I’ve been using an older Lenovo Thinkpad T460p laptop that I bought brand new May 2017 for $2210 USD with a pretty impressive discount for the time. The Thinkpad T460p released April 2016 over a year earlier from when I bought it. I over bought on the CPU/processor and bought extra power adapters and batteries upfront. It has been a great laptop but starting to show its age and I’ve been looking for a new laptop with a little more pep. Older USB is starting to be limiting and I’d like to go beyond 32Gb RAM.
Processor Intel Core i7-6820HQ processor (8MB Cache, Up to 3.6 Ghz)
Operating System Windows 10 Pro 64
Operating System Language Windows 10 Pro 64 English
Display 14.0 WQHD(2560 x 1440) IPS Non-Touch
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 2GB
Memory 32GB(16+16) DDR4 2133MHz SoDIMM
Camera 720p HD Camera
Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - English
Pointing Device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Security Chip Software TPM Enabled
First Hard Drive 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm, 2.5", SATA3
System Expansion Slots Smart Card Reader
Battery ThinkPad Battery 6 cell Li-Ion (72Wh) Cyl HC Rear
ThinkPad Battery 68+ 6.6 Ah Notebook Battery
Power Cord 135W AC Adapter (2pin) - US
90W AC Adapter (Slim Tip) - power adapter - 90 Watt
Wireless Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC(2x2) 8260, Bluetooth Version 4.1 vPro
Integrated Mobile Broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Display Panel T460p WQHD IPS AG WW PAINT
Language Pack Publication - English
Warranty 3 Year Depot or Carry-in
As I looked around, nothing under $4000-$5000 USD seemed to fit the bill once I added all the features and limitations. MacBook Pro and several WinTel laptops were in the running but nothing seemed like a good fit. And all the newer laptops seem to have soldered memory or limitations on future upgrades built into them. Add to that my interest in LLM and AI/ML which has me thinking about buying a used server or high-end workstation with multiple GPUs that will cost in the multiple $1000’s USD, I figure I should economize on my development laptop.
So that puts me browsing in the used market space on eBay and Craigslist.
A brief perusal brought the Lenovo Thinkpad T480 to my attention. The T480 as a January 2018 release is still an upgrade of my existing T460p that released in early 2016. I have a good bit of experience disassembling the base T-series platform as a bonus. The T480 are coming off support for large corporations and US Federal contracts. That brings the price way down in the used market.
Some key features are the T480 have an Intel i5 or i7 options in a Gen 8 CPU with and without a Nvidia GPU. It is the last generation of the T-series with removable batteries and has dual SODIMMs not soldered to the motherboard if you stay away from the slimline Ts-series.
Screen Size 14 in
Graphics Processing Type Dedicated Graphics
RAM Size 32 GB
Color Black
SSD Capacity 256 GB
Most Suitable For Casual Computing, Graphic Design, Workstation
GPU Intel's UHD Graphics 620 IGP
NVIDIA GeForce MX150
Processor Speed 1.80 GHz
Brand Lenovo
Series ThinkPad
Type Mobile Workstation
Maximum Resolution 1920 x 1080
Model Lenovo ThinkPad T480
Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, USB-C, SD Card Slot,
Thunderbolt, SmartCard Reader
Operating System Windows 10
Features 10/100 LAN Card, Backlit Keyboard, Bluetooth, Built-in Microphone,
Built-in Webcam, Multi-Touch Trackpad, Touchscreen, Widescreen Display, Wi-Fi
Hard Drive Capacity 256 GB
Storage Type SSD (Solid State Drive)
Processor Intel Core i7 Processor 8550U CPU: 1.8GHz (8Mb Cache, up to 4.00 Ghz)
Operating System Windows 10 Pro 64
Display 14.0" 1920x1080
Graphics Intel's UHD Graphics 620 IGP
NVIDIA GeForce MX150
Memory 64GB(32+32) DDR4 2400MHz SoDIMM
Camera ???720p HD Camera
Keyboard Keyboard backlit - English
Pointing Device TrackPoint and TouchPad with Fingerprint Reader
Security Chip ???Software TPM Enabled
First Hard Drive 250GB Hard Disk Drive, SSD, 2.5", SATA3
System Expansion Slots ???Smart Card Reader
Battery ???ThinkPad Battery 6 cell Li-Ion (72Wh) Cyl HC Rear
???ThinkPad Battery 68+ 6.6 Ah Notebook Battery
Power Cord ???135W AC Adapter (2pin) - US
Wireless ???Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC(2x2) 8260, Bluetooth Version 4.1 vPro
Integrated Mobile Broadband ???Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Display Panel ???T460p WQHD IPS AG WW PAINT
Warranty ???
So I’m getting the following components used and new.