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ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2018 review: The only laptop in a professional’s paradise
- otalp 9y agoThinkpads are great, I just wish they'd update the design to make it look less 2006ish. Also a bigger trackpad with responsiveness that can compete with the macs. It's been so many years, I don't know why other manufacturers trackpads haven't caught up with Apple's trackpads. Even the XPS one is Meh. I think the surface book comes closest.
- willtim 9y agoThey have been making the trackpad bigger. But the Apple MacBook trackpads keep getting bigger also, perhaps because a trackpad can never be big enough? Rather than try to copy Apple, I would rather they keep the design as-is.
- otalp 9y agoI meant the feel and responsiveness of the trackpad rather than size.
- bigdubs 9y agoAlmost all of Apple's "responsiveness" advantage is from careful software tuning. You could get a windows trackpad to feel as good as Apple's if you tuned the acceleration curves and added better palm detection.
- taylorexpander 9y agoSo why isn’t it done? I think it’s not controversial to say that the trackpads (or “trackpad experience”) on MB*s are just plain superior than anything Windows has access to.
- dingo_bat 9y agoYou should use one of the newer machines with the precision trackpads. They are pretty good, and keep getting better with windows updates.
- bigdubs 9y agoA lot of it is priority; the trackpad working well is a low priority for most manufacturers in the face of other things like better looking benchmarks etc. That attitude, the holistic view of the experience, is what people are willing to pay more for with Apple, that not everyone values.
- tobltobs 9y agoIt doesn't look 2006ish, it looks like straight from the 1990s and I love that. And the first thing I do on a Thinkpad is disabling the trackpad.
- tscs37 9y agoI quite like the Thinkpad look. The design is somewhat iconic and it does put function over form (my T450 has a battery butt on the underside, it's ugly as heck but I can work for 8 hours uninterrupted no problem)
- green7ea 9y agoI wish they made the trackpad smaller. They used to have (T420 and older) a smaller trackpad and a wonderful 7 row keyboard but they've since switched to a 6 row keyboard to have a bigger trackpad. That means I'm stuck on the T420s for the foreseeable future.
- setquk 9y agoI’ve got a T430. Had an X201 before that. It took a month to get used to it but I’ll be honest and say that I’m happy with it now. I dismantled it and wedged some paper under the trackpad though to stop it being pressed. That helps.
- BlackLotus89 9y agoI feel you. You can look at [0] to use a t430 with the old keyboard and hand rest. [0] http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Install_Classic_Keyboard_on_xx30_Series_ThinkPads http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Install_Classic_Keyboard_on_xx...
- pimeys 9y agoThinkPad doesn't need a trackpad, the trackpoint with three mouse buttons underneath are the perfect way of using the computer. No need to move your hands off from the keyboard. And please, never change the classic black and red design.
- mehrdadn 9y agoHow do you use that darn stick accurately and efficiently? :-) It's straight velocity control, there's no position control at all. How do people aim with that?
- lorenzhs 9y agoYou get the hang of it pretty quickly by just using it for a few days. I don’t even have a mouse on my desk at work (Desktop + ThinkPad external keyboard), my hands never have to leave the keyboard’s home row :)
- DocTomoe 9y agoAbout one day of training does the trick.
- noufalibrahim 9y agoI find it much more accurate than a trackpad. When I was younger, I actually played some games purely with it. Index finger to control the direction and thumb for the buttons. I have been using thinkpads almost exclusively since 2003 or so though.
- agumonkey 9y agoI never had any trouble when I discovered the trackpoint. Issues: - at least on pre 2010 thinkpads, the sensor may recalibrate weirdly once a week and the pointer will fight you for 2 seconds (annoying but rare enough so you don't smash the laptop) - Aiming is not very precise, but I'm a keyboard head, so the less movement my wrists do, the better... trackpads are hell for me, and I rarely need precise (by that I mean, photoshop or real time analog control precise) positioning. Also I find it way easier to drag and drop with a trackpoint, on a trackpad the frontier between single click, long press and drag, release is so thin.. I lost track(sic) of the amount of times I triggered false positives of every cases (who never dragged something while hovering or resting his thumb too close to the pad surface ?)
