Editor's Pick: Mobile Workstations Built with Xeon CPUs

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

You’re going to like this Pick of the Week selection even though you can’t get your hands on one until some time in the fall.

At the SIGGRAPH conference in L.A. last week, Lenovo took the wraps off its new ThinkPad P50 and ThinkPad P70 mobile workstations. Here’s the neat thing: Both systems are built around Intel’s new Xeon E3-1500M v5 series processors – the company’s first Xeon processors built from the get-go for mobile computers. Just to sweeten the pot, Lenovo also outfits the ThinkPad P series with NVIDIA Quadro graphics.

The ThinkPad P50 and ThinkPad P70 are the vanguard of a new series of mobile workstations, according to Lenovo. The “P Series” designation is purposeful: It makes the family connection with Lenovo’s well-regarded ThinkStation P Series tower workstations. For you, this means Lenovo engineered these mobile units for professional-level design, engineering, content creation and architecture jobs. Judging from the testimonials supplied in the ThinkPad P50 and P70 announcement, it’s also a sure bet that Lenovo will announce certifications for applications like PTC Creo, SolidWorks and Adobe Premiere Pro CC.

Here’s some stuff to know: You can load up both systems with as much as 64GB of memory. You can have 1TB of SSD (solid-state drive) or 2TB hard-disk storage. Each mobile workstation has things you’d expect like optical drives, card readers, USB ports and wireless networking. But, because of their Xeon E3-1500M v5 series processor, they also have 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports (USB 3 operates at 5Gbps). That means things like quick charging docks, multiple displays and peer-to-peer networking are all possible. The ThinkPad P70 carries three Thunderbolt 3 ports while the ThinkPad P50 has one.

The ThinkPad P70 gives you a 17-in. display. It’ll be offered standard with a 4K UHD (ultra high definition) display. Optionally, you can have an FHD (full high definition) touch screen display. The ThinkPad P50 comes with 15.6-in. UHD 4K display. Interestingly, both systems have integrated X-Rite Pantone color calibration, which should provide you accurate and consistent colors over the life of your system as well as the ability to calibrate your colors if need be.

The ThinkPad P50 provides engineers and designers with a lightweight mobile workstation with a 15.6-in. UHD (ultra high definition) 4K display and NVIDIA Quadro graphics. Image courtesy of Lenovo.

You can learn more about the ThinkPad P50 and the ThinkPad P70 from today’s Pick of the Week write-up. You can download the brochures with all the specs for each from the links at the end. Make sure to take in the interactive tour. Good stuff.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Learn about the new Lenovo P Series here.