X1 Carbon Gen 2 (Haswell)

I have yet to find a source for m.2 SSD drives in the 512gb range or higher. I know they exists, but they don't seem to be available for consumers currently, only to hardware manufacturers.

EDIT: I'd rather source my own and self install, rather than pay Lenovo a huge markup to have it prebuilt with a large drive.

 

Thanks for all the details early on B00STED. Much appreciated. Looking forward to this one. Hope it's available this month.

 

I'll predict your wrong on pretty much all counts...

Some people will never be happy unless they go back to the 7 row keyboard, and these changes will make their heads implode even more; for most users though, the changes makes sense. Home and End will now actually be useable. I've been using a TP keyboard for almost 20 years, and I don't use the "home" or "end" keys, simply because the reach is too far to consistently hit them. I'm not alone. The position now makes them useful. I like the looks of the backspace delete set-up as well. Yes, it make take a short while to get used to it, but ultimately I think that's time well-spent. The function row changes look interesting, but I'd have to try it to form an opinion.

"loyal Thinkpad users" are not some sort of monolithic group; i.e. they aren't all chained to the 7-row keyboard. Personally, I like the changes. Some will absolutely loathe the changes, but again anything but the traditional 7-row layout will disappoint them. I think they comprise a very small, albeit vocal group.

I think their bottom line will be just fine, and I think this machine will be a winner. I think the bigger issue is their spotty QC with both hardware and drivers when introducing new products. At a certain point, people are going to get tired of paying premium prices to be beta testers; if they continue with that scheme they're going to start/keep driving people the way of Apple, who seem to do a much better job of releasing final products that are, well, final.

 

Hey guys!

I recently entered this forum just because of this thread. Thank you for all the information!

I found a video that has not been posted yet:

New ThinkPad X1 Carbon -- First Look with Kevin Beck - YouTube

I'm very glad about the 512GB-SSD, although I'm gonna miss the SD-Card reader a lot...

 

According to this datasheet (pdf) it appears there will be a non-touch WQHD option, which presumably will be matte. Eliminating an FHD option really does push the upsell to WQHD hard however.

 

I agree. I've gone through quite a few X1C and X1C Touch's from their first batches and always ended up with some seeing some poor QC. Sad for such an expensive machine. It's sad to say, but I'm more confident buying a Samsung or Asus with their Series 9 and Zenbook Prime lineup respectfully. Though when I had the X1C models, I really wanted to keep them if it weren't for the issues they each had.

I'm still really looking forward to this since it's one of the only machines that has everything I want in it and not much compromise.

 

So this has probably been discussed before, but after looking at the spec sheet, I'm really down to whether I want the touch or non-touch. I'm not concerned with the thinness/ weight and all that, but more the quality of the panel.

I know the non-touch will be matte, and touch will be glossy. But to be sure (and maybe you can answer this B00STED), is the touch panel glossy WITH the factory installed anti-floss film over it? From what I remember, this was what the X1C Touch had prior, but there was a sort of screen door effect. I'm not sure if this was due to the lower quality TN panel or if it was the film causing it. Do you think you can give more insight on this?

I was watching this ThinkPad Design Heritage: New ThinkPad X1 Carbon - YouTube and noticed at the 2:00 point, when he's holding the laptop, you can see a pretty heavy reflection on it. I'm sure this is the new touch model, but I'm not sure if this is maybe an early stage and/or pre-assembled with the anti-glare film, or if it's the final and that's just how it is.

Thanks

Update: Ah nevermind, I forgot you addressed this in post #140. I guess the video just confused me a bit. Also, The Verge posted some high quality, close up pics that should show it even more.



B00STED, is the device that you've been posting pictures of a touch variant? If so, I will be very happy with that from the look of things.

 

nonononono! we need you more than the fresh air now! as soon as there are no bans lifted, you would be the great source of end-user experience. specifically, taking into consideration your several-weeks-long on-hand experience with the beast! please, share your thoughts with us. could you please write some sort of end-user review?

