Tag: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Introduction

I am reviewing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon which is a 14” Ultrabook that has its housing built out of carbon fibre rather than plastic. Here, this computer is like most of the 13” ultraportable kind of computer but comes with a 14” screen and is the third generation of the X1 Carbon Ultrabook.

The review-sample computer came delivered with Windows 7 Professional but you can order it to be delivered with Windows 8.1. It is delivered with the latest Lenovo software for business laptops which means that it hasn’t come with the flaky Superfish software that was a security risk.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build Quality

A traditional business laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook is scaled towards a traditional business-use marketplace. Thus it has the same aesthetics as the other ThinkPad laptops such as the dull-grey casing. But its thinness and lightness pitches it towards users who are travelling a lot and intend to do a lot of work on the road.

One limitation with the carbon fibre housing is that the grey case can easily look dirty after a fair bit of use and make the machine look a bit “too old”. There is nothing flimsy about the way the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is built which makes for a durable Ultrabook.

Thumbstick and trackpad as user interface

The heat output is focused around the top right edge of the unit’s base and was more noticeable during video playback. But this didn’t become too uncomfortable when I used it on my knees

User Interface

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s keyboard is of a width that is ideal for comfortable touch typing which I would describe as being important for this class of laptop.

There are two cursor-movement options for this notebook – a conventional trackpad and a thumbstick. I had not noticed any jumping around going on with either device even with using the keyboard, unlike some other laptops I have reviewed where this was a continuous problem.

Fingerprint reader

This business Ultrabook is equipped with a fingerprint reader which I found was very accurate and reliable. This didn’t matter whether I had eaten some food which would cause oil to appear on my fingers, something which I consider important when testing these security devices because these computers end up being used in various “second offices” as in cafés and bars or on the island kitchen bench.

Audio and Video

Left-hand-side connections: Power, HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, headphones

The Lenovo’s display has worked in a manner that yields best resolution and even comes through properly with TV content that you may watch online. The screen has a matte look like what is expected for business equipment

Right-hand side connections: USB 3.0, micro-Ethernet port

I never place a high expectation on a laptop’s internal speakers but it has performed adequately through them. But I would use a headset or external speakers if you want the best out if its sound.

Connectivity, Storage and Expansion

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with a 128Gb solid-state disk as standard but you can pay more for a 256Gb solid-state drive. This allows for very quick response and is something you could get away with for “on-the-road” use whether you use an external hard disk for extra data storage or not.

Sadly this computer misses the SD card slot which is something I would consider as being very important for those of us who own digital cameras or camcorders. Here, you would either have to “tether” the camera or use a USB SD card reader to transfer the pictures or footage to the solid-state drive.

There are two USB 3.0 sockets with one being able to charge gadgets from the Lenovo when it is off using the Toshiba-style “plug-and-charge” setup. As well, there is an HDMI connection to connect to most video devices along with a DisplayPort connector for the good monitors and projectors.

The network abilities in this laptop are up-to-date even catering for 802.11ac wireless-network segments. There is a Gigabit Ethernet connection for you to use with an Ethernet or HomePlug powerline wired-network segment but you have to use the supplied rnet plug adaptor to plug the Ethernet cable in to the Ultrabook’s small low-profile Ethernet socket.

Battery life

The Lenovo is very economical on battery life even for viewing video content, which means that you could be able to get more than a day out of it without needing to dig out the charger. This is although I would still keep the charger with me if I was travelling as well as “topping up the battery” overnight.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

As an Ultrabook for business use, I didn’t come across with many limitations except for the price and the absence of an SD card reader.

Similarly, Lenovo could work on the carbon-fibre finish to make it stay looking clean rather than having a look that can degrade quickly.

Conclusion

I would position the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon as another example of a good-quality business-focused secondary “travel” computer that could do well for use between the “main office” and the “second office” (café or bar) where you meet clients or catch up on work without disturbance; or for whenever you do a lot of business travel.

No sooner than the Christmas shopping season is upon us that the hype machine for the Consumer Electronics Show starts to warm up. This is where the Internet is awash with rumours about what hot gadgets will be shown in Las Vegas during the first week of January.