- common_ 9y agoAny experience on how well these things run Linux?
- throwaway84742 9y agoI have a 5th gen (previous) Thinkpad. Everything works out of the box. Don’t know how the latest fares, though. They’ve jacked up the price a lot. At that price point MBP becomes more attractive IMO.
- berkut 9y agoFull sleep state is currently a bit of an issue apparently: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/X1-Carbon-Gen-6-cannot-enter-deep-sleep-S3-state-aka-Suspend-to/td-p/3998182/page/3 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/X1-Carbon-Gen-... There are work-arounds by building IASL with a patch to restore S3 state.
- tynan 9y agoExtremely well. Everything works except for the fingerprint sensor.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- tscs37 9y agoDepends a bit. The cheaper variants usually not so well but Thinkpads in general have outstanding Linux support compared to most other laptops.
- zorkw4rg 9y agoexceptionally well, the only other comparable manufacturer would be Dell that offers some native Linux/Ubuntu machines. You can expect huge issues with all other vendors.
- secure 9y agoEverything up to the 2017 model is very well supported. A friend of mine has the 2018 model and spent some time getting the touchpad/trackpoint to work (did not work out of the box with Debian unstable). Also there seem to be issues with suspend to ram/disk. I’d recommend to wait a little while if you want a good out-of-the-box experience.
- penguinUzer 9y agoI wish they would drop the Trackpoint and the physical mouse buttons and make the touchpad bigger. I carry a usb trackball for that. My beater laptop that I carry everywhere is a Thinkpad 11e. I deal with the terrible screen so I can have the wonderful keyboard and trackpad. A faster cpu and a 1920x1200 IPS screen would make the little 11e my perfect laptop...
- willtim 9y agoYou'll have to take the trackpoint from my cold dead hands... I find it superior to a trackpad, as I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard.
- berkut 9y agoHa - I'd prefer the opposite! - get rid of the trackpad :)
- meuk 9y agoI love the trackpoint as well - when I'm on my own system I have configured hotkeys, a launcher, and qutebrowser, so I can do almost anything without needing a mouse. Unfortunately, the company I work at is a huge MS fan, and I've found it very hard to use a workflow that does not depend on fast and precise movements with the cursor - so I switched back to the mouse, unfortunately.
- 9y ago
- davidzweig 9y agoI had a T440s for a while. It had a very thin LCD cover, I don't think it would have liked being sat on, the screen would be crushed down onto the trackpoint. Didn't feel confident with it, went back to a X230, and still keep a rigid plate in my laptop sleeve on the screen side. Some of the older thinkpads had very robust screen covers (at least they looked that way), the T500 in particular, with some kind of honeycomb 'rollcage' in the screen. This machine might also have a funny SSD connector, that makes it difficult to upgrade. Maybe not. Wish they would make a machine with a 3:2 screen.
- tbronchain 9y agoI've been lurking at the X1 carbon for years, but now I'm finally considering getting one I can't decide between the T480s this year! On one side, the light weight and light size of the X1 is really appealing, on the other the larger ram, graphic chip and lower heat of the T480s makes it look like a wiser choice... At this price, it is a hard decision. I unfortunately can't get my hand on both machines before buying one in the part of the world I am in, did anyone had the chance to compare them both side by side? Is the difference of size/weight noticeable in hand? Another aspect is the display. The new 500nits HDR screen looks awesome, but I've been thinking a mate, 300nits display would be better for programming? I don't think I have seen a mate screen on a laptop for years... Is it really better for outdoor use? Would it make sense to privilege it, even being 200nits lower?
- willtim 9y agoThe X1 Carbon has low power LPDDR RAM which means it can sleep for a lot longer with minimal battery drain. This is a very useful feature for me, as my laptop is almost permanently sleeping.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rasz 9y agoWhy sleep when you have 2read 1write GB/s SSD in there? suspend is couple of seconds.
- steveklabnik 9y agoI previously had an X1 Carbon, but have been using a T460s for the past two years. This is exactly my situation as well. I still haven't decided yet. I've been quite happy with both.
