The ThinkPad Goes Ultrabook — ThinkPad X1 Carbon Tested 278
MojoKid writes "The venerable Lenovo ThinkPad, with its little red TrackPoint nub, has gone the way of the Ultrabook. If there's one small dig ThinkPads have taken with regularity over the years, it's that though there's a ton of quality and substance built into these machines, style was not a hallmark of the brand. The all new ThinkPad X1 Carbon could very well change the utilitarian stereotype of Lenovo's business-backed line-up, however. As the name suggests, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is built from carbon fiber material throughout its chassis and internal rollcage. Its 14-inch display drives a native resolution of 1600x900, and its keyboard, arguably one of the nicest features of the ThinkPad line, is backlit and even more refined with contoured key caps. Battery life hits a max of about six hours on a full charge, and the machine weighs in at 3lbs and .31-inches at it thinnest dimension."
Thinkpads have their OWN style. (Score:5, Insightful)
Many customers, self included, prefer it.
Re:Shiny? (Score:5, Insightful)
Please, no. If I wanted a MacBook Air, I would get a MacBook Air; but I hate that style and love the more macho Thinkpad style.
I'm so glad it doesn't have a shiny screen too.
Re:Terrible keyboard layout (Score:5, Insightful)
Tip for other laptop designers (or designers of any product): figure out what your product is best known for, the good stuff, and when you're doing your redesign don't screw with that. What are the selling points for Thinkpads?
1. Solid, durable construction
2. A no-nonsense utilitarian aesthetic
3. Excellent keyboards that are comfortable to type on
If it has to be a little thicker to accommodate a good Thinkpad (TM) keyboard, that's not a drawback - that's a selling point.
Thinkad regression (Score:2, Insightful)
So this new Thinkpad weighs the same as my X200, but has no Ethernet port (with a stupid adapter instead), no swappable/replaceable battery, soldered-on RAM, and a weird keyboard layout which puts the Home/End keys far away from the Page Up/Down keys.
If that's the new trend for Thinkpads, I'm afraid that after all these years with various X* models, I will I will have to look at other brands.
128gb??? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I'm switching to Mac after six ThinkPads (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Yet another ultra-proprietary power connector!! (Score:4, Insightful)
No. A nicely proportioned beautiful woman is "sexy". Electronic gear is most certainly not and never will be.
I'm very sorry, but you are clearly new here.