpad purists. I guess having Caps Lock incorporated into Shift with the indicator is OK, but I still hate not having volume controls. It kinda concerns me that their availability might be context dependent. It's going to be interesting to see that fn row in action.

I guess this is less important, but kinda miss the darker color..

 

I think it looks interesting. Is that e-Ink or LCD? Backlit? I agree that volume buttons would be nice. Hopefully there is a way to toggle to show the media controls instead of the F-keys all the time. Not sure which will be harder to get used to, the Esc key, the moved ~`, the home/end button location, or Backspace/Del.

 

where is CapsLock??????

 

Double-tap the shift key. I'm sure some will complain about it, but that's mainly because it looks weird. Caps lock is rarely used, and certainly not enough to deserve such a prominent place on the keyboard.

 

Yes, I agree. But I prefer left shift + right shift rather than double click, which is a new action definition never used on a keyboard.

 

Its Smart Ink and yes you will be able to toggle through different Dynamic Rows on the Virtual Key Row. You will find your volume controls once you toggle to a different mode on the virtual row.

 

A keyboard layout change? Again?

 

That layout looks god awful

 

I'm out! What are Lenovo on?

 

I always wondered, is there a reason why manufacturers insist on having such large bezel around the keyboards instead of making the keyboards larger and fitting in more or full sized keys?


As for the keyboard itself, I don't mind a missing capslock, but a home and end key there is a bit weird. I sometimes miss click the capslock instead of A or shift and it would be annoying for it to scroll to end. Another issue is the backspace and delete key. I am going to end up hitting delete instead of backspace. Not too thrilled about the tiny arrow keys as well. Especially so tightly packed with page up and down. What is with the tiny arrow keys fad?

I'll take the opposite, give me an ugly but functional laptop over a good looking one. They can worry about looks on their yoga brand. Thinkpad is for work, and I am trying to get my job done, not impress anyone with my laptop.

 

smart ink? sounds like some buzzword for electroluminescent stuff that is used to have a fixed set of labels per "key". If you look closely, you can see the deactivated symbols next to the f-labels.

The completely flat surface of the f-row makes it hard to know where to touch, resulting in more errors. I'd love to be proven wrong and cudos to Lenovo for trying to innovate, but my god I wish you could fit the old x1 carbon keyboard/topcase onto this.

I guess it's required for structural integrity of the slim plasticy chassis. A slim and narrow siderail would bend/break too easily unless you use "too expensive" and/or heavy materials.

Oh, did you notice that they moved the tilde key down to the bottom right between alt and ctrl? Great for people who use more than one keyboard on a daily basis.

[rant] next time, consider moving the L E N O V keys in place of qwert and throw in a second O instead of the Z. Looks like consistency and productivity are not that important but branding is, might as well make the most out of it....[/rant]

 

The complete baseunit should be made out of magnesium just like the first X1 Carbon. Nearly no plastic. What "special durable" materials should they use? Stainless-steel? That would make the chassis way too heavy.

The bezel around the keyboard isn´t that big on the X1 Carbon. The don´t put any keys there because of room restricitions, the keys basically would colide with the ports.

 

I would have considered one of these over an FHD x240 until just about now. I'm not usually one to complain about keyboard layouts, but this one is starting to get a little crazy even for me. I think they've tried a little too hard to make it thinner, and now there's a ton more space that they can't put keyboard over, hence the crappy touchstrip. I'd tolerate them messing with the function and hotkeys as those aren't used that often, but once they start messing with actual typing keys like backspace, it's really hard to turn a blind eye.

EDIT: Also, that "B" is not horizontally aligned with all the rest of the letters in its row

 

Yes, I noticed the weird location of the tilde key, at first I actually thought it was missing and about to complain about it since I use it quite often. But saw it on the keyboard after, it is definitely a weird spot. Maybe they should have put a tilde instead of the capslock, at least the general location would be close to consistent.

No room because of restrictions? I beg to differ.

My old toshiba z830 is made out of magnesium, has a lot of ports, the keyboard travel is terrible(they made the laptop too thin) but at least all the buttons are there and proper size, almost no keyboard bezel and there. It had everything down to a full sized VGA port and a full sized ethernet port, 3 usb ports, hdmi port, both MIC and headset audio ports, and full sized SD card. 2.4lb and 8.3mm(15.9mm at the thickest point). This laptop is over 2 years old.


Here is a picture of how close it gets to the edge:

 

Does anyone have the list of io ports on the machine, I'm wondering if you can connect two external monitors to the new x1. If not then it's going to have to be a macbook retina 13.

 

Despite changes to the keyboard layout I'm still looking forward to this release. I think the most annoying of the changes will be the Del/Backspace position. Whilst the tilde key is position change is drastic, it's less frequently used and requires the shift key anyway, so now it's an easier one-right-handed task Home and end keys will be awkward when working between thinkpad models and I think are naturally position with PgUp and PgDn (you tend to use them all together). Virtual Function row I think will be a winner (assuming you no longer need to hold down the FN key to use it, although I agree the lack of an actual button to press may result in pressing the wrong 'key'.

Question:
Does the X1 Gen 2 have 4G/LTE or 3G? In the earlier leaked specs it mentioned LTE, but on the recent links posted by a few people outlining the model number and specs, it mentioned Integrated Mobile Broadband (Ericsson N5321), which I understand is 3G HSPA+?

Is there any clarification on this?

 

@boosted can we get some profile picks of ports now that NDA has expired please?