 

you know, that means that all the sources given in the thread were incredibly accurate and built-up the whole picture far ahead of the official announce. appreciate all the hard work by ibmthink and B00STED. hopefully, we'll keep informing the crowd about coming announces in the future...

and just a friendly hint: don't read rumor threads if you afraid of loosing an excitement during the official announce

 

X1Cs: old and new, side by side Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon hands-on (2014)

 

Thanks for posting. The button layout on the new model looks much cleaner. I didn't like all the buttons at the top row on the last gen. Also, I like that the logo's show upright on the backlid now. I thought this was a poor choice to be upside down before. The new trackpad is way nicer too. I didn't like the clunky looking buttons on the trackpad before.

Didn't someone say the hinge setup on the 2nd gen is more like the IdeaPad S-Series or MacBook Air? It looks the same as the 1st gen to me.

 

if the first gen x1c keyboard would be an option for the new one i'd buy it without hesitation. So close Lenovo, so close. Guess I'll be sticking to my trusted x61 sxga+ a bit longer.

 

Really like the new location of the home/end buttons. I think it is much more practical as they are often used in combination with the ctrl/shift keys.

As a developer though, I use the Fx keys all the time. Not having any tactile feedback when using those keys is going to be hard to get used to I can imagine.

Also if you have the Fx keys enabled on the new virtual keyboard row and want to change the volume, do you then have to cycle through multiple other virt. keyboards to get to the one with volume control - and then, after having changed the volume, cycle through to the Fx keyboard layout again? Doens't seem to be very productive.

It's always hard to tell whether a new kb layout is good or bad without having tried it hands-on so I really look forward to that. Just hope it doesn't shine too much through that the virt. keyboard row is 1st generation!

 

Did Lenovo make a boo boo in the rush to get all the marketing material up? This page indicates that the new model also has a 4-in-1 SD Card Reader (under "Peace-Of-Mind Connectivity")

Meet the New X1 Carbon | Lenovo (US)

 

Spec sheet shows no sign of Windows 7. Please tell me that's an option :S

 

Ok, so they have prebuilt models on the website but no option for customize your own. Anyone know when we can customize our own models?

 

Does anyone know how the Function keys will work exactly yet? Can it be toggled permanently to function like (err...) Function keys, instead of the vol. change and other stuff like in the pictures going around?

 

Awesomeguy: may I ask where you found the M.2 NGFF 256gb drive? I see 128 from MydigitalSSD but never found a 256 or higher yet. Being able to swap out SSD on my own in this machine will be important to me.

 

SIM card slot?
SD Card slot?

 

SIM card slot chould be there, as the new X1 Carbon will come with WWAN/LTE in some models.

No SD card slot! This was removed, Lenovo says due to the inclusion of the HDMI and the small Ethernet-Port, which weren´t there on the first X1 Carbon.

 

I would like to thank ibmthink and Booster for the accurate info over the last few weeks. My only real issue now is whether the function keys will operate in some sort of default mode in Linux. I don't care about them being dynamic but I need function keys if only to remap them in software. Would it be possible to boot a Debian/Ubuntu LiveCD and see if and how they function?

 

for sale now on lenovo.com!

 

Prebuilt models are available. Still no option for customizing your own.

 

Think the largest m.2 SSD is 512 gb right now. HOwever it will be in the upwards of 500 dollars if I remember correctly. Crazy.

 

Yup the device that I was using was the touch model. Which I have to say I didnt see the heavy screen door effect that everyone experienced on the First Gen X1 Carbon Touch.

 

Still not clear, but is there going to be a QHD non-touch model?

 

As soon as I get a quick minute I will write up a review. However if anyone has anymore questions or needs to see close ups of anything then feel free to just say so. I'm here to facilitate.

 

You are very welcome and well said. I might have ruined it for anyone who was excited about day of launch. I might tend to do that from time to time. I'm all about User Experience and informing the public of what they should be aware of.

 

The home row is the one with the Volume and Brightness keys. As well as cloud button, Voice Recognition & Gesture Control. You can not make the FN row your default home row. However you can make it a Quick Access Row.

 

That's frustrating, especially for what is ostensibly a business notebook. I value thin and light, which is why I'm interested in this computer, but they've taken it to such an obsessive extreme here. The only apparent reason for such a restriction on ports is that they've sliced off the front corners of the chassis to create the ever-popular "blade-like" appearance. Keeping a more uniform thickness would create more room for ports (or a bigger battery) without compromising the "actual" thickness of the computer.

