X1 Carbon Shipping Thread

Wow... little late, but I have a tracking number. So I guess I won't be canceling tomorrow. I hope the quality is good, since the wait was horrible. Hopefully should see the Carbon next week. I did pick up an older Zenbook for about $600. Not a bad screen, but the track pad is annoying and the Keyboard is awful.

I'll probably sell it when the Carbon shows up...

 

FYI, guys, mine has very little info as of now on the UPS tracking page, and on top of it, my package's weight is oddly different from some other folks:

mine is 2.70 kg.

another person's is 3.1 kg.

neither of us expect anything else to ship with our laptops. how very odd!

the plot thickens yet again for Lenovo. strange.

 

Just received an email confirming shipping... finally! So I guess this time they missed the ESD by an hour this time lol. The order status page still says In Production though

i5/8gb/256 ordered August 19th

 

what's the weight of your package please?

 

My package weights 3.1kg. You should be happy, your computer might be lighter

I should get the package tomorrow.


August 14, i5/8GB/256GB, SD September 20

 

how come everyone's is heavier at 3.1 kg? mine is 2.7 kg! did they forget to include something? maybe the AC brick? i ordered an extra brick and have it already. did it confuse them?

 

I tried to click on the UPS tracking link, but it says it's not available. Guessing it takes a little bit to register in their system? Or is there a trick to it?

 

You might need to wait a day or two. They will update the status when they scan package in warehouse (or something like that), the package might be still at Lenovo or on a truck.

 

It can take a day for UPS to get the parcel into their system.

My 8/16 order (i5/256/8GB) arrived this afternoon, and while I'm not overwhelmed, I'm definitely content with the laptop.

The good:
1. All four of the highly visible stickers came off easily and without leaving any residue. The Energy Star one even had a little pull tab to ease removal!
2. The battery appears to be a beast. In 3.5 hours I've only dropped by 50% (Linux, Gnome, display on with backlight in middle setting, text-heavy web browsing.)
3. It runs Linux beautifully. I needed a firmware blob for the built-in wifi (it works great), and everything else (wwan, power management, bluetooth, etc) worked perfectly out of the box. Only exception is the built-in microphone.
4. The keyboard really is fantastic for an ultrabook.

The less good:
1. Holy cow it was full of crapware! I haven't purchased a Windows machine in a while, but if Thinkpads are high end, I shudder to think of what folks at the low end deal with.
2. The hinges are too stiff and the base is too light: it takes two hands to open, unlike a MacBook Air.
3. The screen is somewhat poor. Mine has a very noticeable "screen-door" effect and the gamut is bad. Off-angle viewing seems comparable to my MacBook Air.
4. The body, when open, is much less rigid than my Air. The bottom can flex a good bit and the screen wobbles with the slightest bump.
5. No ethernet dongle in the box (as per above), and the Windows 8 Release Preview doesn't have drivers for the wifi built in. Prepare to schelp a USB stick back and forth. On the upside, my Apple USB to Ethernet dongle was plug-and-play in Linux, while it needed special, hard to find drivers in Windows.
6. No Windows key on the right side of the keyboard. Instead, you get a Print Screen button.
7. Mediocre speakers.
8. No LED to indicate if Caps Lock is on.
9. My case was poorly assembled, leaving a 1/2 cm gap on the front of the body where one of the retention clips hadn't engaged. I was able to snap it back into place.

Overall
Totally happy. I wanted to get away from Apple products and return to Linux, and this is the closest well-supported alternative to an Air that I've seen yet. The industrial design and quality control leave a lot to be desired, coming from Apple, but the X1C is unquestionably well suited for my needs.

 

ilspbmocrfah,

I'm going to installl Linux. What distribution are you using? Did you need to do anything special to make Linux work well?

They should have made the whole laptop using carbon-fiber.

14 August, i5/8GB/256GB, SD 20 September

 

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64bit and it works fine! No lack of drivers

 

When I got this machine yeserday the first thing I noticed is that I could not press the ThinkVantage button (what I usually do when I get a new system is immediately boot of a USB stick and create an image of the drive. Then later I noticed that every time I reboot I'm taking to the "boot interrupt" screen. At first I thought this was a BIOS setting but I couldn't find anything like that in the BIOS. Then I thought it was a Linux thing (perhaps not shutting down correctly). But later I discovered that I could get to the control panel in Linux (which I map to the ThinkVantage button) very easily just by touching the TV button. Then I was thinking "Oh wow, this is not a button per-se but a touch-sensitive area" But later I saw that the control panel occasionally launches on its own and that finally clued me in that the TV button is stuck in the pressed position (or slightly above pressed). This is disappointing as everything else seems fine (touchpad, screen, bezel, etc). But as this will annoy me to no end I'm going to have to get it fixed.

