Lenovo ThinkPad E15 3rd Gen Review! Sub $700 laptop time!

[@Albertkallal]

They are fantastic laptops. I swapped out the factory nve drive to a 2TB Crucial. (diskmark has the built in drive at 1600, the crucial runs as 3200, or 3600). And of course dropped in a extra 8gig ram stick. For the money, for the fantastic keyboard? I run 2 external monitors + main laptop monitor all day long - in Visual Studio. Fan does not even run, sits lazy all day long at about about 2.3 ghz. hit f5 to build, wham - 4 ghz - , 6 CPU's max out, and it spools up a web server, running sql server, and Visual Studio - web page displays in less then 2 seconds, and then 4gh clock speed cranks right back down to low 2ghz'. Best setup and laptop I ever owned. Super quiet fan, hardly even runs during the day. Buy the lower cost 8gig and 256 gig drive, and up-grade yourslef. You wind up with a 2TB drive, 16 gig ram - and it screams. You save a boatload by purchase of the lower spec model, and then upgrade. Compared to the 1TB and 16gig ram model from factory? You save several hundred dollars, and windup with a incredible 2TB and 16 gig ram computer - all for less the $1000, and it performs easy as good as a dell 10 or 11 gen i7. (they only have 4 cores, a wee bit faster max CPU, but with the dual heat pipes, and 6 cores, you get better with the that amazing 5500u. and now that gen 3 have duel heat pipes? Gosh, what a gem the Ryzen 5500 CPU is. 6 cores, 12 threads. And it now gets the heat out VERY well indeed. You can't beat this setup for performance and value (and keyboard is fantastic). So, this is not a gamer laptop, but for development, and general use? Absolute fantastic unit - even from quality point of view. Of course I purchased a USB-C hub, with power pass-though, and now have 2 HMDI ports, one VGA port, network port, and sd card readers (that hub was about $80 on amazon). so, get to my desk, plug in ONE simple usb C cord, and everything is up and running - good to go, with hard wired internet and 2 monitors (both run at 60hz, 1920). I also use the laptop monitor. To be fair, I am not running (nor need) 4k monitors. So, for a good solid good quality basic system? I could not be more happy with this Gen 3 model. Not sure why the factory nve ssd drive is slow (but, slow is a relative word!!). I also pulled out the 256gig built in drive, as I wanted the 2TB drive to be the boot drive. Before you "clone" the built in drive (with the free Crucial version of Acronis provided), make sure you turn off bit-locker, else the clone will not work. But, for a basic work unit? You just can't go wrong with this model. Best price vs performance and quality you can get if you do the above upgrades.

[@ComputerStuff]

ThinkPads are solid work horses!

[@muhammad-bin-american]

Thanks so much for your comment. It helps me decided whether to go for this or keep my Galaxy Book Pro 15.6. I will now return the Galaxy Book for the e15. Two things I dislike about the Galaxy book: The fan is noisy and likes to run even when you are just doing basic stuff. Heat management is poor. I also hate that I cannot upgraded the RAM. Thanks again for your advice.

[@LtCommanderTato]

did these let you have a 30W power limit?

[@fabianvillalba1975]

Good ol Thinkpad. Rugged, serviceable and simple, no bells and whistles. One thought about performance: this model comes with soldered RAM (8 GB i guess) plus an expansion slot for regular SODIMM module. Running in single channel mode cripples performance in memory bandwith sensitive tasks. Great review by the way.

[@ComputerStuff]

Thanks Fabian. Didn't think of that but your theory on the RAM is a great one.

[@bryanpwo3085]

I was wondering about the nipple too for a long time, but it is more efficient and faster for people who are used to it, when working with excel/office. The theory behind it is that you don't have to move your hand from the keyboard to move the cursor to the desired place. The buttons are also there for the nipple users. (They use their thumbs to right or left click, again without moving their hands from the keyboard section.) HP and Dell have the same nipple on their bussiness line laptops. As a ThinkPad owner, I started to use it more often and I have to say, after some adjusting time, it is faster and more efficient, especially with Excel.

[@ComputerStuff]

Great feedback Bryanpwo! Yeah some of the Dell Latitudes have in on there and they seem to be responsive - I think my only qualm is that I've seen time and time again laptops come in that are around 4 years ago and the nipple is like "jammed" to one side (like a worn out joystick) and the mouse cursor just glides across the screen automatically. Oh well. Glad you're adjusting to it well. I remember as a kid I preferred it over the trackpad by a long shot.

[@johndoe-lr9if]

Bryanpwo, I tried the nipple on mine but didn't find it quite supple enough or maybe it wasn't as perky as expected. I'll be giving it another go though next time I'm in laptop mode.

[@bryanpwo3085]

@@ComputerStuff I only use it for moving the cursor to the office menu and scrolling in a document. For internet and other stuff I use the trackpad. Perhaps that is the reason why I still have a working nipple.

[@bryanpwo3085]

@@johndoe-lr9if It takes some practice, but the only advantage (for me) is when working in an office document to navigate quickly to the menu or scrolling.

