Lenovo ThinkPad 25 Anniversary Edition Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Retro rewind. What's old is new again in this special anniversary ThinkPad that throws out the AccuType keyboard in favor of the classic layout and design. Outside of the new keyboard, there isn't anything particularly new about the ThinkPad 25 that we haven't already covered on the ThinkPad T470.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-25-Anniversary-Edition-Laptop-Review.253454.0.html

[binh]

16:9 screen ratio, ultra-wide lower screen bezel.
Please, don't call this crap a Thinkpad.

[Puppy]

625 pcs available for whole Europe, selected countries only. No WQHD display option, forced touchscreen ... This is rather joke.

[dthrp]

Really appreciate NBC for being thorough and pointing out all the good as well as the bad. Just to add, TB3 is also limited to PCIe 3.0 x2 lanes like on all non-P/X1 series Thinkpads and most U-series CPU laptops.

I cannot help but notice how heavy this is compared to the T440s (1.56 vs 1.73 kg) which was the first 15w, lightweight 14" Thinkpad with a long lasting battery. Ever since they removed the hot-swap feature from the "s" line, the regular T470 feels like a step backwards in terms of its weight and materials. Also, now with new lightweight 8th Gen U-CPU + dGPU laptops launching, I reckon all laptops over 1.4 kg should at least include the full-TDP/clockspeed MX150 graphics as an option. Because I certainly would not settle for an Intel iGPU when the alternatives provide better at the same price.

[Andy_KL]

This is real joke- crap screen and very unimpressive spec and overall package.

[ThinkPadLover]

Noooooooo! Lenovo screwed this up sooo big!! Why plug in an graphics card?? No one who is interested in the 7 row keyboard layout needs this. And why not use the WQHD from the t470s? And that price is a real joke  ;D ;D

[Ednumero]

Lenovo couldn't even be bothered to source a separate, higher-sRGB 1920x1080 display compared to the T470, as a consolation for not being able to use a taller screen aspect ratio such as 16:10 or 3:2. What a joke.

This could have been an important step in back in the right direction for business-class models, but Lenovo really dropped the ball.

[Dom]

Is it April 1st already? When can we see the real Retro Thinkpad and not this stinker? Is this really the best they could come up with after all those questionnaires? Crap screen (usual for Lenovo, I know), and just a few cosmetic tweaks to a T470. Lipstick on a pig. Totally lame.
Go get yourself a Suface Book instead and see how screens are done properly. Lenovo won't stop selling crud until you stop buying it.

[powerslave12r]

Also add no touchpad/trackpad buttons to the list of missing retro features.

[dieter]

Is it April 1st already? When can we see the real Retro Thinkpad and not this stinker? Is this really the best they could come up with after all those questionnaires? Crap screen (usual for Lenovo, I know), and just a few cosmetic tweaks to a T470. Lipstick on a pig. Totally lame.
Go get yourself a Suface Book instead and see how screens are done properly. Lenovo won't stop selling crud until you stop buying it.

Better yet, get an Asus UX410 for €650 and get a great machine for much, much less.

[Frank11212]

Let me hide the fact that this is a T470 with a changed keyboard(=good) and display(=bad) a for this rating..



No 16:10<3:2<4:3

No FULL-HD IPS with at least 300 nits and high colorrange

Forced Touchscreen (Less battery time and with the used matt coating might result in blurry pictures or maybe stains over years of usage)

No VGA (in addition to HDMI) because every beamer in company and institution are distributed with VGA Kabels by default and are always used via VGA

No ThinkLights in order to use high quality keyboard materials which do not absorb moisture and dirt from the fingers and get the keys melted or shiny over a short period of time (even when cleaning them constantly)

No Displayhinge as in the T420 or L570 so that the higher capacitiy batterys look out in top of the Laptop in order to have a better grip when holding with one hand by the basecover

No separate Touchpad-Buttons on the downside of the touchpad


The only things that Lenovo has implemented from the past are:
-The good 7-row Keyboardlayout (might be bad quality because these have to let the backlight throw
-The (ridiculos) display brightness


What really saddens me is that even Lenovo did build some fantastic ThinkPads after buying IBM while using IBM or even Lenovo as name on the good devices like the X300.

Thank you David Hill for not responding to your own surveys and the fake hype you have staged to the very last moment..

"I'm sure many people have seen the recent leaks related to the Retro ThinkPad initiative I started nearly 2 years ago. There's talk about display aspect ratio, resolution, keyboard, pricing and much more.[...]
"[...] I've held early development hardware in my hand, powered it on, looked at the screen and even typed on it. Those who have seen it can't help but smile. Please be patient, there's more to come. It's alive."

These are you words Mr. Hill from the Lenovo ThinkPad Blog

Yes Mr. Hill.. it's "alive", you tried to keep an outdated T470 for another business period "alive"...

[Wopp]

Next up from Lenovo, pay extra for 16:10 screens.  This whole regression in design for the better paints Lenovo in a sheepish light.  Follow the market, what others do, we'll do.

[binh]

Thank you David Hill for not responding to your own surveys and the fake hype you have staged to the very last moment..
Yes Mr. Hill.. it's "alive", you tried to keep an outdated T470 for another business period "alive"...

David Hill leaves Len0v0 this summer. So I guess this TP25 is not fully his fault.

[StopLenovoJustStop]

You had one job Lenovo. One job: Bring back the superior 7-row keyboard layout on a model with as many other useful features from newer models as possible. You failed miserably. What a joke. Please try again if you actually want any of us to give you our money.

[Tweaker]

I'm not paying that much money for basically a good laptop keyboard.