Thinkpads Forum

Look at the T550! It's quite close: the starting weight was 4.84lbs for the beloved T420 but only 4.7lbs for the T550. So the loss of the top keyboard row is not that big of a deal, you have a full numpad. The physical buttons for the Trackpoint are back (wow, what happened, Lenovo actually stepped back on the road to Mac). Also, you can decrease the weight more if you leave the battery at home unless needed -- there are two batteries and I think one would provide enough often. And if you go this route you might want to get a 6 cell as secondary. Yes, that's the same 6 and 9 cell option as we had before but now you have the option of carrying only a 3 cell and easily add more. Also, an 45W adapter might be enough for even more weight savings (although if you have an FSP Twinkle you might scoff at this). Screen options are quite OK, full HD and 3K IPS are on the menu.

The CPU is a roughly the same performance on a lot less (15W vs 35W) power http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php ... &cmp[]=809 .

There are two memory slots and although not yet official it's already known that the (very expensive) 16GB module works so you can go 32GB. There's a 2.5" disk and an M.2 slot. OK, the T420 had three space for SSDs (drive bay, ultrabay, WWAN slot) but we do not know yet whether the WWAN slot is mSATA capable But alas it's unlikely. It's not known whether the M.2 has PCIe. From the HW maintenance PDF (which has very realistic schematic drawings) I suspect the M.2 is only 2242 which limits the capacity of this quite a bit. Why does Lenovo need to save space inside a mammoth 15" chassis??

Alas, there is no service door but it seems there's no warranty break over replacing the disk/memory -- this is not confirmed yet. It'll be frustrating to undo a ton of screws and clips but oh well.

There is a real docking station, none of this Onelink nonsense.

We lost eSATAp and Expresscard both but at least USB 3.0 is there. Alas, no Thunderbolt either. This is the biggest negative -- forget eGPU (Edit: really forget it, the M.2 is SATA onlyunless the M.2 has PCIe lanes and you cut the bottom and fish out the PCI Express lanes the slot -- this is very ugly).

So far this is the most promising development in the four years since the T420.

chx1975 wrote:So the loss of the top keyboard row is not that big of a deal, you have a full numpad.

To some it's still a big deal. Granted, the full numpad does partially offset the loss of the navigational button layout, but IMO not fully.

However, I can definitely agree that a full numpad has its advantages. So compared to the T420 keyboard you win some and lose some. I would still prefer a full numpad, and the original layout. It certainly is possible (consider the W700 series).

chx1975 wrote:Screen options are quite OK, full HD and 3K IPS are on the menu.

I think many lament the fact that there is no FHD IPS (which would be in the comfort zone for many users). Or is there now?

chx1975 wrote:There is a real docking station, none of this Onelink nonsense.

Well, that's not news. The previous T series also use real docking stations, AFAIK.

One problem with the new docks is that the "Thinkpad Pro Dock", which is designed to replace the "Mini-Dock Series 3" does not allow DVI and DP to function at the same time. So you cannot use two digital displays simultaneously - only one plus VGA. Definitely a step back.

chx1975 wrote:We lost eSATAp and Expresscard both but at least USB 3.0 is there. Alas, no Thunderbolt either. This is the biggest negative -- forget eGPU

So two major expansion options are gone, and the upside is that USB 3.0 (which is a standard now on every crappy low-end laptop) is still there? I don't buy it.

chx1975 wrote:So far this is the most promising development in the four years since the T420.

You may be right, which is somewhat sad.

dr_st wrote:you cannot use two digital displays simultaneously - only one plus VGA.

As some newer displays support Daisy Chaining, that isn't true.

I accept your correction. I should say - cannot use two digital displays without relying on external capabilities.

Yes, there are still drawbacks compared to the T420 but for the first time if the T420 dies you have an option (or, of course, you can be like me who has a second T420 in the cupboard). It's incredibly cheap of Lenovo not to include Thunderbolt, not even as an option. And if HP could create the 840 with a bottom that comes off with a latch why can't Lenovo?

As for the previous T series using real docking stations -- it is news when Lenovo does not introduce a regression, alas.

And yeah, DisplayPort MST hubs are now a thing but if you want to use two 4K displays, you are SOL. Although I am not sure how the Iris graphics would fare with such an amount of pixels...

I mostly opened this thread to draw attention to the fact that a 15" ThinkPad T went below the weight of the T420.

dr_st wrote:

chx1975 wrote:Screen options are quite OK, full HD and 3K IPS are on the menu.

