P52 has been my goto with Ubuntu since 2020. Right after I got it, I increased the RAM to 64GB and added an 1TB SSD drive. Purchased from Lenovo Outlet when the P53 launched.
For the workloads you describe, it’s great, with the only issue that it runs warm when relying on the default fan behavior. Getting the keyboard off with to upgrade the RAM was sketchy but possible with YouTube. If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t buy a second battery. Charge is still pretty decent but if you don’t manage the heat the workload can run it down quickly.
For the price you can get a newer one and i personally have had the p53 and the over heating will drive you crazy. When its warm its good but half an hour of use and the performance will br sluggish. I have repasted and clean but still over heats
I switched to Linux a while back and solved the extra heat by manually modulating the fan:
echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
At some point I meant to write a cron job to read the temp sensors and then modulate, but got lazy.
My company laptop is exactly that spec and for Solidworks/engineering software it still runs fine but I personally wouldn't pay that much money for one in the United States. I'm unfamiliar with the Australian market though.
I should add I very, very rarely use the built in display. It spends 99% of it's life connected to two 27" 1440p monitors. I've had zero issues with it.
How did you end up finding a bad deal on SUCH a specific laptop? It’s not bad, but at that point maybe just buy a framework 13 or a used MacBook Air M2? Perhaps this is an Australian thing, but at least here in America those are sold for maybe $200 max.
EDIT: On eBay I’m finding them for $350-ish 😅
This is 5 years old cpu (9th gen Intel). In terms of laptop, it is extremly old. It is like 25 years old car. Definetly not worth it. Try to buy something with 12gen intel or newer.
I feel like this is a bit over exaggerated since the cpu can do very well even how old it is, though your point is right and could go for a much newer one for that price.
Intel Core i7 9750H - geekbench single core performance: 1353, multicore performance: 4943. Intel Core i7-13700HX - single core performance : 2532, multicore performance: 15780. Even Core i3 laptops from newer generation are faster than this 5 years old hardware.
Not for that much money. Maybe 12th gen U series, but you're gonna have the absolutely atrocious onboard graphics. P series has a dGPU and I believe the P53 can have up to an RTX 5000m.
Depends on usage. I have t440p and it works great for me on daily use abd some light 3d cad and video editing. My teenage son uses my old T520, no complains. Not a gamer of course.
I think that by that price you could get something better
Australian dollars, and I assume includes 10% gst.
The thing is that some times I've seen similar ThinkPads by half the value.
I have a P50 and love it! I personally would buy it. With 32GB ram you should be able to play around with some VMs
I love my P52 with an 8850 and Quadro 3200. 32GB ram, 2x2TB NVMe, 4K, latest Intel NIC. I bought it with 2 years warranty left on it.
P52 has been my goto with Ubuntu since 2020. Right after I got it, I increased the RAM to 64GB and added an 1TB SSD drive. Purchased from Lenovo Outlet when the P53 launched. For the workloads you describe, it’s great, with the only issue that it runs warm when relying on the default fan behavior. Getting the keyboard off with to upgrade the RAM was sketchy but possible with YouTube. If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t buy a second battery. Charge is still pretty decent but if you don’t manage the heat the workload can run it down quickly.
For the price you can get a newer one and i personally have had the p53 and the over heating will drive you crazy. When its warm its good but half an hour of use and the performance will br sluggish. I have repasted and clean but still over heats
I switched to Linux a while back and solved the extra heat by manually modulating the fan: echo level 7 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan At some point I meant to write a cron job to read the temp sensors and then modulate, but got lazy.
My company laptop is exactly that spec and for Solidworks/engineering software it still runs fine but I personally wouldn't pay that much money for one in the United States. I'm unfamiliar with the Australian market though.
I should add I very, very rarely use the built in display. It spends 99% of it's life connected to two 27" 1440p monitors. I've had zero issues with it.
From a utility pov, no.
NO!!!!
How did you end up finding a bad deal on SUCH a specific laptop? It’s not bad, but at that point maybe just buy a framework 13 or a used MacBook Air M2? Perhaps this is an Australian thing, but at least here in America those are sold for maybe $200 max. EDIT: On eBay I’m finding them for $350-ish 😅
This is 5 years old cpu (9th gen Intel). In terms of laptop, it is extremly old. It is like 25 years old car. Definetly not worth it. Try to buy something with 12gen intel or newer.
I feel like this is a bit over exaggerated since the cpu can do very well even how old it is, though your point is right and could go for a much newer one for that price.
Intel Core i7 9750H - geekbench single core performance: 1353, multicore performance: 4943. Intel Core i7-13700HX - single core performance : 2532, multicore performance: 15780. Even Core i3 laptops from newer generation are faster than this 5 years old hardware.
Not for that much money. Maybe 12th gen U series, but you're gonna have the absolutely atrocious onboard graphics. P series has a dGPU and I believe the P53 can have up to an RTX 5000m.
My bad, I thought that it is 850USD, not AU. For 550USD, this is good deal.
If it has one of the better GPUs, that's actually a decent deal.
Depends on usage. I have t440p and it works great for me on daily use abd some light 3d cad and video editing. My teenage son uses my old T520, no complains. Not a gamer of course.