Print Screen Lenovo X1
Now in its 5th generation, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon continues to be Lenovo’s elite Ultrabook offering. This notebook manages to fit a 14-inch screen into a sleek chassis that’s just 0.6 inches thin, and weighs only 2.5 pounds. Almost every aspect of this notebook proved to be first-rate in our testing, from its keyboard and touch pad/track point setup, to its IPS display, and even good port selection. It produced some of the best battery life we’ve seen to date, as well. Starting at $1,329, it’s certainly not an inexpensive purchase, but we can say for the money that you’re getting the very best of just about everything with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. ThinkPad X1 Carbon Build and DesignThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon looks like you’d expect any ThinkPad to look.
The all-black exterior and straight, squared-off looks are aimed a corporate business environment, but there’s nothing that says you couldn’t (or wouldn’t) want to use this sleek machine in and around the home, as well. If nothing else, we can say the ThinkPad design has withstood the test of time better than any other notebook design. Lenovo says it plans to offer a silver version of this notebook at some point, though it wasn’t yet available when we wrote this review. The 12.7×8.5-inch chassis is around the size we would typically expect a notebook to be if it housed a 12.5-inch diagonal display. Instead, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a 14-inch display, thanks to its very narrow display bezel. This gives the notebook an ultra-modern look.The ThinkPad’s 0.6-inch tall chassis ranks as one of the thinnest on the market.
In every dimension, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is smaller than the competing series that we recently reviewed. The Lenovo is also about a half-pound lighter, at only 2.5 pounds. It feels incredibly lightweight in the hand, to the point where you aren’t sure whether it’s an actual notebook computer, or just a hollowed-out display dummy unit.
The black exterior panels have a soft-touch feel, though they aren’t rubbery. Despite its thinness, the chassis of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is thin and resistant to flex. The use of layered carbon fiber and a magnesium alloy roll cage inside the chassis are partially responsible for the unit’s overall strength. The lid is especially rigid.
You can open the lid one-handed, provided you do it slowly.Getting to the internals of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon requires the removal five Phillips-head screws in the base of the chassis. The sealed battery is visible under here, as is the single cooling fan. The user-upgradeable components are limited to the M.2 slots. The M.2 Type-2280 (80mm) solid-state-drive (SSD) can be removed and replaced easily enough. (Take a look at our.) The wireless card can also be replaced. One of the M.2 slots in our review unit was unpopulated; that’s where the WWAN card would go, if opted for.
Note we didn’t mention the system memory as being upgradeable, because it’s not. The RAM in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is soldered to the motherboard, and therefore not user-changeable.ThinkPad X1 Carbon Input and Output PortsThe new ThinkPad X1 Carbon is well-stocked with ports for a notebook this thin.The left edge holds not one, but two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3.
It’s convenient that the power adapter for this notebook can be connected to either port. You also have a USB Type-A 3.0 port, HDMI video-out, an an Ethernet adapter plug on the left side.
Note this is real Ethernet, not merely a USB adapter. The Ethernet adapter will be included with production models. (It wasn’t in the box of our review unit.)The right edge holds the headset jack, thermal exhaust vent, the last USB Type-A 3.0 port, and the Kensington-style locking slot.You’ll have to look closely, but on the rear of the notebook, you can find a MicroSIM card. To remove its dust cover, you’ll need a pin or other pointy object. This is only active if you opt for the WWAN module.Note that the Thunderbolt 3 ports are capable of powering up to dual 4K monitors. You’ll likely need to invest in a USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 adapter cable to make this possible, as most external displays don’t have USB Type-C connectors as of yet.
Take a look at our primer on.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon stacks up well relative to the bulkier Dell Latitude 14 7000 (7480) series when it comes to port selection. All that’s really missing on the ThinkPad by comparison is an SD card reader and a SmartCard slot.If you need more ports, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is compatible with Lenovo’s ThinkPad USB 3.0 docking stations. The ThinkPad USB 3.0 Ultra Dock provides six USB Type-A ports, Ethernet, and can connect up to two external monitors. It went for $169 as we were writing this review.
