Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon review: An executive machine, with an executive price tag
National Post Tech Desk - Wed, 05/13/2015 - 12:30
For a mobile executive, choosing a laptop is often a tradeoff. Is the priority thin and light, or big and powerful?
With the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015), the choice becomes irrelevant – the X1 Carbon is both.
Before we go on, let’s just clarify the unusual naming. The X1 Carbon (2015) is the third iteration of Lenovo’s premium executive Ultrabook. Rather than change the model name, the company opted to simply append the year. It can be a bit confusing – when people refer to the X1 Carbon, it could be any of the three models. Here, unless otherwise specified, we’re talking about the new 2015 version.
Like its predecessors, the X1 Carbon qualifies as an Ultrabook, tipping the scales at just under 3 lb. and measuring 0.7-inches thick. Our review model was loaded, with i7 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD. It boasted the top-end 14-inch WQHD touchscreen display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, a mixed blessing as you will see.
The port collection was generous for a modern Ultrabook: 2 USB 3.0 ports (one always powered, a boon for topping up your phone without having to boot the computer), an HDMI port, a mini DisplayPort, audio jack, a Lenovo OneLink docking connector, and an Ethernet extension port (dongle required – the machine is too skinny for a standard RJ-45 port). There is, however, no removable storage, unlike many newer machines that include a microSD or SD card slot.
Lenovo has corrected some of the things that users complained bitterly about in the last model, or rather, it put them back the way they were before they were “improved” into oblivion. Back are the dull old function keys, after a not-too-successful attempt to replace them with adaptive keys last year. Back, too, are the dedicated buttons for the trackstick. The result performs much more as one would expect from a ThinkPad.
RelatedBecause the 14-inch screen needs a good-sized footprint, Lenovo was able to include a full-sized, backlit keyboard, with well-spaced keys that accommodate the beefiest fingers. If anything, they were a bit too spaced out for someone used to typing on a smaller laptop. I found the touch comfortable, and the layout was as expected; there was no need to put keys in strange places to fit them in.
The trackpad is large enough, at 3.2 x 2.2 inches, to easily support Windows 8.x gestures such as the swipe in to display the Charms bar. It was responsive, yet not too touchy. The “buttons” are merely areas at the bottom of the touchpad, though, and sometimes they didn’t delineate between left and right click well. The trackstick, as mentioned, has its own set of buttons above the touchpad.
The WQHD screen is lovely, but it comes with a price. Well, actually, several prices. One, it costs quite a bit extra ($350). Two, it is hungrier for power, so the battery doesn’t last as long as it would with a lesser display. And thirdly, some software hasn’t kept up with hardware advances. It can’t cope with the high DPI. That could cause teeny-tiny characters, or humongous ones – either way, very ugly, and sometimes unusable. Microsoft is building high DPI support into Windows 10, which may help, but software developers have to get their collective acts together too and make sure their products accommodate the new high-resolution screens.
That said, the colours were good, the display crisp, and there was plenty of screen real estate for those pesky spreadsheets.
Connectivity-wise, we get 802.11ac, plus Bluetooth 4.0. Plug in the Ethernet dongle for hard-wired networking.
With the kind of hardware specs in the review machine, I’d have been surprised if it hadn’t performed well. The executive on the go has nothing to worry about on that front. This could easily be someone’s primary machine.
It’s tough, too. Despite its sleek profile, Lenovo says it passes eight MIL-Spec tests (MIL-STD 810G) for everything from extreme temperatures to humidity, sand and shock. It’s not a computer that needs fussing over.
Security administrators will like it too, for its fingerprint reader and TPM chip. With the $50 upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro comes downgrade rights to Windows 7 Pro, still the OS of choice for many enterprises.
Battery life for the X1 Carbon is rated at up to 10.9 hours. That’s not bad for a thin-and-light machine, though I wish it were longer, especially since the battery can’t be swapped out for a fresh one. I managed to make it through 8 hours before the system shut itself down at 5 per cent capacity.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015) is an executive machine, with an executive price tag. It starts at $1,529, for an i5 processor, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, and standard 1920 x 1080 non-touch screen. As configured, our review machine’s web list price is $3,209. Add in the optional mobile broadband, and the price goes up by another $250.The base warranty is 1 year depot or carry in, although Lenovo offers up to 5 years onsite warranty for an extra fee.
But if your budget can stand the strain, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015) would look good in any executive’s computer bag.