- smoyer 9y agoI'm typing this on an X1 Carbon and have to say that if I was going to love a computer, this would be the one. Battery life, ruggedness, weight ... it's all just perfect (and I'm a firm believer in the adage that 90% is generally good enough).
- homero 9y agoHow's it still ddr3?
- qwerty456127 9y agoIs there a convertible "Yoga"-kind version available?
- windowsworkstoo 9y agoyes, the 3rd gen yoga is out...that said i got the 6th gen carbon and it’s brilliant
- nexxer 9y agoI have the 2017 X1 Carbon Yoga. As a laptop itself it's great, excellent keyboard and ergonomics, fast enough, good battery. What I didn't expect was to make so much use of its touch screen or "tent" form. It is very useful when collaborating on something with another person next to you, as it brings the screen closer. The only negative is the endless finger blotches all over the laptop's body. I feel I'm constantly cleaning it.
- qwerty456127 9y agoI am considering buying it. Thank you for sharing the experience! By the way, have you tried using a stylus to minimize the amount of finger fat you leave on the screen? Or are the blotches on the cover actually so visible?
- widerporst 9y agoYes, it's very similar to the X1 Carbon. There are small differences, such as the bezel size and the cooling. There are a few quirks that will hopefully be fixed with driver updates, but apart from that, I'm quite satisfied.
- zorkw4rg 9y agoI switched to a Razer Blade Stealth, its around 400€ cheaper with the same specs except a QHD+ display (glossy, touch, 3200x1800). I'm wondering why Thinkpad only offers their WQHD (highest available resolution, 2560x1440) glossy? Also still no 4K/QHD+ display, still no 32GB RAM support. I don't really see much of a advantage anymore, they only reason for me to stay with thinkpad would've been the keyboard that is just fantastic in comparison with _any_ other manufacturer. /edit clarified resolution/ fixed grammar
- lower 9y ago> I'm wondering why Thinkpad only offers their WQHD (highest available resolution, 2560x1440) glossy? I'm writing this on a T480s with a matte WQHD screen.
- make3 9y agoI can't imagine bringing a Razor Stealth to work
- lorenzhs 9y agoX1 Carbon uses LPDDR3 (as does the MacBook Pro), but the CPUs don’t support more than 16GB of it, so this is kinda Intel’s fault. LPDDR3 uses very little power in standby so both idle power usage and suspend time are improved. For non-LP RAM (DDR3/DDR4), the power consumption impact of going from 16 to 32 GB is definitely not negligible. It’s an upgrade that makes sense only for few people. Have you looked at the T480/T480s if you need the 32GB? If you have CPU intensive workloads, they may be a better fit anyway.
- Geordi7 9y agoIn the photo reel I see a laptop made by a Chinese company with a prominent "Back Door OPEN" on the screen. What are you trying to tell us Valentina Palladino?
- plouffy 9y agoI'm reticent to get a ThinkPad because of Lenovo and it's history of malware/bloatware.
- limeblack 9y agoTo my knowledge it has not affected the Thinkpad line.
- Erlich_Bachman 9y agoBut would you really trust the same company? This is the company that put their malware into the BIOS so that even if you reinstalled OS, the BIOS would go into your hard drive and reinstall itself.
- mixedCase 9y agoI would. The OEM bundle reinstall practice you mention is standard Windows functionality, not some scheme they came up with nor BIOS related. Most popular manufacturers use it, it's just that for the crapware funded models, the crapware is part of the OEM bundle. Even if scummy, I think the root kit thing was blown out of proportion. It was surely a slip up by people who don't care on a product line that's on a completely different league than the high end for home users, let alone the business line. Hanlon's razor clearly applies from where I see it.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- omgtehlion 9y agoDo anyone related to tech really use out-of-the box software? I'm always installing a Linux distro of my choice or a clean fresh windows image if i need it
- prolikewhoa 9y agoImmediately boot into my Linux distro of choice and wipe the MBR & Partion table with gdisk. OSX seems fine out of box.
- chvid 9y agoHonestly I would still buy the Macbook 15" over this. Regardless of only USB-C and silly touchbar. Better screen, better OS, better service ...
