Lenovo X1 Carbon 6th Generation Ultrabook: Core i7-8550U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14inch Full HD Display, Backlit Keyboard (Renewed)

After watching dozens of YouTube videos about the ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th gen, I can say that the reviewers are spot on. This laptop is a workhorse for being an ultrabook. The i7-8550U is fantastic chip that will last for many years. The memory is on-board, so be sure to pick up 16GB if you'll need it. The SSD is accessible for upgrades down the line. However the stock 512GB unit performs very well and I don't see a reason to change it right away.Next section - and the main reason from ditching the MacBook Pro - the KEYBOARD. Oh my word, the keys are wonderful to type on, give excellent tactile feedback, and you can actually look at the screen while you type. The function keys are exactly where you'd expect them to be, no touch bar nonsense here! Honestly the typing experience is superb. It will really make you reconsider the tissue-paper thin keys that Apple uses.The screen - matte! This 1080p screen is a fantastic choice for battery life and the matte finish makes working anywhere really easy. My mates with the glossy screens always have to increase the screen brightness or move seats. Direct sunlight? No problem!The trackpad - it's a step down from the Mac, but that was exactly to be expected. After a few days, the trackpad is fine; more of a mental retraining exercise. And also something that's easily fixed with an affordable wireless Logitech mouse w/USB receiver. The 1 feature I miss is the 3-finger drag from MacOS, but easily resolved by holding left-click button and drag with 1-finger.Ports - Also Dongletown, CA gets the eviction notice. This machine has 2 USB-A, HDMI, Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, USB-C Charging, and 3.5mm headphone ports. Plenty of options that blend old and new. No need to worry about carrying adapters. The charger that's included is 65W and is great to recharge other USB-C stuff like the iPad Pro (yes, the iPad Pro and the ThinkPad have replaced my Mac). I also have the 87W USB-C charger from Apple which recharges this ThinkPad even faster. The Lenovo charger is okay, but the ability to swap to shorter USB-C cables on Apple's USB-C chargers is better.Thunderbolt 3 Docking - I use the CalDigit TB3+ docking unit and out of the box, worked extremely well. 1 cable into the ThinkPad is all that is needed. You may need to 'trust' the TB3 dock and tweak a BIOS setting to enable TB3 to wake up the computer. This is a safety feature. Since I trust the TB3 dock, I set my TB3 BIOS setting to 'no security' and the system properly wakes/sleeps via TB3.Overall - this machine is very well built and it is so light! It's very easy to slip into and out of a bag. The exterior finish can handle more roughness than the Mac, the outer shell here will not scratch as easily as the metal Mac finish. Getting this ThinkPad has opened my eyes to non-Apple laptops and I am glad the switch was made. Breaking up with MacOS is not so bad after all.Elected to use PopOS! 18.04 LTS over Windows 10 - as a developer, having Linux on the desktop feels right at home. It was a simple wipe and install to give Windows the boot.If you're looking for a solid laptop, this is it.

Too good to be true? Too good to be true.Laptop arrived nice and clean and worked well for all of 4 days.Noticed one dead pixel on it, not the worst problem in the world but still annoyed about it. I mean how hard is it to notice a dead pixel and replace it before selling it to me?And now the battery won’t hold a charge!Thanks for wasting my time. I’ll be taking my money back now.

This is a lightweight machine that was physically in excellent condition. Everything worked except the fingerprint reader. It came with Windows 10 and qualified for an upgrade to Windows 11 based on the machine specifications. However, every attempt to upgrade to Windows 11 would not work. I bought a new hard drive and installed Windows 11 from scratch without a problem. In addition, I installed Linux Mint, latest edition and established a dual boot setup. Linux worked very well with no problems and everything worked from the very first install. Windows 11 has to be installed first then Mint.Since I bought this laptop to run Linux Mint 21.1, it's performance is what I am going to comment on. From the first install it worked without any problems, no additional drivers were required. Bluetooth headphones, sound, graphics, and all the hardware ports worked. It has a very beautiful 2560x1440 display that is bright, with vibrant colors. The performance of Linux on this machine is very fast and reliable. If you are looking for an inexpensive way to try Linux, then this is for you.

What you get from this Thinkpad for only $300 is amazing! I installed Fedora Linux on it instantly, and that OS has full support for this machine. Everything is snappy, opens instantly, haven't had any slowdown. Boot time is amazing - just a handful of seconds.No problems with WiFi or multiple Bluetooth connections. The speakers are super quiet at max volume, but I don't really care about that (and that's a problem with this model of laptop itself, not the fact that it's used).The battery I got didn't have a crazy number of power cycles, and it holds its charge throughout the whole day before I need to charge again. Even if you get one with a bad battery, it's cheap enough to order a replacement one on Amazon (just look up 01AV430 or anything compatible with this specific carbon x1 Thinkpad gen 6).This is the lightest laptop I ever had, but it still feels premium. Unlike other lightweight laptops, the lid opens really easily with one hand.The laptop was in really good condition and came with the original Lenovo branded charging cable. The only problem is a single dead pixel on the screen, but I mostly forget it's there. Worth it for the price.I'll probably never buy a new laptop again. You can do everything you want to on this thing - unless it requires a graphics card. I use it for programming and I've had no issues at all. This thing was $1300 when it came out a few years ago! If you want a spare laptop, getting this is a no brainer.