Your Guide to the ThinkPad procut lineup
Tags: Technology, Writing, Tech, Gadgets, Laptops

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Your Guide to ThinkPads

Understanding the vast product lineup and finding what’s best for you

If you’re looking for a new mobile computer, you might have already stumbled over Lenovo’s ThinkPads. You might even have heard about their reputation as “no-nonsense-workhorses”. So maybe, you’re done with the fashionista laptops and you’re ready for something more “down to earth”. A ThinkPad.

But after having a quick look at Lenovo’s website, you’re immediately intimidated with the plethora of ThinkPad models, that don’t differ too much from each other at first gtlance. If you’re so easily swayed to click away and buy just another MacBook instead, this guide is for you!

E, L, T, X, P — what?

The confusing ThinkPad lineup explained. © Scollurio

The naming scheme of Lenovo’s ThinkPad product lineup can truly be confusing. To bring light into the dark, it’s helpful to first differentiate the letters from each other. Each letter corresponds to a series of ThinkPads. Let’s look at it.

E-series

This is your entry level no-nonsense work machine. The E-series are the budget option. You still do get the classic aesthetics, reliable and performant internals and the awesome keyboard. But the E-series come in rather “thick” by today’s standards and the screen options are often underwhelming. Also, in many cases, the keyboard is not backlit and feels a bit “cheaper” with printed-on letters, compared to the higher priced models. Still, if you’re all about value-for-your-buck with a new ThinkPad, this is where to start. Since the chassis is naturally thicker, you get a lot of upgrade options, which usually include RAM, storage and the WWAN module. Also there’s plenty of room for ports on the chassis. Neat.

L-series

The L-series really are a tiny step up above the E-series. Chassis are slightly thinner, keyboards a bit better but you’re still mostly stuck to sub-par screens. On the other hand, you get to upgrade the internals relatively easy and you get the classic, nostalgic aesthetics. Also, thanks to the relatively thick chassis, there’s plenty of room for all the port’s you’d need. If you’re a startup or hard on a budget, the L-series can offer great value and punch way above your expectations performance-wise, especially if you go with the latest AMD processors.

T-series

These are the classic ThinkPads. The T-series has been a staple for business users for decades now. They are the perfect blend between ThinkPad ruggedness, value for your money and features. T-series are very versatile and offer great variety in upgrades, screen options and processors. As of writing, you can either go with an Intel or AMD processor, the later one is what I’d highly recommend, as they are far more efficient and performant. You also get a very decent selection of ports, which should suffice for most of your usecases.

T-series ThinkPads also come in “s” versions. A T14s for example is a slightly slimmer and lighter, more portable version of the T14. It also comes with a slightly bigger battery, as mobility is the name of the game. Some s-models compromise on the port selection in exchange for portability. Still, the situation is much better than with MacBooks or the latest Dell XPS laptops, which need a Dongle for everything except USB-C devices.

X-series

You could view the X-series of ThinkPads as something like the premium branch of the brand. Sleekness, portability and awesome screens are the focus here. The X1 Carbon ThinkPad is the “king of the hill” so to speak, as it’s the most portable and premium ThinkPad available. You have to lay down quite a bit though, to take one home with you. But for that, you get a carbon fibre chassis, that’s incredibly light, stiff and sturdy, a great selection of screens, but you have to let go of some ports.

The X1 Extreme is the performance variation of the X1 Carbon and even sports a dedicated GPU, which theroetically makes full HD gaming possible, but it has such a sleek and thin chassis, you might run into thermal issues, if you keep it under load for too long and it will throttle. That dedicated GPU is more geared towards content creation and video editing.

The latest X13 ThinkPad would make for an extremely portable sub-notebook for coffee-shop-writers and journalists, who might otherwise buy an Apple MacBook Air. It can also be very beneficial for “call-in”-sysadmins and network technicians.

P-series

P stands for power. Actually, I don’t know if that’s correct and just totally made it up, but the P-series are the mobile workstations in the ThinkPad family. These are the most expensive but also most performant and versatile. You trade in some portability for loads of performance. So much performance it even rivals dedicated desktops. But be careful — for 2020 the P-series have not been refreshed with AMD processors, which provide much more power than Intel’s chips at the moment. There’s hoping that next year, we will see AMD powered P-series. The workstations are not meant to be used off-grid for too long, as they are power-hogs. They are supposed to be lugged from your home to your work place for example and then used stationary. Typical professions that would get a ThinkPad workstation would be engineers, CAD-designers, architects, scientists working with huge sets of data, etc.

They are definitely not meant to be gaming machines, but yes of course, they will run games too.

OK, and what about the number behind the series’ letter?

This can be confusing. Prior to their new naming scheme, starting in late 2019, it was a combination of screen size and generation/version indicated in their numbering schemes.

For example:

A T480 is a 14" T-series laptop and one generation behind the T490.

The T490s is the smaller version of the T490.

Since Lenovo ran out of numbers (T450, T460, T470, … T490) last year, the newer models are basically a combination of series-letter, screen-size, processor indicator and the generation of this iteration, spelled out.

Confused yet?

For example:

The T490 became this year’s T14 Gen 1. If it is sporting an Intel processor, it’s also often referred to as T14 i Gen 1. If it’s the slim and light version with AMD processor (which I highly recommend), it is the T14s Gen 1.

I know this can be confusing at first, until you wrap your head around it all. But with some attention and a bit of digging on Lenovo’s website, you’ll figure it out sooner than later! So, as a rule of thumb, the shorter number models, are the newer ones.