- mehrdadn 9y agoNot sure if the Carbon suffers from this, I've had awful Wi-Fi experience with ThinkPads (edit: same Wi-Fi module as in the Carbon). 5GHz connections just drop randomly and take a minute or two to be willing to reconnect. Pretty sure it's not the AP's problem since I've never had this problem with my USB Wi-Fi module connecting to the same network, only the built-in one. Anybody had a better experience (or know how to get a better experience)? I'm forever in shock at how they've let this happen without fixing it; it's extremely frustrating. EDIT 1: Judging from the quick upvotes I suspect I'm not alone... (but actually, this was obvious just from my earlier Googling). EDIT 2: Funny, I'm getting downvotes now :-) confused what the message is, but whatever floats your boat!
- lorenzhs 9y agoI have last year’s X1 Carbon and have had no issues with WiFi (using Debian unstable). Certainly no connection drops. Maybe it’s a bad combination of AP and WiFi module?
- igravious 9y agoQuestion. Is it possible to buy a Lenovo and not fork out for a copy of Windows if you're immediately going to install your preferred distro of Linux onto it?
- pimeys 9y agoIf you're a student in Germany, yes. other countries might have similar deals.
- lorenzhs 9y agoYeah, I bought mine without Windows. It’s a special SKU for edu users. Great discount vs regular price and no Windows included :)
- deepbreath 9y agoIn UK, they all ship with Windows it looks like. The only laptops I found that don't shove the cost of a license down your throat are the build-your-own ones, like pcspecialist.co.uk / novatech.co.uk / scan.co.uk / ebuyer.com etc. But you're not gonna get thin portable laptops by building your own. It's perplexing how we've let it come to a state where you can't buy a laptop device without Microsoft taking a cut for the license. And I'm still not over the way we let them have their OS logo on all keyboards, either.
- bitexploder 9y agoAn alternative: Dell 7520 line. Runs Linux nicely out of the box. * No camera or mic is an option (I took it) * No HiDPI display is an option (I took it) * 32 GB ram * 1TB very fast class of ssd * Legit quad core Xeon * Discrete GPU (decent) * Real keyboard * Charger is approximately size of an actual red brick (blah) * Laptop is bulky * I love it, best Linux and Laptop I have ever owned. Let's just leave it tied with my 2015 MacBook.
- prolikewhoa 9y agoXPS 13 also a fantastic choice for linux. Everything works out of the box.
- dijit 9y agoAs does the precision line. I have a 5520 and it's absolutely rock solid. I don't think Dell get enough credit for how compatible their systems are in the high end and what kind of build quality you get. In my opinion Dell stuff is the only thing on the market that could take over Thinkpads mantle as "Best laptops on the market".
- prolikewhoa 9y agoI agree. This is my Thinkpad killer. HiDPI screen is gorgeous, keyboard and touchpad are fine, battery life is 10-11 hours in Arch, all of my media keys work, build quality is phenomenal. I haven't been able to get tear free video working, but I haven't ventured past xf86-intel-video yet on this machine. Dell has really been impressing me. Their monitors are great and so are their laptops.
- dijit 9y agoTry to use vaapi decoders. mpv has some flags for this and you need some packages but thats how I got tear free video (and lower resource usage on video too)
- bitexploder 9y ago
- 4ad 9y agoNo 16:10 (or preferably even taller, like 4:3) screen, no buy. I really wish there was an alternative for the 16:10 mac I am using now, but there isn't anymore (apart from old ThinkPads, which I have many of[1]). I tried some Microsoft Surface stuff but they felt very flimsy. [1] https://lobste.rs/s/txuvvs/lenovo_new_linux_desktop_experience#c_ujt6hj https://lobste.rs/s/txuvvs/lenovo_new_linux_desktop_experien...
- masklinn 9y ago> I tried some Microsoft Surface stuff but they felt very flimsy. Even the Book? Flimsy is not a criticism I've ever heard about it.
- 4ad 9y agoYes, in my opinion it's flimsy and feels cheap, not as bad as some cheap Asus laptops, but worse even than a Dell Latitude, and the Dell is way worse than a Macbook or a ThinkPad. This is too bad, because the screen is excellent. My understanding though is that it runs Linux poorly, which makes all this moot.
