Lenovo ThinkPad T15g Laptop Review: A Gaming ThinkPad or a mobile workstation?

[Redaktion]

The ThinkPad T15g is a new product for Lenovo. You might think the designation as well as the GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q GPU indicate a gaming device, but it is a mobile workstation without a Quadro GPU. Is the T15g is a good choice if you do not need ISV certifications?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T15g-Laptop-Review-A-Gaming-ThinkPad-or-a-mobile-workstation.526123.0.html

[Ngoro]

On that price, with this flickering screen and 2.8kg weight - it's not gaming nor mobile workstation - it is a silly brick

[anon]

"Cyberpunkt 2077"
You Germans are hilarious!

[Yngmar]

Could've been interesting with a bit more PPI at 16:10. Although 60°C is really about 20 degrees too much!

[xpclient]

A gaming ThinkPad is incredibly special and rare. I hope Lenovo continues and quickly updates this with Tiger Lake.

But removing the third M.2 slot and dedicated touchpad buttons.👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼

[Dorby]

My HP ZBook Create 15 has the exact same specs, weighs only 2.1kg, has a 4K OLED Touchscreen with ARGB colors, and I got it for only $2k.

Over 3 Grand for these specs in a brick that weighs close to 3kg for a 15" screen is robbery in 2021.

Sounds harsh? Well, I had the original P50 that had two chassis cracks within 6 months and died on me in less than a year due to internal overheating, so forgive my bias on Thinkpad workstation quality.

[skan]

Thinkpad quality is higher than Zbook.

[Dorby]

Thinkpad quality is higher than Zbook.

Not really. My $5k USD msrp Thinkpad P50 had an ABS plastic keyboard deck(C-cover) with a design flaw on the right-side palmrest that cracked within a month of using. Then cracked the left screen bezels(B-cover) which was also thin plastic. These I were able to replace for $50 before selling the machine.

But the worst part was the outer ports area made of very thin magnesium, obviously poor design because the whole bottom of Card Reader came off and I've lost that part permanently so couldn't get it fixed. Areas between USB-A ports also developed 2 minor cracks, which wasn't an issue for usability, but again, shows how cheap this laptop really was. Due to these, I had to sell the P50 for much less than its secondhand market price at the time.

Trust me, ZBook is far better built than P-series. Although this is my first ZBook, I'm confident in saying that.
Dell > HP > Lenovo for business laptop build quality. Funny thing is, they're generally priced in that order as well.

Safe to say, I won't be using or recommending Thinkpads anytime soon.

[izaic3]

I appreciate the time and depth of your articles!  One quick thing I noticed, "The T15g is not a slim and portable workstation like the ThinkPad T15g."  Cheers!

[xpusostomos]

Isn't it the case that people are tempted by this machine, because they want the trackpoint, and maybe do a bit of .... high end graphics/gaming? I mean, if you don't want the trackpoint, why not just get one of the myriad of gaming machines, even if you're not a gamer. Some are very well made. As for zBook, they have nothing with a trackpoint and GTX graphics. You can get a trackpoint with some of their Quadro machines, but I've heard the trackpoint doesn't work very well.

[Dorby]

Isn't it the case that people are tempted by this machine, because they want the trackpoint, and maybe do a bit of .... high end graphics/gaming? I mean, if you don't want the trackpoint, why not just get one of the myriad of gaming machines, even if you're not a gamer. Some are very well made. As for zBook, they have nothing with a trackpoint and GTX graphics. You can get a trackpoint with some of their Quadro machines, but I've heard the trackpoint doesn't work very well.

Trackpoint is niche. That's just reality. If you want one today, you buy a Thinkpad, just like if you want MacOS, you buy a MacBook. Simple decision.

In the eyes of the general public who aren't tech-enthusiasts, Lenovo Thinkpads usually just mean 2 things: 'Durable' - impact, shock, dust, temperature resistance - and 'Good Keyboard'. That's the reason most consumers and businesses alike pay more for Thinkpads, not for the Trackpoint. However Lenovo has decided to downgrade their recent Thinkpads in these areas that were their most attractive selling points, so there's that.

People like me who pay more for mobile workstations and also play games on them are very common. I chose my HP ZBook Studio 15 for its superior build quality, better keyboard, better display, and better support/service compared to comparative Gaming Laptops with identical specs at the time.
If I didn't need these features, I would've bought a gaming laptop, not a Thinkpad. If I didn't play games either, I would've bought the 16" MacBook Pro, not any other laptop.

And yes, most mobile workstations do offer GTX/RTX GPUs and non-TPM enabled CPUs, so I'd say these companies know their target consumers pretty well.

[Mikeiver]

Got one of the T15g when they came out.  So far a fantastic machine in every way!  I did splurge and go with the i7-10875H 8 core processor, 4K OLED touch display paired with the RTX2080 super maxQ card is ridiculous to behold! 16GB of RAM (since upgraded to 64GB) and a CAT16 WWAN card too.  Other stuff like SD and smart card readers area great add too. It hurt to buy but it really is fantastic bit of kit.  Highly recommend it, most of the time I set the speed to minimum and there is no slow down from a user perspective.  I get around 6 hours or so using the cellular modem.  Not much out there with the features and the quality.  In fact nothing I could find had it all like this did at this price.  FYI, it hit my door for just shy of $3,800.00 USD