Aluminum is out, Carbon is in

Lenovo is currently having their partner conference in Las Vegas and decided to use this evening for some announcements.  One of the machines I evaluated last year was the ThinkPad X1.  The new Ivy Bridge chipset based X1 includes a new thinner and lighter carbon shell and chassis along with an improved 1600x900 display. 

The picture above makes it look like the screen is a non glossy matte screen but some of the pics from the conference have a lot of shine on the screen so it’s hard to tell.  The 14” screen should be a hit if it has good brightness, color, etc.  We’ll have to wait and see if Lenovo revived the Flexview IPS screen.  Hopefully they did but don’t count on it.

At 3 pounds, this is sure to be a hit with the travel crowd.  One of the cool features of the previous X1 that made it to the X1 Carbon is the rapid charge technology.  I really liked that.  Charge the battery to at least 80% in 30 minutes.  Nice.

The previous X1 had a backlit chiclet leyboard and so does the X1 Carbon.  I’m sure Lenovo will release the full specifications very soon.  Until then, save your pennies.