Lenovo reveals updated ThinkPad X1 Carbon and 8.3-inch tablet

When Stewart Wilson got his hands on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, he absolutely loved it. At this year’s CES, Lenovo has announced that the X1 Carbon and X1 Carbon Touch laptops are getting an upgrade. Still featuring an 14-inch display and still thin as ever, the new X1 Carbon includes better viewing angles and better battery life.

The X1 Carbon is its lightest ultrabook to date – weighing only 2.8 pounds – and, as its name suggests, is made out of carbon fibre. The laptop will include a 4th-generation Intel Core processor, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage with an SSD drive, and support for its OneLink connector – which couples power, Gigabit Ethernet and dual monitor support in one port.

It also comes with an “adaptive keyboard”, which Lenovo says will dynamically raise the most relevant keys depending on the application. Battery life is said to be nine hours, up from 6.3 hours in the last generation.

Lenovo has also announced a new Windows tablet – and its a pure tablet, not one of those convertible laptops. Called the ThinkPad 8, it is an 8.3-inch tablet with an Intel quad-core processor and runs on Windows 8.1. Because it runs the full version of Windows, not the RT version, you can even use this as a full PC by simply connecting an additional monitor and a keyboard.

Other internal specs include a 2GB of RAM, up to 128GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and optional 4G LTE support. Battery life is reported to be eight hours.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and the touchscreen equivalent X1 Carbon Touch, will have a starting at US$1299. The ThinkPad 8, on the other hand, will start at US$399. All three will be available in the US in late January. No word on Australian availability and pricing for both.