Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 15, 2013 12:01 AM ESTConclusion: Prosumer Grade
Much as Mark Rosewater can't go a month without mentioning how he used to write for "Roseanne," I have a hard time not mentioning my background in video production. The reason to bring it up with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is simple: whether you're a hobbyist or a professional in any kind of content creation field, you have a pretty good idea of what "prosumer" means. Consumer grade hardware and software are generally (but not always) not worth your time, but professional grade kit often requires a substantial investment. Thus there's the middle ground: prosumer. Prosumer kit is typically fully featured, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. You get 90% of the power of professional grade stuff at a fraction of the cost.
That's essentially what the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is. Weird as it sounds, the ThinkPad is basically the Windows user equivalent of a Mac and has been for a while. The name has a cachet to it, and you have a good idea of what it represents. In the case of the X1 Carbon, we get a strong and sturdy build, great quality display, and the best chiclet keyboard in the business. We also get the kind of price premium we've come to expect for the ThinkPad brand, a premium that predates Lenovo's ownership.
.jpg)
I have often said that you cannot charge Apple prices for Dell products. That's not necessarily to disparage Dell, but merely to make a point: you can't make bargain consumer grade hardware and still try to sell it at a premium. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a fine Ultrabook, and the $1,187 touch-free entry level model is without question the best deal in the lineup (though the 4GB of DDR3 stings mightily) and easy to recommend. If you want 8GB of memory you'll have to fork over at least $200 more (you get a CPU upgrade in the process), which is a bitter pill to swallow.
Where the Carbon runs into trouble is that its price is, like its battery life, barely competitive, and the higher-priced models are almost impossible to justify. Actual business-class kit is more expensive, but the Carbon is really competing with the likes of Dell's XPS 13. Dell will sell you an XPS 13 with a 1080p IPS display, faster processor, and 8GB of memory for $1,299. Married to the 14" form factor? Not a problem, they'll give you an XPS 14 with the same resolution display for $999, and at $1,199 you can even get dedicated graphics hardware.
Ultimately, if you're still smarting from what Lenovo has done with the ThinkPad brand like I am, it can be difficult to appreciate the X1 Carbon. It bears repeating this really is an excellent Ultrabook, falling short primarily in battery life and price but otherwise pretty tough to argue with. And Lenovo has been thriving compared to some of the competition, so they must be doing something right. I just don't like how they've sacrificed the ThinkPad brand on the altar of consumerism, and the X1 Carbon doesn't buck the trend. It's a fantastic Ultrabook, but it's not enterprise.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
91 Comments
View All Comments
Bob-o - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
The 15" Series 9 has upgradable RAM, but I think the 13" is soldered on. Both have upgradable drives though (mSATA on 13", not sure about 15" off the top of my head).zsero - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
The 13 inch has a free RAM slot as well!Gunbuster - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
"In and Around the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon"Can you please not call it in and around if you are not going to show any of the "in"
Hulk - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
This computer is close to what I want. It has the right form factor and other features but it needs two things in my opinion.1. IPS screen
2. Quad core - I'm hoping that Haswell will bring quad that will be suitable for these larger ultrabooks. I don't care if it throttles down to 1GHz as long as with proper air space/cooling/power it can throttle up. I'm hoping to see 25W quads with Haswell and 17W quads with Broadwell. Until then I think I'll just stick with my 2006 Dell 640m T7200.
landerf - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
I thought this was a mouse pad or something going by the picture.darwinosx - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
If the Lenovo is the Widows equivalent of a Mac that's pretty bad. Lenovo makes cheap junk and supports it the same way. They do not deserve the Thinkpad name for those of us who owned real Thinkpad's in the past. Apple's laptops just destroy this one not least because they use a modern OS and have premium build quality, screen's service and support.dave_the_nerd - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
This ultrabook is making my pants fit funny.underpass - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Something often overlooked (especially when the Mac fans get in on the fun) is that you could use this laptop as a Frisbee in the park on your lunch break and still use it for your afternoon hacking marathon. Most (if not all) of the ThinkPad line passes MIL-SPEC 810F certification for ruggedness. Also customer service for the ThinkPad line is excellent, as are the extra warranties they offer (multi-year accidental damage). Typical turn-around time for a repair is ~2-3 days. These features are huge pluses for the corporate or professional environment, which is why you still see a lot of ThinkPads in these places. Including the international space station and (former) space shuttle missions. As for the X1 Carbon specifically (I have a non-touch version with an i7), the ONLY complaint I have about it is that damned chicklet keyboard. It may be the best chicklet keyboard around, but it will never reach the 'Legendary' status of the classic ThinkPad keyboard.underpass - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
PS. The battery life isn't great, but it charges insanely fast. I think Anandtech should have a 'charge-off' between the popular ultrabooks.peterfares - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
Thank you for finally starting to call out the pathetic 4GB RAM manufactures are using in expensive machines! When a $800 laptop in 2009 had 4GB RAM there is no reason anything above $500 should come with just 4GB RAM.Whenever I mention this I always get a bunch of deranged replies stating that there's no reason to have more than 4GB RAM.