As for battery life, I find it hard not to laugh at 9 hours being a "70% improvement." The spec sheet for the 1st gen device claimed up to 8.2 hours. So they acknowledge that was grossly unrealistic, but now we're supposed to believe their new numbers? I don't buy it.

At least the screen looks like a plus. Jury's still out for me on the dynamic keys. The response time for scrolling through function modes looks unnecessarily slow. I hope the response on the keys is better than that.

 

B00sted,

Thanks for all of your help and information throughout this thread!
Can you please tell us if there is any flex on the machine? can you twist the lid when open? Do you see any joints that are not aligned as they should on a premium device? is There any flex on palm rests? Is the charger a standard Thinkpad brick?

I've have 4 Thinkpads in a row now and the legendary Thinkpad craftsmanship seems to be degrading every year. I would especially like to know how it compares to a more solid aluminum laptops such as the Macbook pro, or the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus (most likely my next laptop).

Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

BOOSTED, IBMThink (or anyone) -

First, thanks a ton. You've been supremely helpful. I've been following this thread daily since its inception. I've been lugging around a W510 for years as my workhorse mobile machine and I'm soooo tired of its size.

The video I just watched and spec sheets reference both a mini displayport and HDMI ports. Does this mean that it can run multiple monitors without the onelink docking station? Specifically, can it:

1) run the primary display in the laptop, plus 2 more monitors (one connected via hdmi and the other connected via mini displayport),

2) run one external monitor (hdmi or displayport) plus the primary display,

3) run two external monitors without the primary display

I can see that the HD 5000 graphics are an option, but I don't know if this affects things at all.

And if it's helpful for anyone here's my point of view on some of the more controversial parts of the machine build.

First, I've used a bunch of different laptops over the past 15 years and they've all had different layouts. At least for me, it takes a couple days for my muscle memory to kick in, then after that, finding home/end/page up/page down/Fn/ctrl/alt becomes totally natural. What I do NOT adjust well to is a crappy keyboard. Even though I prefer the W510's old school keyboard over all else, I still type really well on good chiclet keyboards, and really terribly on others. So what matters to me is less the layout and more the keyboard quality itself. The new IBM stuff is good.

Second, even on macbook pro, asus zenbook, and others, I'm still nowhere near as efficient and quick with a touchpad as I am with lenovo's trackpoint (I still have issues with Dell's). It's not even close. Am I a huge fan of the lack of dedicated buttons for said trackpoint? No. But I'll take them any day over having to use a touch pad exclusively, which is essentially my other option.

Third, I'm not a huge fan of the context sensitive function keys, but I'll make them work. I use function keys a LOT with some of my programs (particularly database admin programs). As long as I can get a function row up there, I don't anticipate the lack of tactile feedback to be an issue.

The thing I've been holding out for months for was a high-resolution screen like on my MBP and haswell. This machine has both, so I'll be buying this one, thanks (even if I have to buy a docking station or two).

I have a suspicion this thing is going to sell really, really well to the masses, despite the zealous critics on this forum.

Cheers!
Bryan

 

I don't see an option for the HD 5000 unfortunately. Only the 4400. Will we have to wait for the customizeable models to add that? I saw it on the official spec sheet.

 

Very likely yes.

Yes on all three points.

 

Thank you for all the info you've been providing.

Any idea when we will be able to customize the machines? I definitely need the 8GB RAM but I'm forced to buy the $2100 model if that's the case. I'd rather hold off so I can add the HD 5000 graphics, and lower the SSD size to save money. I can always swap my own M.2 compatible in the future right?

 

Did you end up swapping them during the standard warranty period or did you buy extended warranty coverage?

I guess a question for all is, is it worth the extra fees to buy extended coverage? (I generally don't buy any extended warranty, but I've always bought sub-$600 laptops, with this machine being in the $2k range is the extra coverage worth it?)

 

I returned them almost immediately. The X1C non-touch had some cosmetic issues. They said they would fix it but I went through a whole fiasco with them where all they did was reload their bloatware and send it back to me. I then sent it back and asked for a refund. It took so long for the whole process that the Touch eventually just came out and they even exchanged for one.