This year, it is becoming the place to even show household appliances in a similar vein to what is happening in Europe when the Internationaler Funkaustellung takes place in Berlin during the first week of September. But certain technologies are being considered key drivers at this show such as more of 4K UHDTV including more content for this ultra-high-resolution technology, the Internet Of Everything being more pervasive with an increase in the number of gadgets that link to the Internet or our smartphones, along with highly-converged personal computing.

A key issue that will be worth remembering  through this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is how Sony has come out of its recent massive cyber-attack that nearly crippled Sony Pictures. The President of Sony Corporation, as part of the press conference, ran a speech about not caving in to that attack especially where it concerned “The Interview”. He was underscoring the key factors of freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of association as being very important lifebloods and lifelines of Sony and their entertainment business. For me, it was very much like Winston Churchill’s “We Shall Fight On The Beaches” battle speech given to the UK Parliament on June 4 1940 during World War II with these memorable lines:

“…. we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…..

Personal Computing

It is hard to split apart the different classes of personal computing devices what with the “2-in-1” convertibles and detachables becoming a major part of manufacturers’ lineups while smaller tablets have the computing abilities of even low-end laptops. Some of these even run Windows or Android or even can boot between both operating systems. This is why I have classed them together as one heading because of the way the CES hype machine was coming up with these machines.

As well, it is coming to the point where a household will have multiple computer devices at different screen sizes and for different uses. For example a “2-in-1” convertible or detachable computer could serve as one’s highly-portable auxiliary computer whereas a 7”-8” tablet could become a personal reference device or a smartphone becomes your main communications device.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon – now refreshed with new hardware

An example of this is NVIDIA with their Tegra X1 ARM processor which is able to achieve a 1 teraflop throughput and work with 4K video at 60Hz. Sony had put in to the CES hype machine the idea of a 12” Android tablet that can work at 4K resolution.

Lenovo have refreshed most of their computer lineup like the Thinkpad X1 Carbon carbon-fibre-built Ultrabook. Their new equipment will be more slimline and there will be a new solid-state-drive-only Ultrabook in the form of the T450S. They have also built up a range of Ultrabook accessories that are designed to stack like Lego bricks such a an external battery pack, expansion module (docking station) and an external hard disk.

Dell XPS 13 negligable-bezel Ultrabook

Dell have released a negligable-bezel XPS 13 Ultrabook and an ultra-slim Venue 8 7000 coat-pocket Android tablet. This implements multiple-camera depth-sense technology along with, guess what, an OLED screen which I would expect to be a treat for your social-media pictures or what you took with your camera.

Toshiba Portégé Z20T detachable pitched at the business user

The “two-in-one” convertible or detachable computer is still alive with the Jide which is an 11” Surface-style tablet along with Toshiba’s Satellite Click Mini which is an 11” netbook-style detachable. Toshiba also released the Portégé Z20t which is a 12.5” 2-in-1 detachable pitched at the business user and is driven by the Intel Core M technology.

They are still pushing on with smartphones with Acer fielding the Liquid Z410 Android low-cost unit with 4.5” screen. Yezz is even pitching to the Windows Phone platform with the Billy S5 LTE model. The old dogs of consumer photography are vying for each other’s existence in the digital world through Kodak and Polaroid offering Android smartphones with Polaroid’s phone, a badge-engineered Oppo N1, known as the “Selfie” to court the selfie-taking craze. As well, ASUS have released the ZenFone Zoom which is the first smartphone to implement optical zoom in their rear camera. This Android phone also implements a 13-megapixel sensor and optical stabilisation on that camera.

LG G-Flex 2 curved smartphone – to snap at Apple’s and Samsung’s heels

But the steal of the show is the LG G Flex 2 which is the first curved smartphone to get some real market traction. This sexy number implements a 5.5” Full HD OLED screen and is more durable than most flat phones. It is equipped with Gorilla Glass and a self-healing case that keeps looking anew. But it uses Snapdragon 810 64-bit horespower with 2Gb RAM and 32Gb storage infinitely expandable by microSD cards. The camera implements laser-assisted auto focus and it runs Android 5 Lollipop. But do I see it knock Apple, HTC and Samsung off their perches when it comes to premium smartphones – if it becomes the next thing in cool.

In the next post, I will be looking at the trends for wearable technology and the Internet Of Everything