Alternatives to the X1 Carbon?

My father in law currently uses a x300 now and likes it, but its getting time for an upgrade. He likes the track pointer and also really like the option to put a 2nd battery in the drive bay.

I looked at the X1 carbon, what appears to be as close to his x300 as possible now, and it seems they've done away with the extra bay battery.

I took a look at perhaps the next best option in the T430s and I see there's an option for an SSD and the bay battery, which is nice, but he'll be going up another 1.5lbs it seems.

Is the T430s worthy of consideration in his case? Any other models or manufacturer's I might want to look into?

 

Since the emphasis of the query seems to be battery life, what is your father expecting?

The 6 cell X301 weighs 3.35 pounds. The 6 cell T430s weighs 3.96.

Does your father have any other requirements?

 

Thanks for the reply. I guess what it'll come down to is what he wants more - the (lack of) weight or the extra battery.

My wife has a T400 now (9 cell battery that sticks out an inch) and there is a pretty big difference between his and her's, even if it is only a lb.

From what I can tell on Lenovo's site, the X1 Carbon is >3 lbs and the T430s with the extra battery bay is 4.4lbs.

I just wasn't sure if there were any other models or manufacturer's that I should be looking for, so maybe bring in the best of both worlds. But its looking like this is the standard size vs weight vs battery life that you get with laptops getting smaller and smaller these days.

Only real requirements were: extra battery in bay, red touch pointers, SSD. The T430s meets all of those and if he can forgo 3 hours of battery, the X1 would appear to work.

 

I would suggest picking about 5 "must have" selection criteria then about 5 "would be nice to have" criteria.

Starting the discussion based on weight and an ultrabay battery probably isn't going to get very far. The X30x, T430s, and X1 Carbon are very different in their features and prices. About the only thing in common are the crap screens. Your father should be right at home there.

 

How much battery life does your father in law need?

 

re: battery life. In all honesty, probably not that much. It's more of a bonus, being about to do work on the couch or whatever and not attached to a power cord. He's not a business traveler or anything.

I told him this was mostly likely going to come down to battery life vs weight decision (X1 Carbon vs the T430s) and he can make that choice. I think he spent upwards of $2500 on the X300, and he doesn't understand why Lenovo doesn't make a model that same price now. Not super into computers and just wants "the best". Maybe he thinks I'm trying to cheap out on him by recommending a $1300 model.

I think he'll be fine with either one. He mostly uses Word and Dragon and email, so I think he should be ok.

 

The X1C is probably the spiritual successor to the X300 more than any other ThinkPad. It goes about six hours give or take, depending on the settings, which is probably close to what the T430s would get with the bay battery. I'd lean toward the X1C as it's got a better screen than the T430s.

 

And yet the X1C screen is terrible compared to the MacbookPro and other options out there. Why not sacrifice some thickness for performance, larger battery, and a quality display (AT LEAST 1080p)? It would destroy the MBP and is the reason I haven't yet upgraded from my T61.

 

The X1C screen is actually pretty good. Decent viewing angles, good black levels (600:1 contrast) and it even has good colors because it covers sRGB. Unlike my X220 IPS which shows the most horrible colors I've ever seen.

@OP

If your father in-law likes the X300 so much, why not get a 1,6GHz X301? The newer architecture and at the same time higher CPU clock give it quite a boost compared to the X300. If you add 8GB of RAM (very cheap thanks to DDR3) and a fast SSD like the Crucial C300, you'll basically have a faster and better X300. My X301 can keep up easily with my X220.