ネタ | machii-little道場 | コンピュータ | まにあ道

As you pull it from your bag, your fingers first encounter the fine, fabric-like texture of the lid. It lacks the coldness of metal or the slickness of plastic; the carbon-fiber surface has a dry, matte feel—reminiscent of a smooth, weathered black stone. It weighs 1.13 kilograms (officially 1.133 kg). For the first half-hour of carrying it over one shoulder, it’s as if it isn’t even there; only after a long while do you vaguely sense the presence of a slim, hardcover book inside your bag.

Opening the lid, I rest my wrists on the palm rest. Crafted from magnesium alloy, it transmits a distinct, cool sensation—a stark contrast to the tempered, neutral feel of the carbon-fiber lid. There is a clear "zoning" logic to this machine: what you see is black, where you rest your hands is cool, and where your fingers strike—it’s soft.

The keyboard is the most unavoidable topic when discussing the Gen 9. While the key travel remains 1.5mm—the same as the previous generation—the keycaps are lower, and the keyboard layout no longer spans the full width of the deck. As I typed my first few lines, the feedback proved difficult to categorize simply as "good" or "bad." It isn’t "mushy"—it doesn’t feel like sinking into wet ground—nor is it "crisp" in the way a mechanical switch might offer a sharp, audible snap. Instead, it feels like pressing down on a thin, highly resilient piece of rubber: your fingertip lands, receives a brief, almost perfunctory "uh-huh," and is immediately pushed back up. Some reviews suggest that this generation’s keyboard has "taken a step backward," feeling even softer than that of the Gen 7. Yet, in my experience, this softness doesn't equate to a lack of precision; it’s simply that the "firmness" characteristic of classic ThinkPad keyboards has been stripped away, replaced by something lighter and less demanding. It doesn’t cause fatigue during long typing sessions, but it also doesn’t offer any particular tactile pleasure while you type. One user mentioned that their spacebar had been squeaking since day one—specifically on the right side. My own unit is quiet for now, but every time my thumb presses down, that comment comes to mind.

The port selection is the least "2021-like" aspect of this machine. It features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, and an HDMI 2.0 port. In a café, you don’t need any adapters; you can plug in a flash drive or an external monitor directly—you can even put that old Ethernet adapter you dug out of your bag to good use. The design doesn’t force you into an "all-USB-C" world just to shave off a fraction of a millimeter in thickness. This pragmatic approach feels remarkably—almost unreasonably—sensible on a laptop that weighs just over a kilogram: since it’s already so light, why compromise on connectivity?

The display has a 16:10 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1920×1200 and a matte finish. The extra vertical space—enough for a couple of additional lines of text—sits there unobtrusively; you might not notice it consciously, but if you switch back to a 16:9 screen, it suddenly feels as though the top and bottom have been chopped off. The matte finish is a lifesaver in a café with overhead lighting—there’s no glare, the edges of the text remain crisp, and while the brightness isn’t blinding, it’s perfectly adequate. A 4K version would certainly look better, but it would come at the cost of battery life; some users on forums have remarked that this machine "doesn't feel like an all-day laptop." On my FHD model, after running on battery power for a while, I still have a bit more than 50% charge left. The fan occasionally lets out a soft sigh from underneath—it’s not loud, but you can definitely hear it working.

The fan on the Gen 9 model is far more sensitive than its predecessor. Users who have owned both the Gen 8 and Gen 9 versions note that the Gen 8’s fan rarely spins up, whereas the Gen 9’s fan kicks in "the moment you open even a simple program." My unit behaves the same way: open a few web pages, and it takes a gentle breath, starts spinning, and then quietly winds down again just as you’ve forgotten it was even running. Under load, the noise becomes noticeable; reviews indicate it can reach around 45dB at full speed. It’s not the kind of racket that drives you out of the room, but it does shatter the illusion of silence that the machine maintains during light use. When you spend over 10,000 yuan on a one-kilogram ThinkPad, part of what you’re paying for is that sense of unobtrusiveness—a promise that the device won’t disturb you. The Gen 9’s fan, however, serves as an occasional reminder that such tranquility doesn’t come for free.

The "red dot" (TrackPoint) remains, nestled between the G, H, and B keys—a bit faded in its redness, perhaps, but positioned exactly where it has always been. A nudge with your thumb sends the cursor gliding across the screen, all without ever needing to lift your hands from the keyboard. I used it to scroll through a document; the motion was so fluid and natural that I didn’t even realize I was doing it. This is the most stubborn aspect of the ThinkPad: it offers no justification for its continued existence—it simply persists.

Before closing the lid, I ran my fingers over a corner of the top cover. The carbon fiber texture felt subtle beneath my fingertips, much like fine-grit sandpaper with a perfectly uniform grain. This machine is far from characterless. Its personality is woven into the short, slightly soft rebound of the keyboard keys, the sudden, audible surge of the fan, and the stubborn refusal to ditch the USB-A port—even though it easily could have. It knows exactly what it’s meant for; within that scope, it provides everything it should, while—with no attempt to hide it—omitting everything it deems unnecessary.

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