Tech bytes for tea?

I brought the ThinkPad X1 Carbon along when I went on vacation in Japan in December. Why? Because it was light and slim and promised a long battery life. It did not disappoint. RRP: starts from S$2,349.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the ideal fit for the mobile warrior.

Launched back in August as part of the ThinkPad’s 20th anniversary celebrations, the X1 Carbon was the world’s lightest Ultrabook at the time, and still is one of the thinnest and lightest around today (331x226x18.85 mm).

Slim & svelte is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook.

The X1 Carbon weighs less than three pounds, or 1.36kg – that’s less than a 1.5l soft drink bottle – thanks to its carbon fibre construction.

The Ultrabook withstood the physical rigours that we put it through lugging it from place to place.

The X1 Carbon boasted up to 8.2 hours of battery life and one of the best charge times in the industry, with rapid recharge up to 80% battery life in 35 minutes.

Indeed, the battery never once run out on me before I could hit a hotel to recharge, and the recharge was indeed rapid – wall power outlets can be much sought after when you have loads of other electrical devices to recharge at the end of a day.

The unit that I had did not come with 3G, so I had to connect using Wi-Fi most of the time. I didn’t need 3G anyway since I wasn’t data-roaming overseas.

I like the backlit keyboard so I can type in dim light without straining my eyes to locate the infrequently-used keys.

A special hinging mechanism allows the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook to be laid completely flat on the table.

The multi-gesture glass surface touchpad  also made it easy to get by without having to connect a mouse.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook

Video conferencing with family and friends at home was a breeze, with the HD face-tracking camera, dual array microphones and Dolby-tuned audio.

In its effort to stay slim and light, I/O ports are limited.

There’re no VGA or HDMI ports, so I can’t plug into my external monitor at home without buying an optional cable for the mini display port.

There’s also no Ethernet ports. You might think nobody needs that since most hotels come with Wi-Fi. Well some of the hotels we stayed in only had wired Internet connections in the room and no Wi-Fi.

So I had to pop down to Best Denki in Kumamoto to buy a Logitec Elecom mobile wireless access point to broadcast the broadband access to the X1 Carbon, smartphones and tablet.