ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8:: what do you think?

[Black Phoenix]

In all honesty I think TP are on the quality decline - it is getting closer and closer to Lenovo in quality.... It used to be a lot better.

/k

Well the user blueskull have also some problems with his Lenovo, but I don't know if because of quality or if because of his use case, since he also didn't like the Surface line (been disconnected from the forum since the beginning of the year, have a lot to catch up and no time to...).

[fordem]

In all honesty I think TP are on the quality decline - it is getting closer and closer to Lenovo in quality.... It used to be a lot better.

Lenovo has several ThinkPad lines (as well as other laptop lines - IdeaPad, Yoga, etc.), for example the E-series ThinkPads are "entry level" and lower cost - the T-series ThinkPads are the equivalent of the older IBM ThinkPads in terms of build quality.  If your ThinkPad is going to essentially be a desk top replacement, an E-series is more than adequate, and you can get a "higher spec" E-series at fairly attractive prices.  If on the other hand, your ThinkPad is going to be contantly on the move, out in the field, up in a cherry-picker bucket - you want nothing less than a T-series, an E-series will not withstand the "rough & tumble".

If you need or want ISV certfication, you'll need to look at the P-series, and also be Prepared to Pay for it - many of the higher spec E-series will perform admirably at an affordable price, but they lack the certification and you may be told by support that they are not supported for the application.

Yes - I am biased - I've been an "on-site support" tech for the last four decades or so and certified by the big three (Dell, HP/Compaq & IBM/Lenovo) to provide warranty support on their products.  As on-site techs, we see more product with problems than the average user, and we also interface more frequently with the support structure than the average user.  We know what works & what doesn't and we "vote with our wallets."

For what it's worth - standard IBM issue to their "Customer Support Representatives" is a T-series ThinkPad - at this time, it's the T480.

[kaz911]

In all honesty I think TP are on the quality decline - it is getting closer and closer to Lenovo in quality.... It used to be a lot better.

Lenovo has several ThinkPad lines (as well as other laptop lines - IdeaPad, Yoga, etc.), for example the E-series ThinkPads are "entry level" and lower cost - the T-series ThinkPads are the equivalent of the older IBM ThinkPads in terms of build quality.  If your ThinkPad is going to essentially be a desk top replacement, an E-series is more than adequate, and you can get a "higher spec" E-series at fairly attractive prices.  If on the other hand, your ThinkPad is going to be contantly on the move, out in the field, up in a cherry-picker bucket - you want nothing less than a T-series, an E-series will not withstand the "rough & tumble".

If you need or want ISV certfication, you'll need to look at the P-series, and also be Prepared to Pay for it - many of the higher spec E-series will perform admirably at an affordable price, but they lack the certification and you may be told by support that they are not supported for the application.

Yes - I am biased - I've been an "on-site support" tech for the last four decades or so and certified by the big three (Dell, HP/Compaq & IBM/Lenovo) to provide warranty support on their products.  As on-site techs, we see more product with problems than the average user, and we also interface more frequently with the support structure than the average user.  We know what works & what doesn't and we "vote with our wallets."

For what it's worth - standard IBM issue to their "Customer Support Representatives" is a T-series ThinkPad - at this time, it's the T480.

As I wrote - I have used P and W series for years... and years and then some years.

But now the quality of their testing before shipping has dropped. Since the P70 there has not been a P model that I know of that actually works with High Speed USB3 - either the built in ports fail at high speed - or the dock station (via thunderbolt) fails at high speed. And it is not only Saleae Logic Pro that fails - it is everything high speed. High speed SSD's. iPhone/iPad transfers - and usually they fail worst on "inbound" data but occasionally on writing externally as well.

So here is the list of P models I know have issues and have owned or still own - P70 (will never get fixed - hardware design issue) - P51/P52 - again USB3 issues - probably never gets fixed as it is "out of rotation" - P1 G1 - dead as a doornail with fast USB3 transfers.

All of the above have failed with  Saleae Logic Pro (quickest test in the world...) - High speed image transfer from high speed XQD readers and SSD drives - Image Transfer from phones - creation of backup media from high speed external media and I could continue.

I have a lot of respect for IBM ThinkPads - But I do think a lot of the old IBM guys are no longer involved in ThinkPads - now ThinkPads are getting closer and closer to Lenovo/Acer and other Chinese brands in quality.

MBP have issues - but not those issues... MBP is crap HW design - but very much more portable vs the P1G1/P52 overall.

[bd139]

Had to dump MacBooks as they gave me a rash. Also the iPhone/iPad issues are due to the iOS end. Even has some trouble on macs  . MacBook engineering is top notch though. I can’t agree with it being bad. If you look inside a laptop these days, including Lenovo, it’s a shit show whereas Apple actually out some consideration into the engineering.

A point to note with the USB-C only thinkpads is the port is extremely fragile. If you bust it, it’s on the motherboard as well so it’s end game. Apple put theirs on daughterboards which is 100x better.