is the Thinkbook line any good?

[ghanwani]

This looks interesting in terms of specs.

ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 | Premium 13.5 inch Intel-powered small business laptop

Meet the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 (13″ Intel) business laptop, with Intel Core Ultra processing, Intel Evo benefits, AI experience optimization, and more.

www.lenovo.com

Do ThinkBooks have a good reputation?

Only spec I don't like is that the screen is touch & glossy. Lenovo rep said they expect to get a matte one later.

 

[Technerd108]

The ThinkBook line is a business focused laptop so the cost will be higher than a normal consumer laptop. The reason for this is business laptops are built to withstand more use and abuse and can be more user upgradable than consumer laptops but that is changing.

This is a nice unit for the cost. The touch screen is a nice IPS and 500 nits. It says anti-glare but I don't know what that means.

Generally matt means plastic and glossy means glass. New OLED screens are coming with an Anti-reflective coating which reduces glare by around 70%. With glass you will have much better scratch resistance. If glare is still an issue you can always get a matt film to apply to the screen.

Hp also has a very nice unit but it is a lot more expensive but this unit and the one below it go on sale often. I think you could find the 14" OLED Spectre with similar specs to the Lenovo for about the same price. Best Buy and HP.com have sales often.

HP Spectre 2-in-1 14" 2.8K OLED Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 32GB Memory 2TB SSD Nightfall Black 14-eu0023dx - Best Buy

Shop HP Spectre 2-in-1 14" 2.8K OLED Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 32GB Memory 2TB SSD Nightfall Black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

Personally I am not a big fan of Lenovo due to my experiences with their customer service after sale. I had one motherboard die on a Lenovo Yoga 7i within about 4 months! But generally most people seem to love Lenovo and as a brand they have a decent reputation. The customer service is the probably their biggest weakness.

Where as HP has always taken care of me during and after the sale. Their customer service can vary but if you are persistent they often go out of their way to help you. I had a previous Spectre and the mother board died two months after the warranty expired. First CS rep was no help but after elevating to a supervisor they not only fixed the laptop for free, they also sent me a loaner in the mean time. That was good customer service!

So I would recommend not just buying based on specs but also on after sale support. Great hardware at a good price is great until it breaks and you have to deal with less than optimal customer service it can give you more headaches in an already stressful situation.

 

[lcseds]

Actually, the ThinkPad is the business laptop. ThinkBook is a consumer grade line. Way different in the support and service.

 

[ghanwani]

Actually, the ThinkPad is the business laptop. ThinkBook is a consumer grade line. Way different in the support and service.

Why would they put 3:2 on a consumer grade machine?

 

[ghanwani]

The ThinkBook line is a business focused laptop so the cost will be higher than a normal consumer laptop. The reason for this is business laptops are built to withstand more use and abuse and can be more user upgradable than consumer laptops but that is changing.

This is a nice unit for the cost. The touch screen is a nice IPS and 500 nits. It says anti-glare but I don't know what that means.

Generally matt means plastic and glossy means glass. New OLED screens are coming with an Anti-reflective coating which reduces glare by around 70%. With glass you will have much better scratch resistance. If glare is still an issue you can always get a matt film to apply to the screen.

Hp also has a very nice unit but it is a lot more expensive but this unit and the one below it go on sale often. I think you could find the 14" OLED Spectre with similar specs to the Lenovo for about the same price. Best Buy and HP.com have sales often.

HP Spectre 2-in-1 14" 2.8K OLED Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 32GB Memory 2TB SSD Nightfall Black 14-eu0023dx - Best Buy

Shop HP Spectre 2-in-1 14" 2.8K OLED Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 32GB Memory 2TB SSD Nightfall Black at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

Personally I am not a big fan of Lenovo due to my experiences with their customer service after sale. I had one motherboard die on a Lenovo Yoga 7i within about 4 months! But generally most people seem to love Lenovo and as a brand they have a decent reputation. The customer service is the probably their biggest weakness.

Where as HP has always taken care of me during and after the sale. Their customer service can vary but if you are persistent they often go out of their way to help you. I had a previous Spectre and the mother board died two months after the warranty expired. First CS rep was no help but after elevating to a supervisor they not only fixed the laptop for free, they also sent me a loaner in the mean time. That was good customer service!