You could theoretically hook the ThinkPad X1 Carbon into a generic USB Type-C dock, though we didn’t have any on hand to test. ThinkPad X1 Carbon Screen and SpeakersLenovo will eventually offer a choice of two display panels on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
At the time of writing, only the base FHD/1080p display was available, which was how our review unit was equipped. Availability for a WQHD/1440p screen is slated for June 2017.The FHD display on our review unit was quite pleasant to look at. Lenovo rates it for 300 nits of brightness. We ended up using the display at 70 to 80 percent brightness in darker rooms, otherwise it was simply too bright. (That’s not a complaint, mind you – the brightness is, of course, adjustable.) The display’s anti-glare surface was helpful for reducing reflections.We found the picture quality to be excellent. There was plenty of contrast, and the colors were vivid and lively.
The IPS display panel technology allowed for wide viewing angles, as well. The FHD (1,920×1,080) resolution is about as high as we’d go on a 14-inch display; we were just comfortable using it with Windows text scaling set to 125 percent. The soon-to-be-available 1440p display will definitely require the use of scaling, we imagine set to 150 percent or greater. Just make sure your programs and apps support Windows scaling before going for the higher resolution, as you’ll otherwise be making frequent use of the Windows magnifier tool.This ThinkPad’s two speakers are under the front of the palm rest, projecting downward. They provide just a hint of bass, and overall struggle to sound loud enough. However, they get the job done. We thought the speakers in the Dell Latitude 14 7000 (7480) series sounded louder and fuller.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Keyboard and TouchpadThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a fantastic-feeling keyboard. Each of the Chiclet-style keys has a soft but precise up-and-down motion. The keys travel a reasonable distance in the process, translating to good feedback for your fingers. The keypresses are quiet, and there’s no flex in the keyboard deck.The layout is nicely managed for a 14-inch notebook. Dedicated Home and End keys are at the upper right. The Page up and Page down keys next to the up-arrow key take a bit of getting used to; we found ourselves accidentally hitting one of them, on occasion, when we really intended to press the up-arrow key.
There’s a raised lip on the down-arrow key to help you get your bearings by feel.Function Lock (FnLk) continues to be a feature we admire on ThinkPad keyboards like this one. The Fn + Escape key combo enables or disables FnLk. When active, indicated by the green LED in the Escape key, The F1-F12 function-row keys are primary; when inactive, the other printed functions on the F1-F12 keys are primary. The secondary keys can naturally always be accessed by using the Fn key in conjunction. We liked the fact that the F1 key had an orange LED to indicate whether the volume was muted, as did the F4 key to indicate whether the microphone was enabled.To go along with the microphone, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon includes a 720p/30fps webcam, centered just above the display. We thought the camera had good quality, even though its resolution was on the low side.The buttonless touch pad on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is another part that is done very well.
The pad’s surface has a luxurious feel, encouraging you to use it. The clicking action, accomplished by pressing down anywhere on the pad, is quiet and direct. The presses do require more force at the top of the pad, but that was not where we pressed down most of the time. To right-click, press down at the lower right quarter of the pad.
Print Screen Lenovo X250
Further right of the pad, you’ll find the biometric fingerprint reader.The UltraNav setup is completed by the presence of the red eraser-head pointing stick in the center of the keyboard. It hands-down continues to be the best one we’ve found. The tactile surface and sloped edges of the pointing stick give it a natural feel. Its trio of buttons are within each reach of your thumbs.
The buttons require just the right amount of pressure, and make hardly any noise. ThinkPad X1 Carbon PerformanceThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon has standard specifications for a thin-and-light notebook, more commonly marketed as an Ultrabook.
The latest Intel 7th generation/”Kaby Lake” processors are offered in this model, specifically the 15-watt Core i5 and Core i7 chips. Our review unit had the 2.6GHz Core i5-7300U, a step up from the standard 2.5GHz Core i5-7200U. It can dynamically increase its clockspeed to a maximum of 3.5GHz in Turbo Boost mode.
