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REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Either I am getting softer as time goes by or manufacturers are starting to listen to the ideas of the people buying their products. As much as I wasn’t a Lenovo fan, for the most part because of it’s plain and unpolished look, there are just so many positives of the new X1 Carbon that it can’t simply be set aside. We actually find ourself throwing ideas to other manufacturers to follow in what Lenovo has demonstrated in the X1.
Where Lenovo has stepped up starts with the ability to work with the X1 with your knees up in a car seat and the system opened at almost the complete 180 degree angle. Their claim to fame of this being the lighted 14″ ultra is on the money and, these days, we can use 3G/4G/LTE access in just about every portable data device available. If this system had full ThunderBolt connectivity and a touch screen, we’de be almost set. Oh wait…. the Touch version is expected out sometime in December!
The positives carry on to storage performance where, coincidentally, SanDisk stepped up to bat with the new X100 right around the time of release for the X1 Carbon. This is a great handshake and both complement the other very well resulting in some great SATA 3 speeds for the end user. It is hard to believe that, in only a few short years, we have not only reduced the size and weight of our portable systems significantly, but also, we have increased performance many times over. Imagine starting your new ultra in 15 seconds or less. Imagine never really having to turn it off and having it start in 3-5 seconds.
Looking at the Lenovo website, pricing for the X1 Carbon starts at $1249 and it is listed as a business notebook. It comes standard with a 128GB SSD and an upgrade to 256GB increases that price another $280. In looking at customer ratings on the site, it rates there at 4.5/5 and one of the common complaints is that this unit doesn’t have HDMI and we couldn’t agree more. Overall, the X1 Carbon is selling like hotcakes, as all Lenovo laptops do in the business world and people coldn’t be happier.
Is the SSD a gum stick type versus a mSATA?
Fixed and a slip of the pen… It is a gum stick or blade style SSD and definitely not an mSATA.
I think there’s a typo on the last page. “for the most part because of it’s plane and unpolished look” should be “its plain”
But otherwise great review!
Ya serves e right for trying to get it in on the weekend…eheh
Yeah, Les, crack open and fix that ultrabook! 🙂
A small nit: I cringe when you call the cpu a PENTIUM processor. There are still chips being made which carry that name, but this is a Core processor. Perhaps you meant Intel?
Les, What kind of connector is the drive using? I’m trying to find an adapter to convert it to standard size SATA. It’s only 20mm wide so it’s not a mSATA,
The connector is a step off of mSATA yet not PCIe. We have yet to find even an adapter to match.
I want to upgrade my 128SSD on X1 Carbon to 256SSD. Any SSD recommendations?
Great laptop. I think they have BY FAR the best keyboard in the industry. Maybe a better display wold be a good idea 🙂 At least as an option. Does Lenovo not remember when they offered the Flex View display how much people liked that??
BTW, I am liking my Vector 512GB 🙂
Stupid Question but does the Vector 512 fit into X1 carbon? What are the exact SSD specifications. I have i7 with 128SSD and want to upgrade to 256
The X1 Carbon contains a mSATA blade SSD, consumer releases of which are rare. You could check around with Runcore or OWC as they sell similar but I would want to get verification that it is compatible. The Vector is not compatible.
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Good stuff !
Wow…thank you for the compliment and feel free to pass on the good word!
Les, please help!!! How can I upgrade the ssd on X1 Carbon Touch. I need 480gb or higher. Is there an ssd on the market for x1? Lenovo support team can’t answer any of my questions. Will OWC 480GB Aura Pro 6G work?
Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question. The blade style solid-state drive is still a very new phenomenon. My suggestion would be to contact Other World computing directly.
Les, thank you for replying. OWC says their card only supports Mac, but the dimensions are identical. I think they only tested it on Mac. They have a 30 day return policy. I am thinking to give it a try.
correction, dimensions are not the same. I don’t think the card is going to work. after month of researching I gave up on the idea of upgrading the ssd.
Hi Dmitriy, I am also on the same boat as you..although you gave up the idea of upgrading the ssd, did you actually bought and tried or you just researched on it and left the idea ?
Great review. I just picked up a X1 Carbon. Looks like mine has an 240GB Intel SSD instead of the SanDisk X100. From the looks of things it’s an Intel 525 SSD.
Thats an excellent SSD and a bit surprising of a find!
Could you please tell me the exact model number of the ssd.. I used Intel 525 SSD keywords to search but that’s comparatively shorter than the stock ssd (sandDisk). Could you tell if there is intel 525 ssd how is it fitted in X1 Carbon ?