Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 15, 2013 12:01 AM ESTDisplay Quality
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty happy to be getting notebooks in for review that don't have lousy 1366x768 panels. I desperately want to believe this is the direction the notebook market is heading in, though a pair of $1,500+ notebooks don't really constitute a trend, and I'll be a lot happier when $600 notebooks have gotten past 1366x768.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon employs a 14" 1600x900 display standard; Lenovo lists it as "wide viewing angle" but it's still most definitely a TN panel. That said, viewing angles are definitely good, and it exhibits none of the "no sweet spot" issues that plague lower quality displays. Lenovo's pseudo-glossy finish isn't as brilliant as typical glossy finishes are, but it's also not as reflective.
The X1 Carbon's display quality is acceptable, but take a look at the contrast graph to get a really good idea of how much of a difference spending just a little more on a display can make. The HP Folio's display has such horrible black levels that its contrast ratio is actually lower than its maximum brightness. Meanwhile, the X1 Carbon has a display that's both lovely and functional, and 1600x900 is about right for a 14" panel before you get into having to mess with the broken dpi settings in Windows.
Battery Life
While most of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon's user experience is at least solid, battery life is one area where it falls horribly short. That Lenovo doesn't offer any extended battery option of any kind turns out to be a major problem.
The X1 Carbon's battery life isn't horrible, but it's way out on the bottom end of competitive. Dell's two "prosumer" XPS notebooks both offer superior efficiency and running time, and the XPS 13 in particular can offer you a stellar 1080p IPS display in the process.
Heat and Noise
Sporting a larger chassis than most Ultrabooks, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is able to do a fantastic job of keeping the ultra low voltage Core i5 running cool. There's definitely a high-pitched whine to the fan when it spins up, but it's not especially loud under extreme, sustained load.
Thermally the X1 Carbon is almost boxing under its weight. None of the surfaces of the chassis get hot, and it's actually difficult to get either core of the i5 to break 70C. I think you could probably make a case for using a higher powered CPU in the Carbon's chassis, but I'm honestly happy just to see a notebook that not only doesn't have heat issues, it doesn't even flirt with them.
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Shinobi_III - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - link
1600*900 is a joke, Lenovo went out when I bought my Zenbook last year just because of that.Think the 13 inch one I looked at then, had a laughable 1024x768 res.. My two year old phone has 960x540 for crying out loud.
The Asus Zenbooks are a lot more bang for the buck here.
peterfares - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
The QS77 chipset natively has 4 USB 3.0 ports and 10 USB 2.0 ports. It really makes no sense as to why they wire up USB 2.0 ports when they haven't even used up all 4 USB 3.0 ports offered by the chipset.jonup - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - link
not to mention the vizio thin and light that retails as low as $600. Based on the Anandtech review of the 15" model, the screen is superior, you get 2 USB3.0, aluminum body with rubberized bottom. I got the 15" for office (audit) use and I can't be happier. Having two spreadsheets side-by-side on a less than 4lb package, priceless!boe - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
My 3 year old Sony Z has an i7, weighs 3lbs and has a higher resolution screen and a much larger SSD drive.OCedHrt - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
I have a Z too, but it's not 14" ;)OCedHrt - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
The Samsung Series 9 15" is about the same weight with much better specs.imaginarynumber - Friday, May 17, 2013 - link
But Sony (for example with the Z series) showed that the only tradeoff need to be the price tag. The Z11 series had much higher specs (bar touch screen) but managed to weigh lessrailhan - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
It's a Thinkpad. It has a clitoris and a great keyboard. Comparison to other brands is irrelevant. Specs are only relevant if you are feeling that your current Thinkpad is slow :).Unless someone else starts making good keyboards and a practical implementation of the trackpoint(Toshiba and HP ones are rubbish) there will continue to be only one brand for laptops.
synaesthetic - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - link
I don't see a blue enter key--what "great keyboard?" Lenovo threw away the main thing that made Thinkpads awesome to jump on the Apple-Sony chiclet train.I don't get it. This really just doesn't compute to me. Am I just going to start having to carry a full-size mechanical switch keyboard around with me wherever I go just so I can have a decent typing experience on a laptop?
Nah I'll just use my old X200 until it quits working.
Evil_Sheep - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
1000000 points for making an obscure MaRo reference which only one person will get ;)