Have you actually used a 14" laptop with a 1600x900 screen? When I got the X1 Carbon, I was worried that I was giving up a higher resolution screen in order to get a ThinkPad ultrabook. But I've found that even 1600x900 is actually too high a resolution for me, without scaling. For example, I've got HN scaled right now to 125%. A friend of mine has an ASUS ultrabook (the Zenbook Prime UX31A) with a 1080p screen and it was impossible to read anything on it, the text was so tiny.

You can read about my experiences with the X1 Carbon here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4848375

I'm typing on that same laptop right now and loving it.

At the moment I type this from a T410 with 1600x900 resolution. I want better.

T400@1440x900 here, one word: MORE!

I also went to take a look at the X1c in a local store, and I was ready to purchase it. Looking at it, however, I couldn't get over how poor the display really looked. Everything was washed out with light blue. It drove me crazy even in the store.

After going home and doing some research,[1] it became obvious that the screens were mis-calibrated out of the factory.

If you do go with the X1c, make sure you either get a color calibrator or find the color profile ahead of time.

[1]: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Lenovo-ThinkPad-X... (check the display section)