A few years ago I purchased a ThinkPad P50 when they first hit the market. Because I typically need a lot of horsepower for teaching classes and conference presentations, I was thrilled to get a system with 64GB or memory and a Xeon processor. Yes, I had to trade some weight for that much horsepower but nothing I couldn't manage. I still love this beast and it sits on my desk running my larger test network. But over time I realized I could get by traveling with a 16GB system. For awhile that was a Yoga 900 provided to me by Lenovo. I loved the ultrabook form factor and was even getting used to the USB-C connector. But sometimes hooking it up to older projectors was problematic. But now I have a new travel workhorse, a ThinkPad P51S. Let me tell you about it.
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This is a slimmed down version of my original P50. It has all the ruggedness you expect with a ThinkPad, including the red track point. Although I have to say I do just fine with the track pad. My version came with 16GB of DDR4 memory, although I'm thinking about upgrading it to the 32GB maximum. It also runs a an i7-7600U CPU running 2.8Ghz. I'm running Windows 10 Pro on a 256GB M.2 drive from Samsung. The 1920x1080 display is driven by an NVIDIA Quadro M520. Personally, this is just fine for me. My other ultrabooks run at the popular higher resolutions and I think I'm just getting too old for them. My P51S gets the most use when I'm traveling and I have no complaints about the screen quality. It also makes it easier when I have to hook up to older projectors. If you prefer, you can order a unit with a touch display or a non-touch UHD display at 3840x2160.
Disclosure:
Lenovo provided the ThinkPad P51S which I am reviewing as part of the Lenovo INsiders program and did not provide additional compensation. All opinions are my own. While I am a big fan of Lenovo products, I am have always provided them and my readers brutally, honest feedback and have never hesitated to speak my mind.
One big reason I appreciate the ThinkPad line over the Yoga line is that this is definitely built for business. The whole unit just feels more durable. And I love having a full size Ethernet port. Maybe I'm just an old school kind of guy but I like being able to plug in a cable. Don't get me wrong. The dual band AC 8265 is great when I'm traveling. But at home, I like being able to plug into my switch and have gig speeds.
I have plenty of USB 3 ports as well as a USB-C that I use for power.
But perhaps the two things I appreciate the most is battery life and the fingerprint scanner. I've taken this ThinkPad on several long flights, both cross country and to Scandinavia. I've had more than enough battery life. An amazing 6 hours plus. I'm sure if were watching video or playing games I'd pay the price. But for the work I need to do on a flight it is fantastic. In fact, I just disconnected the power supply and Windows is estimating 9 hours of battery life.
This is as good if not better than the Yoga 900.
I also love the fingerprint reader. My ThinkPad P50 has one, but it is running Windows Server 2016 so it isn't an option. This is the first time I've ever had a laptop with good biometrics and I'm like a little kid. I absolutely love being able to unlock with a touch.
Other things I like:
- backlit keyboard
- great typing experience
- quiet
- no crapware
On that last point, unlike Lenovo's consumer products in recent years, ThinkPads ship with next to no crapware. The only significant install is the new Lenovo Vantage app which gives me a single source for warranty information, driver updates and other support needs.
So what could be better? Since this is primarily for travel, anything to make it lighter would be a big help. My dream is ThinkPad with an X1 Carbon form factor with 32GB of memory. Give me a XEON processor and I'd buy 2! I'd also like to have the option for a second internal drive. But given that you can order a P51S with a 1TB NVMe drive, I guess I can't complain too much.
I guess the bottom line is that I can't find much to fault with the ThinkPad P51S. It offers a great typing experience, which is very important for me, and it has the horsepower I need. Especially once I bump the memory to 32GB. I still have my P50 for those really heavy duty projects. But I expect the P51S to be my travel companion for quite a while. So if our paths cross and you'd like a peek don't be shy.
I have been a huge ThinkPad fan from back when they were IBM devices. My T510 is getting long in the tooth and starting to show its age. I added an SSD Drive and Memory and got 3 or 4 years out of it.
Did yours come with a touch screen? I like having the touch screen, even though I don’t use it much. Good for just reaching up and zooming in really fast.
Mine does not. I generally am not a touch user so I don’t miss it. But you can get a touch screen if you want.
We got one of these for a guy at work. It’s really nice, although we haven’t found a dock that provides enough power over the USB-C (or is it Thunderbolt3?). It also had the UHD screen IIRC. I love the UHD screens, but hate Windows’ handling of DPI scaling.