Lisa, how is display scaling on windows laptops now? I want to upgrade to a 4k display, but i feel like windows scaling might back fire lol, and make me regret my purchase??
Is this laptop also God for casual current gaming and Adobe software use? Compared to acer nitro 5 which one should I buy if I have heavy use of Adobe and want to play current gen and some old games casually?
About a year and a half ago, We paid "Top Money" for Lenovo's "flagship" laptop "ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2" In the last 2 weeks the battery swollen and damaged the motherboard, keyboard and mouse pad (all bend and may have cracks) Now, warranty is 3 year, but the battery is only 1 year ... that's ok .. we will buy a new battery. Lenovo cancelling this repair case, is a disgrace not taking responsibility for poor laptop design. I can assure you that this is my last Lenovo laptop, same for our company ... by the way, it an amazing egg cooker dissipating so much heat you can't put it on your knees ...
@@elenchus I say go for it but make it black or titanium Apple and dell were behind Sony with aluminum, and apple does not have ports, or a good keyboard, or pointer, or any upgradeable ssd, or ram, or display options like 4k touch or oled. But apple does have a great track pad and great speakers up top. Two things I wish Lenovo will copy. Soon they will thin their bezels to get to 16 inches like Dell did with their xps 14" that were 13" models
Business user now on my 18th ThinkPad. I've owned them since day one when the first Intel i3 was released; even have a ThinkPad *quad core* Intel i3. All of those eighteen models run continually; doing items such as World Community Grid and other such projects. Never had one single ThinkPad fail; which states a lot considering how long they have been around.
I purchased this laptop a few weeks after its release and for the most part I’m really happy. It’s really quiet, very powerful and the display is beautiful on the UHD IPS non-touch display. I only have two gripes. The battery life isn’t that great. I’m only really getting about 4-5 hours of use (with full brightness) doing basic tasks (word processing, internet, mail, etc.) and the power brick isn’t the most portable in design (it’s split in two pieces with the cord and brick separated). Overall, I would highly recommend this laptop. I was able to get it with a teacher discount and on sale (with a 3-year on-site warranty) for $2900. Specs: i7-9850H, 32gb memory, 1TB drive.
Excellent video Lisa, thanks so much for sharing! My brother is in the market for a business laptop as he is a top IT specialist & programmer. I shared this video with him, I’m sure he’ll be delighted with the information that you shared. Until next time...thank you Lisa!
Got the Gen 2 with the 9750 and 32gigs of ram with the 4k OLED touch. Really loved this thing. Undervolted CPU -150 & Graphics -80 seems like battery runtime went up & fans are definitely a little more silent - was really loud at the beginning i was shocked, the bios update may have dun some fixes too tho. Great review as usual btw! :-)
Hi Im considerung to get that one too. But Im not quite sure about the oled option. There are some reviewers who say that the flickering/PWM of the oled bothers them or that its not comfortable to look at white backgrounds. Hows your experience with the panel? Also how much batterylife to you get out of it?
Does undervolting the graphics as well make a difference? I have only undervolted cpu before but I can see you can do it in the same intel tuning utility app
@@fzst-ub5xf The OLED is absolutely amazing. I'm very sensitive to bad screens, and I haven't had an issue with this one. The only problem is that it's too bright on max 😉
Since many consider Thinkpads to be a great Linux laptop and I recently purchased and have gone through whats required to get Linux up and running on the X1 Extreme Gen2 I thought I'd give a few pointers to anyone considering doing it. As with any hardware when you go to the latest and greatest, unless you are happy to do a bit of work, you need to give the technology a while to settle in before putting Linux on it. Below is a guide based on my experience for those wanting to do it right now that are willing to persevere, it requires some skill to implement. I'm personally running KDE Neon (Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS) with the OLED version. YMMV, I expect by the time 20.04 comes out a many of the problems I mention below will be resolved. WiFi: Out of the box WiFi wont work on older releases because the kernel is older than the WiFi card used. I believe its fixed 19.10 onwards but if you are using an older version like me the easiest way to solve it is to install the HWE (hardware enablement) stack. Sleep: This was the big nasty for me. If you close the lid or put the laptop to sleep from the menu it either wont resume or will resume with no display. This is due to a problem with the deep sleep mode and I think the graphics drivers. To solve this simply change to light sleep mode by using the kernel option and set it to s2idle instead of deep. The side effect of this is you can't leave it asleep for days without power. NVidia/Intel graphics switching : I had mixed success with this. I think with a bit of perseverance you could get it working but since I don't play games the best thing I found was to disable the nVidia card by setting the remove flag in /sys/bus/pci/ on login (this is basically because you can't disable the card in the BIOS). This gave me vastly more battery life and works perfectly. Personally I'd like to see Lenovo offer more laptops without additional graphics cards as Intel cards are very capable these days and unless you play games additional cards are totally unnecessary. OLED: Interestingly enough I've had very little issues with either fractional HiDPI scaling (KDE Neon has this sorted) or the OLED itself. The only thing you will notice is when using the Intel graphics the screen is full brightness and the controls don't work. What I did was write a couple of scripts which make use of the xrandr brightness option and mapped then to the various power modes and keys using the KDE control panel options. Thunderbolt: I don't personally like Thunderbolt as I think its a fundamentally bad idea for security reasons so I've just disabled it. Apologies but I can't offer advice on how to get this working or even if it works. I will say though there's been a lot of BIOS issues (some even resulting in bricking!) and Linux issues around this so I imagine it might be a rough ride (but I don't know). Summary: Overall under Linux this is an awesome laptop with very good battery life (despite being OLED) but as of today (November 2019) getting it working is certainly not for the feint hearted. If you have some Linux experience and are not afraid of the command line though, once you set it up its sweet. I expect by the time 20.04 comes out we will be in a much better state.
oled screen they sent me suck.. with tons of small black dots.. you can see it when near and weird stuff.. i have the yoga oled and while it had other defect (dark gamma broken and color artefact) the screen is 100x better... dont listen to anybody who say that screen is good.. they tried to make it touch, mate and 15" but fucked up.. in the process.. we dont want touchlayer that create a haze over the screen and same with mate crap ..