The major difference with the Core i5-7300U over the Core i5-7200U is that it offers Intel vPro remote management support. Unless that feature is important to you, you’re better off saving the $100 upgrade cost and sticking with the Core i5-7200U.
There is little practical performance difference between the two processors.The sole choice for a graphics processor in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the integrated Intel HD 620 series. This is built directly into the Intel processor. It works well enough for tasks that don’t require demanding 3D performance; gaming and CAD work are generally out of the question.
As we noted earlier, you can use up to dual 4K displays with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The integrated graphics certainly aren’t a limitation there.It’s a mild disappointment that the system memory in this notebook isn’t user-upgradeable, being soldered to the motherboard. Lenovo offers 8GB and 16GB configurations. The latter is a sky-high $290 upgrade, and is only available once you step up to the Core i5-7300U processor or better. The 8GB of RAM in our review unit was plenty for most usage.Storage is limited to a single drive in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. As we wrote this, up to 1TB of storage was offered.
The 256GB drive in our review unit was a fast PCI Express model with NVMe support. It was steeply priced at $340 extra over the standard 128GB SATA III drive.Overall, the loadout of our review unit was balanced enough for most office-type workloads. It was also capable of more demanding tasks, such as light photo editing.
Now in its 5th generation, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon continues to be Lenovo’s elite Ultrabook offering. This notebook manages to fit a 14-inch screen into a sleek chassis that’s just 0.6 inches thin, and weighs only 2.5 pounds. Almost every aspect of this notebook proved to be first-rate in our testing, from its keyboard and touch pad/track point setup, to its IPS display, and even good port selection. It produced some of the best battery life we’ve seen to date, as well. Starting at $1,329, it’s certainly not an inexpensive purchase, but we can say for the money that you’re getting the very best of just about everything with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. ThinkPad X1 Carbon Build and DesignThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon looks like you’d expect any ThinkPad to look. The all-black exterior and straight, squared-off looks are aimed a corporate business environment, but there’s nothing that says you couldn’t (or wouldn’t) want to use this sleek machine in and around the home, as well.
If nothing else, we can say the ThinkPad design has withstood the test of time better than any other notebook design. Lenovo says it plans to offer a silver version of this notebook at some point, though it wasn’t yet available when we wrote this review. The 12.7×8.5-inch chassis is around the size we would typically expect a notebook to be if it housed a 12.5-inch diagonal display. Instead, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a 14-inch display, thanks to its very narrow display bezel. This gives the notebook an ultra-modern look.The ThinkPad’s 0.6-inch tall chassis ranks as one of the thinnest on the market. In every dimension, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is smaller than the competing series that we recently reviewed.
The Lenovo is also about a half-pound lighter, at only 2.5 pounds. It feels incredibly lightweight in the hand, to the point where you aren’t sure whether it’s an actual notebook computer, or just a hollowed-out display dummy unit. The black exterior panels have a soft-touch feel, though they aren’t rubbery. Despite its thinness, the chassis of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is thin and resistant to flex.
The use of layered carbon fiber and a magnesium alloy roll cage inside the chassis are partially responsible for the unit’s overall strength. The lid is especially rigid. You can open the lid one-handed, provided you do it slowly.Getting to the internals of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon requires the removal five Phillips-head screws in the base of the chassis.
The sealed battery is visible under here, as is the single cooling fan. The user-upgradeable components are limited to the M.2 slots.
The M.2 Type-2280 (80mm) solid-state-drive (SSD) can be removed and replaced easily enough. (Take a look at our.) The wireless card can also be replaced.
