Announcing ThinkPad P-Series - P50 and P70

Thanks, This would be the U.S availability (P70) Nov 11th correct?

Also, wow I need to get a better unstanding the Dell Precision 7710 with the Thunderbolt 3 port won't be available before Christmas? If that is correct I probably won't be getting that.

If the P70 becomes available in a week or two it will have Thunderbolt 3 port correct? Sorry if there is a link to explain please inform.

Thanks

 

Yes, to my knowledge, every P70 should come with two Thunderbold 3 ports.

 

According to the Dell portion of this forum it will be in January.

The P70 comes with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports as standard and should be available when it goes live online - time will tell though.

 

Empty P-Series section is now on Lenovos US site (was not there when I checked a few days ago): http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/p-series/

 

Nice find! I've noticed a reduction in prices in current models the past few days. I hope the new P models come out soon so that folks can get them before year-end/holiday season. I can't wait for the first impressions to roll in.

 

P70 parts list: https://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkPad/p70_frubom_20151029.pdf

Panasonic 4K panel confirmed^^

 

Good detective work Benjamin!
Over on the Dell website they have the 7510 up but not 7710 (P70 equivalent) but the Thunderbolt 3 option not available until January of 2016 so it will definitely be the Lenovo P70 for me (assuming they have it available prior to January)

 

On twitter this is what they posted:

Lenovo Workstations ‏@thinkstations 3h3 hours ago
@DSPonFPGA Dates vary by country; P70 will be on the web in the next couple weeks in the US! P50 will follow.

 

Couple of weeks clearly means December for P70 and P50 who knows when after Everyone is discussing when. I ask about how much. Is there any relative pricing for the different versions ?

 

First prices are here: http://www.lenovosc.com/usa/portfolio/system/thinkpad/features (select P70)

The only question is though if these prices are for consumers or only for the Channel. I guess we will find out soon. At least this might give you a vague idea.

Right from the start it seems M600M and M3000M are the only available GPUs, with M4000M and M5000M following soon. And all of these configurations have FHD IPS, so we will see if the 4K IPS is delayed a few weeks or not.

 

According to the data sheet the P70 warranty is carry in or depot only, no NBD in-home service. This rules out a P70 for me. Kind of a joke to say you are catering to high end business users and then expect them to carry their laptop in and wait for God knows how long for a fix.

I had heard rumors of Lenovo NBD in-home service, but I was skeptical and it looks like my suspicions were correct. Lenovo is just not ready for prime-time workstation class offerings.

 

Lenovo offers NBD home/onsite repairs for every Think-PC. They are just not the standard option in the US. Cou can choose this option as you customize the system on lenovo.com.

Here are all the warranty options you have with a ThinkPad (taken from a T550):

Hm, they have been in this business since the very moment they bought IBMs PC division. And they also had Onsite service back then...

 

Do we know if the PCIE SSDs will be Samsungs?

 

Same here, and the key for me is to get it by Christmas

 

In one of the manuals a page or two back, the drive section says SAMSG PCIe or M2. Can't remember the exact name but it's not the standard SATA description and frankly, Samsung is more or less the only option these days in blade-type PCIe.

 

Look into the parts list: https://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkPad/p70_frubom_20151029.pdf

Its either Samsung or Toshiba SSDs.

 

Totally forgot about Toshiba.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9515/toshiba-announces-three-new-nvme-ssd-families

Should be the XG3 series. Not too much specs other than up to 2400/1500 sequential R/W. I wonder if it faces the same thermal issues that plagues Samsung.

 

Speaking about the parts list, do you know what "DFN" stands for when it comes to keyboards? And how does Chicony's touchpad differ from LiteOn's?

 

DFN stands for Darfon, which is a Taiwanese parts manufacturer: http://www.darfon.com.tw/English/Default.asp

 

I guess we will have to wait to see which keyboard and which touchpad becomes (if they do) generally preferred.

 

Please, pardon my ignorance but I went through the "Hardware Maintenance Manual" of P70 and couldn't see an option for the CPU change/upgrade - only for the MXM GPU.
Is this so or I am missing something?
Thanks!

