There are a lot of light laptops out there. A lot. So, claiming that you’ve invented the lightest laptop on the planet is a huge deal. It’s also a claim that a company should be ready to stand behind. Lenovo, creators of the ThinkPad, has created a laptop that they claim is the lightest on earth. Is it? Weighing in at just three pounds, it is, indeed, the lightest laptop on the current market. It is also a ThinkPad, ultrabook, and anything else you want to call it. Side note: did you know that Intel coined the term “ultrabook”? Alright, back to the new Lenovo.

This laptop, called the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, is not just light. It’s pretty too. And, it has a lot going for it under the casing. If you travel a lot or just want something that won’t weigh you down, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon might be the laptop for you. Here are the dirty details.




ThinkPad X1 Carbon Selections

Lenovo has created four different Carbons to choose from. The most expensive model retails for $1849, and comes with a Core i7 CPU and a 256GB solid-state drive. Down a notch from that Carbon is the $1649 model equipped with a Core i5 and a 256 GB solid-state drive. The $1499 model comes with a Core i5 and a 3G broadband antenna. Lastly, the $1399 version has a Core i5 and 128GB solid-state drive. As you can see, the prices on these laptops range greatly from $1399 to almost $2000, but so do the components.

All of these laptops are wrapped up in cool matte black carbon and have a nice tapered design. You’ll also find that Lenovo’s keyboard is surprisingly not clunky for a laptop that’s so small. One additional feature is that these laptops can almost lay flat, which would be useful if you want to share what’s on-screen with a number of people at once.

Graphics and Display

For the price of the new ThinkPad’s Lenovo hasn’t equipped these super light laptops with great graphics cards. Then again, most people who are using a ThinkPad aren’t looking for the best gaming laptop in the world. That said, Lenovo has added an Intel HD 4000 graphic card to all of the Carbon selections. Again, this isn’t the best graphics card in the world, but it will get the job done. What really matters here is the display, since people who are using the ThinkPad for business purposes will likely care more about the overall display than the graphics card.

Display-wise, Lenovo had gotten it right. There are 13-15-inch options available, and all of these displays have a nice matte finish. If you’re not familiar with matte (for some reason, only available on ThinkPads, it seems) screens, these screens are much easier to see than glossy screens when using a laptop in the sun. Colors show up on the Carbons nice and bright, and text doesn’t appear too scrunched up when looking at the 13-inch option. If you’re looking for a solid laptop to travel with that won’t weigh you down and gets the job done, Lenovo’s Carbon line is well worth looking into. After all, these are the lightest laptops on earth.