I think many lament the fact that there is no FHD IPS (which would be in the comfort zone for many users). Or is there now?

You know what, I think you are right, you need to get 3K to have an IPS display.
Its a shame that there isn't a 900p nor FHD IPS display at the moment for ThinkPads afaik.
That high screen res might be too much for some, at least the older IPS screens for the T series had two options, SXGA+ and UXGA.

chx1975 wrote:I mostly opened this thread to draw attention to the fact that a 15" ThinkPad T went below the weight of the T420.

Ah yeah, that is a nice thing in itself, I agree.

No ThinkLight, and more importantly: no ExpressCard (so you can't connect desktop GPU) kills it for me.

BTW http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-Th ... -p/2041088 three SSDs confirmed, apparently the WWAN module while not mSATA compatible it is an M.2 slot so that's two 2242 slots but unlike mSATA which goes to 1TB it's only 256GB each. Only the main disk can be 1TB. Or 2TB with a dual mSATA to SATA adapter

dr_st wrote:

chx1975 wrote:I mostly opened this thread to draw attention to the fact that a 15" ThinkPad T went below the weight of the T420.

Ah yeah, that is a nice thing in itself, I agree.

Don't get too excited, because this probably means the 15-incher is flimsier than the T420. This isn't an issue for people who always baby their laptops (e.g. me), but is a problem for those who expect all Thinkpads to be equally rugged.

There are many 15" laptops that weigh 4.7 lbs or less, so it shouldn't be hard to properly engineer this T550. It will almost certainly still feel like a business-class laptop. All I am saying is that it may be less robust than the T420.

I am used to my laptops going less robust every time I change them: I had a Panasonic CF-Y5 before ThinkPads. Break that if you can. The hostname was tank coming from

The exterior design of the machine's casing is reminiscent of a Sherman tank cross-bred with a 1970s sports saloon, while the lid opens with the grace of a bank vault door. Yet the designers have managed to make the machine look attractive all the same, the overall effect being what you'd expect from GI Jane in a glittery ball gown.

Anyways, http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/itemdetail ... 39642CFC27 have you guys seen this dock? I dunno whether it's compatible but it looks like it could drive quite a few monitors -- the CPU supports three. http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd029622 doesn't yet have the x50 series but the x40 series definitely allows driving two DisplayPort monitors from the docking station or two DVI (one via HDMI) and a third from the laptop -- same as the old dock.

Yes, the Ultra Dock is compatible and indeed can drive several digital monitors. It certainly looks like the limitation in the Pro Dock exists, at least in part, to drive people who want 2 digital monitors to purchase the more expensive Ultra Dock.

It's a shame that the successor isn't a T450 to continue the "4" tradition and had to be a T550. Dell Latitude E6410 anyone (although technically released around same time/before T420)?

There is also a T450.

The 450 is not an option because of the missing keys. The 550 gives you back your keys via the numpad.

What keys went missing that are introduced back with the numpad? None, as far as I know. The six navigation keys (Ins/Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn) are still there on the 6-row keyboards - they were just moved around.

Maybe @chx1975 is refering to the navigation keys on the numpad - they are active if numlock is disabled and they are more like the traditional "6 key block" - they also are positioned the same way as on desktop keyboards...

@chx1975,
do you have any specific questions about the T550? I have a W550s, thats, except for the GPU, identical to the T550...

It's a step in the right direction for sure - getting rid of that awful clickpad, but I'm still not much of a fan of these island keyboards. Typing on a T440p wasn't as bad as I was conceiving it to be when I first started deploying them, but I'm still not going to buy one as a personal machine. My T420 is more than capable of handling all my needs.

Ibthink wrote: do you have any specific questions about the T550? I have a W550s, thats, except for the GPU, identical to the T550...

Yes! Does the WWAN slot really take an M.2 SATA SSD? Is there physical space for a longer SSD than 2242 for the M.2 slot? I am reasonably sure a drop of superglue can replace the missing screw

As for keyboard, I need PgUp and PgDn be vertical to each other. And I actually use the next/prev keys, you know? So if I were to get one of these, I would immediately remap (I run Linux,it's easy) the PgDn / PgUp to XF86Prev and XF86Next and use the ones on the numpad.

The W550s/T550 has three M.2 slots: 1x 2232 for WLAN, 1x 2242 for WWAN and one extra slot for 2242 SSD. I don´t think 2280 SSDs will fit, though I haven´t tested it - Ihave a 2242 M.2 SSD in my system.