 

All Skylake Mobile CPUs are soldered to the motherboard. The CPU can´t be changed without also changing the mainboard.

 

Thanks for the clarification, ibmthink!
I thought I will be able to upgrade the CPU chip during the years as I did with my trusty T61p....

 

Are you suggesting I would have to actually have to purchase the warranty separate from the laptop?

 

When you are purchasing a ThinkPad directly from Lenovo.com, you first customize the hardware and then you can customize the warranty - 1 year bring-in is the default here, thats true, but as shown in the screenshot, there are many extended warranty options. So its not separate from the laptop, its all part of the package.

 

I would chime in that the only other Thinkpad I have owned was my X220 and it had to have service twice. Once for a display issue (there was a huge light area on it, probably from it getting damaged during shipping to me) and the other was a BIOS that one day failed on me.

Both times, I took it to a local Lenovo authorized service provider who had my laptop back in my hands same day (though I did have to drive to their office). This was on the base warranty offering.

Doing it again, I'd probably upgrade to on-site for convenience, but I was pretty happy with the other option, as well. The X220 continues on today for my mom and has had no issues since.

 

Good point. I chose to pay extra for on-site service for my recent T440p purchase for that very reason.

I knew I wanted it, but wasn't sure how I would sign up for it, since it wasn't on the first configuration page. But further on in the ordering process Lenovo provides the choice of higher levels of service which included various onsite service options.

 

The 11th has come and gone and although Lenovo did nothing, HP revealed their Zbook refresh. Not impressed with the form there, especially the ugly intake grilles on the bottom that look horrendous and the geometric wedging of the sides.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-introduces-new-ZBook-mobile-workstations.153880.0.html

Dell isn't doing much for me either so it's down to the P50 or the new Skylake Macbook Pros whenever they drop.

 

I never understood the "if I don't like this mobile workstation, I'll get a Macbook Pro" mentality. They're just so different.

Mobile workstations use quad-core processors and professional graphics cards. They aim to be business rugged, tested and validated for professional use, containing as many connectivity options as possible, and powered and cooled to sustain high performance. For these goals, thin-ness and style are typically sacrificed.

Macbook Pros use quad-core processors and low to mid-level graphics cards. They aim to have superior screens, be as thin and stylish as possible, and have high battery life. For these goals, cooling, connectivity, and sustained performance are sacrificed.

How can these 2 radically different designs be the only options for some people?

 

Of course you don't. Because what I use isn't dependent on any brand or manufacturer or vendor thus enables me to freely move across platforms and options. Perhaps I do understand what I need and can compromise as needed instead of pinning my hopes on empty promises or lackluster realizations.

 

I'm sure you know exactly what you need. My comment was expressing my surprise that the only options you're considering are such different systems.

 

available for sale in UK ?

https://www.thinklogic.co.uk/p_series

 

P-Series is also on sale now for non-students here in Germany:
http://www.campuspoint.de/mobile/notebooks/lenovo/thinkpad-w-serie/thinkpad-p50.html
http://www.campuspoint.de/mobile/notebooks/lenovo/thinkpad-w-serie/thinkpad-p70.html

 

As it is mentioned at the end of the article:

" Availability
As there no stock of either P70 or P50 laptops anywhere in the UK and the wide choice in configurations, these are built to order. As with all Lenovo built to order products, this carries a 15 working day order period. If you do not see a configuration below that suits your requirements please contact us to discuss. "

Which might be thought as if Lenovo is about to launch P70 and P50 within 15 working days - this sums up more than half a month.

Additionally I had a question concering the upgrade option and what do you think about it guys. Since I would be not able to spend more than 3000 euro (I am in Europe) for P70, I need to compromise with the best version of it the 20ES005, which is the top most one having Xeon processor, NVidia M5000M, 32GB RAM, 4K display and 2x512 GB SSD.

What if I buy the entry level 20ES007 (for Xeon versions) instead, which is having Xeon processor, NVidia M3000M , FHD display, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD instead and then upgrade it gradually to the best version I mentioned. This means I will need to change the Ram , the NVidia graphics and the display. How do you think, will it be good strategy?