What’s that “nub” for?

That “nub”, also lovingly called the “nipple”, actually is the TrackPoint. It harks back to times when Laptops didn’t have a trackpad yet. You can easily (with some practice) control your mouse-cursor without ever using a trackpad, thanks to the TrackPoint. But why would anyone want to do that? Well, it’s still around for purists, really, but there are some applications where it even makes sense today. With enough practice you can use it for masking in Photoshop quite nicely and maybe even more precisely than a trackpad. It also allows you to stay in the home row with your fingers, while quickly moving your cursor or highlighting a word, when writing or programming (yes, this can also be done by using a trackpad with your thumbs).

Photo by cetteup on Unsplash

A thing not many people seem to know is, that you can switch to “scrolling mode” by pressing down the middle (blue dotted one) of the three buttons above the trackpad. You can scroll in all directions using this method, which often comes in handy in huge Excel- or InDesign files.

If you don’t like the “nub”, don’t fret. There are replacement-caps for it available. Some of them are ultra-low-profile and if you’re irritated by the trademark bright red spot in the middle of your keyboard, they’re available in black too. Just look them up, usually you can get them really cheap, if you don’t go for the official ones. You could, theoretically, go completely without that cap too, if you prefer so (but the resulting hole will trap dirt).

So what’s an Ideapad then?

Ideapads are the consumer line of laptops by Lenovo and they also come in a wide range of models. They don’t sport the usual ThinkPad trademark features, but they are a great value. They offer less options when configuring them, but you can also get the latest (at the time of writing), high-performing Ryzen 4000 mobile processors in them, the build-quality is way above average and even though their keyboards are not quite of ThinkPad quality, they do come really close and you don’t have to worry about “the nub”. They have a great layout, great backlight and usually they’re really tactile and crisp, a joy to type on, easily rivaling Dell and Apple.

So, if you don’t need the highest resolution (or brighter than 300 nits) screens and don’t care for the added ruggedness, nostalgia or security features of a ThinkPad, Ideapads are a way cheaper, valuable option for you. Thanks to a better thermal solution the latest AMD chips are even able to run within a higher power envelope, than on the more expensive ThinkPads, thus — numbers for numbers — providing even higher performance than an equivalent ThinkPad. The latest integrated Radeon graphics on AMD-powered Ideapads even make light gaming possible. Games like League of Legends run buttery smooth and if you don’t mind reducing details in your games you can even get away with playing some slightly older triple A titles. They are also fit for moderate content creation.

Really great value here.

And they’re stylish too.

How about going “oldschool”?

Speaking of value, depending on your budget, getting a used ThinkPad, that is a few years old, can be a great option. ThinkPads are very rugged, so even with a few scuff marks, they most likely will still perform very well. Also, older ThinkPads can be easily upgraded, cleaned and repaired. Some models even allow for a relatively easy panel swap, in case you want to get a higher resolution screen.

ThinkPads are well documented and replacement parts can be easy to come by. In most cases, the performance of old ThinkPads can just be enough to serve as a great laptop for Uni or to kickstart your writing career, even though the battery life won’t be as impressive anymore. They’ll run Linux just great, which is a great alternative for programmers and writers alike.

Everyone knows MacBooks hold their value pretty well, ThinkPads just come second. That is the reason why you can mostly find only MacBooks and ThinkPads on official refurb-stores, that offer limited warranty and great value in comparison to buying brand new.

Watch out for special offers

Another way to save quite a bit on new and last year’s models of ThinkPads is keeping an eye on the Lenovo online store itself. Lenovo is well known for putting special offers and deals out there on a regular basis. It’s not unheard of saving as much as 30% on your dream machine, on occassion. Just be patient.

A ThinkPad for gaming?

Well ThinkPads really are meant for work, but yes, you could get away with some light gaming on most modern machines, just don’t expect anything mindblowing and don’t get a ThinkPad for that specific reason only. Even the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, with it’s dedicated graphics chip, is severely hampered by thermal limitations under constant load. If you want to go all-in with gaming, you should check out Lenovos Legion line of gaming laptops and accessoires. They offer astounding value, great cooling capabilities and actually can replace a dedicated gaming desktop easily.

They look great too!

Conclusion

So who are ThinkPads for? Well, ThinkPads span such a wide range of use cases, there really is something for everyone. An aspiring writer or student can do well with a machine that is a few years old, if thin and light is your utmost priority, go with an X-series, if you’re in for a great allrounder, the T-series can be recommended and if you’re a content creator going for the X1 Extreme might be worth a thought. Mobile workstations usually are for engineers, scientists, architects etc. while the E- and L-series provide a great entrypoint for small businesses on a budget while not skimping on raw performance.

Yes, the high end, fully decked out models can become quite costly, but they still are cheaper than an equivalent MacBook by quite a bit. Things may change though, once Apple starts rolling out their own silicone later this year (which I will be keeping a curious eye on). But if you can live with Windows 10 instead of macOS, ThinkPads are just right up there with the very best Apple, Dell and HP have to offer. Perhaps the corporate-workhorse-aesthetic of a ThinkPad is a breath of fresh air too.

Oh, and don’t be afraid of “the nub” — if you really don’t want it, it hardly gets in the way when typing, especially if you use ultra low profile caps for it. If you want to try out the ThinkPad typing experience beforehand, you can do so easily, with this separately available ThinkPad keyboard. The real keyboards on the thinkpads though are “crisper” and more tactile.