WOW

Not that I looked so close into the shots and tried to identify stickers, the list you provide is awesome.

Thanks for the detailed response. That'll drive me to have a second look next time, so much to miss during the wait until the release.

cheers
Hecke

A lot of it is assumptions based on previous experience with pre-release hardware. Living in the RTP means that there are a *ton* of used computer sales, and I've found quite a few interesting pieces on Craigslist, often from sellers who had no idea that they had anything out of the ordinary. I've also seen a few where the seller seemed to know it was prototype hardware and were trying to pass it off as retail kit. Those are also interesting sales, but for other reasons.

The price doesn't look very competitive

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/02/leno ... hong-kong/

Think I will pass on X1 carbon. Quite happy with macbook air. Miss the black and selectric keyboard from X300 but MBA will do fine.

Look on the bright side, maybe the rounded profile will reduce coating wear on the corners.

does the X1 carbon still have the disk activity indicator?

Yes.

It's on the base though, not on the lid. See this picture:
http://cdn.gstylemag.com/wp-content/upl ... ard_06.jpg

Interestingly, ThinkPads from late '90 had LEDs on the base as well. A tribute because of the anniversary?

As a side note, I feel that I need the disk activity LED much less since moving to an SSD on my machine. Still, I'm glad they didn't remove it.

Product page is online now:
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/lapto ... x1-carbon/

Including Tech Specs PDF:
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/lapto ... asheet.pdf

• 300 nit "wide viewing" panel (anti-glare coating optional?)
• CPU from i5-3317U (1.7 GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) to i7-3667U (2.0 GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz FSB)
• up to 8 GB RAM
• discreet GPU: NVIDIA N13P-GLP Optimus Graphics (2 GB VRAM, 128 bit) (most probably not true)
• 128 or 256 GB SSD
• 1.36 Kg (2.998 lbs)
• Up to 6.3 hours battery life
• Win 7 Pro or Home Premium

Coming late August 2012.

Mobile Access Technology

This seems to be a misinformation. X1 Carbon won´t come with a discrete GPU.

Looking at the keyboard....I'm out. Biggest reason I'm drawn toward the Thinkpad is the keyboard. For me nothing else really matters after that because everything else can be bought/found elsewhere.

simply said there are 2 led indicator on the base, none on the lid bezel,
but the new keyboard puts me off too (new layout and chicklet is bad for me)

Does anyone know a good reason why the 180 degree opening angle is used as a marketing argument?

Yeah, they probably screwed up when cut'n'pasting.

ah! thanks for posting the link, it still is there! i've been looking for it on the pictures in the review sites.

actually, it's the opposite for me, since SSDs dont whirl like a traditional HDD, i would like to be able to see if there are any activities happening with the system

Maybe because there is no other Ultrabook out there with this opening angle and because it is the first notebook with drop-down hinges and 180 degree opening angle ever.

yes good, but what could it be good for?

it has no touchscreen, for that one would want to lay the screen flat on the table
nor has it good viewing angles(no IPS screen), so one could share photos around a table...

I have a notebook stand that puts the base of my X201 almost verticaly in order to rise the screen as high as possible (to improve ergonomy so I don't have to look down) and to save desk space. Wouldn't be possible if laptop wouldn't open 180 deg.

The Verge just published their review of the Carbon:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/13/32321 ... bon-review

Battery life is disappointing. WTF do they put bloatware like SimpleTap on it?

Let's see...apart from abysmal battery life, we have soldered RAM, no on-board LAN and a machine that runs hot under stress...

MacBook killer? I think not.

"Overpromise and underdeliver" comes to mind...

I really liked the Air when I had it earlier this year. I didn't care for the touch pad like everyone else, but the rest of it was very good. I'm just not enamored with ultrabooks in general. They make too many compromises to get thin like batteries locked inside the case and no upgrades. I'd much rather rather have the X220/X230. It's much more well-rounded versatile machine, though not as thin. I'll reserve judgement on the X1 until I get it, which should be later this week.

What I like about Carbon is this 14" screen in 13" frame thing. Keyboard issues aside, screen size bothers me the most in X230. A 13" 1600x900 in there would've been perfect.

This may be a beating a dead horse, but Lenovo should have kept 16:10 instead of 16:9 for LCD aspect ratios. Not the most compelling reason but Apple has wisely kept most of notebooks at 16:10. It doesn't take a genius to realize that most of notebook users don't watch movies all day long.