- quanto 9y agoI am typing on an older X1 Carbon, and it truly is a pleasure to work with. The thinness of the chassis helps with ergonomics as you do not have to bend your wrist to place your hands on the keyboard. With the quality keys that ThinkPad is known for, I enjoy typing on this machine as much as I enjoy typing on Cherry/Outemu mechanical keyboards.
- unicornporn 9y agoI'm so sorry to see that they're still pushing the clamshell design. By that I mean that the lower portion of the laptop is thinner at the front. Extremely unflattering and no less than an attack on their design legacy. Looks like every other laptop out there. Visible here: https://i.imgur.com/1ddfJ1Y.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1ddfJ1Y.jpg (Writing this on X220.)
- RaleyField 9y agoMight be against terms but it pisses me the fuck off that Superfish[0] incident has been forgotten, by people that should know better. No, Ars Technica, it's not professionals' paradise as long as it's being produced by the same gangsters. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_inci...
- Teeer 9y agoIt costs $1500 - $2600, but it still has a basic integrated graphics card? The specs do not make this seem worth it...
- IdontRememberIt 9y agoWhy do you need a more powerfull graphic card? This laptop is not targetting video editing.
- kakwa_ 9y ago1) A dedicated GPU in a laptop, specially a thin one like the X1 Carbon, is a bit of a nightmare. It consums a lot energy, it needs a lot of heat dissipation, and it can even reduce the life span and robustness of the laptop. 2) The X1 carbon is not targeted at video games/video editing. It's targeted at usages like programming or word/excel editing. For these use cases, integrated GPUs are more than good enough. 3) Dedicated GPUs tends also to be a little bit of a nightmare, specially around managing drivers. This is particularly true under Linux. On one hand you have Intel GPUs with open sourced drivers directly in the main line kernel. On the other you have the Nvidia drivers, which are proprietary, requires DKMS and can stop supporting older models, and the ATI version is about the same. 4) if you really need a dedicated GPU, the W serie is for you (and maybe some T serie laptop as well).
- sundvor 9y agoGiven that the X1C'18 has a proper 4 PCIE Lane Thunderbolt, just buy an e-GPU if you need decent gaming - e.g. go to a LAN party, that kind of thing. Considering it has a proper quad core CPU in such a thin frame, it's the best of both worlds really. The external GPUs really sort out the thermal issues when gaming on a laptop. I have the OG X1 Carbon, still going well - glad I got the i7/8/256ssd model which was top of the line when it first was released (i7 was actually only avail with 4gb so bought i5, but then I had to return it due to a chassis issue; by the time that was sorted, the i7/8 was available!). I run Win10 on it now which is perfect; had to disable the trackpad when I used Linux a few years ago. Love the Trackpoint, can't see myself upgrading to something that doesn't.
- speedplane 9y agoCan someone explain to me why a ThinkPad is preferable to an XPS 15 besides nostalgia?
- harel 9y agoThe keyboard is not even a different league - it's a whole different ball game.
- speedplane 9y agoThis is the type of stuff I want to hear (I'm replacing my 4 year old laptop in the next two months)... what's so good about thinkpad keyboards?
- ohtwenty 9y agoYou can type, you feel that you're typing, and you kind of start to understand why typing might even be considered fun. It's a bit hard to explain, the travel on the keys is just really good, comfortable size and shape, etc. See if you can borrow one for a day and type on it, it took me an hour or so to get used to but now any other laptop keyboard feels wrong.
- speedplane 9y agoI've had great desktop keyboards, but never a good laptop keyboard. I'll check it out.
- tonyedgecombe 9y agoAfter switching to a MacBook the keyboard is the thing I miss the most.
- lasagnaphil 9y agoI have been using the XPS 15inch version for more than 2 years, and I have hated the keyboard so much that I regularily carry a mechanical keyboard (+about 1kg). Also, the build quality / QA of the xps 15 is questionable... I had problems with the laptop randomly turning on during sleep mode and overheating, along with major throttling issues (mostly when running games). Most recently the battery has expanded and bulged up so the the trackpad became unclickable. (And they refused to change the battery for free because I was out of the standard 2-year warranty, which is quite disappointing because this is a potential safety issue.) Definitely going to try a Thinkpad for my next laptop after all this mess...
