Lenovo ThinkPad Broadwell Updates for T550, T450s, E550, E450, and L450
by Jarred Walton on January 4, 2015 11:10 PM EST
Wrapping up the ThinkPad updates for now, Lenovo also announced the T550, T450s, E550, E450, and L450 today. As with the X1 Carbon and X250, these replace the previous generation Haswell products and upgrade them to Broadwell processors. Let’s quickly go through the various laptops.
The T550 is a 15.6” Ultrabook with an optional 3K (2880x1620) touchscreen display. Similar to the X250, it supports Lenovo’s Power Bridge Technology that features a smaller integrated battery with a user swappable external battery. Combined with the 6-cell 72Wh battery, the T550 is rated at up to 17 hours of battery life. It weighs 2.26kg (4.98 lbs) and measures 380mm x 252mm x 22.4mm (14.96” x 9.92” x 0.88”). It supports up to Core i7 Broadwell-U processors, with up to 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
The T450s is a slightly smaller 14.0” version of the T550 Ultrabook, with up to a 1080p display. Power Bridge Technology is again present, allowing for up to 17 hours of mobility. The T450s measures 331mm x 226mm x 21mm (13.03” x 8.90” x 0.83”) and weighs 1.58kg (3.48 lbs). It comes with 4GB RAM soldered onto the motherboard with one SO-DIMM slot allowing up to 12GB RAM total. Up to a 512GB SSD and a Core i7 Broadwell-U processor are supported.
The E550/E450 are one step down the ThinkPad hierarchy, and as such they lose support for Power Bridge. They are also not Ultrabooks, but they do have optional discrete GPUs – R7 M260 2GB for the E450 and R7 M265 2GB for the E550. Both support up to the Core i7-5500U, with two SO-DIMM slots allowing up to 16GB RAM. Storage from the factory consists of pure HDD solutions, unfortunately. The E550 is available with either a 15.6” 1366x768 or 1080p LCD, while the E450 comes with a 14” 1366x768 or 1080p LCD.
Both are rated at up to nine hours of battery life, with the E450 featuring an integrated (non-swappable) battery while the E550 has a user swappable battery. The E550 weighs 2.35kg (5.2 lbs) and measures 377mm x 256mm x 27mm (14.82” x 10.08” x 1.06”) while the E450 weighs 1.81kg (4.0 lbs) and measures 339mm x 239mm x 24mm (13.35” x 9.41” x 0.94”). But have 720p webcams, but the E550 has an optional 3D camera.
Finally, the L450 is the entry-level 14” ThinkPad, but it’s more of a step sideways from the E-series. It comes with up to Core i7 processor support, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD or 360GB SSD, and up to a 1080p IPS display. It comes with R5 M240 graphics and Intel’s HD 5500, along with a 720p webcam. It’s a bit heavier than the E450, weighing 1.93kg (4.25 lbs), but dimensions are similar at 339mm x 235mm x 24.3mm (13.3” x 9.3” x 0.9”).
Pricing and availability for all of these ThinkPad models have not been announced, but we’d expect most of these to ship Q1 at the latest.
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thommo101 - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
Yes! I'm happy enough for the buttons to be back. The 'all in one' surface/button thing of the previous models were atrocious.thommo101 - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
Now I just need to wait the 9 months it seems to take for these to be available in Australia...douglasac10 - Friday, January 9, 2015 - link
The new X1 Carbon appeared earlier in the week and E-series appeared on Thursday and both are available now, so I would imagine that the T and L series aren't too far behind at this rate.lophiomys - Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - link
+1MadMan007 - Sunday, January 4, 2015 - link
I would almost say the E450 is a step up from the T450s because it has two SO-DIMM slots instead of one channel of soldered RAM. The dimensions are really close too.I would hope these all implement dual channel RAM?
galfert - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
The T450s is not a good enough upgrade from the T440s. I can't believe that it only has 4GB soldered onboard when it should be 8GB to allow for 16GB max with upgrade slot. Also if the E450 can have dedicated graphics then the T450s should have dedicated graphics too. Maybe there is no room for dedicated graphics...well I say find a way even if it means making it a millimeter thicker. They already make the screen lid thicker for a touch screen option...well do the same for a dedicated graphics version.Even better would be to see a W450s that has the missing features I've described. I like the W series but I think 15 Inch screen is too big. A W450s if it existed would be an incredible top seller.
Penti - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
No DisplayPort on the E-series. So I don't know why you would pick it over the L-series. T440s also has soldered DRAM. So it's basically the same machine when it comes to T440s/T450s.Nexing - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
"A W450s if it existed would be an incredible top seller." Meaning a 14" with 2 So-Dimm slots, IPS (over 900 pix).Plus finally have a Thunderbolt connector. Professional Audio today is flocking towards this connector because its lower latency and bandwidth, however Dell, HP and Lenovo have been very slow in adopting this. Maybe they need to collect a list of hardware and devices (and numbers sold) already utilizing Thunderbolt -and here is the important bit- with Windows drivers.
Nexing - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
I meant portability; A powerful 14" with the above features is yet to be found on the PC/Laptop supplyHarry_Wild - Saturday, September 26, 2015 - link
Just purchased a new T450 with 8GB and did not know why it came with a soldered module inside in the slot? Second slot has a 4GB stick. This is the first time I ran across soldered 1st slot RAM being soldered.