t480 (non-S) VS X1 Carbon

[BrownZeus]

Hey guys,

 

Getting myself a shiny new device, either a t480, or an X1 Carbon.

I'm looking at the price-point for the Core i7 with 8GBs RAM, 256GB SSD.

 

Lots of stores have these computers for around $1500.

Personally, I don't care about thickness. I'd happily carry the extra pound for more durability.

 

I'm leaning more towards the T480, cause repairabilty is better meaning longevity of this investment is likely to be better.

 

So, thickness of the T480 and the soldered RAM of the X1 aside.

 

Why pick one over the other?

[LukeSavenije]

@GeneXiS_X another one for you. 

[genexis_x]

4 hours ago, BrownZeus said:

either a t480, or an X1 Carbon

Only limited to these 2 models?

 

I need more info: Where are you from? Usage? Any preference on weight, display size, display quality and battery life? Any other requirements?

[zhubaohi]

You can't go wrong with either of these.

X1 carbon does have soldered ram, but it doesn't mean the longevity is better. It means, and only means you cannot upgrade the ram in the future. RAM doesn't really become defective alone, so having non-soldered RAM doesn't really mean the longevity of the machine will be better.

T480 has better upgradability, means that you are able to buy the lowest spec machine and upgrade it yourself. It also comes with a mx150, which allow you to play some games.

X1 carbon has a better screen, better portability (it is a really thin device), and a full-speed thunderbolt 3 port means that you can hop a eGPU for desktop performance.

In conclusion, T480= cheaper, heavier with more RAM and storage. X1carbon=thinner, better screen with eGPU capability. Me personally loves eGPU(plus the price of eGPU is much lower than before), so I bought the x1carbon. Being able to use an eGPU also means the machine will lasts longer, since the 4 real core CPU is not likely gonna be outdated in the near future.

 

[BrownZeus]

12 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Only limited to these 2 models?

 

I need more info: Where are you from? Usage? Any preference on weight, display size, display quality and battery life? Any other requirements?

I like these two models specifically, doesn't really have the unnecessary to me bells and whistles of say the P series, more durable than an E-series, and I don't need any of the features of the yoga line.

 

All things considered an X1 and T480 are expensive for my use case, but I don't mind spending the money for the durability and quality.

 

I'm beginning work as a Software Engineer, and though I'm expecting to doing SOME heavy stuff, I'm not expecting to be doing it often. I'm also expecting to be traveling quite often, I'm happy to take on extra weight if it mean's the thing can stand to be tossed around a little bit. My soon to be employer recommended a core i7 device with 8 gigs of ram, and I know there are cheaper i7 8Gbs machines to go with, but I've been swearing by used ThinkPad models for the last 8 years or so (x230, x240, Yoga 12), and I would like to get myself a brand-new one as a graduation gift to myself cause 5 years crying over my keyboard is finally over. So there's my insistence on a Thinkpad explained, I know there are more affordable options for what I'm going to be doing.

 

Your advice will be much appreciated.

 

4 hours ago, zhubaohi said:

You can't go wrong with either of these.

X1 carbon does have soldered ram, but it doesn't mean the longevity is better. It means, and only means you cannot upgrade the ram in the future. RAM doesn't really become defective alone, so having non-soldered RAM doesn't really mean the longevity of the machine will be better.

T480 has better upgradability, means that you are able to buy the lowest spec machine and upgrade it yourself. It also comes with a mx150, which allow you to play some games.

X1 carbon has a better screen, better portability (it is a really thin device), and a full-speed thunderbolt 3 port means that you can hop a eGPU for desktop performance.

In conclusion, T480= cheaper, heavier with more RAM and storage. X1carbon=thinner, better screen with eGPU capability. Me personally loves eGPU(plus the price of eGPU is much lower than before), so I bought the x1carbon. Being able to use an eGPU also means the machine will lasts longer, since the 4 real core CPU is not likely gonna be outdated in the near future.

 

We're on the same thought level, however the screen thing doesn't matter much to me, I'm not one to be a stickler about screen quality, but none-the-less the T480 model I'm looking at has a 1080p anti-glare screen. 