@@lextr3110 sounds like you've had some bad luck, mine looks great. Although I do agree it's annoying having to buy it with touch which I didn't want either.
@@DanielBull dont you have color haze when moving your head? and when you are near dont you see small black dots ?? im waiting for replacment so will see
The dell XPS 15 7590's fans were so darn loud from even light work such as having a couple of word docs open and some internet tabs (no video) open. Many times after closing all the programs and closing the lid of the laptop there would be sudden loud fan noises for a couple of seconds then slow down. It drove me nuts in just 2 weeks of having that laptop. I returned it and bought a Thinkpad X1 Extreme Gen. Waiting for it to arrive to try out its features.
Thinkpad x1 Extreme Gen 2 and P1 Gen 2 has key press missing problem. Some keys are randomly missing even when you are sure you do press the button down. Better buy it after this problem is solved, or you may own an expensive laptop that can't even do normal word processing well.
@@raisingbarssince1978 LOL 😂apparently yes. so i was looking for a review on youtube for this specific product (it wasnt popular so I had a hard time finding reviews) and I came across this channel. I really liked the way she reviewed stuff so I subscribed her immediately! but yea that was itttttt im sorryyy 😭😭
Yasss Great Video! You're one of the few that displays the carbon fiber weave on the upgraded display option. You've confirmed my decision to buy this bad boy.
Have a Gen 1 X1 extreme. Love the laptop, but we have held off purchasing anymore for our company due to the fans bring obnoxiously loud and seem to be quite aggressive to kick on when docked, just doing light work. Seems to be a wide reported issue with the Gen 1's. Did you notice if the fan noise was any better on this generation?
@@astrocslopes863 yes, undervolted -120 if I recall correctly. Also turned off the Lenovo position detect for cooling, lowered power plan off max performance, laptop kept on stand for airflow, and on latest bios. If I had to suspect, it seems to be that the cooling solution for the i7 Nvidia combo is not adequate, and once the gpu starts to get under load, the fans are struggling to keep up. Some people have reported better results after a cpu repaste and removing fan mesh inside the case, but those are steps that one should not have to take with a new laptop at this price bracket.
@@Corey_T I have had the new ThinkPad gen 2 for around two months. For the most part, fans do not come on during light work, although every now and again they randomly ramp up when I am looking at chrome. This issue has happened way less frequently than when I first got it (bios updates etc). I do not own a thunderbolt dock so can't test if this changes anything. Undervolting -130 made a big difference for me also.
Went with the X1 Extreme Gen 2 because it has the smart card reader and fingerprint reader. Plus it's easier to upgrade vs the HP. This will be my first Lenovo computer so I am excited and nervous so we'll see what all the rave is about. I've pretty much been a Dell or HP kinda guy most of my life. If HP had offered the CAC card and fingerprint reader I probably would have bought that instead. I generally like how HP makes it easy to restore and reset to factory settings the laptop.
The best channel for laptop reviews, but I recently was thinking that even though the companies offer you the top-of-the-line models to review, you should also ask for a model that is most likely to be bought. I'd love to be able to buy the top-spec models, but that's not going to happen, so please review (instead or in addition) models mere mortals will be considering. Thanks!
.....The laptop I still use in 2019 is called the 2007 Lenovo ThinkPad X61s and works flawlessly as a Swiss watch, with an installed ... win 10 system, for which they post video on my channel.
I'm not even looking to buy a laptop right now but my friend sent me this cos he wants to buy it and I love your review format so much that I kinda just wanna watch more of your laptop reviews 😂
Would love to hear your thoughts on the Gen 3 and if you're making a review for it anytime soon? Also, do you know why MacBook Pro's have no issue putting four thunderbolt ports and even the highest-end Windows laptops struggle to just put one? Finally do you think waiting on a Gen 4 or 11th Gen Intel chip is the way to go? Seems like Thunderbolt 4 and potentially 5G WWAN card is a pretty compelling case.
would probably be wiser to wait on AMD chips. The Gen3 doesn't add much to the table that would really make a noticable difference. The Gen2 can be had for like 500-600 bucks less than their Gen 3 equivalents. 10g less weight, moderate performance bump on the processor with boost increase from 4.5GHz to 5GHz single core (measurable but most likely not noticeable unless you export video), a noticeable memory speed bump (2666 vs 3200) and a little bit stronger dedicated GPU (1650 maxQ vs 1650Ti maxQ) and a 100nits bump on the 4k IPS panel. To me, this is not enough to justify the premium. Looking at pricing right now, a Gen2 i7, 16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4k IPS configuration costs about as much as a Gen 3 i5 (no dedicated GPU), 16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4k IPS. I'm also not sure wether you can undervolt the Gen3 chips as well as the Gen2 chips which WILL reduce heat and therefore thermal throttling.
@@Oleg__ i for example hate numeric keyboards on laptops. But thats just me. I like centered keyboards like on t530 or newer x1 extreme. I have normal x1 and I have hard time typing on t570 keyboard :)
@@tadejsadar7033 So, what is the point of your message? To show, that you are not power user because you don't need numeric keyboard? Or because the fact you don't need numeric keyboard automatically makes X1 Extreme the best laptop? Why I have to know that you don't need numeric keyboard?
Lisa, Why is it that I find your voice very ASMR-ish? This is one of the reasons why I love watching your videos. Of course, aside from the great content and information, your videos provide.
