The recommended retail price of the X1 is R15,000 – likely to raise a few eyebrows for a device with no optical drive, very limited hardware customisability and a touchpad from hell.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 has a backlit keyboard, edge-to-edge gorilla glass screen, the infamous click touchpad, and high-fidelity Dolby sound, and it has some serious processing chops. Its standard battery, however, is unimpressive.

Sturdy construction; Gorilla glass is scratch-proof; Backlit keyboard; Great typing experience; HDMI and DisplayPort; Fast 2.5-inch HDD; Standard Voltage processors only; An excellent mix of wireless technologies; Dolby sound is worthy of entertainment laptop

No Anti-glare screen available; Standard battery alone doesn't crank out enough battery life; Hefty for an ultraportable without an optical drive

With its consumer focused IdeaPad U310, Lenovo showed that it ‘got' the Ultrabook segment and impressed us with a solid, powerful and distinctive Ultrabook with great battery life and an even greater value at around $600.

The X1 Carbon that Lenovo shipped out for review is likely the fastest Ultrabook yet. The Broadwell Core i7 is certainly a step ahead of the other devices we have tested, and the included PCIe SSD is basically the fastest drive offered today.

Lenovo has rolled out a variety of business-chic ThinkPad laptops over the past few months, as well as the wonderfully flexible Yoga 2 Pro . We've reviewed several of the company's devices in recent times, including the T440s , the X240 , and the ThinkPad Yoga.

In case you didn't notice, the ports on the left side of the X1 are hidden behind a rubber door. Words simply can't express how much I dislike that particular design element. I know that Lenovo's engineers put the rubber door on the notebook to keep the edge of the notebook "clean" on that side, but...

Thin design with lots of ports; Excellent performance; Bright screen with Gorilla Glass

Integrated battery; Glossy screen; Annoying touchpad issue

Starting at $1,899.00 without an SSD, the top ThinkPad X1 Carbon carries with it a decent price jump from its $1,329.00 entry level variant. With a faster CPU, higher resolution screen offering touch capabilities and more RAM, it comes as little surprise.

It's easy to fall in love with the ThinkPad X1, and we haven't been able to escape its charms. Everything from its ultra-thin magnesium-alloy frame to its smooth rubberised shell and its contoured keys oozes class and sophistication.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is coming very soon, and the base model will cost $1399 – I did say it was an expensive machine, right If you want better specs, you'll have to pay $1499 and up to $1849 depending on the configuration.