- joeseeder 9y agoI am a late time convert to stinkpads, But they changed my perspective on what a work machine should be - trackpoint, or you don’t get my money. Now on a second X1... the only thing I miss is Ryzen option in the current lineup
- emilfihlman 9y agoNow change the aspect ratio to 3:2
- IdontRememberIt 9y agoMaybe check the Matebook X pro (Which is a MacBook pro copycat by Huawei): https://consumer.huawei.com/en/tablets/matebook-x-pro/ https://consumer.huawei.com/en/tablets/matebook-x-pro/
- vermaden 9y ago> Lenovo's lightweight ThinkPad ticks all the boxes of a great work notebook. Except one, keyboard. The ThinkPad 25 Anniversary Edition is the only real proffessional laptop available because it also has proffessionnal keyboard.
- speby 9y agoPutting out a new professional-grade (and thinking developer-style laptop) in 2018 without at least a 24GB or 32GB RAM option is a non-starter in my mind. Apple is also notorious for this having had 16GB RAM be the maximum for literally years now. For a lot of engineering work, where you may need to deal with virtualization and heavy duty tooling like IDEs (XCode, Visual Studio, etc), simulators (like the iOS Simulators or Android emulator), dozens of browser tabs, multiple browsers for testing and viewing, etc etc., 16GB of RAM just doesn't cut it anymore.
- anon1253 9y agoI /just/ got mine in the mail (i7, 16GB, WQHD non-touch, non-IR webcam, 1TB SSD). My comparison is a 15" Macbook Pro Retina (2014). Some initial impressions: Build quality is good, it feels solid yet light. Minor nitpick is that the screen doesn't retain its position well if you hold it in your hand. I'm not known to be gentle with my equipment, and it gets thrown in bags, used in the freezing cold, etc; it's a consumer device with limited life span, I know that going in. The trackpad is one of the best I've seen on a Windows laptop, but still no match for the Macbook (although could be my muscle memory). Also I love the aesthetics of the thing, it looks and feels professional and doesn't have any of the frills "gaming" stuff usually has. There was only one Intel sticker, which I managed to peel off without residue (what's up with those stickers...). The white backlit keyboard is a nice touch, which is overall amazing to type on. I still can't deal with Windows though (it just feels so sloooow), but I'm reluctant to install Linux right now because of a bug in the trackpad drivers (it becomes unresponsive) if you have the NFC option (which I do). I'll wait a couple more months for that to get sorted out. Right now I'm running Linux (Ubuntu 17.10) in VMWare Workstation 14, but that's also very slow (noticeable input lag when typing or dragging windows). But that's all software, I'm sure that will become better over time. The bad though: the audio quality is awful, I mean a 2014 Macbook Pro is bad ... but this is a whole new level. The case even vibrates/resonates with the volume turned up a little bit, and the whole thing sounds like a tin can. Also it gets REALLY hot, as in uncomfortable to use on my lap. The fan curves probably could also use some tuning, it goes on and off often, which I dislike over a continuous sound and would probably help the thermals too. Although, I haven't done any benchmarks yet to check for throttling. I was hoping it would replace my aging Macbook, but it'll probably end up in a drawer until I squeeze the last bit of life out of a 2014 machine, which is in my opinion still the best laptop ever build. The new Macbooks are not really an option (even if I could justify the ridiculous costs) due to lack of USB type A/B ports (which I need for astrophotography), and the annoying sound of the keyboard.
- chendragon 9y agoI'm wondering what the max sustained TDP of the CPU on this is like. On a MacBook Pro (13,2), the Intel processor package can pull 42-45W of power for an indefinitely long time without throttling down below that power level, even on batteries iirc. I'd hope that PC laptops get this at some point; this is one of the main reasons I still buy Mac
- IdontRememberIt 9y agoI have been using it for years. No complain except the screen. As a dev. I would prefer it to be 16/10. I cannot understand the use case for a 16/9 in the pro world. Little detail: when I wear a formal shirt, the sleeve tends to get "stucked" (due to the border having a high angle ">" ).