In time when we reviewed the original X1
Carbon, we were slightly disappointed with the display, its fairly high 1,600x900
resolution was censured. First of all, the viewing angles were limited and the
white color seemed a bit gray compared to other laptops. Here, Lenovo used a
300-nit, 16:9 display, and in fact, some of the same problems remain. For
example, the white balance thing is still obvious though you’ll have to perform
a direct comparison with another laptop to really appreciate the difference (nevertheless,
it really is quite small).
The
viewing angles were limited and the white color seemed a bit gray compared to
other laptops.
For this time, the viewing angles actually
seem narrower, but that is reasonable based on that Lenovo has moved from an anti-glare
screen to a slightly more reflective one. Even if you don't plan on gathering
together with friends to see Netflix, you might notice it when trying to work
with the laptop within your lap: the screen starts to be dilute as you push it
forward. Under coercion (such as a cramped airline seat) you could still finish
your job, but it wouldn't be the most comfortable viewing experience.
On the positive side, that new touchscreen
is very fast to both swipes and taps. In fact, Lenovo seems to have applied a surface
that gives the panel a little more roughness than other touchscreens we've tested.
We appreciate it in the way we refine touchpad: you won't want too much
friction while swiping, but that little bit of friction makes finger input feel
a little more controlled, more precise.
About the audio, X1 Carbon-series laptops
were mostly designed for teleconference in mind (proof A: that separate
mic-muting button). In that side, the machine does its task well: our friends let
us know that we spoke in loud and clear, though with a slight echo (despite not
causing distraction). About video, the picture from the 720p webcam was clearly
a bit pixelated, but callers told us they didn't notice any stuttering or reduce
in the audio-to-video synchronism. In brief, the quality didn't seem to be
better or worse than any other Skype call, that is to say it's totally workable
for some far-distance conferences
About
the audio, X1 Carbon-series laptops were mostly designed for teleconference in
mind (proof A: that separate mic-muting button).
To be honest, listening to music can be
done although we will assume that you have no other listening choices or just
aren't that picky. As with many other laptops (especially ultraportables), the sound
is thin and tinny as though it were trapped behind the speaker grill. Even at a
high volume, it's not a very powerful sort of sound. For example, while a medium
volume setting may be sufficient when there was only me sitting in a quiet
room, here we kept the volume at about 75%. When I left my couch to work in
another room, I had to turn up the volume to the max level so that I could
comfortably hear from my (very small) opposite apartment.
However, that weak state upset us most
after we switched from another laptop with a more powerful set of speakers. However,
after an hour of broadcasting songs on Slacker, we somewhat got used to it. And
we think you will, too, especially if you're using this in a hotel room and don’t
no other options, save money to buy smartphone (and good luck when relying on
that as another option). And the fact is we'd say this with most laptops we
reviewed. It's simply that there’s much room there for PC makers to improve.
Performance and battery life
It’s very happy for us that PC makers have used
the same accessories in their Windows 8 Ultrabooks, which makes us easy to draw
direct comparisons. In this case, the X1 Carbon Touch we tested had a Core
i5-3427U microprocessor, reaching the clock speed at 1.8GHz, along with 4GB of
RAM. It also had a 180GB SSD made by Intel – which is clearly the same one used
in the HP EliteBook Folio 9470 we just reviewed.
Based on what we've seen on these
components in many laptops, could we really expect the performance here to be
any faster or slower? As you might've expected, X1 Carbon Touch basically equals
to competing products, with similar scores in everything from PCMark 7 to
3DMark11. That is to say, it's fast. The machine startups into the Start screen
in 11 seconds, which is pretty typical for a Windows 8 computer with technical specs
like these. We also find that the SSD provides equally strong read and write
speeds (551 MB/s and 518 MB/s), which we noticed the last time we tested
Ultrabook with an Intel SSD.
X1
Carbon Touch basically equals to competing products, with similar scores in
everything from PCMark 7 to 3DMark11.
In brief, the X1 Carbon Touch does its
tasks well but it also reminds us one more time that this is a great time to find
a Windows laptop. After all, who would ever think that an 11-second boot time
and 500 MB/s only results in average performance?
We have some good news and bad news. First
of all, the bad news: the X1 Carbon Touch's built-in 45Wh battery lasts just 5
hours in our test, which involves repeating a movie from the local disk with Wi-Fi
on and the brightness set at 65 percent. Must be admitted, touchscreen Windows
8 laptops normally don't performed well in this side (the best laptop lasts
5:32) but even then, a five-hour runtime is worrisome.
However, on the positive side, its
endurance is almost similar to the non-touch version of the X1 Carbon. That
certainly is surprising to us, based on the fact that the touchscreen usually gives
bad omen for laptop's battery life. We know: that won't be much comfortable to those
who hesitate between buying the X1 Carbon Touch with other Windows 8
Ultrabooks. But, if you're comparing it to the non-touch version, you can be
comfortable choosing the touch model when knowing you won't lose much in
battery life.
Some other good news: X1 Carbon Touch takes
use of Lenovo's RapidCharge technology, which is in this case, it promises to recharge
the battery to about 80% in 35 minutes. Therefore, while you might want to take
your charger with you at all times, at least you won’t use it for a long time.
|
Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch (Core i5-3427U 1.8GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 4,919
·
3DMark06: 5,309
·
3DMark11: E1033/P549
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 551MB/s (read);
518MB/s (write)
Lenovo ThinkPad Twist (Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 3,113
·
3DMark06: 4,066
·
3DMark11: E1084/P627
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 136MB/s (read);
130MB/s (write)
Sony Vaio Duo 11 (Core i5-3317U, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 4,762
·
3DMark06: 4,807
·
3DMark11: E1107/P621/X201
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 540MB/s (read);
525MB/s (write)
HP EliteBook
Folio 9470 (Core i5-3427U 1.8GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 4762
·
3DMark06: N/A
·
3DMark11: E1016/P611
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 553MB/s (read);
519MB/s (write)
Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch (Core i7-3517U 1.9GHz, Intel HD
4000):
·
PCMark7: 5,081
·
3DMark06: 5,043
·
3DMark11: E1154/P597
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 554MB/s (read);
523MB/s (write)
Acer Aspire S7 (Core i7-3571U 2.4GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 5,011
·
3DMark06: 4,918
·
3DMark11: E1035/P620/X208
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 934MB/s (read);
686MB/s (write)
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 (Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 4422
·
3DMark06: 4,415
·
3DMark11: E917/P572
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 278MB/s (read);
263MB/s (write)
Dell XPS 12 (Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, Intel HD 4000):
·
PCMark7: 4,673
·
3DMark06: 4,520
·
3DMark11: N/A
·
ATTO (highest disk speed): 516MB/s (read);
263MB/s (write)
|
