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Tested: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Update W/ Intel Broadwell, Self-Encrypting SSD
MojoKid writes Lenovo just revamped the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and in this third generation of the machine, they've adopted Intel's latest 5th generation Core Series Broadwell processors, along with a few other updates. In addition, they've retooled the keyboard and trackpad area, returning back to more traditional roots versus the second generation machine, which was met with some criticism due to its adaptive function key row and over-simplified, buttonless trackpad. Notable upgrades to this 3rd gen model are a faster Core i5-5300U processor and a self-encrypting Opal2 compliant SSD. Performance-wise, the new ThinkPad offers up some of the best numbers in utlrabooks currently, though battery life is a bit middle of the road, but still able to last over 8 hours under light, web-driven workloads.
No thank you. Also: bring back the old style keyboard, and trackpoint only option. Then maybe I'll consider Lenovo again. x61s forever.
Those guys have already proven that they're willing to compromise the security of their hardware for anyone who waves a few bucks at them. Is anyone actually considering buying one of their machines after all that? Or maybe they just think that we have the attention span of a three year old?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Pokki App Store came pre-installed on my X1 Carbon 2015. At first, I thought it was the official Microsoft App Store. It mimics the Microsoft Windows App Store, but I assume Lenovo gets a cut for apps purchased through Pokki App Store.
Pokki does not show up in control panel's uninstall list. You have to click on uninstall.exe located at /users/~/appdata/local/pokki. Besides Pokki, other programs I uninstalled were Norton, Nitro PDF, and MS Office trial.
X1 Carbon is an excellent laptop, though overpriced. I would have been just as fine with the T450s or Dell XPS 13.
Lenovo? More like Oh-hell-no. Sorry, guys, but you've cratered your brand by selling out your customers for a few pieces of silver. I will never again by anything Lenovo makes. Hope that $250K was worth it.
Encryption is a software process, in all cases. If something "self encrypts", that means it has access to the key, and produced cyphertext from plaintext, and plaintext from cyphertext. There's literally NOTHING stopping:
> It could keep the key in some scrambled (and recoverable) form, rendering the encryption meaningless to anyone who knows how to access it physically.
> It could use an escrow algo such that the vendor or their appointed agents (aka, a distant freedom hostile government, hackers) can gleefully decrypt anything forever.
> It could use an implementation with a weakness (deliberately or accidentally) which allows anyone with knowledge of the weakness and sufficient cryptanalysis capabilities to decrypt.
Now, you COULD get around this in a few ways- but ultimately, it's just a bad idea to trust hardware encryption. It is fundamentally not trustworthy.
This is not a problem with the new lenovo, or lenovo in general, but rather with all self encrypting USB sticks, hard drives, SSD,s etc. Because nothing self encrypts!
I do not want SSL busting malware nor support a company which does so
There are people on Slashdot, of all places, who are clueless enough not to wipe their machine with a clean OS image *regardless* of which OEM it came from? Guess all the technical people really have bailed out on this pesthole.
People hack the bios and disable that. I'm typing this from a T410 which such a hacked bios.
Scared the crap out of me after first flashing it. The hacked bios beeps the system speaker 5 or 6 times to show you it's hacked, but I didn't expect that and thought the machine was now bricked since I flashed it, rebooted, and started hearing system beeps.
But after the 5 or 6 beeps are up, the system loaded normally and I had to go clean my drawers...
Anyways that isn't a problem. We will hack the bios and kill the whitelist.