Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review

The ThinkPad line of notebooks from IBM (now owned by Lenovo) has been one of the most reliable and sought out ones out there.Of late, we’ve seen the Ultrabooks movement picking up pace and Lenovo has already launched the ThinkPad X1 Carbon notebook that brings the ThinkPad build to the Ultrabooks. 

Video Review

Lenovo X1 Carbon

Features

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is powered by an Intel Core i5 3427U processor that runs at a speed of 1.8GHz, with Turbo Boost taking it to a speed of 2.8 GHz. There’s 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 256GB Sandisk SSD onboard. Graphics processing is taken care of by the Intel HD4000, which is sufficient for basic game titles but nothing more. The screen supports a resolution of 1600 x 900, a tad lower than full-resolution displays. 

A very thin and slim notebook that's easy to carry around

The power connector is one of the weird things about the X1 Carbon. It’s powered through a rather unconventional connector, something that looks like a USB port. When it comes to connectivity options, there are only two USB ports, one on either side. There is no HDMI or D-Sub port on the X1, but there is a mini-DisplayPort output. We would’ve appreciated more USB ports, considering that the X1 Carbon doesn’t come with any optical drive on it.

Some of the other extras include the wireless network toggle switch on the left side and the fingerprint scanner on the right. There are also dedicated buttons for the volume and muting the microphone. 

There are some unique things too, such as the RapidCharge feature, which does charge very quickly indeed. 

Design and build quality

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is built to be like a tank, like most other ThinkPads are. This one’s thin, slim and weighs around 1.36kg, so it’s really light and easy to carry around just like a netbook. The laptop has a matte finish to it, sort of like the rubberised treatment that you find on some gaming mice. While it provides a better grip, scratches from sharp objects are very clearly noticeable. A smoother finish of the same material is used on the insides.

The vent on the side that helps cool the X1

The hinge doesn’t seem too strong, and there’s some wobbling noticeable when you push down on it. Unlike some sturdy laptops from the ThinkPad series and the Latitude series from Dell, it can’t hold the weight of the laptop on the hinge either.