Sometimes, manufacturers get a few things wrong while launching a product and have to do something about it later. Case in point, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon – it was a great Ultrabook which had good performance and better build and design. The only problem, then, was this was a Windows 8 supporting device that offered to be a workhorse, without a touchscreen display. Now, at a time when every manufacturer was rushing to get a Windows 8 optimised device (read touchscreen) out in the market, Lenovo came out without any.

The unit we received back then was shipped with the top-end variant of Windows 7, but Windows 8 was already available. So you can understand why we were so critical – we are not huge fans of sticking to old technology when new, better and more efficient technology is already available.

But we have stopped harping on that ever since Lenovo finally got the touchscreen variant of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

When you look at it, it is just the same old Carbon. The innards, too, are just the same and the same specs lineup has been continued. There have been no changes in terms of processing power or memory – you still get the option of 3{+r}{+d} Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, and a memory option between 4GB and 8GB. So it’s still got the same performance that we were impressed with.

But now we have new reasons to be impressed with. In spite of adding a new touchscreen display, the device’s weight has gone up by only about a hundred grams. The width, however, remains the same. And that’s quite commendable as most manufacturers blame a touchscreen display for the bulk.

The new 10-point multi-touch display is as bright as ever, but we would’ve loved it if it had gotten a full 1080p HD resolution, instead of the 1600x900 pixel display that it also had on the old Carbon. The matte anti-glare coating reduces reflection and glare dramatically, and while this laptop is positioned mainly towards enterprise users, we could watch a few good movies too. While we appreciate Lenovo’s effort in keeping the form factor as sensibly compact as possible, we did wish the bezel had a bit more width on the sides for efficient swiping.

Augmenting the uber comfortable and responsive keyboard now is a glass trackpad that supports Windows 8 gestures. Combined with the responsive click buttons, navigating through Windows 8 was quite the experience on X1 Carbon Touch.

So now that most of us have moved on to Windows 8 and accepted that the gestures on touchscreen are as much a part of our lives as is social networking, the Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch makes a lot of sense. It has been already established the Ivy Bridge platform on this laptop delivers performance that can handle both personal and enterprise level computing. Now that the Carbon has been updated with the latest touch and gesture technology, it is indeed one of the best Ultrabooks that money can buy.

$ 1,429 onwards

Love – Screen is brilliant with responsive touch

Hate – Resolution has not been updated

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