Thinkpad P50s and P40 Yoga

Two new ThinkPad announced today:

• P50s Spec Sheet: https://djpdld25uved3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ThinkPad_P50s_Datasheet_12.1.15.pdf
  
• P40 Yoga Spec sheet: https://djpdld25uved3.cloudfront.ne...15/11/ThinkPad_P40-Yoga_Datasheet_12.1.15.pdf

ThinkPad P50s follows on the W550s - key changes:
- PCIe SSDs are optional now
- FHD IPS instead of FHD TN screens
- Skylake U CPUs and a new Quadro M500M GPU
- HDMI instead of VGA
- Chassis color is back to pure black, and it has the new Lenovo logo

P40 Yoga is the workstation variant of the Yoga 460. Most importantly, the Quadro M500M GPU.

Pictures P50s:


Both will be available in early 2016.

 

I'd really like to know who was asking for the P40 to include the Yoga features. Having been denied a T450s with discreet GPU option in the US, this would have immediately been on my radar for a future purchase if not for that. There's probably a sliver of chance that a T460s would have one, but given that the past two generations have avoided it, probably not.

Also gone is the hope of a 10-keyless 15" machine, I guess. I really liked the centered design on the W520 I had for a bit.

 

Couldn't agree more. Yoga features will result in crummy battery life (only a 3 cell option) and I'm not sure "yoga" and "workstation" go together very well. Smacks of a gimmick so Lenovo can claim to have a unique product. Meanwhile, the P50s keyboard numpad will put this otherwise decent looking machine to the bottom of my list.

 

No usb-c? Come on!

 

Does anyone know anything about the M500M GPU? When I search it all I can find are the press releases for these two machines.

 

That P50s seems kind of pointless and a bit lame to me: Not particularly thin or light, and weak discrete graphics card. A far cry from the Dell Precision 5510 or the HP ZBook Studio. Disappointing.

 

P50s is obviously not for the same audience as these machines, the main point with this one (as with the W550s) is to provide the nVidia Quadro GPU + the amazing battery performance. Its actually made to compete with the ZBook 15u instead of ZBook Studio. Its also not made to take away sales from the P50.

I was told with Kaby Lake there might be a new thinner and lighter chassis for this class of machine, but nothing for Skylake.

In the meantime, P50 is Lenovo´s 15" Quad-Core machine of choice (which is at least much thinner than former full-power W-Series models).

 

So a bit like the T540p and T440p. Sorta inbetweeners, or lightweight workstations. At least the P50s will probably be a lot cheaper than the Dell and HP machines you mention, and hopefully the build quality is better than my crummy T440p.

The zbook studio does look like a nice machine, as well it should be for the amount it'll cost. Thin Dell machines I still don't trust not to slowly fall apart... by all accounts, the 5510 is no better built than the XPS 15

 

Nothing. Even the Nvidia site doesn't list it, only the M600M. Maybe it's unique to Lenovo machines.

 

Yes, we don´t know anything yet about M500M. It wasn´t announced alongside all the other new Quadro GPUs.

I had the chance to compare the build quality of a T440p to my W550s (which has nearly the same chassis as the P50), W550s is definitely much better in this departement.

As a side note, there still will be the T460p.

 

I thought Microsoft's Surface Book has an M500M in it as well. It's the very bottom of NVidia's mobile GPUs. I had seen some specs posted somewhere on the net, but I don't remember where.

 

On the https://www.thinkworkstations.com/products/p50/ they mention NVIDIA® Quadro® K620M GPU, not M500M? And for some reason they use /p50/ folder for P50s?

 

K620M is the GPU used in the W550s. Obviously a mistake, the spec sheet clearly lists the M500M: https://djpdld25uved3.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ThinkPad_P50s_Datasheet_12.1.15.pdf

 

I totally agree that the T440p build quality is disappointing. And from all accounts the P series is a big improvement in that respect. However the quad-core Haswell CPU options in the T540p and T440p will still outperform ultra low voltage CPUs in the P50s, so the P50s is still a big compromise for the extra battery life and thinness you get.

 

I know exactly who - Professional Industrial Designers like me. I spend about 30% of my time sketching on a Surface Book, and 70% of my time in Solidworks doing 3D CAD on my desktop, because I can't do both in one machine.

This one can.

However, I don't know if the M500M will be enough for me. I do a decent amount of GPU enabled 3d rendering. Now if it was a P50 with a yoga screen, Wacom, and a Quadro m2000m? Take my money!

As is the P40 is so close to perfect, but I am not sure it will work :-( Depends on what exactly that M500M is...

 

I thought the Surface Book you're using now has the same GPU as the P40 and P50s. So if you can't use the Surface Book for your CAD work, you'll be in the same boat with the P40.

 

Again, we don´t know any details about the M500M yet.

The Surface Book has a custom version of the GeForce 940M with 1 GB GDDR5 memory. As it is not a Quadro GPU, its not ISV certified for CAD (unlike the M500M).

 

Bingo. It does play Fallout 4 though!

 

There will? Even now the p-series has a 14" option?

 

Yes, see: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-p70-50-40yoga-x1-yoga-x1-tablet-more.783520/

 

The P50s has some appeal. It has PCIe SSD, i7 with VT support (presumably), Nvidia discrete graphics and solid battery life. If you do light CAD work or my case VM work it could be a good choice.

 

plasese can you answer me? what ram is used on yoga p40 ? ddr3 or ddr4 ? and what cpu is used on yaga p40?

 

P40 Yoga... disappointing battery, dual-core i7 instead of Xeon, no storage upgrades. Why oh why, Lenovo?!

 

Because the machine was designed to be lightweight, never overheat, and not drain too much power.
Oh, and also to be really cheap to manufacture
I wrote a review on it, if you want more details.

 

nice review. I just bought an XPS 15, but I was interested in the P40/Yoga 460 as well, but I think I'm glad I went with the XPS, even if the Lenovo has a digitzer (I'm a digital artist). The XPS definitely seems to have better performance all around (especially since I got a higher end config for around the same price as the P40 you reviewed), so I think I'll just stick with my Wacom tablet until I need something better.

 

TPY P40 now available in Canada & USA. I ordered one yesterday, and will review it when it gets here.

 

What plays Fallout 4? P50s or Surface?

 

You got your XPS in February. How has it worked out? I am trying to decide between the same two machines. On paper the xps is stronger in a lot of ways. But the hundreds of reported problems in the forum...and the hours lost on finding their solutions have backed me off of the xps 15. Regretfully.

I ask here instead of the xps thread...because frankly you can't find a soul in there that's having a good time.

Thanks.

 

most likely I am stating the obvious, but the P40Yoga is designed to compete with Surface book and its incredibly overpriced hardware.
in theory wacom aes is the best stylus tech, but it remains or the rest of the hardware to keep up.
I personally think Surface Book should be a stronger performance; the custom 940M in the Surfacebook has GDDr5, versus the lame GDDR3 in the P40. I also suspect Microsoft achieved better cooling, less throttling.
So unless, you need an ISV certification for your graphics, I will rather get a Surfacebook than a P40.

 

@jdrodrig_9312 Thinkpad Yoga 460 is just like P40 Yoga, but with 940M and i5, priced very reasonably. Given the price difference and Thinkpad keyboard, I believe it's overall better package than Surfacebook.