One of the M.2 slots in our review unit was unpopulated; that’s where the WWAN card would go, if opted for. Note we didn’t mention the system memory as being upgradeable, because it’s not. The RAM in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is soldered to the motherboard, and therefore not user-changeable.ThinkPad X1 Carbon Input and Output PortsThe new ThinkPad X1 Carbon is well-stocked with ports for a notebook this thin.The left edge holds not one, but two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3. It’s convenient that the power adapter for this notebook can be connected to either port. You also have a USB Type-A 3.0 port, HDMI video-out, an an Ethernet adapter plug on the left side. Note this is real Ethernet, not merely a USB adapter.
The Ethernet adapter will be included with production models. (It wasn’t in the box of our review unit.)The right edge holds the headset jack, thermal exhaust vent, the last USB Type-A 3.0 port, and the Kensington-style locking slot.You’ll have to look closely, but on the rear of the notebook, you can find a MicroSIM card. To remove its dust cover, you’ll need a pin or other pointy object. This is only active if you opt for the WWAN module.Note that the Thunderbolt 3 ports are capable of powering up to dual 4K monitors. You’ll likely need to invest in a USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 adapter cable to make this possible, as most external displays don’t have USB Type-C connectors as of yet. Take a look at our primer on.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon stacks up well relative to the bulkier Dell Latitude 14 7000 (7480) series when it comes to port selection.
All that’s really missing on the ThinkPad by comparison is an SD card reader and a SmartCard slot.If you need more ports, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is compatible with Lenovo’s ThinkPad USB 3.0 docking stations. The ThinkPad USB 3.0 Ultra Dock provides six USB Type-A ports, Ethernet, and can connect up to two external monitors. It went for $169 as we were writing this review. You could theoretically hook the ThinkPad X1 Carbon into a generic USB Type-C dock, though we didn’t have any on hand to test.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Screen and SpeakersLenovo will eventually offer a choice of two display panels on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. At the time of writing, only the base FHD/1080p display was available, which was how our review unit was equipped. Availability for a WQHD/1440p screen is slated for June 2017.The FHD display on our review unit was quite pleasant to look at.
Lenovo rates it for 300 nits of brightness. We ended up using the display at 70 to 80 percent brightness in darker rooms, otherwise it was simply too bright. (That’s not a complaint, mind you – the brightness is, of course, adjustable.) The display’s anti-glare surface was helpful for reducing reflections.We found the picture quality to be excellent. There was plenty of contrast, and the colors were vivid and lively. The IPS display panel technology allowed for wide viewing angles, as well.
The FHD (1,920×1,080) resolution is about as high as we’d go on a 14-inch display; we were just comfortable using it with Windows text scaling set to 125 percent. The soon-to-be-available 1440p display will definitely require the use of scaling, we imagine set to 150 percent or greater. Just make sure your programs and apps support Windows scaling before going for the higher resolution, as you’ll otherwise be making frequent use of the Windows magnifier tool.This ThinkPad’s two speakers are under the front of the palm rest, projecting downward. They provide just a hint of bass, and overall struggle to sound loud enough. However, they get the job done. We thought the speakers in the Dell Latitude 14 7000 (7480) series sounded louder and fuller. ThinkPad X1 Carbon Keyboard and TouchpadThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a fantastic-feeling keyboard.
Each of the Chiclet-style keys has a soft but precise up-and-down motion. The keys travel a reasonable distance in the process, translating to good feedback for your fingers. The keypresses are quiet, and there’s no flex in the keyboard deck.The layout is nicely managed for a 14-inch notebook. Dedicated Home and End keys are at the upper right. The Page up and Page down keys next to the up-arrow key take a bit of getting used to; we found ourselves accidentally hitting one of them, on occasion, when we really intended to press the up-arrow key. There’s a raised lip on the down-arrow key to help you get your bearings by feel.Function Lock (FnLk) continues to be a feature we admire on ThinkPad keyboards like this one. The Fn + Escape key combo enables or disables FnLk.
