Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Long-term owners

Linux, however, has worked great ever since I got the USB-C DP Alt-mode screen back around 8 years ago

Apr 2026 · comment

satisfied I am with my 8 year old Thinkpad X1 Carbon with Fedora KDE on it

Oct 2026 · comment

it was an amazing machine for 8 years

Sep 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

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Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 144 comments. Each links to the original.

1. I adore my X1 Carbon Gen7 but the battery life could definitely be better and I could stand for it to run a little cooler.

   Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux support is coming to Snapdragon X2 series”

2. It's pretty solid, the only complaint I have is once the CPU usage is over 10% the fan starts running full blast.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5”

3. I've worked on a Lenovo Carbon X1 and was impressed with the whole thing. The keyboard is legit superior to Mac.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Dell Admits It Made a Mistake When It Abandoned XPS”

4. it's been a great upgrade for me. My biggest complaint is the eraser isn't as easy to use as my old toshiba

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve”

5. for me, at 13/14", portability and battery are most important, so I am going with Thinkpad X1 Carbon atm

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo”

6. The batteries are what's not great with old laptops, hard to get replacement batteries that aren't fake.

   Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “When the cheap one is the cool one”

7. X1 is lighter, arguably has a better keyboard (although that's a judgement call) and has a trackpoint.

   Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra”

8. Linux, however, has worked great ever since I got the USB-C DP Alt-mode screen back around 8 years ago

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Improving my focus by giving up my big monitor”

9. The Thinkpad X1 Carbon is a fantastic form factor, though the older Intel chips run incredibly hot.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo”

10. Super happy with it. I do not see any flaws, decent battery lifetime. Perfect linux support.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?”

11. A used x1 carbon is a better deal, faster, and weighs about the same with a bigger screen.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve”

12. a Thinkpad X1 Carbon gen 13 starts at about 1 kg and has a pretty full keyboard

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone”

13. Trackpad on X1 carbon is definitely not as good, battery life not as good.

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”

14. satisfied I am with my 8 year old Thinkpad X1 Carbon with Fedora KDE on it

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “New 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M6”

15. I will pay more for X1 Carbon with a worse CPU just to run free OS on it.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra”

16. I like my laptops not cutting into my palms when typing and being lighter

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Filing the Corners Off MacBooks”

17. My first G1 carbon traveled several hundred thousand kilometers with me

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?”

18. I prefer the body of a X1 Carbon ThinkPad, its keyboard and trackpoint

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra”

19. driver support is perfect - every peripheral I've tried is perfect

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Spirit of ThinkPad”

20. my Fedora X1 Carbon is my strong preference over my M4 macbook pro

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “I said no and Apple said yes”

21. You can actually get a Thinkpad X1 Carbon with Linux on Lenovo US

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “30 Years of ReactOS”

22. it was an amazing machine for 8 years

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux support is coming to Snapdragon X2 series”

23. X1 Carbons are mOdErN Apple-inspired slimslop. If a T-series or thiccy X-series had those kind of battery issues I'd be worried.

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?”

24. I tried one, and nearly bought one from a friend a couple of years ago, but I can't get over the horrible chiclet keyboard.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Google ending ChromeOS support two years early”

25. The standby battery life is so bad, it will burn through half the battery overnight with the lid closed.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Linux support is coming to Snapdragon X2 series”

26. So its still the case that getting a G13 will cost 2-3 times the cost depending on metric for my G1.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “When the cheap one is the cool one”

27. I have horrible chronic drift problems with my 2019-era X1 Gen 7, which is super disappointing.

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “A 25-year-old video patent just expired, ending a legal headache for Linux”

28. I was an X1 Carbon True Believer for a while but I cant justify their current prices.

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “MacBook Neo Is So Popular That Apple Doubled Production”

29. poor CPU cooling and the absolute nightmare that is opening them up to replace parts

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “I'm returning my Framework 16”

30. a great way to spend a ton of money for a light laptop when a T-series would suffice

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “MacBook Neo Is a 'Shock' to the PC Industry: Asus Co-CEO”

31. My G7 keyboard keys were falling off, having rarely left my office.

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?”

32. If we could have a similar experience to Intel-based ThinkPad Carbon X1 or T series with performance, graphics, Wi-Fi, battery life

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux support is coming to Snapdragon X2 series”

33. My Lenovo X1C wakes up so quickly that the limiting factor is how fast I can enter my PIN on the keyboard.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Steve wants us to make the Macintosh boot faster”

34. I paid $1600 in total for a p series and an x1 carbon (3 years old, but essentially new).

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “MacBook Neo Is a 'Shock' to the PC Industry: Asus Co-CEO”

35. always loved replacing the keyboard because it made it feel like an entirely new laptop

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “I'm returning my Framework 16”

36. I do miss the design and keyboard of the X1 carbon that had been serving me since 2017

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Spirit of ThinkPad”

37. Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen13 has a great optional haptic touchpad at almost no added cost

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Review: Chuwi's $449 Unibook laptop is a funhouse-mirror MacBook Neo”

38. For that price, I'd get an old, second hand, Thinkpad X1 carbon with a new battery.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve”

39. I replaced the entire keyboard on my ThinkPad X1 Carbon and it was perfectly fine.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Linux on the Fujitsu Lifebook U729”

40. it's quite light but not useful for 9front without some Ethernet driver tweaking

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “FreeBSD Laptop Compatibility: Top Laptops to Use with FreeBSD”