The best business Ultrabook just got even better. Today, Lenovo announced the immediate availability of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, an update to the industry-leading X1 Carbon that features a 14-inch capacitive touch screen with support for 10-finger touch.
Other than its new touch screen, the $1,399 notebook is identical to the original ThinkPad X1 Carbon we reviewed in August, with a glass touch pad, a backlit keyboard, an SSD and low power Intel 3rd generation Core i5 or Core i7 CPU. Though not now has touch, the display remains a bright 1600 x 900 resolution. However, the touch screen apparently adds .4 pounds to the X1 Carbon's weight, bringing its total heft up to 3.4 pounds from 3 pounds on the original.
With Windows 8's touch-friendly interface, spending a little bit extra to get a touch screen will make sense for a lot of notebook users who want to take advantage of everything the new OS has to offer. In recent months, we've seen vendors such as Samsung and Acer also include touch screens on traditional notebooks. The original X1 Carbon currently starts at $1,249 on Lenovo.com so the delta is around $150 for touch, though Lenovo.com frequently offers products at lower than their MSRP.
Lenovo also announced that the company will be offering an optional slim AC adapter for the X1 Carbon Touch and X1 Carbon. The company claims that the lighter adapter will weigh 53 percent less than the default power brick, lightening the load users must carry.
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