Why not 16:12? Would be even better.

>........ so got new new " thinkpad" ............
havent played much .. but first IMPRESSIONS::

Part number: 3443CTO
Intel Core i7-3667U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz)
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
• 14.0" Premium HD+ (1600x900) LED Backlit Display, 720p HD Camera, Mobile Broadband Enabled
• Intel HD 4000 Graphics in Intel Core i7-3667U Processor with 4GB 1333MHz DDR3L On Board
• 4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3L SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
• TrackPoint with Fingerprint Reader and Clickpad - Type US
• 256 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA3
• Battery
• Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205S (2x2 AGN)
• Integrated Mobile Broadband (Ericsson H5321)

ThinkPad 14W Sleeve Case



General :
a) looks slick << thoughts of what crazies is hidden inside> ....
Am so used to having thinkpads -non smooth non shinny non 'fancy' non gimmic'y ...... this thing makes me feel
like a DUMBED UP APPLE MAC AIR......> and I love MAC AIR ! pure new space creator! ( that what msot older
thinkpad used to be at ONE TIME !!!
b) Boot-up seems SLOWER than my x230 (even after doing those Lenovo startup tweeks - rapid start in my view is
smokes and mirrors)
c) comes with Win7x64 standard = so great to setup LinUX/OSX (we do our OWN Win7Entx64+ Linux+OSX on most thinkpads) at moment its 'as shipped' so nothing done to it apart from initial bootup !
d) Display seems 'weird' ... (on word, Photoshop image display etc) maybe its intel4000 setups..... etc etc

Pro:
- slick , think and nice looking !
- decent sizze SSD offering at last!
- win7x64 comes standard = so GREAT platform to do upgrades to get most off this laptop
- NOT SHINNEY surface like some 'edge' models >phew !

CONS:
- no Discrete video models yet ( intel video is ok for most NORMAL work @ business)
- HOrrid BIOS seems to have been ported from previous EDGE models (which dont let u login from boot fingure swipe)
- NO IPS display panel ( now there is a dream !!)
- NOT even close to MAC AIR on 'sleep/wakeup' times that LENOVO boasted about ... this laptop currently behaves
like any THINKPAD = takes ages to wake up from sleep and or hyber... grrr .
- feeling 'time waisted' ........not even as light as some of those previous Lenovo tou'ted weights just feels heavier...

Summary :
- waite for discrete graphics models ( if there is to be any) .....
- good 'start' towards a cheaper MAC AIR copy !
- oh yeah - how can I FORGET (( terrible keyboard!!! ))

Cheers ...
<ps dont shoot the messanger>

The SSD in that thing doesn't seem to be state of the art. Slow 4K reads make the bootup take long.


What do you mean by "weird"? Engadget review said that you can actually see the black space between pixels. Is that it? Or were you just expecting IPS quality?

Also, with the keyboard, are you solely referring to the layout or does it feel bad? Supposedly they had to shorten the travel so it might not feel as good as the x30 line keyboard.

Agreed. While I think ultrabooks are great for the consumer market, I suspect many professional users would want to have onboard LAN, onboard VGA output, and better keyboards. Among ultraportable laptops that have all these features, the best is the Sony Z Series and I wish more manufacturers would try to compete with it rather than with the MacBook Air. Unfortunately, at present the only business-class ultraportables that are nearly as good as the Sony Z are Panasonic's NX and SX series. All the three major business-class laptop makers (HP, Dell and Lenovo) have had very disappointing ultraportable offerings in the past couple years -- their last great ultraportables were the EliteBook 2530p, the Latitude E4200, and the X201s, respectively.

Are you sure that's not a software issue?

Because most modern ThinkPads I've used (with the notable exception of the 600X with its... erm... "interesting" suspend behaviors) has entered/woken from suspend far faster than any of the MacBooks I used to own...

Does anyone know if Microsoft Stores sell Thinkpads?
New one opening TODAY here in Orlando.
Might be a reason to go and check it out.
Thx.
Frank

Microsoft Store's online site has only two Thinkpads, both of them old: T410 and X1 (*not* the X1 Carbon).

I will wait for IPS display and 4g connectivity, that will work for me.

I hear battery life is not that great ?