New ThinkPad X1 Carbon experience

Every once in a while, the electronic product field will be called "Industrial design Case" products, a sharp lead in the competition, Lenovo's new ThinkPad X1 Carbon gave the first impression is so. It has a full range of upgrades, including the 2K ultra Clear screen, Haswell processor, comfortable keyboard design, in many ways beyond the current ultra-extreme universal standards.

In addition, Lenovo has added a new function in keyboard design-automatic adaptation of the keyboard, the use of touch buttons to replace the traditional F-series features, and preset four modes, to achieve more multi-functional expansion and switching, stunning. At present, Lenovo new ThinkPad X1 carbon price for 1600x900 screen version of the 1299 U.S. dollars (about 7900 yuan), 2560x1440 screen version of 1399 U.S. dollars (about 8500 yuan), the price compared to the previous version has not significantly increased. So, is it going to be the best ThinkPad Super book? Let's look at the trial experience.

Design and function

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is currently the world's most lightweight 14-inch notebook, weighing only 1.4 kg, with a decent portability. In addition, carbon fiber material allows the fuselage to have a decent durability and strength, do not worry about accidental damage to the notebook. Like the previous version, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon supports the 180-degree folding angle of the screen to completely flatten the screen, or to be flexible. The overall appearance of the machine is similar to last year's style, all used the matte black color, gradually thinning from behind the fuselage design, although not as Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and other new gorgeous, but still continue the ThinkPad series has always been calm feeling.

The new ThinkPad X1 Carbon's biggest selling point is Lenovo's carefully designed keyboard. This version continues the previous X1 excellent keyboard workmanship, excellent feel and backlight function, although the fuselage is thin, but still presents the keyboard depth and excellent tactile feedback effect.

However, the disadvantages lie in the design of some unconventional key position. Can be seen, Lenovo will be the key and delete keys side-by-side design in the most right position, usually this position only backspace key, so in the blind will inevitably mistakenly press DELETE key, affecting a certain operating efficiency. In addition, the position of the Caps LOCK key is also replaced with home/end, which may cause some users to freak out by the unconventional keyboard arrangement.

Other parts, we see a new type of touchpad design, more suitable for Windows 8 system operation, the classic Little Red Dot is also extended down to meet some of the old user's operating habits. However, the touchpad's default sensitivity is somewhat lagging, requiring manual tuning to the optimal state, as well as reducing the edge sliding area of the touchpad, which often opens the charms sidebar of Windows 8.

The automatic adaptation function key is a smart idea, except for the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon basically no other laptops adopt. You can see that the traditional FN and F digital keys are used in touch design, but also has the characteristics of LCD screen, the key logo will be lit and extinguished with different modes, very intuitive. And the right also designed four preset modes, in different programs can implement specific FN function key operation. such as the opening of Skype and other voice chat software, F1 will be extinguished, on both sides of the volume increase button lit, so that you can easily adjust the volume.

interface, performance, and battery life

As a 14-inch notebook, the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon still has a more comprehensive interface design, including two video output interfaces including HDMI and Mini DisplayPort, four USB 3.0 connectors, but the built-in SD card reader is canceled. If you want to achieve a more comprehensive connectivity, you can also buy 179 dollars (about 1086 yuan) of the independent docking dock, but the price is very expensive.

Our new ThinkPad X1 carbon is equipped with 2560*1440 resolution screen, 1.6GHZ fourth generation Intel Core I5-4200U processor, Intel HD Graphics 4,400 set Cheng Xianka, 8GB memory, and 128GB solid-state drives, The price is 1679 dollars (about 10200 yuan). Performance, adequate for day-to-day web browsing, corporate office software, slide production and high-definition video playback, overall, is still satisfactory.

Battery performance, in the continuous playback of HD video battery consumption test, the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon achieved about 5 hours 41 minutes of playback time, good performance, but still less than Apple MacBook Pro and other more long-lasting notebooks.

Summarize

The new ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a good experience, the fuselage design and integration is very high, 2K screen effect outstanding, another adaptive keyboard can achieve more convenient operation. The only regret is that some of the slightly bizarre keyboard position designs may challenge traditional user input habits.