 

Regarding your eGPU point, it is a good detail/arguement for the general case. But for my specific uses, not a relevant detail, I have a desktop rig for home and I'm not much of a mobil gamer.

 

None

[genexis_x]

11 hours ago, BrownZeus said:

Your advice will be much appreciated.

Sorry but you didn't answer my question:

On 12/2/2018 at 12:57 PM, GeneXiS_X said:

Where are you from? Usage? Any preference on weight, display size, display quality and battery life? Any other requirements?

[zhubaohi]

20 hours ago, BrownZeus said:

Regarding your eGPU point, it is a good detail/arguement for the general case. But for my specific uses, not a relevant detail, I have a desktop rig for home and I'm not much of a mobil gamer.

 

eGPU is not for everyone, I get it. I'm traveling between 2 countries so eGPU is a good solution for me. I do own a desktop PC, but whenever I'm on the go, I grab the GPU on my desktop and bring that with me.

 

Still, T480 and X1carbon are all decent machines. If you want more RAM, go for T480. If not, go for X1carbon.

T480s is also a decent option tho, with ram upgradability and decent portability. Could be the solution if you cannot decide which on to buy.

 

I'm curious tho, why aren't you posting a week earlier? Right now the black friday deal is already off.

[BrownZeus]

9 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Sorry but you didn't answer my question:

I'm from NY, usage will be for Software Engineer/Development with potential for running VM sandboxes (according to projections of my workload from my recruiter). I'd like to keep the device's footprint small but usable, I think 14inches is a good sweet spot, especially with the centered trackpad and all, I don't need the 10 key pad. Display quality doesn't matter to me, I'm going to be primarily looking at code and graphs. As long as I can see everything I'm good. No other requirments other than repairability (I used to work in PC repair and after my accidental damage protection and warranties run out I wanna be able to repair everything myself without shipping to a depot)

 

43 minutes ago, zhubaohi said:

eGPU is not for everyone, I get it. I'm traveling between 2 countries so eGPU is a good solution for me. I do own a desktop PC, but whenever I'm on the go, I grab the GPU on my desktop and bring that with me.

 

Still, T480 and X1carbon are all decent machines. If you want more RAM, go for T480. If not, go for X1carbon.

T480s is also a decent option tho, with ram upgradability and decent portability. Could be the solution if you cannot decide which on to buy.

 

I'm curious tho, why aren't you posting a week earlier? Right now the black friday deal is already off.

I received, accepted and signed my 2-year contract the day I posted this haha. Saw my annual income and thought "Treat yourself". 

I have some friends at Costco and Best Buy who are managers who can get me some decent discounts, not as good as Black Friday or Cyber monday, but enough of a discount for me to be happy.

[KuJoe]

I own and love my X1 Carbon (I think it's the 2016 model). It's overkill for my needs but the mobility is a so nice compared to my old 10" netbooks that I also loved, but were heavy and didn't have any performance to them. Now after telling you how much I enjoy my X1... I strongly suggest you go with the T480 for your needs. The X1 is nice as an Ultrabook, it can do more but it's one of those "set it and forget it" devices, you can swap out the M.2 drive I think but that's about it. In terms of IO it's enough, but you'll probably want more if you're using it for work a lot. I would tell you to get the X1 if the other option wasn't a Lenovo because the keyboards and trackpads are magnificent... but I've been told this is the same across all Lenovo devices so there's no real benefit going with the X1 if weight/size aren't a concern.

[zhubaohi]

19 hours ago, BrownZeus said:

 

I have some friends at Costco and Best Buy who are managers who can get me some decent discounts, not as good as Black Friday or Cyber monday, but enough of a discount for me to be happy.

Just in case you don't know, with the ecoupon THINK12DAYS, you can still get 35% off on every T and X series machine on Lenovo official website.

This deal is avaliable until next week, if your friends' discount is not as good as this, act fast.

[Jrasero]

On 12/1/2018 at 7:33 PM, BrownZeus said:

Hey guys,

 

Getting myself a shiny new device, either a t480, or an X1 Carbon.