As for the rest of the machine, I like it. It pretty much fixes most of my complaints about the orginal X1 (shiny screen, hard-to-reach-ports, loud fan). If I had one complaint (other than the afore-mentioned ThinkVantage button). It would be the keyboard. It's a good keyboard but I think I liked the original X1's better because they were raised higher (although I'm guessing this was sacrificed to make the Carbon thinner).

As for you Linux users, yes everything pretty much works out of the box (well, I haven't tried the FP reader yet but it worked on the original X1). I pretty much copied my Gentoo config over from my original X1. The only thing extra I needed to do get the firmware for the wireless card because it's different from the original X1.

 

Not sure about that. I was never able to get a date. I'm not sure they know.

I'd get this one.

Yes, you'll most likely need an adapter for your monitor. Mini displayport to HDMI/DVI/VGA.

 

Awesome to hear the X1C is Linux friendly, and good timing as mine's on a UPS truck for delivery now
Does power management also work well? Going to sleep and returning from specifically..

Also, hey to another Gentoo user! Sucks about your keyboard, but if you have the on-site repair, I bet that's a repair that takes 5min..

 

Linux: Power management works wonderfully (sleep / resume / etc).

I'm running Debian, and the only thing I needed to install was the non-free iwlwifi firmware. All it takes is a quick aptitude install firmware-iwlwifi wireless-tools and you're done.

I haven't been able to get the fingerprint reader or the built-in mic to work, but I'm not too concerned about those, especially since everything else (WWAN, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 3, Camera, Sleep, etc.) seems to work perfectly.

 

I bought this Mini DisplayPort to HDMI, DVI & DisplayPort Adapter from Monoprice:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=8119&seq=1&format=2

I don't have my X1 Carbon yet, so haven't been able to try it yet, but there's no reason it shouldn't work well and it's very convenient to have HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort all in one adapter.

 

WEIGHT of your X1C package via UPS:

gents: may i kindly ask please what you remember as the weight of your UPS package (as indicated on the tracking page) for your X1C?

i have an odd situation: mine says 2.70 kg and the others i have chatted with all said 3.1 kg!!

what's up with that? i am concerned that they have left out my AC brick since i purchased a 2nd AC brick as an accessory. maybe they saw that 2nd AC brick and said: oh, he got that brick already so we don't need to include one in the box?!??? Nothing from Lenovo surprises me now!

look forward to your replies. thanks in advance.

 

Mine just shipped out today, and its 2.70 kg with no accessories. Did you order the retail or economy packaging? Maybe that makes a difference? Mine's retail packaging

 

thx for your reply, hawk25.

where would one have had the opportunity to select retail or economy packaging?

i ordered via the Lenovo.com site, using the Barnes and Noble "portal" or entry point, or whatever it's called. i did end up using the email coupon as well and it took it, so it seemed at least.

however, nowhere during the process do i recall having any options to choose packaging.

it is more comforting to know that there is at least one other person out there with a 2.7 kg weight! the several i've asked all have 3.1 kg!

weird, right? that's a big difference in weights!

 

Looks like my i5/8gb/256gb shipped today.

 

A lot of shippers don't use an actual weight, but an estimated weight. UPS, FedEx and DHL will weigh during transport and adjust the bill as neccessary. So the initial weight doesn't have to be accurate. I own an online retail store so know this from experience.

 

I had the option when I was configuring the laptop on the regular site, with a RFD Canadian coupon. Didn't cost anything extra and I thought it would be a nicer thing to open than an plain cardboard box. Totally unnecessary and superficial, I know lol.

But yeah, they probably just estimated how much it weighs. If they put it lower and UPS doesn't check the entire shipment weight, I'm guessing they'll save a couple bucks shipping them

 

Now that you mentioned it, i do recall seeing one of the several x1c unboxing videos and one guy actually said that he was disappointed at the uber plain packaging! it was merely a brown box with some styrofoam-esque material, suspending the x1c! not nice at all. i'd have thought that they would use at least one or two plastic bags to protect the x1c from water damage, should there be any!

in another video, the packaging was a bit nicer -- i.e. the more standard, expected type of packaging one would typically get when walking to Bestbuy and buying/opening a laptop. (SlashGear video on youtube, oh...guess what, they got the ethernet dongle! surprise surprise, reviewers getting everything we're all supposed to get? Naw, really?)

 

Looks like my i5/8GB/256GB shipped via UPS Worldwide Expedited. Ordered 8/17. Weight says 3.00kgs. Curious to see if the dongle is in the box (among other things like adhesive showing through the bezel). FYI - You'd think Expedited meant "faster" but it's 4-5 days whereas Worldwide Saver is the next tier up, followed by Worldwide Express, and finally Worldwide Express Plus (all 1-2 days from Europe, Asia, and Latin America).

