Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon available August 21, starts at $1,399

Back in May while announcing a wave of notebook updates that embraced Intel’s third-generation Ivy Bridge processors, Lenovo also gave us a first look at their upcoming ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Now the Chinese firm is finally offering a specific release date along with pricing details for what they claim is the “lightest 14-inch Ultrabook in the world: it’ll be available from August  21 starting at $1,399.

Aimed at business users looking for an ultra-portable yet capable machine, the new ThinkPad X1 features a lightweight form factor constructed from carbon fiber materials, bringing the total weight to around 3 pounds. It also flaunts a sleek profile measuring just 18.8 millimeters thick at its thickest point.

The base $1,399 model includes a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 128GB of solid-state storage and 4GB of RAM (up to 8GB supported). Additionally there are three other pre-configured options: a $1,499 model that upgrades the processor to a 1.8GHz Core i5-3427U, a $1,649 variant that doubles storage with a 256GB SSD, and the range topping model with a 2.0GHz Core i7-3667U and a 256GB SSD for $1,849.

All of them offer a 14-inch, 1,600 x 900 anti-glare display and a decent array of ports, including one mini DisplayPort, a couple of USB ports (only one is 3.0), a 4-in-1 SD card reader,  and Ethernet via a USB dongle in order to keep the thin profile. Other features include a backlit chiclet-style keyboard, a large trackpad, up to 6.3 hours of battery life, optional 3G, 720p HD webcam with face tracking and a fingerprint reader.