So I would recommend not just buying based on specs but also on after sale support. Great hardware at a good price is great until it breaks and you have to deal with less than optimal customer service it can give you more headaches in an already stressful situation.

Actually the thinkbook says “glare” for the screen so basically it’s glossy and not matte.

The new spectre does have positive reviews but it’s not 3:2, it is quite a bit heavier than the thinkbook (3+ lb vs 2.7 lb), and it has functionality (2-in-1) that I know I won’t be using. The thinkbook is much cheaper unless I wait for a sale, although the spectre comes with a bigger SSD (which I don’t really need).

I’ve been very underwhelmed interacting with sales support from all the PC vendors. I can’t imagine after sales support will be much better.

 

[Technerd108]

Actually the thinkbook says “glare” for the screen so basically it’s glossy and not matte.

The new spectre does have positive reviews but it’s not 3:2, it is quite a bit heavier than the thinkbook (3+ lb vs 2.7 lb), and it has functionality (2-in-1) that I know I won’t be using. The thinkbook is much cheaper unless I wait for a sale, although the spectre comes with a bigger SSD (which I don’t really need).

I’ve been very underwhelmed interacting with sales support from all the PC vendors. I can’t imagine after sales support will be much better.

I am not trying to convince you of getting the HP. There is also an Asus Oled 14" with ultra 7 1tb ssd and I belive 16gb ddr 5x ram for $799 at BestBuy. I don't think anything but Surface line has 3x2, everyone is now using 16x 10 format.

There is a lot of choice. I have had good experiences with HP, Dell, and Asus in terms of after sales support. If it doesn't matter to you then not a factor then Asus seems to be the cheapest and with Milspec and all aluminum. It does have a glossy gorilla glass touchscreen though???

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14” WUXGA Touch Laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 16GB Memory 1TB SSD Jasper Gray Q425MA-U71TB - Best Buy

Shop ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14” WUXGA Touch Laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7 Intel Evo Edition 16GB Memory 1TB SSD Jasper Gray at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee.

www.bestbuy.com

 

[ghanwani]

^ Wow the ASUS zenbook is inexpensive!

Do you have any thoughts on the LG gram?

BTW, Just Josh on YouTube rated the the spectre his best laptop for 2024 so far. I think he had some concerns with the zenbook mainly with price, but given the drop I think the main issue gets addressed.

 

[Technerd108]

^ Wow the ASUS zenbook is inexpensive!

Do you have any thoughts on the LG gram?

BTW, Just Josh on YouTube rated the the spectre his best laptop for 2024 so far. I think he had some concerns with the zenbook mainly with price, but given the drop I think the main issue gets addressed.

The Asus is a great laptop. Well built. I had the 13th gen version and loved it. Compared to the HP though it feels not cheap but not as nice in every metric. The HP has an anti reflective screen and it has scratch resistance. Build quility is better and the Asus screen is reflective in certain lights.

All that being said it is hard not to argue the much better value in the Asus. The Asus screen is bright and the speakers are side bottom firing but loud and rich. The build quality may not feel super premium but it feels super solid and milspec for at least some drop protection is always a plus.

The HP has a dual fan system that has been improved. The keyboard has been improved. The HP is the best value in high end and is just great laptop overall. I prefer the HP but at more than double the cost at MSRP although the HP often goes on sale for $300-$400 off making the high end model $1499 which is hard to beat. I prefer HP but I also really like Asus and can't say anything bad over many years of experience with their laptops.

However if value is more important than premium you really aren't losing much and gain more ports with Asus. I have had great luck with Asus laptops for many years and I prefer solid to fancy any day and Asus always delevers a solid build whether it is a cheap gaming laptop to these thin and light Zenbooks.

LG Gram is very nice and light but too flimsy for my taste. If you want something in that category then I would suggest a GalaxyBook 4 Pro 360 as the build quality is much better while still being very light. The screen on the GB4 Pro is better than the LG as well. The advantage LG has is more ram but I am not so sure that is more important than screen and build quality. I would buy the Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro 360 over any of these in a heartbeat though. It is simply the best Windows laptop on the market with again the 16gb ram caveat. The screen on the GalaxyBook is the best I have ever seen on any laptop-full stop. The HP would be after the GB for screen then the Asus. But all have amazing bright OLED screens and Ultra 7 and enough ram. There is no bad choice including the ThinkBook. All are great. It is just a matter of what you prioritize and what you are willing to pay. I would buy the bestbuy Asus model while it is still on sale. Then if you are not happy you could try another model but beyond little less premium build and more reflective screen you will be saving hundreds of dollars and I don't see why not give it a shot and see for yourself??