 

duckhuntinpro: congrats on getting a shipped notice.

my level of service is called "World Ease".

is that even lower than the levels you mentioned?

i looked it up on UPS' site but World Ease appears to be a very customized, contractual service depending on the shipper's specific circumstances. It also includes customs clearance in bulk, and guaranteed "time in transit" times.

 

On the UPS tracking page under additional information my product: says "World Ease" but on the right column under Shipped By: it says "UPS Worldwide Expedited."

I'm no UPS/shipping expert but my guess is they (Lenovo) throw a bunch of shipped orders on a pallet, have a contract with UPS for World Ease, and they ship in bulk to reduce cost and get through customs easier.
UPS World Ease: UPS

 

Yes. I've never had a problem with suspend/hibernate on ThinkPads and this one is no different.

I did discover an issue with bluetooth. It appears to work ok with hcitool but for some reason gnome-control-center's bluetooth capplet is having trouble displaying/syncing devices.

 

One of my X1C's came exactly like that. Just sitting inside a cardboard box with some styrofoam supports around it. Though was wrapped in a bag. The other one I ordered came with a fancy box and everything.

 

I got X1C. The machine is ok, except of the screen which is terrible, I have never seen such a low quality screen, it is extremely annojying!

Does anyone know how to do proper clean install? I need to remove partitions, do I really need system_drv and lenovo_recovery? Is there any good tutorial?

August 14, i5/8GB/256GB, SD September 20, RD September 27

 

Check this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/642274-hearsts-guide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

 

Could you tell me what tutorial you followed? I can't install Ubuntu because there are 4 primary partitions, I want to know which I can remove and how to do it safely.

 

this fingerprint reader isn't supported yet:
Fingerprint GUI Forum - Plans to support Upek 147e:2020 ?


My microphone is working fine though (e.g., in skype).

 

I was beginning to feel left out with everyone's units shipping already... Mine finally shipped yesterday according to the order detail page (although I have not received an official e-mail). Credit card shows a pending charge as well so I am positive about this one. They were a day late in shipping which, after all the delays, I was not too surprised about.... Original order was 08/16. It took six weeks+ for Lenovo to ship this thing out....

Finally looks like the shipping ordeal is coming to an end. Now on to the next one: hope that there are no issues with trackpad, keyboard, screen, etc.

Edit: finally received confirmation e-mail from Lenovo. Now off to get the concession from Lenovo processed...

 

I received an email this morning saying my X1, ordered about 10 days ago had shipped. A couple of hours later I got an email saying it had been delayed, and wouldn't now dispatch till 8th October! The shipping notification included a UPS reference which doesn't work... the conflicting information is slightly frustrating especially as they claim to have charged my card now.

 

Did you buy an extended warranty? If so you got a shipping notice for that.Same happened to me, and I got all excited...

 

Don't feel too bad! Ordered i5/8GB/256GB on August 16th. Was promised that it would ship by the end of the day numerous times, was told that it had already shipped and that I would receive a tracking number by the close of business, and for the last week promised that it would ship 9/25, 9/27, 9/28. Now today, after it did not ship, I checked the order status and found that the ESD has changed to October 9, 2012. So today I once again called Order Status department and once again was told that my order is being delayed due to parts constraints. When I asked as to what parts are missing now, I am again told about the Ethernet dongle. Wow! My order was cancelled and reentered without the Ethernet dongle being a part of the order. When I bring this up I am told that I am correct and that the Ethernet dongle will ship at a later time. So I once again asked since the Ethernet dongle is going to ship at a later date, then what is holding up the order? I am again told that due to parts contraints my order is delayed. I again ask as to what part is missing. Once again I am told that there is a parts contraint on the Ethernet dongle. You have got to be kidding me? Are we going in circles here? I asked to speak with a supervisor who (after going through the Ethernet dongle circle again) later admitted that he has no idea what is holding up the order. He will look into it and get back with me next week.

I then called the customer service department to find out why Lenovo continues to place a hold on my credit card if they are not shipping the computer. Customer service had no idea why this was being done and transferred me to the credit card section. When I spoke to the credit card section, the rep said that once the amount falls off, they will once again place another hold. I was told that as long as the order is open Lenovo will continue to place holds on the account until the order ships. At that time the final charge will be placed through. This has to be rough for the folks that may have a limit near the amount of their order. Lenovo is holding the customer's available credit hostage until Lenovo gets around to figuring out what their manufacturing problem is. The rep stated that he is getting a lot of complaints regarding the credit holds.
He agreed that the only resolution to the problem is to either deal with it or cancel the order.
I am about done with this mess!!!