Just for info, you can have 8TB on your Lenovo Thinkpad Extreme, by using 2 4TB ssd's. I am assuming the bios allows it. For about $1200, instead of $2200 like Apple charges, and you can put the base amount in an external drives, Apple keeps it for themselves.
The P1 and X1 are the best in the thinkpad professional line up. Version 1,2 seems to be the best whilst version 3 is not so good.Both these laptops suffer from short battery life in common with all high end workstations. However version three is not recommended as it is not fully upgrade able a must for the corporate world. Lenovo has he opportunity to produce what every professional wants A AMD processor Micro IPS display Fully upgradeable hardware Linux operating system Reasonable price. If I wanted a soldered on ram or wifi card I would buy a cheap chineese microsoft ultrabook.
Hey guys super excited tonight I’m installing the RAM and SSD kits to my X1 and finally unboxing it. My X1 Extreme Gen 2 (Total Price $2300 CAD, $1770 US) UHD Screen I7-9750H 256 SSD Stock 1 TB SSD 970 EVO Samsung $200 8gb Ram Stock 32gb Ram by Samsung $200 CAD Fingerprint Backlight Win Pro. 1 Year Warranty. I bought Black Friday
Need to upgrade from my 2015 Macbook Air. Been thinking about getting this one hence been watching this review for couple of times already. Any chance for comparison smackdown between this one and the new 16 inch Macbook Pro? Thanks Lisa!
Performance-wise they are both very similar. Lenovo has the advantage in terms of the 4k Display, better keyboard and an assortment of IO, but looses to the Macbook in terms of Speakers, Battery life and trackpad. I have the first gen of this model and the trackpad is mediocre at best, the speakers are surprisingly terrible.
I’m an engineering student and I do use cad but it’s light cading, the school’s computers graphic card are Quadro P400, should I pay 350$ more for a lenovo P1 gen 2 Quadro T1000 or 350$ less for a xps 15 gtx 1650 ?
I'm not an engineer do can't say precisely. But thinking as a data scientist, I would just get the GTX one. Quadros are more optimised for CAD acceleration, but by not that much. And it's actually worse off for other tasks, including machine learning and gaming. CAD still works somewhat (don't quote me on this though, not an engineer) on Geforce cards and your still be able to test and develop on it. And perhaps just for the final testing and such, you could use your uni's computers that run Quadro cards to finalise them. That's what I'd do if I were you. Or you'd be much better off spending the extra $350 on the RTX cards than Quadro cards. Quadro cards are really overkill, even as a workstation. Unless the work is sensitive and need to be on the edge all the time like in hospitals or something, or when the corporations themselves sponsor it's purchase, you don't need it.
Wished screen is oled 144hz+, GTX 2060, 100 watt battery, front firing speakers, great thermals with 5g. This would be the complete laptop. Already has Great keyboard, upgradeability and looks professional. A man can dream.
Nice review as always. Maybe could have gone over the upgradeability even more thoroughly since that is one of the selling points. Specially the SSD for anyone considering upgrading or adding a second M.2 nvme drive. You have to make sure to get single sided SSD drives (other side totally flat pcb only) as those are the only ones that fit officially. I found this out the hard way while trying to move my old drive from P50 to my new P1 Gen2 (same build as the X1). I've seen some people force double sided drives into the slot and report that they work but the drive will clearly be bent and don't know if it works for long.
I'd have liked to see a review of the OLED version. I've always loved Thinkpads but I can't get past the poor battery life of these OLED laptops. I was hoping to see some improvement but I think I'll stick with the LG Gram 17 for the time being.
X1E/P1 is lighter than XPS and similar machines. Lenovo makes a power bank which gives you 2-4 hours of extra battery life. With the power bank, it'll weight the same as XPS. The OLED on this machine is absolutely stunning. It's not really glossy.
I guess Thinkpad X1 and P series could be the best workstation and business laptops for data science...I had thought about Macbook pro but they want to drop Windows Bootcamp (ARM core version comes soon) even after dropping supports for Nivida CUDA chips. These make me choose Thinkpad over Macbook pros.
Another great review! After seeing the review of the ThinkPad P53, I wish they'd put the guts of this into the P53 chassis and go up to RTX 2080 graphics. C'mon, really put the Extreme in the name!
@@treffermedia9202 doesnt feel cheap at all, yes sharp lol but i wouldnt say cheap. some tight fits on it that are expensive to keep consistent. also a thicker sheet than really necessary especially on the top, for rigidity, which others lack
@@bradhaines3142 had the aero 15 two times in my hand in the store.... was 100% sure that this will be my new machine.... for me the plastic above the keyboard with the tiny holes and the plastic cover around the ports killed this machine for me :( I was so sad... usually I am all about specs, was surprised that it had this effect on me. I might go for the xps 15 with the sucking thermals... hopefully the xps 7500 will have better thermals...-..
Super dissapointed with gen 1 of this. After a year of very light usage, the motherboard already failed and after replacement I'm getting constant wifi disconnects. There's also some electricity noise coming from under the keyboard and the screen hinge started sqeeking. I'd sell it but at this point it has barely any value. I guess it's time to go back to Mac book, after they released the 16'' pro.
Interesting...Iam experiencing the same problem with the continous wifi disconnects. First i thought it may be the wifi 6 thing cuz I´ve experienced the same with the new Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED..
@@frozenhacks401 lol the random aggression. Maybe their side business uses a computer pretty heavily though, so could be a business investment... but anyway, yeah, fuck you Loppy2345
It's pretty funny: probably all models of Lenovo laptops will be reviewed before I finally see the review of the only Lenovo laptop that interests me: ThinkPad T590. Well, better late than never. I hope this review comes out sooner or later.
