Hi all, I plan to buy a Thinkpad. Problem is I am not sure which series to pick: E, L , P, T. I have an old T420 so i know how T series feel. But what about modern laptops?

I'm looking at the E14 Gen 4 AMD, but in my country, E Series is marketed as "for those on budget". So in the long run, it would just break down?

Looking for a laptop and narrowed down my search to:

Why does the E series seem so much better than the T and X series for a lower price?

Thinkpad X13 and T14 seem pretty comparable, so which of the two would be better? Do the differences in series (i.e., letters) actually mean anything?

Ultimately, if you were looking to buy a laptop, which of the three would you choose and why?

Thinking of picking up a second hand laptop. Any thoughts on what I should pick among these product lines? I know that T series is the sweet spot but am I getting stiffed when I go with E or L?

Also is it worth it to get a second hand but recent Thinkpad over brand new laptops of other brands, say, Asus or Acer?

I am looking to buy a new laptop. Funny enough i had no idea when i started even though i am a student in computer Engineering (Hardware).

I want to work with cuda/openCl/openGl. also i will ned to work a lot with assembler. Gaming is not that important. the Graphic doesnt need to be fast just support newest features (my old one runs on openGl 2.0 and has the old fixed pipeline).

I narrowed down my search to the ThinkPad E540 and the T440. The E series seems to be way better then the T serires and cheaper. Why is that? is there something i should know?

Here are the stats (germany):

ThinkPad E540

859,00 €

Intel Core i7-4712MQ-Prozessor -vPro

Windows 8.1 Pro (64 Bit)

39,6 cm (15,6") FHD (1.920 x 1.080) entspiegelt – schwarz

NVIDIA GeForce GT G740M 2 GB

4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz SODIMM

500-GB, 7200 U/min

:DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer

ThinkPad T440

899,00 €

Intel Core i3-4030U-Prozessor (3 MB Cache, 1,90 GHz)

Windows 8.1 (64 Bit)

35,56 cm (14,0") HD+ (1600 x 900) LED mit Hintergrundbeleuchtung und AntiGlare, mit WWAN

Intel HD-Grafikkarte 4400 mit Andockanschluss

4GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600MHz SODIMM

500-GB, 7200 U/min

tl;dr: why is E series cheaper and better(on paper) then T series?

EDIT :

Buying this one now:

https://m.notebooksbilliger.de/lenovo+thinkpad+edge+e540+20c6008fge

Reading quite a lot of threads over here, I’m becoming unsure of which way to go with a limited budget that I have (~860$).

I have been mostly eyeing E14G5 with basic specs with plans to upgrade later. But, some say E isn’t really representative of Thinkpads in general, which makes me doubt whether or not I’m willing to spend a 860$ on something that is meh. This is the cost of a new E14G5 in my country.

On the other hand, I can get an older machine second hand, T480 beefed up, new battery for 400$ with an older cpu and all that. The fact that it’s a 2nd hand laptop is a bit scary for me, (what if?).

Or give up on the whole Thinkpad thing and get a new cheap Vivobook laptop 😞

Is the E14 really just a mediocre laptop with good keyboard?

I had a Thinkpad Edge E330 in the past, and it didn’t cost as much as the current E14G5 :)

Hi,

According to Wikipedia:

"P series are the most advanced ThinkPad products offered by Lenovo"

So I was chasing P, as I wanted to buy one with only Ryzen processor. My target: 14", 2021+ model (gen2+), I need workhorse good performing laptop. I would love 15" or 16" but to me latest versions are screwed regarding ergonomy --> touchpad on very left side. Rather than making a bit wider casing, they decided to make keyboard on the edges, so the result is not much space to rest left hand on casing, so I've picked 14".

Then I realized the fact that most of my targeted "P" has RAM soldered. I'm not looking for troubles, soldered CPU is bad enough. I do prefer RAM in slots so I can do cheap eco repairs in case of problems rather than scrapping whole board.

So I was scratching my head why in top P series RAM is soldered like in cheap junk rather than in slots?

So I went on T page:

"The T series is officially the flagship ThinkPad product, offering high-performance computers aimed at businesses and professionals." But found RAM soldered as well.

Okay, so I assume in here P as a top top, while T as a flagship, okay, both RAM soldered.

So I gave up and started to read about budget stuff, L series:

"L series has an added focus on economy and value, they are the entry-level range for enterprise use, and are also used by students." To me it sounds like really budget entry level cheap lower quality laptop, but hold no: surprisingly 2021 "L" model (gen2) with 2 RAM slots, while "higher" T and P same year models has soldered RAM.

Does it means: ignore series as they have no clue what they're doing really regarding marking series logically?

Or I'm just the biggest nerd in here and no one else is paying attention if RAM is soldered on board or in slot?

EDIT:

SORTED! SOUNDS LIKE BRILLIANT COMMUNITY IN HERE!

Thank you for brilliant info!

I just bought L14 gen2 for now (Ryzen gen5 5650U with good single thread performance, socketed RAM), as really needed to upgrade to carry on with my day-to-day work more efficient way, but by majority notes sounds like T14 / P14s is best bet for RAM socketed version with good Ryzen CPU and nice options while keeping good ergonomic thing (centered touchpad), in second hand market currently.

Definitely I'll watch listings/marketplaces and upgrade my L14 when I spot T14 / P14s one in good condition. Then it will be just matter of swapping SSD between, especially I'll run Debian. I don't need to worry now if it will be next week, month or in few months time because for now L14 in here, well, not delivered yet but on the way. Thank you all :-D

what are the exact differences between E/L/T?? except for the very obvious where T is superior in terms of the material used. E<L<T.

would getting a E of the same specs as L make any difference?

I’m looking at laptops for my kid in college majoring in computer science. I found an E16 that has an ultra 7 155U and a T16 with an i7 1355U. Otherwise the specs are similar. Both have 32g ram and 1Tb SSD. I know the ultra is a better chip so why would the T be better?? Help? We’re going to look this afternoon.

Can someone tell me the difference between the T/E series. And how is the durability of both (and how long do the hinges last without breaking). My last laptop had the hinge snap off from the place where it’s bolted down, so I wanted to buy a thinkpad for its excellent durability.