Women are not the one ones that lose weight during the summer, our smart machines do too. Today we are laying our hands on the most elegant and lightweight 14-inch business ultrabook. Digital Magnet presents Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1.
The thing that really appealed to us was the 14-inch Premium HD + display which provides a pretty high brightness level of 300 nits
Its incredibly slim chassis incorporates the toughness and reliability of a premium quality material like carbon. It not only provides a strong shell for your machine, but also takes its weight down to a minimum. In fact, Lenovo introduced this one as the world’s lightest 14-inch business ultrabook as the scales hit exactly 3 pounds. It is a pleasure carrying this buddy even in one hand. So, all in all, this skinny machine deservedly wins itself our 5 points for build quality.
The thing that really appealed to us was the 14-inch Premium HD + display which provides a pretty high brightness level of 300 nits. LED backlight also contributes to the clear picture and crisp details. Outside work was smooth and easy at 1600×900 resolution ratio, the pixel density here is 131ppi which is a pretty admirable result for a business class ultrabook. The multi touch technology reacts quickly to up to 10- finger-initiated commands on the screen.
However, the thing we could not possibly skip mentioning is the lack of IPS technology
The platform on board is the more and more popular Windows 8. The display’s matte surface is also what helps you get rid of any annoying light reflections on the screen. Although a matte display tends to make colors and contrast dull, the picture actually doesn’t suffer from low contrast and washed out colors. The blacks are full and vivid, not the kind of grayish shade most business machines offer. However, the thing we could not possibly skip mentioning is the lack of IPS technology.
The keyboard and touchpad follow the premium overall build quality of the ThinkPad Carbon X1. Unfortunately although it is a business-orientated ultrabook it doesn’t provide a full size keyboard. The keys are pretty comfortable with plenty of space between them so it’s hard to accidentally press another key. Lenovo is on its way to put a patent on the curved lower edge of each key. Typing in dark environments is facilitated by the LED backlighting of the keys.
Good news in terms of connectivity is the fact that Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 is 3G capable
The touchpad below is a novelty for Lenovo. Instead of the two auxiliary keys, we see a one-piece clickpad covered with a special glass layer. For traditionalist users two mouse keys are still available on the upper side. Of course, a Lenovo machine cannot go without the typical ThinkPad trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard. Of course it would be a business computer without the fingerprint reader on the right side.
Although this machine definitely impresses with its sleek appearance, it is a fully-capable ultrabook, targeted at business people whose work sometimes requires running more professional applications. Out test unit was loaded with 3rd generation Intel Core i5 CPU and offers 3MB L3 Cache. Its work reaches 2.8 GHz frequency. The memory available for system processes on board is 8GB DDR3. Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 is present on the market with 2 more configurations.
ideo performance is handled by the integrated HD graphics 4000
That is Corei3 and the more powerful Corei7 configuration. The storage capacity on our machine was 128GB Solid State Drive but it is also possible to load it with 256GB SATA 3 HDD. Video performance is handled by the integrated HD graphics 4000, which is okay, but for a high-end business machine like this one here, could have been much better. Overall performance here is good, multitasking doesn’t seem to cause any lags, however, starting at $1429 one would always have second thoughts before choosing in favor of this one.
On the periphery one can find a 4-in-1 media card reader, a mini Display Port and a USB 3 port, on the other side there is another USB port this time v2. Good news in terms of connectivity is the fact that Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 is 3G capable.
Battery life on this business companion is average, the 4-cell Li-Ion battery provides charge for around 6 hours of moderate usage.