XPS user here, I would go for the thinkpad any other day because the driver support on the XPS laptops right now are absolutely terrible and dell refuses to change them, i've had my laptop for the past year and dell hasn't done anything to fix any of the issues
Interesting - aside from the ports and a larger battery it's very similarly spec'ed to the upcoming C940 15". Lenovo are catering well to both the ThinkPad and Yoga camps lately!
I use an egpu (Akitio Node and 2070 SC) with a P52 and as long as I disable the quadro before connecting, it works just fine. The only downside is if I undock and want to use the quadro to game offsite, I have to basically re-install the quadro drivers. But meh. Thats more to do with quadro vs gaming drivers, not so much Lenovo. I am picking up one of these at work as my daily driver in the office. Nice to hear it uses the proper charger.
also, is the aluminum X1 Yoga worth waiting for to show up on other ThinkPads? I'm not a fan of carbon fiber or other plastic-y feeling materials that Lenovo has been using on them compared to a MacBook.
Since the colour accuracy of the 4k screen appears to be so much better than that of the FHD, am I wrong to think that this makes the 4k display essential for anyone using their laptop for photo/video editing? For someone who doesn't care much about the difference in the internal specs, is the "matte" 4k display really worth the price jump between the gen 1 and gen 2? Also, did you miss the rubbery finish? The new look, looks... cheap?
Can you please review the latest Aero 15 OLED from Gigabyte? I know CUK-USA has them in stock. I'm mainly concerned about battery life and fan-noise with the OLED panel
youtube decided to show me your videos again. i had almost forgotten what real reviews looked like.
Lisa, how is display scaling on windows laptops now? I want to upgrade to a 4k display, but i feel like windows scaling might back fire lol, and make me regret my purchase??
@@JitinMisra if you care about battery life, dont.
Is this laptop also God for casual current gaming and Adobe software use? Compared to acer nitro 5 which one should I buy if I have heavy use of Adobe and want to play current gen and some old games casually?
About a year and a half ago, We paid "Top Money" for Lenovo's "flagship" laptop "ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2"
In the last 2 weeks the battery swollen and damaged the motherboard, keyboard and mouse pad (all bend and may have cracks)
Now, warranty is 3 year, but the battery is only 1 year ... that's ok .. we will buy a new battery.
Lenovo cancelling this repair case, is a disgrace not taking responsibility for poor laptop design.
I can assure you that this is my last Lenovo laptop, same for our company ... by the way, it an amazing egg cooker dissipating so much heat you can't put it on your knees ...
She went straight to the business with out wasting any time and footage, this is how a review should be. Subscribed !
She's always been like that, she's a great reviewer
X2
I just recently stumbled across this channel and am amazed that upgradability/user accessible parts are pointed out.
99% of users never upgrade laptop.
@@imho4990 maybe but if you have a ram laying around, you'd want to use that to save money
@@imho4990 also if you are a video editor, the ssd will fill up very quickly
@@TheRIZKYRAMA I'm video editor and I'm always use external huge drive. I need many TB. SSD inside laptop does't matter at all.
@@imho4990 but we do like to have options, no?
One of the best designed PRO laptops, ports and options, and upgradeability to the extreme, not as sealed and locked down as some.
I wish Lenovo redesigned that ugly ThinkPad text on the lid. It's just unsightly and takes away from the clean, minimalist look.
@@nachiketdhende8681 I like the Thinkpad, but I don't like the X1 logo. Also, we need the old RGB logo from IBM.
I actually would like an all metal design.
@@Tigerex966 Lenovo/Thinkpad is starting to offer them, but I think we have to be careful to avoid the XPS' Macbook-knockoff perception
@@elenchus I say go for it but make it black or titanium
Apple and dell were behind Sony with aluminum, and apple does not have ports, or a good keyboard, or pointer, or any upgradeable ssd, or ram, or display options like 4k touch or oled.
But apple does have a great track pad and great speakers up top.
Two things I wish Lenovo will copy.
Soon they will thin their bezels to get to 16 inches like Dell did with their xps 14" that were 13" models
Business user now on my 18th ThinkPad. I've owned them since day one when the first Intel i3 was released; even have a ThinkPad *quad core* Intel i3.
All of those eighteen models run continually; doing items such as World Community Grid and other such projects.
Never had one single ThinkPad fail; which states a lot considering how long they have been around.
This is by far the absolute best actual review I've seen in years with real data and knowledge. Bravo
One of my favorite tech youtubers :). Professional, organized and unbiased
Please recommend other tech youtubers. I love Lisa's reviews. Thanks.
Hi X1E owner :), do this X1E touchpad issue happen to you? ua-cam.com/video/wL_6wgGgbIA/v-deo.html
i just bought this laptop, mainly because of your review. thank you
I am a simple man, I see MobileTechReview ThinkPad review video, I click.
The best laptop review I have ever watched. Wow
I purchased this laptop a few weeks after its release and for the most part I’m really happy. It’s really quiet, very powerful and the display is beautiful on the UHD IPS non-touch display. I only have two gripes. The battery life isn’t that great. I’m only really getting about 4-5 hours of use (with full brightness) doing basic tasks (word processing, internet, mail, etc.) and the power brick isn’t the most portable in design (it’s split in two pieces with the cord and brick separated). Overall, I would highly recommend this laptop. I was able to get it with a teacher discount and on sale (with a 3-year on-site warranty) for $2900. Specs: i7-9850H, 32gb memory, 1TB drive.
Best laptop reviews on UA-cam right here! Thanks Lisa!
Excellent video Lisa, thanks so much for sharing! My brother is in the market for a business laptop as he is a top IT specialist & programmer. I shared this video with him, I’m sure he’ll be delighted with the information that you shared.
Until next time...thank you Lisa!
After using this for over 2 months now, I can say this is definitely an amazing laptop for 2019.
do you get scared of heat issues when playing games?
