Lenovo ThinkPad T14 & T14s Owners Thread

Alright so last sunday I ordered a T14 Ryzen 7, which I just received. Shipping estimate was 3 weeks but got it in 2 days, so that's nice.

I bought a Yoga Slim 7 before that, but due to the bad (and defective) display I'm returning that one. I also didn't like the overly bright backlit keyboard, the T14 has way better brightness options. The T14 is 240 euro's more, but the improved display, keyboard, and overall ThinkPad quality is probably worth it. I also could've gone for the Ryzen 5 which would be roughly the same price as the Yoga Slim 7 (tough it has a 4650U, compared to the 4800U in the Yoga Slim 7), but I was just in a generous mood I guess.

Currently I'm just testing how the T14 fares in daily usage, especially how the temps are. If those are okay then I'm going to keep the T14, and if not then I'll have to look at other options (though there are almost no good alternatives in the EU). The trackpad could be better, but I'm spoiled by my old MacBook Pro. Maybe I just have to get used to the trackpoint. The T14 does indeed come with single channel ram, so I'll probably add another stick.

Btw don't forget to use the Lenovo Vantage app to update some Lenovo stuff. I feel like it runs a bit cooler since I've updated it.

 

That's an opinion, not a fact (in terms of whether or not they're worth the price - I agree they're built like tanks).

Most people I know (including myself) never drop their machines, rarely (if ever) spill liquids on them. I've had many, many (many) laptops over the years, and the non-business ones typically last just as long as the business ones.

My experience has been the complete opposite (aka very rarely come across drop/spill damage). Likely different scenario if you work at a company and deal with people who don't care about those work-provided machines.

Mind you, I'm not arguing that ThinkPads (and other business-grade laptops) aren't built better - they are. I have several old Latitudes that are still working, which I bought refurbished many years ago. They had clearly been dropped, yet still worked. A cheap $400 laptop would likely not have survived intact.

For people who are careful (which, based on my observations, is a large portion of laptop owners in my circle) the massive increase is price is likely not worth it. Much like CPU power, GPU power, RAM/SSD requirements etc, whether or not the improved build quality is "totally worth it" is entirely subjective and depends on each individual. In my case, for example, the 2x price premium is "totally" not worth it, though I'd gladly pay $100-$200 more for it.

EDIT: My sister-in-law definitely falls under the category of people for whom a ThinkPad is totally worth it - she's incredibly clumsy and has dropped/broken several laptops (doesn't help she has two young kids who think they're just another toy). I've told them they should buy a good used ThinkPad/Latitude/EliteBook, it'll actually be able to withstand the abuse. I also think used business laptops are pretty good value, which is why I've bought several - they're what my wife and kids use, as I can see them being less careful with them. My own personal laptops are a different story.

 

Sure is, like everything else in my post.

My experience is quite the opposite.

1. Hinge mounts typically go out on consumer stuff, requiring lower case and/or display lid replacement. Worst I saw on a few Thinkpads were metal washers getting out of display lid - was able to fix those with reassembly and a bit of superglue, the result was satisfying although the procedure has to be repeated about once a year afterwards; on consumer stuff, the mounts where the washers go are often completely destroyed after some years.

2. Liquid spills often result in dead motherboard on consumer stuff, while Thinkpads typically survive that, requiring a keyboard replacement at worst, and often get away without that.

3. Drops.

My first laptop was a gaming Acer which I used for 5 or 6 years. Upgraded the hell out of it, was still in great condition by the time I parted it out - due to expensive upgrades, made much more sense than selling it as a whole - which allowed me to buy a much newer Thinkpad. I dare say it's an exception that proves the rule - consumer laptops are not made to last long.

Most people I know drop their personal laptops, spill all sorts of drinks on them, and sometimes do even weirder stuff to damage them. \=

Very true, at least in the US.

 

Notebookchexk review of ThinkPad T14s in German. I used translate in Opera to read it. Great rating of 91%.

https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-...iness-Laptop-ist-mit-AMD-besser.481481.0.html

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

 

I'm native in german. Yes it does read impressive, unfortunately they're not too specific on the thermals,

but from what I could get from their screenshots, it runs at least 15°C cooler than mine did! :/

 

Congrats! I'm also thinking about a T14 now!
If you could get the chance, can you download and install League of Legends and check the temperatures when opening the launcher? Just by loading the launcher, not the game itself, my T14s immediately climbed to 94°C. Playing only a few minutes smashed it straight into it's thermal limit of 105°C.

 

On the durability of tech, the product cycles all just become so much faster because we're tumbling around the drain of our hyperconsumerist world. Most things are just not made to last past 2 or max 3 years. I've always had a great time with Apple stuff (in the past, up to 2012/2013-ish) and tend to use the crap out of my tech. I don't like upgrading if not necessary. Still rocking my OG iPhone SE and see no need to upgrade anytime soon, maybe swap the battery.

Back on topic I do feel that ThinkPads ARE more robust and I'm willing to pay a premium for that, also for the added security features. I don't mind their price when I look at what a specced out XPS or MacBook costs. Still, for this price I expect a somewhat competent thermal solution. I wouldn't even mind a fancy docking-solution with a built-in-vacuum for better thermals when running docked!
One can dream.

Haha.

 

Opening the launcher does prompt the fan to start spinning (on the first level only, it's barely audible in an entirely quiet room), and does increase my temps to 50°C. Temps were at 46°C before opening the launcher, so that barely changed. I was working on a small Visual Studio project and installing some other stuff in the meantime. I did play a 25 minute game of ARAM earlier today where I left the machine unplugged and on 'better battery' on purpose. All settings maxed and running at 1080p. I forgot what the temps/fps where (I watched those the whole day, so the numbers are all scrambled in my head atm), but it was perfectly playable. The laptop did get quite hot, but not unreasonably hot. It also wasn't that loud, but I am used to my MacBook turbines so that might give some perspective. I can try again tomorrow where I change all power settings to max performance and with the power plugged in.

All in all I think that your T14s probably was faulty in some way. The folks over at notebookcheck also didn't seem to have too many issues with the heat.

When I started looking for a new laptop I also started by testing the XPS in stores. I quite liked it, but wasn't too pleased with the lack of ports and the price premium. After a while I found out about the new Ryzen 4000 processors and at that point I knew I had to have one of those. I usually don't get the most expensive option, but this T14 still cost quite a bit less than what my initial budget was.

 

Well, T14s runs hot when faulty, while XPS & Macbooks run hot by design. (= Jokes aside, many if not most recent Intel-based Thinkpads also run crazy hot. Lenovo tends to cheap out on cooling just like everybody else. Sometimes it's possible to just install better designed cooling system from a sister Thinkpad model... other times it requires modding not for the faint of heart.

 

Hmmm that indeed does sound much better than my machine. Did you use it "stock" or apply new thermal paste? Over on medium.com someone responded to my article, also had a "very hot" T14s with R7 and the T14 with R5 he tried wasn't any better. Bad batches maybe due to corona-disturbance in production? Rushing to market? I don't know. I'm hesitant what to get next now. I clearly want a ThinkPad but I'd like to keep my house from burning down!