 

[ghanwani]

I would buy the Samsung GalaxyBook 4 Pro 360 over any of these in a heartbeat though. It is simply the best Windows laptop on the market with again the 16gb ram caveat. The screen on the GalaxyBook is the best I have ever seen on any laptop-full stop.

Does it have to be the 4 Pro 360 (very heavy) or is the 4 Pro just as good?

 

[leman]

For the price I'd say it's rather meh. What is it you are looking for? What is your planned usage?

 

[filmgirl]

If you’re a Costco member, they’ve got last year’s HP Dragonfly G4 for $1100 right now. I need a Windows laptop for testing reasons and my current one is about 3 years old and I’m very seriously considering this one. Costco has a 90-day return policy too https://www.costco.com/hp-dragonfly...280p---windows-11-pro.product.4000210421.html

 

[leman]

If you’re a Costco member, they’ve got last year’s HP Dragonfly G4 for $1100 right now. I need a Windows laptop for testing reasons and my current one is about 3 years old and I’m very seriously considering this one. Costco has a 90-day return policy too https://www.costco.com/hp-dragonfly-g4-13.5"-intel-evo-platform-touchscreen-laptop---13th-gen-intel-core-i7-1355u---1280p---windows-11-pro.product.4000210421.html

I don't think that is a good deal at all. HP is notorious for low quality computers and the Thinkbook mentioned at the start of the thread has better components at the same price point.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

I used to have a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i - it's no longer available, but I thoroughly enjoyed that laptop. It was the closest I've gotten to a MacBook Air in terms of Windows laptops so far.

The chassis was all aluminum, the trackpad glass-topped, the keys were fantastic, the screen resolution 2560x1600, the SSD was user-upgradable...

If you're looking at Lenovo anyway, I'd say the Yoga Slim line might be worth a look.
It looks like in the US they go as "Lenovo Slim" - no idea why they're Yoga around these parts. It wasn't even the one where the screen could be flipped all the way to the underside of the chassis where "Yoga" might have made sense...

 

[avheatherim]

This looks interesting in terms of specs.

ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 | Premium 13.5 inch Intel-powered small business laptop

Meet the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 (13″ Intel) business laptop, with Intel Core Ultra processing, Intel Evo benefits, AI experience optimization, and more.

www.lenovo.com

Do ThinkBooks have a good reputation?

Only spec I don't like is that the screen is touch & glossy. Lenovo rep said they expect to get a matte one later.

For company use? We bought ThinkBooks (vs usual ThinkPad) for a few select users because they HAD to have touchscreens. They all love them and have had no issues.

As for this model... if you are using it for business, you should do the Windows 11 pro upgrade. Home does not allow a local account without a fight. Also see if you can find someone who has a business login or call them up and ask for a deal. The price shown when I use your link is $1027, but when I log into my business account the base price is $869.

Lastly, regarding support - Lenovo sticks by their warranty. If there is a system issue or defect not caused by accidental damage (unless of course you upgrade the warranty to accidental damage), they will honor it. Looks like it comes with a 1 yr. So you should be good that long. I've had pretty good experience with warranty repairs/exchanges, but I also realize it could be because my company drops a lot of money with them each year. 🤔

 

[ghanwani]

For the price I'd say it's rather meh. What is it you are looking for? What is your planned usage?

Light user — web browsing, taxes, YouTube, word, PowerPoint, light coding (toy programs).

 

[DaPhox]

What do you Think?

 

[TechnoMonk]

I had terrible experiences with think books line, died with in couple of years. You are better off buying some laptop from Costco, if you need windows for lot cheaper than think books.