@@dinothunder629 Not really much of a gamer. Using linux on my setup. But for other ML tasks, runs like a champ!
@@AkashSharma02 Did you face any annoying fan noises like many do?
Yes. It seems to have fan issues, but undervolting the CPU keeps it contained
Did you face the Thunderbolt issue that happens on most of the Thinkpads early this year?
T Shirt Queen 👑
fr
Yay, Lenovo stuff! Can't wait till you do the C940! Interested to see how it turns out! Love your shirt, too! Awesome review, as always!
RAIL GUNNNNN!!!!!
I still cant wait for the 730 15" review.
I had unsubscribed, since I was not looking for any technology. But subscribed again. The only straightforward reviews on UA-cam
Got the Gen 2 with the 9750 and 32gigs of ram with the 4k OLED touch. Really loved this thing. Undervolted CPU -150 & Graphics -80 seems like battery runtime went up & fans are definitely a little more silent - was really loud at the beginning i was shocked, the bios update may have dun some fixes too tho.
Great review as usual btw! :-)
Can you run a cinebench r20 and geekbench on your build please ? I'm very curious on the performance after undervolt
Hi Im considerung to get that one too. But Im not quite sure about the oled option.
There are some reviewers who say that the flickering/PWM of the oled bothers them or that its not comfortable to look at white backgrounds. Hows your experience with the panel?
Also how much batterylife to you get out of it?
Does undervolting the graphics as well make a difference? I have only undervolted cpu before but I can see you can do it in the same intel tuning utility app
@@fzst-ub5xf
The OLED is absolutely amazing. I'm very sensitive to bad screens, and I haven't had an issue with this one. The only problem is that it's too bright on max 😉
@@ThomasRBA Thx for the answer. So no problems looking at whites dor long periods of time?
How is the batterylife?
I just ordered one, based largely on your reviews. i9, 32GB, 1TB, 4k touch.
another awesome top and a great, detailed review!
I would like to see a metal version with the xps battery size. and razor's vapor chamber.
this is a business laptop lol
Since many consider Thinkpads to be a great Linux laptop and I recently purchased and have gone through whats required to get Linux up and running on the X1 Extreme Gen2 I thought I'd give a few pointers to anyone considering doing it. As with any hardware when you go to the latest and greatest, unless you are happy to do a bit of work, you need to give the technology a while to settle in before putting Linux on it. Below is a guide based on my experience for those wanting to do it right now that are willing to persevere, it requires some skill to implement.
I'm personally running KDE Neon (Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS) with the OLED version. YMMV, I expect by the time 20.04 comes out a many of the problems I mention below will be resolved.
WiFi:
Out of the box WiFi wont work on older releases because the kernel is older than the WiFi card used. I believe its fixed 19.10 onwards but if you are using an older version like me the easiest way to solve it is to install the HWE (hardware enablement) stack.
Sleep:
This was the big nasty for me. If you close the lid or put the laptop to sleep from the menu it either wont resume or will resume with no display. This is due to a problem with the deep sleep mode and I think the graphics drivers. To solve this simply change to light sleep mode by using the kernel option and set it to s2idle instead of deep. The side effect of this is you can't leave it asleep for days without power.
NVidia/Intel graphics switching :
I had mixed success with this. I think with a bit of perseverance you could get it working but since I don't play games the best thing I found was to disable the nVidia card by setting the remove flag in /sys/bus/pci/ on login (this is basically because you can't disable the card in the BIOS). This gave me vastly more battery life and works perfectly. Personally I'd like to see Lenovo offer more laptops without additional graphics cards as Intel cards are very capable these days and unless you play games additional cards are totally unnecessary.
OLED:
Interestingly enough I've had very little issues with either fractional HiDPI scaling (KDE Neon has this sorted) or the OLED itself. The only thing you will notice is when using the Intel graphics the screen is full brightness and the controls don't work. What I did was write a couple of scripts which make use of the xrandr brightness option and mapped then to the various power modes and keys using the KDE control panel options.
Thunderbolt:
I don't personally like Thunderbolt as I think its a fundamentally bad idea for security reasons so I've just disabled it. Apologies but I can't offer advice on how to get this working or even if it works. I will say though there's been a lot of BIOS issues (some even resulting in bricking!) and Linux issues around this so I imagine it might be a rough ride (but I don't know).
Summary:
Overall under Linux this is an awesome laptop with very good battery life (despite being OLED) but as of today (November 2019) getting it working is certainly not for the feint hearted. If you have some Linux experience and are not afraid of the command line though, once you set it up its sweet. I expect by the time 20.04 comes out we will be in a much better state.
oled screen they sent me suck.. with tons of small black dots.. you can see it when near and weird stuff.. i have the yoga oled and while it had other defect (dark gamma broken and color artefact) the screen is 100x better... dont listen to anybody who say that screen is good..
they tried to make it touch, mate and 15" but fucked up.. in the process.. we dont want touchlayer that create a haze over the screen and same with mate crap ..
@@lextr3110 sounds like you've had some bad luck, mine looks great. Although I do agree it's annoying having to buy it with touch which I didn't want either.
@@DanielBull dont you have color haze when moving your head? and when you are near dont you see small black dots ?? im waiting for replacment so will see
@@lextr3110 not that I've noticed?
are you sure? near you dont have any problem with the screen? everybody on the forum say its all of the screen that have these defects
The dell XPS 15 7590's fans were so darn loud from even light work such as having a couple of word docs open and some internet tabs (no video) open. Many times after closing all the programs and closing the lid of the laptop there would be sudden loud fan noises for a couple of seconds then slow down. It drove me nuts in just 2 weeks of having that laptop. I returned it and bought a Thinkpad X1 Extreme Gen. Waiting for it to arrive to try out its features.
I can't wait to graduate. Gonna treat myself with one of these puppies.