The Touch arrived and the touch panel didn't even work lol. You'd imagine I would be so turned off that I wouldn't be interested in this new model. But I was actually impressed with the devices if they were actually assembled correctly. It just took so long and so much frustration that I just went with the Samsung which I have had 0 problems with.

As far as if you should go for an extended warranty, I don't know. I never had one long enough to have to worry about that.

 

The fee Lenovo charges for the 3 year warranty extension is generally very reasonable. The 3 year warranty on my T420s expires in a few months. During that time, I have had the screen replaced, palmrest with touchpad replaced due to failing left mouse button, keyboard replaced and the motherboard replaced two times to fix daily random freezes due to what seemed to be overheating. Hopefully, the latest mobo replacement has solved the overheating, I haven't had a freeze yet (fingers crossed while typing).

So yeah, if you are going to invest a large sum in a laptop, especially one that incorporates a lot of new technology, the extended warranty is probably well worth it.

 

There is flex on the LCD display when the lid is open. Everything seems to be alligned pretty well. I dont see any evident gaps. Everything on the machine is pretty flush. As far as the palm rest the only time you get very minimal flex is when you use an absurd excessive amount of force to push down on it. Which of course isnt the case in normal everyday use. The power brick will be a 45W by the looks of it.

 

What possible advantages to hold out for the customize options? I am considering getting the pre-built 2100.00 model on Lenovo's site. Would love to have it ASAP as the spring semester just started for pharmacy school but I am willing to wait if there are options that worth waiting once Lenovo opens the customizing option.

 

Well the official spec sheet lists an HD 5000 GPU availability, but the preset models only have the HD 4400 for now. I think it should be perfectly fine for most people, but since I work in graphics, I would personally rather wait for the 5000. Other than that, I think it could save you some money if you don't mind removing some of the extras on the $2100 model.

 

How is the graphics performance between HD500 and HD4400? I do some light video gaming such as DOTA and Starcraft 2. Is the HD5000 necessary for these games?

 

Starcraft 2

HD4000
Starcraft 2 - 1v1 - Ultrabook with Intel HD 4000 (Terran) - YouTube

HD4400
Starcraft 2 - 2v1 - Ultrabook with Intel HD 4400 Haswell (Zerg) - YouTube

HD5000
Starcraft 2 on 2013 Macbook Air 13" w/ HD5000 - YouTube

They all seem to run it just fine. Even though there are other variations between each laptop and game settings used in these, I'm sure the HD 4400 in the X1C will do just fine. I imagine the same is true for DOTA.

Here is a more in-depth benchmark test between them.
AnandTech | A Look at Intel HD 5000 GPU Performance Compared to HD 4000

 

Thank you for posting this

 

You bet! I'm interested in the same things so I'm also doing research for myself. I'm ready to get the $2100 model but I really wonder how much more the HD 5000 will be before I do.

Thoughts ibmthink or B00STED?

 

The difference between HD 4400 and HD 5000 is very minimal in many cases. It is a nice option if you really want the max. FPS in the games, but games that are unplayable with the HD 4400 will be also unplayable with the HD 5000.

 

Thanks, that's what I figured. But I was thinking more in terms of pricing. Do you know how much that upgrade would cost over the 4400 by chance? Maybe I should just go for this preset model..

Lastly, anyone know of any discounts that are possible on this model? Most, if not all promo codes don't seem to work on this new one, only the 1st gen.

 

Aside from the HD5000, there will also be a 512GB SSD option.

I'm also looking into a new computer before Spring semester starts. My 4 last laptops have all been Thinkpads and I've been disappointed with what I seems to be a progressive degradation of craftsmanship standards. Pending what reviews might say, I may be getting the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus, which is built like a tank and is a treat to use. Even with reviews though, it appears most Thinkpad issues show up later down the road, ranging from defective batteries (3 out of 4 of my Thinkpads), malfunctioning hardware, and cracks/fractures on body, which are not the result of mishandling.

I used to be a Thinkpad fanboy so it's somewhat of a love/hate relationship right now that (sadly) may end soon...

 

Wow, they are really sticking it to the 'I must have the newest thing RIGHT NOW' crowd - $2,100 only gets you a 256gb drive. Also noted the lower priced model comes with Wndows 7, so looks like that will still be an option.

 

They are. But that display is really enticing.