[@heartofcinema3454]

The buttons on track pad are for the finger nipple users. The nipple is only reason I would buy a lenovo thinkpad

[@ComputerStuff]

😏

[@muhammad-bin-american]

Thanks for this video. Bought a Galaxy Book Pro 15.6 and overall I like it but the fan is noisy even when you are doing basic task. Its also not that upgradable. Only 8GB RAM which is not enough for some stuff. The cool thing is the E15 is currently at the same price as the Galaxy Book even though its a better built and specced machine. I will return it and exchange it for the e15. Thanks.

[@ComputerStuff]

Glad it helped!

[@LizenMaker]

Hi. I use laptop like that but my soundcard behringer UMC202 NOT WORKING. Please help me

[@ComputerStuff]

First thing to check for are drivers and making sure you have latest updates.

[@jdmji]

Lots of used 5700u laptops on ebay in the $300 range. Fantastic value. Just got a 16gb 1tb ssd E15 for $374! Almost got a 8gb 256 e14 for $300 but ended up optimg dor the bigger screen since i travel and need to work remotely

[@Alejandra_Gonzalez_]

Thank you for this video. I needed it.

[@omerbinsaadat4973]

Yesterday at a store I was shown Lenovo thinkbook 15 12th Gen ci5 vs thinkpad e16 13th gen ci5. The price difference was around USD 200 in the country i live in. For home use of browsing / word & excel only / movies, what would be recommended. I had Dell inspiron n5110 ci5 that lasted 13 years. The available Dell here is inspiron 3530 ci5 13th gen, seems like out of jurasic park as compared both lenovo machines mentioned above. All 3 machines are sold without OS. Your recommendation on thinkbook vs thinkpad. I have seen your thinkbook video too.

[@ComputerStuff]

I'd still probably go with a ThinkPad were it my money, but the ThinkBook is a respectable machine by all accounts.

[@omerbinsaadat4973]

@@ComputerStuff thanks a lot. Really appreciate it, that you replied.

[@ParoxyDM]

If it didn't have TrackPoint, then why call it a ThinkPad?

[@ComputerStuff]

Hah! Ok I give in!

[@RobertOortwijn]

I would not use userbenchmark in the future again. They have a hatred for AMD. Hardware Unboxed did a video about it.

[@ComputerStuff]

We now use GeekBench.

[@DigitalSamTV]

Whats the difference between this and a t15 . Why spend more money on a t series?

[@ComputerStuff]

The T series in general is going to be made of more premium materials, with faster and more premium parts, and have more business oriented features including security enclaves and the likes. If you can afford it, I'd recommend the new T16.

[@DigitalSamTV]

@@ComputerStuff cheers. Well it's a purchase for staff. So a balance between cost and quality. Must have a bright enough screen for outdoor work at cafes and must have a backlit keyboard

[@ComputerStuff]

You'd probably be fine with the E-series in that case! @@DigitalSamTV

[@DigitalSamTV]

@@ComputerStuff yes as long as I can get the better screen and the backlit keyboard. But that is not available to order online for the country I need it in... Only the crap spec e series with the bad screen and bad keyboard

[@fearlesssoul9408]

Can it handle puching it to the limit ? You know what i mean

[@ComputerStuff]

Oh yeah.

[@gs9843]

Please advise me. Is this PC suitable for video editing work? Spec(Thinkpad i5 E15 G2-1135G7, 512gb, 16gb memory, CPU Iris Xe)

[@ComputerStuff]

Light editing, such as 1080p. No 4K at RAW by any means.

[@gs9843]

@@ComputerStuff Thank you very much. How about Dell intel i7 - 1135G7, Iris Xe, 512 & 16 gb, 15" screen) ? Also only light video editing?

[@ComputerStuff]

@@gs9843 Correct. Your constraints for higher end video editing are going to be the graphics card. At a minimum you'd want a dedicated card (not an Intel XE) and an i7 CPU

[@gs9843]

@@ComputerStuff Helpful advice. Thank you 😊

[@johndoe-lr9if]

lol @ "because everybody uses kensington lock" ... I recently got a p15s gen 2 for a full time work machine, so far I'm loving it

[@ComputerStuff]

Other than seeing it used at Staples or OfficeDepot, I've never had a customer come in, in 20 years and ask "Does this laptop offer Kensington lock?" :P. Enjoy the P15!

[@toddpark2893]

M.2 SSD 2242 form factor. Why?

[@ComputerStuff]

Haha. Yes but there is room for a traditional size NVMe.

[@kabiruddin7113]

How can you say the keyboard is so good yet scores a 7? Stop watching at that point.

[@ComputerStuff]

😱

[@maximilianotrincado3335]

Old school thinkpad 🤪👍🏻

[@ComputerStuff]

They keep on truckin'!

[@manuelhernandez2017]

👍👍👍

[@heartofcinema3454]

The buttons on track pad are for the finger nipple users. The nipple is only reason I would buy a lenovo thinkpad

[@ComputerStuff]

😏