I might do the same bud!
always find myself going back to Lisa's Videos. Always informative and straight to the points! Thank you
Still rocking the T480 thanks to your awesome sauce review.
Your reviews are always spot on. Thank you.
This review such an efficient use of time - thank you!
Lisa you do the best reviews. Thank you. I just ordered the P1.
This channel is underrated. 👍🏻
If it was a 2 in 1, I would have definitely buy an OLED panel. I went the Yoga X1 gen 4 way at the end. 😊
Have been waiting long for this review. Thank you, Lisa
great review!! so hard to find a review as helpful as this these days
Thinkpad x1 Extreme Gen 2 and P1 Gen 2 has key press missing problem. Some keys are randomly missing even when you are sure you do press the button down. Better buy it after this problem is solved, or you may own an expensive laptop that can't even do normal word processing well.
Very good quality review. I applaud the presentation style. Straight to the point and informative.
Exellent reviews, one of the most thourough yet easily understandable reviewers out there. Subscribed.
wow I first subscribed to you when you had about 4k subs... this is impressive..!!!! I hope your channel grows even more!
Wow, you're one of the earliest subs- thanks for watching over the years!
But! Does your excitement and surprise mean you never checked back after subscribing... blasphemous!
@@raisingbarssince1978 LOL 😂apparently yes. so i was looking for a review on youtube for this specific product (it wasnt popular so I had a hard time finding reviews) and I came across this channel. I really liked the way she reviewed stuff so I subscribed her immediately! but yea that was itttttt im sorryyy 😭😭
@@asj9469 iam sure Lisa will forgive you ;-)
Thanks for your insights on the usb c charging. Surprising how many people overlooked it.
Yasss Great Video! You're one of the few that displays the carbon fiber weave on the upgraded display option. You've confirmed my decision to buy this bad boy.
watching on my Thinkpad X1 extreme gen 1 ^^
How's the battery life? Any issues you find?
Md Rahman I hear that it has an excellent battery. Lenovo claim about 10 hours.
@terakdungdes does it support pen/stylus?
@@kokizzu i believe it does, just like any touchscreen display
@@mdrahman6732 3.5 hrs max on battery.. for what i do, it's not an issue.. yet i believe it would for some..
running 4K display 1.5TB SSD and 48GB RAM
Lisa thanks for providing such great reviews, I have been following this channel for a while and love it.
Hi, Lisa. Great review as always. Could you please be so kind to run LatencyMon to check if DPC latency is still an issue with the latest bios update?
Have a Gen 1 X1 extreme. Love the laptop, but we have held off purchasing anymore for our company due to the fans bring obnoxiously loud and seem to be quite aggressive to kick on when docked, just doing light work. Seems to be a wide reported issue with the Gen 1's. Did you notice if the fan noise was any better on this generation?
Did you try undervolting it?
Deploy newest bios and undervolt. On Linux fans don't kick in unless I start an IDE or a game.
@@astrocslopes863 yes, undervolted -120 if I recall correctly. Also turned off the Lenovo position detect for cooling, lowered power plan off max performance, laptop kept on stand for airflow, and on latest bios. If I had to suspect, it seems to be that the cooling solution for the i7 Nvidia combo is not adequate, and once the gpu starts to get under load, the fans are struggling to keep up. Some people have reported better results after a cpu repaste and removing fan mesh inside the case, but those are steps that one should not have to take with a new laptop at this price bracket.
@@Corey_T I have had the new ThinkPad gen 2 for around two months. For the most part, fans do not come on during light work, although every now and again they randomly ramp up when I am looking at chrome. This issue has happened way less frequently than when I first got it (bios updates etc). I do not own a thunderbolt dock so can't test if this changes anything. Undervolting -130 made a big difference for me also.
Fan-curve is apparently better and adds to a quieter experience on top of better cooling.
Very good review, as always thank you :) Now, this X1 Extreme Gen2 has become my dream laptop. I guess I "have" to make a switch from my old T.
Went with the X1 Extreme Gen 2 because it has the smart card reader and fingerprint reader. Plus it's easier to upgrade vs the HP. This will be my first Lenovo computer so I am excited and nervous so we'll see what all the rave is about. I've pretty much been a Dell or HP kinda guy most of my life. If HP had offered the CAC card and fingerprint reader I probably would have bought that instead. I generally like how HP makes it easy to restore and reset to factory settings the laptop.
The best channel for laptop reviews, but I recently was thinking that even though the companies offer you the top-of-the-line models to review, you should also ask for a model that is most likely to be bought. I'd love to be able to buy the top-spec models, but that's not going to happen, so please review (instead or in addition) models mere mortals will be considering. Thanks!
Wow!! You are so efficient with how you speak! I can tell you know your stuff and put lots of work into the video! Great job.
.....The laptop I still use in 2019 is called the 2007 Lenovo ThinkPad X61s and works flawlessly as a Swiss watch, with an installed ... win 10 system, for which they post video on my channel.
You helped me make some major purchase decisions for college, love your content!
I am strongly considering this over a MBP.
You're really great, very helpful info, hadn't considered the Thinkpad, glad i found your video
Hi X1E owner :), do this X1E touchpad issue happen to you? ua-cam.com/video/wL_6wgGgbIA/v-deo.html
Always enjoy your reviews, everything I need to know about latest laptops... keep up the good job!
omg i waited 3 months for this
Thank god for the 4K IPS option, OLED isn’t ready yet.
I'm not even looking to buy a laptop right now but my friend sent me this cos he wants to buy it and I love your review format so much that I kinda just wanna watch more of your laptop reviews 😂
We Love You Lisa!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Best review channel. I love your videos and the fast and straight delivered informations.
Lisa and Thinkpad, can't get any better than this!
