P50/P51/P52/P53 Buying Advice

[agarza]

I'm looking to buy a used P50 series laptop with 4K display.

I would like to get some feedback regarding which of the P50 series models in regards to overall less issues, from thermal throttling, keyboard quality (does they share the same keyboard and/or key travel?).

Regards

[Ibthink]

I owned both the P50 and P51. I do not recommend either of these with the 4K screen, the Sharp screen used in these has some issues with an uneven backlighting.

It is a shame, because the P50/P51 have excellent 2.1 mm travel keyboards. The ThinkPad P52, which is the model I would recommend, has a different shorter travel keyboard (1.5 mm). The P52 has better 4K screens, uses a metal bottom door (instead of plastic like P50/P51) and it still has an external, hot-swappable battery (unlike P53). The ThinkPad P52 is also available with substantially faster CPUs with up to six cores, P50/P51 were limited to 4 cores.

So: ThinkPad P52 is the sweet spot of the ThinkPad P5x series

[agarza]

Thanks for your feedback Ibthink,
Is it possible to transplant a P52 4K screen into a P50/P51? Also, do you know if the P50/P51 uses the "regular" height Trackpoints?

Regards

[Ibthink]

No ThinkPad made after 2013 uses the old "regular" height TrackPoint. P50/P51 are close though, because they used the Low Profile TrackPoint, the first reduced height version. This is is still very close to the original one. P52 uses the Super Low Profile version where the TrackPoint stick has a different size.

Screen transplant: Might be difficult, because there is a soft whitelist in place. If you use a screen not originally used in those models, you may not be able to set the brightness below 100 %.

[agarza]

Ah I see, so the P50/P51 uses the same Trackpoint height as on the T480. I'll see if a P52 comes up with 4K at a reasonable price. Is the key travel on the P53 reduced or is the same as in the P52?

[Ibthink]

Is the key travel on the P53 reduced or is the same as in the P52?

Same as P52. Lenovo kept the 1.8 mm travel keyboards until the P15 Gen 2, the 2021 model.

[Delmarco]

I'm looking to buy a used P50 series laptop with 4K display.

I would like to get some feedback regarding which of the P50 series models in regards to overall less issues, from thermal throttling, keyboard quality (does they share the same keyboard and/or key travel?).

Regards

My i7-6820HQ 4K P50 carried me thru the pandemic since early 2020 to now and it is still going strong. Best $600 I've ever spend on a system that original sold 2-3 years prior for $2700.

Last weekend I just picked up two 4K60Hz 27" Dell Monitors and was surprised to find that my 7 year old laptop was capable to connect to each monitor (without needing a dock or port station)
via mDP to DP on the first monitor and Thunderbolt to DP on the second monitor. Both monitors are running fine on extended display (one long screen) at full 4K resolution and both at 60Hz! Most laptops sold today can't even do that!
Plus my P50 still has an HDMI port still free to add a third monitor!!!

Performance is still snappy and quick as it was 3 years ago. The screen is still bright and clear. I did replace the keyboard twice which is a weak point on all P models.
I was further disappointed to find the P50 specific backlit keyboard for some strange reason is not only difficult to find but cost way more than all other ThinkPad keyboards!

[kev009]

I had a P50 which bricked itself when I tried to upgrade the wifi card (infinite boot loop). Bought a P51 to replace it and like it. P51 is the last machine with a real dock port so I'll probably not let this one go.