Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 15, 2013 12:01 AM ESTSystem Performance
By this point, Ivy Bridge is old hat. We have a fairly common ultra low voltage Intel Core i5 and a speedy Intel SSD; no dedicated graphics required. This isn't Lenovo's fault, it's just the result of catching a product this late in the refresh cycle. Performance testing winds up being more of a sanity check to make sure everything is running smoothly.
That said, I did run into a hiccup during testing. In BIOS, the CPU was set to "Battery Optimized," which locked it at 600MHz. The setting labeled "Maximum Performance" actually just allows the CPU to turbo the way it's been designed to, and I feel it's worth pointing out that the "Battery Optimized" mode actually had worse running time than "Maximum Performance." This is easy enough to explain; modern processors are designed to finish tasks and go idle as soon as possible, so capping the CPU's top speed prevents it from doing exactly that and forces it to work longer.
System and CPU testing yields absolutely no surprises; the ThinkPad X1 Carbon's i5-3427U falls in line exactly where it's supposed to.
Graphics results are more of the same. The HD 4000 in the X1 Carbon puts in a strong showing (comparatively) in 3DMark's Ice Storm test, but it's basically still an Ivy Bridge HD 4000.
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Silma - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
The X1 Carbon would have been interesting with a better higher resolution screen, removable better battery, an ethernet port and less outrageous price - notably in Europe where it is incredibly expensive.On the plus side kudos for the mini display port as well as 8GB RAM option (would have preferred 16GB though) and the battery fast charge.
In addition there are many other interesting ultrabooks now (Samsung Series 7, Toshiba Kirabook) and even an Asus Zenbook Touch will compare favorably if you can do with 4GB RAM.
zodiacfml - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
i thought the price was due to the carbon fiber and i thought it's going to have problems with regards to heat. it's pretty neat overall.Calista - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
For those devoted to the mighty trackpoint I guess it will be an easy sell no matter what. Reviewers (both from Anandtech and others) often spend a fair amount of time describing the trackpad and keyboard. What they seem to overlook is all the people who couldn't care less about the size or quality of the trackpad as long as the pointing stick is working well. And in this the Thinkpad series have always excelled.Still, I agree that 4GB is stingy this day and age, but paired with a quick SSD it will outlast the 3 years or so the laptop is supposed to be in use in a corporate setting. The only thing that worry me is if we see a huge shift in the use of virtualization, and the expected increase of memory that will follow. 8/16GB would increase the longevity of the laptop although, and so it's a bit sad a saving in the $50 range could cut several year from the expected lifetime of the laptop.
Anyway, I understand the position of the X1 well, it's a stylish Thinkpad. For those asking for extended battery life, a better display, more power or whatever Lenovo offer a huge range of different models to cater to those wishes.
CSMR - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Lenovo has some great products but this is not one of them. Poor quality screen at a steep price.Daniel Egger - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Not going to buy Lenovo ever again after the disaster with the breaking displays on the X121e which Lenovo simply declared as a customer problem because you're according to Lenovo not supposed to carry a laptop just like that in a regular laptop bag. ThinkPad is just not a decent brand anymore as it used to be.Belard - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Still better than most... and when you call tech support, you're talking to someone who speaks ENGLISH.Belard - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Folks should keep in mind that its only the ThinkPad T-Series that is considered their TOP-END. The X1 is not a work-horse, never designed to be one.The ThinkPad T430s series is their thin serious computers (1" thick) but from experience, its still better to get the regular T-Series. its .5" thicker, far easier to service and about $200 less. And those we regular screens come with Windows7Pro by default.
noeldillabough - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
The screen on my T520 sucks compared to the one on my X230...one is a corporate buy so its probably not the upgraded screen but still. Here's hoping the future is bright on screens and there are no more 768 pixel high screens anymore.Belard - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - link
The higher end screen looks better... none of them are as bright as the glossy screens. I'd take that over having the screen have the mirror look.Johnmcl7 - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
"The X1 Carbon is further evidence of the consumerization of the ThinkPad line; the chiclet keyboard may be the best you can find, but it's still a chiclet keyboard"I don't understand this statement, what is the but for? I've used a variety of Thinkpad machines over the years and I find their current generation of chiclet keyboards both on their smaller and larger machines to be the best they've made. I find them comfortable to type on with better speed and accuracy than previous machines and users of the machines at work have made similar comments so I don't see how having a better keyboard is a 'but' regardless of whether you're an enterprise or home user. Yes, it may not be the classic Thinkpad keyboard but Lenovo have to move forwards.
I normally don't mind trackpads but their current one is horrible, I don't know what they were thinking as the button action doesn't work very well. I would have preferred they just left the trackpoint as with the older x200 as I end using the trackpoint anyway but with the trackpad there tend to default to it first then remember how bad it is and switch to the trackpoint.
John