 

[HouseLannister]

Just like Apple, you pay for quality from Lenovo. They have great laptops, but the cheapest ones are not what you want to pick up. The Thinkpad X1 Carbon is their version of a Macbook Air. Great build quality, superior keyboard, nice and light. (Only issue is the battery life is nowhere near as good as Apple -- if you avoid the higher res OLED screen options, you can save money and increase battery life.) Now that the Gen 12 is out, the Gen 11 is a great buy. If your employer uses Lifemart/Lifecare, then you get a great discount too.

 

[ghanwani]

I don't think that is a good deal at all. HP is notorious for low quality computers and the Thinkbook mentioned at the start of the thread has better components at the same price point.

The Dragonfly previously was called Dragonfly Elite. Their Elite/Elitebook lineup is supposed to be built better.

 

[Yebubbleman]

This looks interesting in terms of specs.

ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 | Premium 13.5 inch Intel-powered small business laptop

Meet the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 (13″ Intel) business laptop, with Intel Core Ultra processing, Intel Evo benefits, AI experience optimization, and more.

www.lenovo.com

Do ThinkBooks have a good reputation?

Only spec I don't like is that the screen is touch & glossy. Lenovo rep said they expect to get a matte one later.

ThinkBooks are lower-grade business class systems. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that they straddle the line between consumer and business grade. With very few exceptions (select Asus ROG laptops, some Dell XPS laptops, Microsoft Surface machines, and anything you'd build yourself), I'd wholesale avoid consumer grade PCs.

I'm not the biggest fan of Lenovo for laptops as they often make very odd design choices (such as having one RAM module soldered and the other one expandable via a SO-DIMM slot; thereby forcing you to forego dual-channel RAM should you want to upgrade past the base capacity). The build quality isn't great, nor is the ability to quickly/easily expand RAM and storage.

HP EliteBooks are better, though it's expected that you'll either manually maintain your driver updates or use a really annoying consumer-level "Maintain your PC" app of theirs; not much in-between flexibility there. Though, the hardware quality is definitely at Apple's level.

Personally, I'm a fan of Dell laptops. Latitude 5000 series gives you pretty good utility, while the 7000 series gives you solid portability.

Actually, the ThinkPad is the business laptop. ThinkBook is a consumer grade line. Way different in the support and service.

It's somewhere in-between a ThinkPad and an IdeaPad; but I agree that in terms of build quality and support, it's much closer to the latter than the former and should probably be avoided for quality concerns.

^ Wow the ASUS zenbook is inexpensive!

Do you have any thoughts on the LG gram?

BTW, Just Josh on YouTube rated the the spectre his best laptop for 2024 so far. I think he had some concerns with the zenbook mainly with price, but given the drop I think the main issue gets addressed.

The Gram and the Spectre are both consumer grade PCs. The Spectre, if I'm not mistaken is a gaming PC. So, you might have a little better luck on build quality, but worse luck on support and pre-loaded software and drivers management. The Gram might have decent build quality, but you'll still likely suffer in the other aforementioned areas.

I don't think that is a good deal at all. HP is notorious for low quality computers and the Thinkbook mentioned at the start of the thread has better components at the same price point.

First off, HP has several different lines with their own reputations. Saying categorically that they're infamous for low quality computers is (a) wrong and (b) vague.

Consumer grade HPs are low quality, especially at the low end. This is true of all PC brands. However, HP ProBooks give the MacBook Air a run for their money, design-wise and the HP EliteBook ups the ante all the more. The ZBook provides performance relative to the range of power and performance that exists on any given generation of PCs that the Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro never had even on its best day with its highest-end configuration.

Furthermore, they sell one of the best Chromebooks on the market.

They're not my favorite PC brand by a long shot, but they're not universally low quality.

 

[bousozoku]

I don't think that is a good deal at all. HP is notorious for low quality computers and the Thinkbook mentioned at the start of the thread has better components at the same price point.

That's not always true, but my Omen by HP gaming laptop computer came to me with the left hinge at an odd angle. It worked but it was so noticeable, I'm surprised that it passed inspection.

I'd rather have ASUS or Lenovo, but anything under US$1000 is not going to have the quality I want at minimum.

 

[chmania]

Heard of high quality Huawei laptops?

 

[filmgirl]

The Dragonfly previously was called Dragonfly Elite. Their Elite/Elitebook lineup is supposed to be built better.