Please do the S740 14in. I love your reviews and I don't think i'm comfortable buying a laptop before seeing your review of it.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the Gen 3 and if you're making a review for it anytime soon? Also, do you know why MacBook Pro's have no issue putting four thunderbolt ports and even the highest-end Windows laptops struggle to just put one? Finally do you think waiting on a Gen 4 or 11th Gen Intel chip is the way to go? Seems like Thunderbolt 4 and potentially 5G WWAN card is a pretty compelling case.
would probably be wiser to wait on AMD chips. The Gen3 doesn't add much to the table that would really make a noticable difference. The Gen2 can be had for like 500-600 bucks less than their Gen 3 equivalents. 10g less weight, moderate performance bump on the processor with boost increase from 4.5GHz to 5GHz single core (measurable but most likely not noticeable unless you export video), a noticeable memory speed bump (2666 vs 3200) and a little bit stronger dedicated GPU (1650 maxQ vs 1650Ti maxQ) and a 100nits bump on the 4k IPS panel. To me, this is not enough to justify the premium. Looking at pricing right now, a Gen2 i7, 16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4k IPS configuration costs about as much as a Gen 3 i5 (no dedicated GPU), 16GB, 512GB NVMe, 4k IPS.
I'm also not sure wether you can undervolt the Gen3 chips as well as the Gen2 chips which WILL reduce heat and therefore thermal throttling.
I wish more writers knew of the amazingness of a ThinkPad keyboard.
The best laptop in 2019. Period.
For you yes, for me no. For me the best laptop is Lenovo ThinkPad T590, because the numeric keypad is an absolute MUST for me.
How? This might of been the best laptop in, idk, 2010.
@@Oleg__ i for example hate numeric keyboards on laptops. But thats just me. I like centered keyboards like on t530 or newer x1 extreme. I have normal x1 and I have hard time typing on t570 keyboard :)
@@tadejsadar7033 So, what is the point of your message? To show, that you are not power user because you don't need numeric keyboard? Or because the fact you don't need numeric keyboard automatically makes X1 Extreme the best laptop? Why I have to know that you don't need numeric keyboard?
P1 and X1 are the kings.
Lisa, Why is it that I find your voice very ASMR-ish? This is one of the reasons why I love watching your videos. Of course, aside from the great content and information, your videos provide.
Was not sure if I should bite the bullet and spend my money on the Thinkpad, now I am, so thanks for the straightforward review
Just for info, you can have 8TB on your Lenovo Thinkpad Extreme, by using 2 4TB ssd's.
I am assuming the bios allows it.
For about $1200, instead of $2200 like Apple charges, and you can put the base amount in an external drives, Apple keeps it for themselves.
Still experience 80C throttle here on a DEC2019 unit. Its only on battery but still......
This is it, the perfect laptop for my editing needs!
The P1 and X1 are the best in the thinkpad professional line up. Version 1,2 seems to be the best whilst version 3 is not so good.Both these laptops suffer from short battery life in common with all high end workstations. However version three is not recommended as it is not fully upgrade able a must for the corporate world.
Lenovo has he opportunity to produce what every professional wants
A AMD processor
Micro IPS display
Fully upgradeable hardware
Linux operating system
Reasonable price.
If I wanted a soldered on ram or wifi card I would buy a cheap chineese microsoft ultrabook.
I find you and your videos more persuasive to watch than some of the creators with Millions of Subs.
Lisa review the Lenovo C940! Please , you have the best reviews hands down.
03:18 398 nits, thanks for measuring. I have only 265 nits with same 4K IPS... so sent it back. (But by the way 1000:1 contrast)
Would you please review the yoga c940 ice lake with 4k display..
Hey guys super excited tonight I’m installing the RAM and SSD kits to my X1 and finally unboxing it.
My X1 Extreme Gen 2 (Total Price $2300 CAD, $1770 US)
UHD Screen
I7-9750H
256 SSD Stock
1 TB SSD 970 EVO Samsung $200
8gb Ram Stock
32gb Ram by Samsung $200 CAD
Fingerprint
Backlight
Win Pro.
1 Year Warranty.
I bought Black Friday
I believe the ram is soldered to the motherboard on the x1e so you can't upgrade it
Thanks Lisa for your reviews!
The carbon fibre weave pattern on the lid is only available on the 4K display model.
Need to upgrade from my 2015 Macbook Air. Been thinking about getting this one hence been watching this review for couple of times already. Any chance for comparison smackdown between this one and the new 16 inch Macbook Pro? Thanks Lisa!
Do you know how colour accurate the 1080p model is? I'm considering getting it for photo editing
I would also like to know this
for photo editing you should get the 4K display
I am curious how it compares to the redesigned 16inch Macbook
Performance-wise they are both very similar. Lenovo has the advantage in terms of the 4k Display, better keyboard and an assortment of IO, but looses to the Macbook in terms of Speakers, Battery life and trackpad. I have the first gen of this model and the trackpad is mediocre at best, the speakers are surprisingly terrible.
I’m an engineering student and I do use cad but it’s light cading, the school’s computers graphic card are Quadro P400, should I pay 350$ more for a lenovo P1 gen 2 Quadro T1000 or 350$ less for a xps 15 gtx 1650 ?
I'm not an engineer do can't say precisely. But thinking as a data scientist, I would just get the GTX one. Quadros are more optimised for CAD acceleration, but by not that much. And it's actually worse off for other tasks, including machine learning and gaming. CAD still works somewhat (don't quote me on this though, not an engineer) on Geforce cards and your still be able to test and develop on it. And perhaps just for the final testing and such, you could use your uni's computers that run Quadro cards to finalise them. That's what I'd do if I were you. Or you'd be much better off spending the extra $350 on the RTX cards than Quadro cards. Quadro cards are really overkill, even as a workstation. Unless the work is sensitive and need to be on the edge all the time like in hospitals or something, or when the corporations themselves sponsor it's purchase, you don't need it.
