Lenovo ThinkPad Broadwell Updates for T550, T450s, E550, E450, and L450
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 (2880×1620) 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” 1366×768 or 1080p LCD, while the E450 comes with a 14” 1366×768 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.
