14 DAY TRIAL // Lenovo announced the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which was said to be the world’s “lightest 14-inch Ultrabook,” back at CES 2014.
Since then, the device has been made available for purchase with a premium $1,299 / €956 price tag. Granted, Lenovo has added top-notch specifications in this Ultrabook and cutting-edge technology like voice and gesture control, so users can interact with the device in various ways.
Now, after just one month and a half since Lenovo rolled out the Ultrabook, customers have already started to complain, especially about one feature in particular, the device’s keyboard.
User brianfriesen has started the topic on the Lenovo official forum.
“BAD keyboard. I just don't know what Lenovo was thinking! The feeling of the buttons is ok, but I'm constantly having to look down at it. The Home, End, Delete, Backspace placements aren't intuitive and have caused many errors.”
“Adaptive Keys are nonsensical!!! I thought we were going to be able to program them? They're constantly changing and flickering.. just a huge annoyance. If you have browsers, MS programs, PS, and other programs open at the same time it's a nightmare! And the LCD strip is a bit cheap looking too.”
Mike appears to be going through the same woes, especially since he seems to be relying on certain keyboard shortcuts for his work.
“What astonishes me the most about the new X1 Carbon keyboard is the removal of the Insert key.”
“I'm looking at the programs I have running right now and use every day, and all of the following have important keyboard shortcuts that use the Insert key, either by itself or combined with other keys:
• IntelliJ IDEA • Komodo IDE • Visual Studio 2013 • SmartGit/Hg • SecureCRT • Microsoft Excel • Take Command • Beyond Compare • pgAdmin III • Paintshop Pro X6”
The posts continue throughout several pages, without any Lenovo official saying anything about the situation.
Syndication believes Lenovo’s incapability to listen to feedback from its customers will end up terminating the Thinkpad line altogether.
“With that said, this laptop is solid and well built, but crap design decisions ruin such a great laptop. If Lenovo keeps moving this direction with their corporate line, T450/etc (next gen), we will likely stop purchasing Thinkpad laptops company wide. Leave the flashy light bar to the ideapad line where it belongs. Anyone who works for a living is not going to sit there and screw around with all the extra functions on the light bar when they can do it quicker via a decent keyboard, trackpoint/and or touchpad.”
Even so, the opinions presented on this forum page aren’t necessarily indicators of how the majority of X1 Carbon users feel about the keyboard. What do you think?