Great review. Nice machine. Would be great if more focus could have been spent on the battery (real vs technical spec battery time, etc)
Really tempted by this. Any idea if there's a WWan upgrade option? Will one fit in the socket provided?
Wished screen is oled 144hz+, GTX 2060, 100 watt battery, front firing speakers, great thermals with 5g. This would be the complete laptop.
Already has Great keyboard, upgradeability and looks professional.
A man can dream.
Nice review as always. Maybe could have gone over the upgradeability even more thoroughly since that is one of the selling points. Specially the SSD for anyone considering upgrading or adding a second M.2 nvme drive. You have to make sure to get single sided SSD drives (other side totally flat pcb only) as those are the only ones that fit officially. I found this out the hard way while trying to move my old drive from P50 to my new P1 Gen2 (same build as the X1). I've seen some people force double sided drives into the slot and report that they work but the drive will clearly be bent and don't know if it works for long.
So FHD would be about 8-9 hours?
I'd have liked to see a review of the OLED version. I've always loved Thinkpads but I can't get past the poor battery life of these OLED laptops. I was hoping to see some improvement but I think I'll stick with the LG Gram 17 for the time being.
X1E/P1 is lighter than XPS and similar machines. Lenovo makes a power bank which gives you 2-4 hours of extra battery life. With the power bank, it'll weight the same as XPS.
The OLED on this machine is absolutely stunning. It's not really glossy.
I'd think it'd have a roughly similar battery life loss to XPS 15 since it's the same panel. Obviously tuned differently but wouldn't differ that much
@@ThomasRBA and touch
@@ThomasRBA lier oled i received SUCK
I guess Thinkpad X1 and P series could be the best workstation and business laptops for data science...I had thought about Macbook pro but they want to drop Windows Bootcamp (ARM core version comes soon) even after dropping supports for Nivida CUDA chips. These make me choose Thinkpad over Macbook pros.
Another great review! After seeing the review of the ThinkPad P53, I wish they'd put the guts of this into the P53 chassis and go up to RTX 2080 graphics. C'mon, really put the Extreme in the name!
using an aero 15x v8 thanks to you and a few other reviews, and still love it. 2 m.2 slots helps just as much as i was afraid of lol.
love the aero 15 specs... the case just feels so sharp and cheap
@@treffermedia9202 doesnt feel cheap at all, yes sharp lol but i wouldnt say cheap. some tight fits on it that are expensive to keep consistent. also a thicker sheet than really necessary especially on the top, for rigidity, which others lack
@@bradhaines3142 had the aero 15 two times in my hand in the store.... was 100% sure that this will be my new machine.... for me the plastic above the keyboard with the tiny holes and the plastic cover around the ports killed this machine for me :( I was so sad... usually I am all about specs, was surprised that it had this effect on me. I might go for the xps 15 with the sucking thermals... hopefully the xps 7500 will have better thermals...-..
@@bradhaines3142 vs
Super dissapointed with gen 1 of this. After a year of very light usage, the motherboard already failed and after replacement I'm getting constant wifi disconnects. There's also some electricity noise coming from under the keyboard and the screen hinge started sqeeking. I'd sell it but at this point it has barely any value. I guess it's time to go back to Mac book, after they released the 16'' pro.
Interesting...Iam experiencing the same problem with the continous wifi disconnects. First i thought it may be the wifi 6 thing cuz I´ve experienced the same with the new Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED..
lisa ur great u deserve more subs!!
When I start making money from my side business, the first thing I'm spending my money on is this baby!
Reinvest into your business u fuck.
How Much this laptop?
@@frozenhacks401 lol the random aggression. Maybe their side business uses a computer pretty heavily though, so could be a business investment... but anyway, yeah, fuck you Loppy2345
It's pretty funny: probably all models of Lenovo laptops will be reviewed before I finally see the review of the only Lenovo laptop that interests me: ThinkPad T590. Well, better late than never. I hope this review comes out sooner or later.
I'm hoping gets us a review loaner.
XPS user here, I would go for the thinkpad any other day because the driver support on the XPS laptops right now are absolutely terrible and dell refuses to change them, i've had my laptop for the past year and dell hasn't done anything to fix any of the issues
Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme (Gen 2) or Thinkpad P1 (Gen 2) in the top end trim?
So could this be a laptop to game on, like triple A titles for the 1080p hdr 400 display
Interesting - aside from the ports and a larger battery it's very similarly spec'ed to the upcoming C940 15". Lenovo are catering well to both the ThinkPad and Yoga camps lately!
I use an egpu (Akitio Node and 2070 SC) with a P52 and as long as I disable the quadro before connecting, it works just fine.
The only downside is if I undock and want to use the quadro to game offsite, I have to basically re-install the quadro drivers. But meh. Thats more to do with quadro vs gaming drivers, not so much Lenovo.
I am picking up one of these at work as my daily driver in the office. Nice to hear it uses the proper charger.
also, is the aluminum X1 Yoga worth waiting for to show up on other ThinkPads? I'm not a fan of carbon fiber or other plastic-y feeling materials that Lenovo has been using on them compared to a MacBook.
Since the colour accuracy of the 4k screen appears to be so much better than that of the FHD, am I wrong to think that this makes the 4k display essential for anyone using their laptop for photo/video editing? For someone who doesn't care much about the difference in the internal specs, is the "matte" 4k display really worth the price jump between the gen 1 and gen 2? Also, did you miss the rubbery finish? The new look, looks... cheap?
We need a review of the Samsung Notebook 7 Force. It could be a alternative to both the XPS and the X1
Can you please review the latest Aero 15 OLED from Gigabyte? I know CUK-USA has them in stock. I'm mainly concerned about battery life and fan-noise with the OLED panel