ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 vs Gen 2.

I have started using the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2 as my main work laptop this week, and have officially retired my ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 for backup purpose. So far this is what i feel are the major positives of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2 vs Gen 1.
Positives:
-Better TrackPad
The quality of the Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 1 trackpad is a definitively a plus compared to the old ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2. The surface finish of the ThinkPad Carbon Gen 2 is smooth, compared to the rough rubberised surface of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1. Also, the trackpad left and right click is more precise, and is not as loud as the ThinkPad Yoga, which is the main convertible tablet i use nowadays.
-Build Quality
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 that i got had some build quality issues, especially in the screen area and the TrackPad. Also, the overall fit and finish of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 is lot worse than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2. I have to say that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2 fit and finish is top notch, it is the only ThinkPad that i can compare to the Macbook Air 13 that i got one year ago (yes i do have Macbook laptop).
Surface coating on the X1 Carbon Gen 2 is anodised hard layer over Magnesium Alloy for the main body chassis (i think the screen cover is CFRP, but i am not sure), rather than the more typical rubberised layer of the older ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1.
Palmrest on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2 also resists fingerprint and palm print rather well, even if your palm sweats heavily.
-Ports
The Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2 definitely has an advantage over the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1, with its generous selection of ports. There are:
- full sized HDMI 1.4 port
-Mini DisplayPort 1.2
-Specialised Gigabit ethernet port (adapter included)
-USB 3.0 x 2.
-One Link Port
On the older ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1, i had to rely on the USB 3.0 for docking and ethernet needs.
-Screen
The WQHD IPS (there is also the 1600x900 resolution version which is same as old ThinkPad X1 Carbon) on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2 is simply superb, as there is no ghosting, contrast is great, and the viewing angle is superb too. The touch screen version of the screen has a gorilla glass type cover, which is protected by a matte plastic protector, while the non touch screen version uses has a matte surface, and it has better outdoor usability or under strong external lighting.
I highly recommend the WQHD screen for anyone whom wants a great viewing experience.
-Upgradability
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon has an internal 80 mm M.2 NGFF slot for the storage, and there is also a separate M.2 42 mm slot for the WWAN card (rumored to be able to be used as a secondary M.2 42mm slot), with an additional half height miniPCIe for the wireless card.
Obviously, there are also some flaws with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 2.
Keyboard
The new keyboard placement does take a few day to get use to, especially if you frequently use other laptops. I frequently press on the delete ubtton when i try to press Backspace button.
Also, i have a habit of pressing Ctrl + Space bar for backlight, since the Fn button is no longer next to the Ctrl and now resides as a touch strip key 6th row.
Personally, i wished that the physical Fn key stays as a physical button next to the Ctrl button on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and use that to switch the touch strip function, rather than moving the Fn button to the 6th row.
The touch strip Fn row is pretty nifty idea, but i think one can use a 7th row for the touch screen, and keep the old 6th Function row.
TrackPoint
Personally i think the old TrackPoint physical buttons are better, the TrackPad integrated button for the TrackPoint still has to evolve a bit in the current guise to be true direct replacement for the old physical buttons in terms of usability. Ergonomics are just not there when compared to the old ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 TrackPoints' button.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

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>What if you try the Windows 7 driver available on Intel's website here?
I tried that, Windows 10 wont replace it's own driver. (Windows has
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Lets make 2015 the year of the #DO
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Good day.
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Solved!
Go to Solution.

Fauxlution:
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Hi, masonade
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If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution!" This will help the rest of the community with similar issues identify the verified solution and benefit from it.

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I have the same card and had exactly the same problem.
Go back into device manager, right click, select 'properties'
Under the 'power management' tab un-tick the 'Allow the computer to tun off this device to save power'.
Restart the computer.
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In device manager, right click, select 'properties'
Under the 'Advanced' tab find 'U-APSD' in the list and 'disable' it
Also find 'HT Mode' in the list and set it to 'HT Mode'
Restart the computer
This problem left me literally without a laptop for a month as I sent it back to base for 'repair' and rendered it unusable for a couple of weeks before and a week after this 'repair' while I troubleshooted the problem myself. I hope this helps and good luck!

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Hi, kuelderrek
Could you possibly go into Event Viewer and look at the Windows Logs, and then take a screenshot of these logs and post them here? I'd also recommend making sure all the drivers for your system are up to date, just to make sure they are not causing any issues. You can find all the drivers for your system here.
Best,
Adam
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ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 1 vs Gen 2.

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