I'm looking at the price-point for the Core i7 with 8GBs RAM, 256GB SSD.

 

Lots of stores have these computers for around $1500.

Personally, I don't care about thickness. I'd happily carry the extra pound for more durability.

 

I'm leaning more towards the T480, cause repairabilty is better meaning longevity of this investment is likely to be better.

 

So, thickness of the T480 and the soldered RAM of the X1 aside.

 

Why pick one over the other?

Funny my brother just had this same dilemma but he was more looking at the T480S vs X1.  Either way I would ask yourself what are your expectations?  Do you really think you will keep this beyond 3 years, thus will actually crack it open to upgrade the RAM and HD.  Will you really carry around a spare battery for the T480?  Do you even need the extra battery life?  Honestly having owned a X1 I would without a doubt go for that as long as you want a thinner and lighter device.  I believe the sale is over but it probably will run again but at Costco X1 i7, 16GB, 512HD, 1080P screen was going for $1350.    

[BrownZeus]

Hey all so I just went ahead and bit on the T480. Thank you for your inputs, and I have 90 days to return this and swap it for something else, so I'd definitely let you all know how this goes.

11 hours ago, zhubaohi said:

Just in case you don't know, with the ecoupon THINK12DAYS, you can still get 35% off on every T and X series machine on Lenovo official website.

This deal is avaliable until next week, if your friends' discount is not as good as this, act fast.

 

24 minutes ago, Jrasero said:

Funny my brother just had this same dilemma but he was more looking at the T480S vs X1.  Either way I would ask yourself what are your expectations?  Do you really think you will keep this beyond 3 years, thus will actually crack it open to upgrade the RAM and HD.  Will you really carry around a spare battery for the T480?  Do you even need the extra battery life?  Honestly having owned a X1 I would without a doubt go for that as long as you want a thinner and lighter device.  I believe the sale is over but it probably will run again but at Costco X1 i7, 16GB, 512HD, 1080P screen was going for $1350.    

I wound up paying $1300 for i7, 8GB Ram, 256gb SSD + SquareTrade protection + tax at Costco.

I'm planning on upgrading my W10 Home that comes from the factory with a W10 Pro key that came with one of my aforementioned used thinkpads that I never used, cause Bitlocker is a feature that I like/want.

 

Jrasero, my expectations are listed in one of my replies above, but to summarize, durability, longevity, repairability are expected of the device itself, and for use expectations, long hours, potentially away from a power source, so I'd rather be able to swap a battery in rather than use a 65w USB-C PD portable battery on the go. I'd be doing different things in the realm of software development/engineering so the machine would be hosting several localhost servers, as well running a few VMs, and as I stated previously I know there are more affordable machines with an i7 and 8 gigs of ram that can accomplish these things  and everything else I will be doing, but again, I've been swearing by Thinkpads since I was in highschool. I'll happily pay for the added quality. Also I'm a clumsy so the +n amount of falls the T480 can take over the X1 is a benefit for me lol. I expect to keep this until it absolutely can't perform its expected functions anymore. So a good while. So i do see myself upgrading and tweaking whatever I can.

 

I'll have the machine today, it is currently waiting for me at pickup. 

Again thank you all for the input

[BrownZeus]

So the removable battery isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Turns out Lenovo changed the drain order settings in the background sometime ago. The hotswap functionality is next to non-existent now. Lenovo's power management system favors whatever battery it deems is overall healthier. For my system it seems to be favoring the internal battery first, which is useless for hotswap.

 

My concern is that SOME people are reporting that their favored battery drains to 0 and then their device will die, the switch doesn't happen. That hasn't been my experience YET. My favored battery switches to secondary after primary gets to 5%.

 

Not asking for tech support, just reporting my day one findings.

 

The device overall still is great, if the battery switchover gets the symptom where it goes to 0% and fails to switch, I'd disable the internal battery and bite on the bigger battery thats available. So far I love the machine, sucks about the hotswap though. Time to see if my repairability insistence was worth it.