 

Imaging initially via USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 Flash Drive:

may i ask if anyone is expecting to do so or has already done so?

i'll get my x1c early next week and plan to image at the first opportunity using Acronis' boot up disk.

i was told that Windows 7 and Acronis both do NOT support USB 3.0 so using a USB 3.0 flash drive for this imaging purpose is ineffective -- that is, we'll end up only able to plug the USB 3.0 flash drive into the USB 2.0 port and have to live with the limits of the USB 2.0 flash drive speeds.

may i ask the good folks here to shed some light on this please?

Thanks in advance.

 

Does anyone know how to get to Live Chat?

I don't seem to be able to get to it... Am I out?
Contact Lenovo - United States

(Near "Live Chat", there is no icon to click on!!!)

 

I can't speak for ilspbmocrfah, but what I've done is remove all the partitions (I will not use any of the Windows partitions so removed them). But first

* Boot into a "live" environment, such as SystemrescueCD.
* Create an image of the entire drive (I just attached an external USB drive and dd'd all of /dev/sda to a file on it)
* Delete all the partitions (using fdisk or [g]parted or whatever.
* Install the OS (Debian/Ubuntu/whatever) as usual.

If you are planning to use the Windows installed then this won't apply do you, but if are just concerned if you need any of the original partitions around for a fully functioning Linux install then the answer is no.

 

Well, I'm a new victim of this silliness. I thought I was smarter than everyone, so I waited till the things started shipping

Clearly, I'm a dope. I ordered 2 X1C laptops at the beginning of this week (9/25), and now, not only is Lenovo's perfect and amazing support site down for the past few days, but I have no idea if my order even was placed. I got a confirm email from them, but I can't tell if its even in their godforsaken system.

What a mess these folks have become. I ordered a convertible tablet from them when it came out over the summer, and it took 6 weeks to ship (the thing is AWESOME though, so worth the wait)

 

Is the current deal as good as last month's? Which configuration(s) did you go for?

I'm seeing ~USD 1567 for i5/256/8, est. ship of 11 Oct.
I do need a new laptop but I can't convince myself to pull the trigger until there's fewer QC complaints. and how did Thor score that deal with 3-yr warranty?? I believe it was ~1600 before tax and ship

 

When the X1 Carbon first came out, Lenovo had some coupons. The deal I am referring to was an EPP price with a coupon. It was the same deal that other people got from the Barnes and Noble Lenovo Gold program with the coupon.

The i5/8GB/256GB model was $1503. The 3 year warranty with accidental was $147 on top of that. I have not seen that price since.

Today my EPP price on the i5/8GB/256 MacBook Air is $1503 every day of the week.
Today my EPP price on the i5/8GB/256 X1 Carbon is $ 1841 with the current USXDISCOUNT coupon.

Someone at Lenovo has clearly lost their mind. The X1 Carbon isn't worth that, especially with the issues in the initial run.

Your $1567 price is actually pretty decent though I do think the Carbon should be priced less than the Mac.

 

Thanks. $1503 is the price point I was referencing when checking for discounts. I'll try to see if I can get that price again tomorrow. But there are so many assembly and shipping issues ::sighs:: Next year's X1C won't be far off when everything gets fixed

Yes, I too think it should be priced less than an MBA. I thought people paid for the apple but it does come with a better screen and reliable QC v. Thinkpad's build quality (?), mil specs. ha!

btw, is your 3-yr warranty depot?

 

Nope. It was "3YR Onsite Next Business Day + Accidental Damage Protection"

 

What configuration do you use to limit screen door effect? I've played with gama settings but I'm not quite happy, what are your settings?

 

Where are you seeing $1567? My EPP is higher.

 

On BN Gold. Following earlier X1 Carbon threads here, I used USXDISCOUNT and the personalised newsletter sign-up promo code. It was about $50 less when first released. IIRC, with the same codes now, i7/256/4 is about $80 less than i5/256/8

Is it safe to order? I wouldn't want to wait a month and have to send it back

Here's a screenshot from a few mins ago. Not sure if it matters but I'm accessing BN Gold from the US

edit: image with discount amount

 

Well, my 8/21 order for a i5/4GB/256gb just got pushed back from 9/28-10/4 to 10/9-10/16. I'm seriously considering canceling or demanding a big concession in return. Waiting two months for a laptop I intended to use for graduate school this semester is insane.

 

I'm guessing you mean 8/21 order date? But there was a small hope that you ordered it just last week and it'll arrive mid October lol.

If order date has anything to do with it, yours may not be too long. I ordered 8/19, i5/8gb/256gb and it shipped 2 days ago, on schedule to get to Canada on Wednesday. Definitely feel for you though, since I was going to use it for school too. Ask for that concession!

 

Yes, I meant 8/21. I wrote the wrong date out of a delusion that I ordered a week ago rather than 5 weeks ago.