Computer Type: PC/DesktopSystem Manufacturer/Model Number: 2-Custom Computers, ASUS Desktop, Dell Inspiron 580 Desktop + Dell Inspiron 15R Notebooks 2 + moreOS: Win10 Home and Pro, Win10 Insider Preview, WinXP Home Premium, Linux MintCPU: AMD and IntelMotherboard: ASUS, GigaByte, othersMemory: 16GB in ASUS, max. 4GB or 8GB in all othersGraphics Card: AMD ATI Radeon or Onboard, ASUS with nVidia GT-710Sound Card: OnboardMonitor(s) Displays: HP 21.5' Touchscreen, ASUS 27' 4-inputScreen Resolution: Usually 1440x900Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse, Wireless and Bluetooth mice with NotebooksHard Drives: Various internal HDDs and USB HDDs plus 2 x 2TB NAS drives connected to Router.Internet Speed: 5MbpsBrowser: Internet Explorer 11, Firefox and SeaMonkey, Edge when absolutely necessaryAntivirus: Windows DefenderOther Info: Also running Linux Mint on a Desktop and a Notebook. Windows 10 close laptop lid external monitor.
Thinkpad Print Screen Keyboard Command
When active, indicated by the green LED in the Escape key, The F1-F12 function-row keys are primary; when inactive, the other printed functions on the F1-F12 keys are primary. The secondary keys can naturally always be accessed by using the Fn key in conjunction. We liked the fact that the F1 key had an orange LED to indicate whether the volume was muted, as did the F4 key to indicate whether the microphone was enabled.To go along with the microphone, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon includes a 720p/30fps webcam, centered just above the display.
We thought the camera had good quality, even though its resolution was on the low side.The buttonless touch pad on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is another part that is done very well. The pad’s surface has a luxurious feel, encouraging you to use it. The clicking action, accomplished by pressing down anywhere on the pad, is quiet and direct. The presses do require more force at the top of the pad, but that was not where we pressed down most of the time. To right-click, press down at the lower right quarter of the pad.
Further right of the pad, you’ll find the biometric fingerprint reader.The UltraNav setup is completed by the presence of the red eraser-head pointing stick in the center of the keyboard. It hands-down continues to be the best one we’ve found.
The tactile surface and sloped edges of the pointing stick give it a natural feel. Its trio of buttons are within each reach of your thumbs. The buttons require just the right amount of pressure, and make hardly any noise. ThinkPad X1 Carbon PerformanceThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon has standard specifications for a thin-and-light notebook, more commonly marketed as an Ultrabook. The latest Intel 7th generation/”Kaby Lake” processors are offered in this model, specifically the 15-watt Core i5 and Core i7 chips.
Our review unit had the 2.6GHz Core i5-7300U, a step up from the standard 2.5GHz Core i5-7200U. It can dynamically increase its clockspeed to a maximum of 3.5GHz in Turbo Boost mode. The major difference with the Core i5-7300U over the Core i5-7200U is that it offers Intel vPro remote management support. Unless that feature is important to you, you’re better off saving the $100 upgrade cost and sticking with the Core i5-7200U. There is little practical performance difference between the two processors.The sole choice for a graphics processor in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the integrated Intel HD 620 series. This is built directly into the Intel processor. It works well enough for tasks that don’t require demanding 3D performance; gaming and CAD work are generally out of the question.
As we noted earlier, you can use up to dual 4K displays with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The integrated graphics certainly aren’t a limitation there.It’s a mild disappointment that the system memory in this notebook isn’t user-upgradeable, being soldered to the motherboard. Lenovo offers 8GB and 16GB configurations. The latter is a sky-high $290 upgrade, and is only available once you step up to the Core i5-7300U processor or better.
The 8GB of RAM in our review unit was plenty for most usage.Storage is limited to a single drive in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. As we wrote this, up to 1TB of storage was offered. The 256GB drive in our review unit was a fast PCI Express model with NVMe support.
It was steeply priced at $340 extra over the standard 128GB SATA III drive.Overall, the loadout of our review unit was balanced enough for most office-type workloads. It was also capable of more demanding tasks, such as light photo editing.