Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch

Good sir! You have outfit my ThinkPad X1 Carbon with the power of touch!

With the rather obviously named ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, Lenovo brings its flagship ultrabook into the Windows 8 era, adding a touchscreen to the package but leaving most of the rest of the device unchanged. If you were enthralled by the Carbon during its first go-round late last year and are prepared to add touchability to your routine, it's definitely a laptop to consider.

The two devices are so similar you'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart without a set of calipers. Fortunately, I have a set of calipers (and some other tools) and can confirm that the Touch is a shade thicker (2mm), a hair heavier (3.1 versus 3.0 pounds), and about 15 percent dimmer than its forebear – all signs of the price to be paid for adding a touchscreen to a laptop. That said, according to Lenovo, it is still the world's lightest 14-inch notebook with touch.

Ports are identical to the last version of the device: Two USB ports (one 3.0, one 2.0 and chargeable), mini-DisplayPort (with no HDMI or VGA), and an SD card reader. LCD resolution is 1600 x 900 pixels, also unchanged. Configurations vary, but this review unit was equipped with a 1.8GHz Core i5, 4GB of RAM, and a 180GB SSD hard drive. Compared to the older-generation Core i7-based Carbon I reviewed in August 2012, performance is on par. Overall benchmark scores were exemplary, while the integrated GPU held the machine back in the video department. This is, of course, a corporate-class laptop, so no one's expecting to play high-framerate Skyrim on it, anyway.

The expected ThinkPad amenities are standard, including vPro management, TPM, a fingerprint reader, and even an optional integrated WWAN (3G) radio. The carbon fiber cover and cage are, in Lenovo's parlance, "satellite quality," and the chassis certainly feels more durable than Sputnik.

Lenovo also hasn't forgotten about the things that users actually care about. Audio is impressive and Dolby-certified. The keyboard is backlit and fully usable, and the glass touchpad was rock solid on this go-round with the Carbon. (The 2012 unit I tested had a disturbingly loose one.)

Only two complaints marred my experience with the X1 Touch. Foremost is battery life. While I managed to score an extra half hour of video playback versus the old X1, at 3.5 hours of running time, it is still at the bottom of the heap of Windows 8 laptops when it comes to longevity. The screen is also relatively dim, and colors look a bit washed out in comparison to other recent-model laptops.

Of course, there's also the not-insubstantial price to consider, too. The X1 Touch starts at $1,350 and, as configured, runs a hefty $1,729. That's cheaper than the non-touch Carbon I reviewed in the fall, but still a huge investment in a laptop, and hundreds of dollars more expensive than the competition in this space. (Acer's 14-inch Aspire M may be heavier, but it's less than half the price.)

If you're trying to convince your boss to buy one for you, my recommendation is lean heavily on the bit about the satellite.

WIRED Excellent combination of performance, portability, and durability. Still the best keyboard going. Trackpad issues resolved. You want bells and whistles?

TIRED Probably the most expensive computer in its class. Screen not as impressive as the previous generation. Battery life upgraded, but still not enough.