Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Laptop Review: Big 16:10 upgrade with Intel Tiger Lake

[It's Intel you fools]

Too all asking "how can somthing like this get a recomentation?".

Is it a retoric question? It uses Intel, so it gets a recomentation even if it crushes at BIOS in every boot.

[xpclient]

Please do a full comparison article of X1 Carbon Gen 9 with X1 Yoga Gen 6 comparing battery, screen brightness, clickpad and trackpoint, weight etc.

[we want thick and heavy!]

I really don't get it. who the hell asks for a thin and light!? enough bullshit lenovo, you've literally destroyed thinkpad brand. we don't need thin and light we need thick & heavy that can go through any challenge it faces. bring old thick notebooks with SILENT cooling and ALL DAY battery life or stop spamming with THINKPAD name! >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

[shm]

I really don't get it. who the hell asks for a thin and light!? enough bullshit lenovo, you've literally destroyed thinkpad brand. we don't need thin and light we need thick & heavy that can go through any challenge it faces. bring old thick notebooks with SILENT cooling and ALL DAY battery life or stop spamming with THINKPAD name! >:(  >:(  >:(  >:(

hmm, so what you want is to carry a brick in your backpack that ends up breaking your shoulders and back.

[Anonym]

I really don't get it. who the hell asks for a thin and light!?

That will be the enterprises that actually pay full price for these machines. Furthermore, while we have these new "thin and light" laptops, the full-blown mobile workstations are still available to purchase. That's why your rant is a self-defeating argument. It's not like Lenovo removed all choice and now we can only buy that type of machine -- the choice is very much still there, their actual customers are the ones preferring the machines *you* don't want.

Beggars can't be choosers. Vote with your money and buy the machines you want new and straight from Lenovo. If you are waiting for the eBay/second-hand discount price, then you'll simply have to make due with whatever is the preference of the enterprise market.

[lsadkf]

It's not like Lenovo removed all choice and now we can only buy that type of machine -- the choice is very much still there, their actual customers are the ones preferring the machines *you* don't want.

Beggars can't be choosers. Vote with your money and buy the machines you want new and straight from Lenovo. If you are waiting for the eBay/second-hand discount price, then you'll simply have to make due with whatever is the preference of the enterprise market.

Is there a thicker version of X1C? Waiting for price drop for which particular device?
ThinkPad T14 and T14s Gen 2 with legacy 16:9 screen, poor battery life, that lame cooling fan etc?

[n4ru]

no ThinkPad X1 Carbon has had a worse keyboard thus far.

I am afraid (but happy) that you have not had to experience the 2nd generation Carbon.

[Benjamin Herzig]

The X1 Carbon Gen 2 had a worse keyboard layout for most users, but better typing experience.

[Alex Miller]

I am not sure why all the negative reviews on this laptop regarding the keyboard. I bought the unit, typing on it right now and find the keyboard to be EXCELLENT... i have older models Carbons and yes it feels a bit different but is still excellent, still the best laptop keyboard on the market.
I bought it with 32 gb of ram soldered and 4k display, it has a very high end feel to it, top notch all around. The only complaint is the battery runs out very quick but thats to be expected.

[fishstik]

Lenovo just updated their BIOS to v1.39 with the changelog claiming performance fixes. Please update the benchmarks and stress tests accordingly; thanks!

[Benjamin Herzig]

We do not have the X1 Carbon in for review anymore, unfortunately. A review update is planned however for the X1 Yoga Gen 6 4K, which uses the same firmware, so we will test if the new update fixes the problem.

[ygrt]

+1 for the request to update perf & gaming benches with the new BIOS version.

Releasing the laptop the way it happened was a pretty big screw up on the part of Lenovo but they did their homework, they should be given the chance to redeem themselves for the bad press they got.

[Indycat]

hmm, so what you want is to carry a brick in your backpack that ends up breaking your shoulders and back.

Yes! I would like to see a laptop that's half a pound heavier than the current ones but comes with an Ethernet port, a bigger battery and a full width keyboard with 1.8 mm key travel and a cooling system that does not throttle.

I would also love to see many nerdy whiners like you scream in agony and collapse dead because that half a pound was too much for their manly frame. Either that, or you learn to address what was actually said.

[Aaron Feng]

May I know how could I know the exact PL1 and PL2 settings of the machine? My X1 Carbon gen 9 is equipped with Core i7-1185G7, and HWINFO64 reported 64W for both PL1 and PL2 under maximum performance settings. Is there anything went wrong? Many thanks.

[ThinkpadLongTime]

So to summarise, commenters here want:
- a thin and light, except that they want it thicker and heavier
- ethernet in an ultraportable that will be used on wifi 99.9% of the time
- a PC that can use the CPU flat out for hours without throttling, but are looking at this rather than workstations
- can't afford this device so are complaining it's not as fast/big/heavy as their €600 laptop
Jeez.  I've used these since Gen 1 (did see a gen 2 in the flesh, yikes) and are generally lovely things to live with. They are expensive because they are solid yet light.  They are great for 99% of use cases - go get a P1 if you need to run it flat out 24x7.
For home use?  Would be great as a sofa laptop, but damn that's an easy way to spend €500 more than you need to.  For somebody using it for work 9 hours a day for the next 3 years?  A bargain.