x1 4th Generation with Windows 7 or 5th generation with Windows 10 - which to buy?

[mirc]

I can buy either a carbon x1 4th Generation with Windows 7 or 5th generation with Windows 10 for the same price. I generally would go with the newer machine however I really like Window 7 and have heard iffy things about the windows 10 interface. Is there much of a difference between 4th and 5th generation? What would you do?

Thanks!

[mirc]

These are the specs for the 5th generation:
Processor : Intel Core i5-7200U Processor (3MB Cache, up to 3.1Ghz)
Operating System : Windows 10 Home 64
Operating System Language : Windows 10 Home 64 English
Display : 14.0" FHD (1920x1080) IPS Anti-Glare Non-Touch
Memory : 8GB LPDDR3 1866
Graphics : Intel HD Graphics 620
Body Color : Black
Keyboard : ThinkPad Backlit Keyboard English with Finger Print Reader and C-cover, Black
Security Features : Integrated Fingerprint Reader
TPM Setting : Hardware dTPM2.0 Enabled
Camera : 720p HD Camera with MIC
Security Chip : Hardware dTPM
Hard Drive : 128GB Solid State Drive, SATA3
Pointing Device : UltraNav (TrackPoint and ClickPad)
Battery : 3cell Battery 57Wh
Power Cord : 65W AC Adapter (2pin) - US (USB Type C)
Wireless : Intel Dual Band Wireless AC(2x2) 8265, Bluetooth Version 4.1
Integrated Wireless Antenna : WLAN antenna
Display Panel : 14.0" FHD (1920x1080) IPS, Anti-Glare, non-Touch, 720p HD Camera, Black

These for the 4th:
Processor : Intel Core i5-6200U Processor (3MB Cache, up to 2.80GHz)
Operating System : Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 10 Pro
Operating System Language : Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 10 Pro English
Recovery Media : Windows 10 Pro 64 Coupon Worldwide
Display : 14.0 FHD(1920x1080) IPS Non-Touch
Memory : 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM 1866MHz
Graphics : Intel HD Graphics 520
Keyboard : Keyboard Backlit - English
Security Features : Integrated Fingerprint Reader
TPM Setting : Hardware dTPM Enabled
Camera : 720p HD Camera with Microphone
Security Chip : Software TPM & Hardware dTPM
Hard Drive : 180GB Solid State Drive, SATA3 OPAL2.0 - Capable
Pointing Device : UltraNav (TrackPoint and ClickPad)
Battery : 4 Cell Li-Polymer Battery 52Wh
Power Cord : 65W AC Adapter - US(2pin)
Wireless : Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260, 2x2, Bluetooth 4.1, no vPro
WWAN selection : WWAN
Integrated Mobile Broadband : Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Display Panel : 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS,No Touch,No WiGig,WWAN

[w0qj]

Have fun deciding

We are using X1C4 (Generation-4, circa 2016) on Win7 Pro, bought it before the X1C5 (Gen-5, circa 2017) came out.
We plan to use Win7 Pro on our X1C4 until its support ends in the year 2020.

If you plan to use only Windows and not Linux, then your choice essentially boils down to this:
~X1C5 for its "future proof" USB-C ports (not so sure about USB-C charging using other branded USB-C adapters). Slightly faster faster CPU which supports 4k video (you need to double check on this part). Same max 1 TB SSD storage, same max 16 GB RAM.

~X1C4 for its Windows 7 support (last model to support this). Supports Linux. No USB-C ports.


X1C5 - from what we have read, differences to X1C4:
~Top tier 1 TB SSD PCIe-NVMe has OPAL 2.0 support (supports full disk encryption). [X1C4 has 1 TB but no OPAL 2.0 support]
~Intel HD Graphics 620 supports 4k video, we think. [X1C4 does not support 4k video--as if you really need this]
~New: USB-C (USB 3.1) ports and USB-C charging. X1C5 using USB-C charging is slightly slower than X1C4, but nothing to worry about.
~Does X1C5 comes with Windows 10 Pro Signature Edition?? If this is true, you may have trouble installing Linux onto this machine. [X1C4 supports Linux]

X1C4 - differences to X1C5:
~Windows 7 support!
~Supports Linux.
Note: If you plan to use Windows 7 on your X1C4, we strongly advise you to buy the X1C4 with Win7 downgrade rights directly from Lenovo. We bought ours from a dealer with close links to Lenovo, and they ended up making a custom made Product Recovery disk set just for us!!
Reason? Apparently the X1C4 made in the 2nd half of 2016 had fingerprint readers which were incompatible with Win7 (no Win7 drivers at the time). Therefore in the country where we bought our X1C4, X1C4 made in 1st half of 2016 supports Win7. X1C4 made in the 2nd half of 2016 does not support Win7 !

[brchan]

X1C5 IMO. W10 is not as bad as most people make it out to be. I still prefer linux, but W10 offers better productivity and security over W7. For example, the addition of virtual desktops can really save a lot of time and keep you organized. Also the slight increase in hardware speed is always welcome.

[w0qj]

mirc, your X1C5 you mentioned is Win10 Home, which does not support the Hyper-V (Virtual Machine).
(Hyper-V requires Win10 Pro).

On the other hand, X1C4 you mentioned had Win7 Pro which has Virtual-PC (Virtual Machine).
I think you can still upgrade your X1C4's Win7 Pro to Win10 Pro, which would assure you of Win10 Pro's Hyper-V (Virtual Machine) capability.

Yet another wrinkle for you to consider.

[wpyh]

~Does X1C5 comes with Windows 10 Pro Signature Edition?? If this is true, you may have trouble installing Linux onto this machine. [X1C4 supports Linux]

Apparently, the X1C5 does support Linux: https://askubuntu.com/questions/906785/ ... untu-17-04