 

RAM/Graphics/SSD - OK, Display - no.

 

Is this clearly means I can even start with Skylake pricessor with 4K display and than change everything else?

 

Well, technically you can change everything... But to change processor (it's soldered) you'll need to change whole motherboard, and same with display - you'll need to change whole display assembly, it all would cost a lot. RAM, Graphics (it's MXM), HDD/SSD and WWAN could be upgraded easily.

I've had a chat with sales rep, he said they will have much more details about pricing on Monday.

 

I also chatted with the rep - the units are completely configurable and can be ordered with a 15 business day ( three week) turnaround.

 

I know it is a lot of things to change and at the end you would spend more, but just paying right away 4000 euro is just not my case and I really need a very good replacement of PC at all for home. So in that sense of discussion, I think it will be better to buy version with 4K and Xeon processor with less Ram, Graphics and SSD which can be later upgraded easily than just changing everything depending on the mother board? Right?

Another thing is I don't know which Intel procesdor is better as Intel Core i7-6920HQ or Xeon e3-1505 v5? I have read few articles saying the first one is better and the second is just more cheaper. What do you think about that too, guys? Which processor would you choose and why?

 

Well you both speak about US market? Here in EU is not that easy to pre order it and get it on time from reseller.

 

UK here.
About Core vs Xeon - afaik the main difference is that Xeon works with ECC memory and has P530 graphics.

 

I know that ECC is very much recommended than no ECC. This is a good plus for Xeon. What about the graphics P530 compared with Core? I am not an expert in graphics at all. I'm in Bulgaria.

 

I'm not aware of any prior Lenovo workstation class laptop that you could change/upgrade the GPU...?

 

W700/W701 had this ability too.

 

Is it confirmed that the P50 & P70 have MXM graphics? If so, are they limited to graphics cards on a BIOS/UEFI whitelist or will they be upgradeable to future Pascal-based graphics?

 

Only the P70 has MXM GPUs. At this point its unknown of there will be a whitelist or not, but I personally doubt that there won´t be one.

 

Quite frankly, I had no idea what you guys were talking about but, after a bit of research, I think I understand the basic concepts. After reviewing the specs on the upcoming Pascal cards I can see why you are interested if the P70 will be upgradeable. I have 2 - Titan X's in my video workstation but these new cards wil have 10 x the compute capability and up to 32GB memory - wow!!

Pardon my ignorance but if there is a whitelist - does this mean that a BIOS revision would be necessary to allow these cards to work (when they make a mobile card) or is it something more basic (like changes in the physical motherboard)?

I am keenly interested in this since my main interest in the P70 is the NVIDIA Quadro m5000m. The main software I will be using on the laptop is Backmagic Design Davinci Resolve which is a color grading/editing software that is used by nearly all of the major movie studios. It is a true "hog" with regard to GPU utilization especially with several layers of color grading/correcting going on, so any improvement in current GPU performance is very much welcolmed.

Bottom line - when they start making Pascal based mobile graphics cards do you think the P70 would be able to accept the card perhaps with a BIOS upgrade or are hardware changes necessary?

 

I have another question on the P70 with regard to the 2.5" main hard drive bay - looking at the configurator on the Thinklogic website it does list PCIe NVMe drive options for this bay as well as SATA - so will this bay have the option of SATA III connection as well as PCIe Gen3 4 lane (using an interposer) like the Dell 7710? It appears that the Optical drive bay will only have SATA III connection for a second 2.5" drive.

 

Whitelist is software based, so this could be changed with a UEFI-BIOS update. When it comes to newer, more powerful GPUs, one of the key question will be: Is the cooling strong enough?

I am also doubtful if Lenovo will allow this, if there is a Whitelist. They have been very conservative about such things in the past.

 

From what I read about the Pascal cards is less energy consumption so it might be that the heat output of these cards is actually going to be less than the current Maxwells.

On another note do you have any knowledge about Lenovo's International Warranty Service? For example, if I were to buy a P70 from Thinklogic in England with an extended premium warranty with accidental damage coverage would it be covered in the U.S. in the same way as if I had bought it here direct from Lenovo?