Lenovo’s ThinkPad refresh includes 3K displays, extreme battery life

By Chris Stobing Published January 4, 2015

Lenovo has long been a leader in laptops that help professionals get the most out of their time, and this year’s lineup of ThinkPad’s continues that legacy with brand new T450, T450s, and T550 notebooks.

The T450 and T550 are there for anyone who needs the perfect combination of power and efficiency. Intel’s new 5th-gen Core processors give these ThinkPads the best of both worlds, and when paired up with Lenovo’s PowerBridge technology, their battery gets bumped up to a massive 72 watt-hours with the 3-cell + 6-cell option, making them some of the longest lasting laptops in their class.

Display choices for the T450 starts with a standard 14-inch HD 1366 x 768 anti-glare panel. From there you can upgrade to a 14-inch 1600 x 900 anti-glare screen or a touchscreen with the same resolution.

The T450s, a lighter version of the T450 built for serious travelers, is a jump higher up in the chain than the standard model, offering a 14-inch 1600 x 900 anti-glare screen standard. It can be upgraded to a 1080p anti-glare or touch panel.

The T550 fleshes out the customization options a bit more. Though it has a disappointing standard 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 anti-glare panel it can be upgraded to a 1080p screen. And then things get serious with the new optional 15.5-inch 2880 x 1620 display, which can be had in anti-glare or touch flavors.

Lenovo ThinkPad T450s — Lenovo ThinkPad T450svo, Image used with permission by copyright holder

Standard storage in all three is handled by mechanical drives of up to one terabyte. Upgrades include a 500GB hybrid drive or a selection of SSDs ranging from 128GB all the way up to 512GB. RAM on the T450s scales up to 12GB depending on your customization choices, while the T450 and T550 can hit 16GB total.

Weights for the three laptops are a bit higher than some of its competitors, but that increased heftiness can be attributed to the longer battery life and higher-res screens. The T450s is the lightest at 3.5 pounds, the T450 will start at four pounds, and the T550 will be just a hair under five pounds.

All three have identical connectivity represented by one RJ45, mini-DIsplayPort for additional video displays, three USB 3.0 ports, one VGA out, and a 4-in-1 SD reader.

The T450 and T550 will go on sale for $849 and $999 respectively, while the T450s will start at $1099. You can expect all three to be available in February.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Self-proclaimed geek and nerd extraordinaire, Chris Stobing is a writer and blogger from the heart of Silicon Valley. Raised…

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