The Dragonfly is HP’s version of the X1 Carbon or XPS 13 and has a 3:2 aspect ratio and is a business laptop (it comes with Windows 11 Pro), which is why I mentioned it because there are very few 3:2 laptops. The reviews were also universally good, with most of the criticisms being around the potential price, which the current sale mitigates, tho this is definitely the 2023 model, just to be clear.

I played with it at the store and it looked/felt nice. I wouldn’t buy most consumer HP laptops (tho I got one for my dad two years ago that was $400 that I then spent $60 upgrading the RAM on because he refuses to use anything but Windows and I didn’t need to spend $1000+ for his needs), but I have no problem considering their business line.

The 3:2 screen is my preference too and unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of options, outside the Surface line and the Dragonfly and I guess that ThinkBook. Framework’s has a 3:2 display (I have the original 11th gen Intel Framework and have been considering getting the AMD model) and I like that company a lot, but for a similar configuration to this HP, it’s also $500 more.

 

[ghanwani]

The 3:2 screen is my preference too and unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of options, outside the Surface line and the Dragonfly and I guess that ThinkBook. Framework’s has a 3:2 display (I have the original 11th gen Intel Framework and have been considering getting the AMD model) and I like that company a lot, but for a similar configuration to this HP, it’s also $500 more.

The previous gen Spectre (also 2023 model) was 3:2. This year they switched to 16:10.

Framework does look interesting as well and the AMD is a big plus. It's hard to tell from pictures, but I it looks a little less refined in it's fit and finish compared to regular laptops. Is that a concern?

The thing that bothers me about the Dragonfly is the numerous complaints about HP's Wolf Security.

 

[filmgirl]

Heard of high quality Huawei laptops?

The import ban since 2019 makes it difficult to get these in the U.S., which is a shame. The 2018 Matebook X Pro was a terrific Windows laptop, especially at its price and because of the fact that you could get it from the Microsoft store with no bloatware and a good warranty. Even putting the ban issue aside, Huawei started to raise its prices and make questionable spec decisions so I don’t know if I’d be as inclined to look at them now, even if I could get one easily, but I will say the one I bought almost six years ago was a fantastic laptop that was a complete rip-off of the 13” MacBook Pro (despite the 14” screen it was nearly identical in size, and I should know because I carried both with me for several years) in the best possible way.

The previous gen Spectre (also 2023 model) was 3:2. This year they switched to 16:10.

Framework does look interesting as well and the AMD is a big plus. It's hard to tell from pictures, but I it looks a little less refined in it's fit and finish compared to regular laptops. Is that a concern?

The thing that bothers me about the Dragonfly is the numerous complaints about HP's Wolf Security.

Yeah, if I get the Dragonfly, the first thing I would do would be to do a clean install — same as with the XPS 13 I got before I returned it for a Framework in 2021.

The Framework is remarkably good from a fit/finish perspective, actually. You wouldn’t know it is a repairable laptop except for the USB-4 slots on the side that you can swap in and out. The only thing is that it isn’t as sleek as more modern ultrabooks. And that isn’t to say that it’s bulky because it isn’t — it just isn’t as svelte thin and the display has fairly large bezels. The trade-off, of course, is that it is easy to repair said display and the extra thickness (it’s still thin, just not paper thin) means you can easily access the SSD and RAM and other components.

The only complaint I had about the laptop was more of a complaint at Intel and that is that like most 2017-2022 Intel laptops, performance per watt is poor and so you hear fans and battery life wasn’t exceptional. In summer 2021, before I got my 14” M1 Max and was using a work-provided 2017 MacBook Pro with TouchBar and my personal fully specced out 2020 iMac, this was fine because the MBP wasn’t exactly a dream machine either. Oh, and the webcam on the Framework sucks but I don’t use built-in webcams anyway.

But after I got the M1 Max, the deficits of the 11th Gen Intel became much more stark. I probably wouldn’t buy another Intel from Framework (unless they get the new Meteor Lake models and the reviews are good) because as a company, I don’t think they have the resources of an HP or Lenovo to tune them the way they need to be tuned, but the AMD reviews have been very solid. I had a pre-order for the Framework 16 but canceled it after I impulsively upgraded to a 14” M3 Max and recognized I didn’t need a gaming laptop when I have a gaming PC, Steam Deck, and consoles.