First Impressions: Lenovo ThinkPad T480s (i5, WQHD) Laptop

[Redaktion]

New revision. Lenovo equips the ThinkPad T480s with a new chassis and closes the gap towards its own ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Intel's latest quad-core processors are obviously included as well. We already checked one of the first systems with the high-resolution WQHD IPS panel.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/First-Impressions-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T480s-i5-WQHD-Laptop.284832.0.html

[Delta Zhang]

Test this laptop with eGPU please!

[Tony G]

Can you please verify if it can run in dual hard drive setup. Like one SSD in the M.2 2280 slot. And another one in the regular 2.5' hard drive bay.

I am afraid I know the answer will be NO but I am hoping to be wrong.

Thanks...

[doncaruso]

Can you please verify if it can run in dual hard drive setup. Like one SSD in the M.2 2280 slot. And another one in the regular 2.5' hard drive bay.

I am afraid I know the answer will be NO but I am hoping to be wrong.

Thanks...

Why don't you just look at the pictures of the inside of the laptop? That should answer your question. There's no room for a SATA drive.

[Tony G]

@doncaruso
I did look at the pics and I didn't see one but I just wanted to be sure.

What's up with the attitude?

[Uugu]

For a full review would it be possible to test the new side docking with this these steps in order to confim the presence/lack of Thunderbolt delay:
1. Have Thunderbolt dock and USB keyboard connected to dock.
2. Put computer to sleep without the dock.
3. Connect computer to Thunderbolt dock and resume.
4. Measure delay until external USB keybard becomes responsive.

Dell Thunderbolt docks are having delay ~15 seconds and it's documented as technical limitation of Thunderbolt protocol. It would be interesting to see if Lenovo has found a way to work around this problem.

[James Bobstein]

Very interested in the full review of this model. It seems to be the 2018 ThinkPad to get. The X280 and X1 have only soldered memory, the T480 is a touch too large. The T480s is just the right mix of T480 and X1, while not being much larger than the X280, but for 25% increase in screen area.

Wanting to cheap out a bit, I asked the Lenovo chat rep if I could buy a T480s with a SATA M.2 SSD (128GB, base model), and upgrade to a PCIe (4x) M.2 SSD later. They said that would be impossible - that the SATA model T480s basically has a different motherboard than the 3 other PCIe models. Notebookchat - can you confirm that?

[James Bobstein]

I'm looking to buy a T480s through work to upgrade from my X250 with an i5 and 16GB RAM. I opted for an i7 this time around as I've found I'm having many more low CPU intensity tasks open that keep my i5 at 100% right now.

i7-8550u
8GB RAM (DDR4-2400MHz) soldered, upgrading with an extra 8GB or 16GB module later
WQHD screen
backlit keyboard
fingerprint reader with FIDO built in
720p webcam with thinkshutter (more important privacy feature to me than windows hello)
128GB m.2 SATA SSD - had hoped to upgrade to a PCIe SSD later, but the lenovo chat guy said it would be impossible to upgrade as the slot on this model would be m.2 SATA only - not dual SATA/PCIe4x

Can anyone comment on the build? Am I permanently bottlenecking myself with the SATA m.2 SSD? I have to keep the build at under 1000 british sterling pound after VAT, and I found a model with the 128GB SSD at that price through a special NDNA through work. I could switch to a FHD screen + 256GB PCIe SSD for about the same price. I don't want to lock myself in to SATA or PCIe...

[D]

Wait....so does this have the Thinkshutter or no?

All literature (and multiple Lenovo country websites) state that the WQHD screen can only come with the IR camera without the Thinkshutter? However, I am seeing on multiple Lenovo Deutschland pages that this comes with Thinkshutter. Can you verify please?

[Andreas Osthoff]

Yes, our WQHD model is equipped with the regular HD webcam and ThinkShutter, not the IR cam.

[D]

Yes, our WQHD model is equipped with the regular HD webcam and ThinkShutter, not the IR cam.

This is so incredibly odd. On the main Lenovo page for Germany, when you customize a T480s for purchase, it clearly states that you cannot combine a WQHD screen with the ThinkShutter. Very odd!

[Yiming]

Could the reviewer check if this all the models have thunderbolt x2 or x4?

[Tweaker]

When will Lenovo go back to 16:10 screens ?  I just don't find 16:9 screens good for actual work; they are great for gaming and watching movies though.  I think Microsoft is heading in the right direction with the Surface devices.

[Yohanes]

I am currious on how Thinkpad Yoga X380 and T480 will perform. Do these model also have 44W configured TDP?

[Toby M]

Lenovo released their Ideapad 720s-14 half a year ago which is basically the consumer test variant of the T480s. Similar weight and form factor, specs, battery size and ports etc. So if that has thicker chassis and dual fan cooling to give itself better thermal headroom, I don't see why an identical business model can't be more performance oriented. And I hope the Thinkpads will get Amd RR soon like the current Ideapad 720 series.