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The ThinkPad Goes Ultrabook — ThinkPad X1 Carbon Tested
MojoKid writes "The venerable Lenovo ThinkPad, with its little red TrackPoint nub, has gone the way of the Ultrabook. If there's one small dig ThinkPads have taken with regularity over the years, it's that though there's a ton of quality and substance built into these machines, style was not a hallmark of the brand. The all new ThinkPad X1 Carbon could very well change the utilitarian stereotype of Lenovo's business-backed line-up, however. As the name suggests, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is built from carbon fiber material throughout its chassis and internal rollcage. Its 14-inch display drives a native resolution of 1600x900, and its keyboard, arguably one of the nicest features of the ThinkPad line, is backlit and even more refined with contoured key caps. Battery life hits a max of about six hours on a full charge, and the machine weighs in at 3lbs and .31-inches at it thinnest dimension."
Many customers, self included, prefer it.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
IBM has offered quite a few thin-and-light optical-drive-removed models over the years, albeit generally at a somewhat uncomfortable premium.
I have very fond memories of my Thinkpad 570 (stolen, alas) and the X series has more recently occupied the niche.
The really tragic thing is that Lenovo has been churning out assorted thin-and-lights without trackpoints! If you have to use a touchpad, you might as well just not bother.
Soldered-in RAM and non-user-serviceable battery aren't impressive either.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
I got a Thinkpad X230, which has the same keyboard layout and a very similar keyboard. The biggest problem is the odd placement of the Print Screen key. It is where the right click menu key should be. In addition, the keyboard is rather mushy without much travel. I am sure it is much better than a normal chiclet keyboard, but the layout is inexcusable. I really like the backlighting, and the trackpoint is, of course, excellent. While I agree that the keyboard is a draw, I think that the trackpoint is a big one too. At least they didn't ruin that yet.
That was long ago, when IBM owned the brand. Lenovo kept the quality up to par for a while, but many people who've bought Thinkpads in the past couple years will attest that the quality isn't the best any longer. That they're going for styling now, just further suggests they're completely changing the brand, and it will no longer stand for quality and durability.
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Can they make it look more like a MacBook Air and then I'll buy one?
They could, but that would mean, yet another lawsuit, which we certainly already have enough of . . .
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I just pulled the rubber off
Doing that, is what got Julian Assange into all that trouble . . .
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
It looks like this laptop rests on the protruding lid edge when the lid is open instead of lying flat on the base. Not sure I like that design.
Please, no. If I wanted a MacBook Air, I would get a MacBook Air; but I hate that style and love the more macho Thinkpad style.
I'm so glad it doesn't have a shiny screen too.
Max.
alledgedly
Max.
No built-in RJ-45 is a show stopper for me. There's no way I want to use a USB dongle for that. But then again I'm a network engineer so that stuff probably matters to me more than it should.
The day I bought my first thinkpad was the day I stopped replacing broken laptops.
"Lame" - Galaxar
I'd rather have page up/page down there than the back/forward buttons that were there before - I've hit the back key and lost everything that I was typing into a webpage far too many times with those damn things. Aside from that though, the layout isn't really that important, you'll get used to it. The big problem with the keyboard here, and the keyboards on these really thin laptops in general, is the stroke depth. They're just far too shallow. I'm sure that's why they moved to the chicklet style, it's better suited to a laptop with no vertical space, but it's still crap.
Tip for other laptop designers (or designers of any product): figure out what your product is best known for, the good stuff, and when you're doing your redesign don't screw with that. What are the selling points for Thinkpads?
1. Solid, durable construction
2. A no-nonsense utilitarian aesthetic
3. Excellent keyboards that are comfortable to type on
If it has to be a little thicker to accommodate a good Thinkpad (TM) keyboard, that's not a drawback - that's a selling point.
What the heck is wrong with these companies? Are they really getting so much revenue in replacement power supplies that they have to screw everybody and their dog in the process?
Not only you can't change the (non-removable) battery but you also can't easily use any existent "power pack" (like powergorilla, not that I recommend that one but it's easy to google for and see what I mean). You can't just grab a "generic" laptop power supply (the one that comes with multiple voltages and a bunch of rounded tips) from any shop if you forgot/lost yours.
Also you can't consolidate on chargers/use your existent one, you can't efficiently charge it from an appropriate DC power supply without going via the inefficient route inverter->original power supply.
It seems these devices are designed more for executives with more money than sense than for people who actually travel and need the advertised portability.
From the article:
It might not be the brightest LCD in the lab at 300 nits but it's bright enough [...]
