For me, a laptop simply works like magic. I know it is blasphemous to even mention now when people can do more with a smartphone or a tablet. Although I have a smartphone not just any smartphone, a Sony Xperia Z3(detailed review is on the way) I am most comfortable when I am with a laptop if I want to be on the internet and do what I want to do. Yes it is big and heavy and is a pain to carry it around in a pram but in the golden word of Boris the bullet dodger "heavy is good, heavy is reliable" And I still believe in it and don’t really know why.
For me, the ultimate expression of a meaningful laptop was and is always a Thinkpad when it comes to doing work, productive and meaningful stuff. Sorry gamers, the ThinkPad is not for you. But if you want it to play games with you, it will do it all day without breaking a sweat. No disrespect to the avid gamers here, but you will look totally odd if you sit and game with a Thinkpad.
Without further due and killing you with my obsession with Thinkpads, let me get on to what I want to talk about.
So the Thinkpad X1 Carbon is probably the best looking Thinkpad from the long line of big black matte finish boxes with brushed steel hinges. It definitely is a looker but doesn’t scream for attention like a MacBook Pro(which is a beautiful thing) The X1 has again a trademark Thinkpad matte finish and looks elegant in black. Unlike other Thinkpads, the Thinkpad decal on the outside now has a red LED light that comes on on the "i" of the Thinkpad. If you are used to one of the older thinkpads, this one will probably give you a culture shock just because it is unbelievably thin by any Thinkpad standards, but still runs cool and quiet.
With a price tag of INR190, 000 there was no way I could afford it but always I longed for it. And that is when the company my wife works for decided to replace her old T420 with the X1. I know this makes it more expensive than a Mac but is it really worth all that hard-earned INR you want to throw at it? I am a bit crossed as it purely and ultimately depends on choice. Make no mistake, the X1 is a brilliant piece of engineering. But is it worth INR190, 000 probably not? This is one of those rare moments where someone actually thinks for half that money you could buy a MacBook. That makes you feel really weird.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon The Screen:
With a 35.56cm/14inch WQHD(2560x1440), 300nit, IPS screen, it takes you very close to the Mac Retina display territory. And it possibly one of the best screens ever to be fitted on a Thinkpad be it IBM or Lenovo. The color reproductions spot on and so is the viewing angles. And it makes you feel that the start menu is literally on the south pole. One word for the display, brilliant. Not so brilliant for gaming. If that is your purpose with an ultrabook, look elsewhere.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon The Keyboard:
If you are looking for something new brilliant and clutter free designed keyboard, you are in for a treat when you look at the new adaptive keyboard that the X1 offers. What they have done is that they have completely eliminated the physical function keys out of the keyboard system and just above the number keys at the top of your keyboard, you have a multi-function which you can change for getting your function keys(F1 to F12), touch the "Fn" on the top left hand corner, it changes it to control the volume, brightness, wireless on/off, mute mic/speakers. Touch the Fn again, you get something I have never come across in any Windows laptop, the Alt+Tab which can is something if you are the sort of person who sleeps wrapped in spreadsheets, life is as easy as a touch toggle between windows. It is probably one of the most innovative features I have ever seen on a notebook. It sort of makes you feel whether you actually need a keyboard. However, there is a downside to it.
You see, one of the most interesting features of any Thinkpad is most obviously its sturdy keyboard. The design and the layout of the keyboard are downright simple and extremely practical. So if you are the sort of person who for example migrated from a Thinkpad T420 to an X1, you would be looking at a keyboard with half the number of keys you are used to seeing on your T420. To start with, where you had the capslock now houses the home and end button, so how do you engage the capslock? Press the left shift key twice and a little green LED lights up, Why? I cannot understand what could possibly go wrong if you had the capslock in there. The Thinkpad family of notebooks has the best keyboard layout of all laptops and IBM(earlier) now Lenovo spent millions of dollars researching on it, my question to Lenovo is why don’t you use that and stop copying the Mac. No matter what you do, a Thinkpad will never be as beautiful as a Mac. Period. A Thinkpad is made to be functional and practical and not beautiful and practical as a Mac. So quit copying.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon The Connectivity Ports :
This is where it gets interesting. You have a lot of ports that are usable for an ultrabook this thin. But there is one port missing the RJ45. In an effort to keep things slim, they now have a cable that goes to a mini connector and on the other end an RJ45 female connector. Brilliant idea, but looks completely awkward. Other than which you have a mini display port, HDMI, USB3 and the usual suspects. And like everybody else, the optical drive has been, well it just isn’t there anymore.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Performance:
One word, stunning. With the 4th generation Core i7 4600U processor, 8GB of RAM and a trademark silent cooling system from Lenovo, this one can sit all day long at your desk or on your laptop without getting you barbecued. With the 256GB SSD on it, the performance is just more than satisfying no matter what you are doing with it.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Weight :
Surprise! Surprise! This thing is lighter than a MacBook Air! Thanks to its carbon fiber construction, and if you are wondering what carbon fiber is, it is the same stuff they use to make Formula 1 cars chassis and its body panels to make them light and strong. At 1.2 KG, what more could you possibly ask for? Even the power adapter is slim and that was a surprise. Like all those small thinkpads, they make it so small and light and then supply with a power adapter twice heavier than the laptop. But this one ticked that box as well.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Serviceability :
Like me, if you are one of those who would like to get your hands dirty once in a while to clean the fan blades of the cooling fan which on the X1 features the Lenovo’s patented "Owl wing design" in a effort to make things quieter and cooler, or change the hard drive or RAM or be it anything. Unlike older thinkpads, this one has a couple of screws and the entire bottom of the laptop comes apart making it easy to access its components.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Battery Backup:
Eight hours. That should be good enough to get you through your entire day at work. Lenovo claims 10, but in the real world, the battery was dead in 8 hours under testing with general browsing, spreadsheets, Outlook and a few of the hosted applications that my wife normally uses.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Will I buy it?
So say you should never meet your heroes. It’s better to leave them alone in your world of imagination. To be honest, after I got to experience the X1, I came to a conclusion that I probably will never buy it. The first reason is obvious, the price in India is just absolutely mind-boggling. I could buy a KTM 390 and still use my good old T400 and live happily. The other reason is that somewhere down the line, Lenovo has suddenly forgotten what a Thinkpad is mean for. It can never be someone’s style statement like an Apple MacBook, nor it will never persuade someone who has made up his mind or buy a Mac to buy a Thinkpad. Make no mistake, the X1 is a work of art and I completely love it. However what I hate about it is that Lenovo simply has made an ultrabook that integrates very little of the bulletproof Thinkpad DNA. And finally, I would rather buy an X240, sacrifice a bit on the screen size buy will have everything except the adaptive keyboard.