Actually, 300 nits is damn bright. They probably couldn't crank the brightness high enough or for some reason had a unit with a lower spec screen. Most current laptops at max brightness are in the 200 nits (cd/m^2) ballpark. Notebookcheck.net even has the lab and they indeed confirmed the manufacturer rating in their Lenovo X1 review:
Information
Gossen Mavo-Monitor
Maximum: 367 cd/m^2
Average: 330.9 cd/m^2
Brightness Distribution: 81 %
Center on Battery: 348 cd/m^2
Black: 2.8 cd/m^2
Contrast: 124:1
It is TOO shiny, please for the love of god, make one with a proper matte screen.
Comparing as close as possible specs, the 1.8GHz i5 with 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM costs $1,199 for the MacBook Air and $1,499 for the ThinkPad. For the 2GHz i7, the MBA is $1,499, the ThinkPad is $1,849. However, the ThinkPad has a 14" screen instead of 13" (not sure if this is a pro or con in a portability-at-all-costs Ultrabook), integrated 3G (need a USB dongle for the MBA). The ThinkPad lacks Thunderbolt, so USB is the fastest peripheral interface. The ThinkPad is marginally larger in one dimension, marginally smaller in two more, so about the same volume and the weight difference between the two is under 0.1%. The ThinkPad comes with a 3-year warranty, but this costs extra for the MBA (unless you buy from the education store), which brings the cost quite a bit closer. The cost of upgrading to 8GB of RAM for the ThinkPad is not listed - it's not even clear that it's an option, which is a shame because that's something I'd be pretty sure to want.
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I have an x220 and I *LOVE* the reversed Fn and Ctrl Keys (bottom left is Fn -> Ctr -> Super -> Alt -> Space -> ...). I actually got so used to it I had to set up my other machines to switch them as well. The Ctrl key is a VERY commonly used key, and having to stretch your hand to the left to use it (like most keyboards) wears your hand out VERY quickly. But if you REALLY need the Ctrl key on the far left, there's a BIOS option to change it.
Hell, I miss my 1400x1050 14" T60p! It's pretty sad that the only way to get 1000+ vertical pixels is in a 1080p display, which is too high a DPI to be comfortable on less than a 15" screen, but a 15.6" 16:9 panel makes for an absolute monster. Lenovo could have kept making the 4:3 machines ad infinitum--see Panasonic and the ToughBook line. But they decided the extra profit was worth lessening the product. Sad. Unfortunately, so did everybody else. Heck, Apple's the only mainstream company that even uses 16:10 panels anymore.
One of my best friends is drooling over this, but I think the opposite direction makes a lot more sense--try 1.2" thick (really not that bad), in order to get ethernet, removable battery, optical drive (swappable for an extra hard drive, battery, etc), docking connector, etc. Oh, and latches to keep the darn thing shut, thanks. The whole thin==better thing really doesn't lend itself to longevity.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is so thin actually, that a standard RJ45 port couldn't be squeezed into its side edge, so Lenovo includes a USB Ethernet dongle with the machine.
This is starting to be a wider issue, so perhaps a more robust solution is in order. Some tablets apparently have proprietary connectors, where RJ45 can be plugged with a passive adapter. Could we agree on a smaller standard for such an electrically identical Ethernet connector? Maybe while we are starting over, we could avoid earlier design mistakes, like the plastic tongue that breaks off easily.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
You just inspired a thought - they could make it so the keys rise up slightly when the lid is opened, providing longer travel. In fact I would love to see a true shift-lock key again, that stays down when it's engaged. And a pony, of course.
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You can switch fn and left ctrl the keys in the BIOS on most Thinkpads. Sure, the keys would then be mislabeled, but if you always hit the wrong key anyway it wouldn't matter.
It weighs the same as your X200, but it has a 2'' larger screen.
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
Of course it has an LED backlit screen - CCFL backlit screens haven't been sold in laptops for years.
I was surprised about the battery because the EU now mandates that they are recyclable, but it seems to be an unfortunately growing trend. Apparently if you can remove the battery for disposal, even destroying the laptop in the process, that is okay under the current rules.
Hopefully the EU will go a bit further and require user replaceable batteries. It's bad enough having to throw away a perfectly good electric toothbrush after two years because the battery is dead.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I'd rather have page up/page down there than the back/forward buttons that were there before - I've hit the back key and lost everything that I was typing into a webpage far too many times with those damn things.
I've done that a couple of times, including losing lengthy Slashdot response posts. I've been dealing with it by using the Lazarus plugin (for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari), which allows me to retrieve lost form submissions.
Note: the plugin encrypts saved form data, but it might still be a problem for users with high security requirements.
No. A nicely proportioned beautiful woman is "sexy". Electronic gear is most certainly not and never will be.
I'm very sorry, but you are clearly new here.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Your doing pretty good with this Turing test thing though....
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
In many ways it is a testimate of the think pad style.
What is a testimate? A grumpy friend?