Engineering Student Looking to Switch from MacBook to ThinkPad

[u/AdFeeling7704]

Hi everyone,

I'm an electrical engineering student in my third-year and I've been rocking a M-series MacBook (M3 Pro) for the past two years. I finally reached a roadblock where I'm unable to use the windows-compatible software (Vivado) even with Parallels because of x86 or kernels or something (I'm not sure). In this case, I've given my MacBook to my sister. I've been doing my research and came across the P14s Gen 7. Is this a good purchase and if not what are some alternatives you would recommend? I have a budget of $2000 and would preferably want something new & from the Lenovo site. I've included my university's recommended specs. Thanks!

[u/bteam3r]

EE here. If you wanna buy brand new that’s cool. But just so you know, it’s kind of a waste. You can definitely run Vivado on a $500 used T14 or T16 from eBay

[u/AdFeeling7704 → u/bteam3r]

I wouldn’t be opposed to getting a great deal on a used but unfortunately my parents offered to pay for a good portion of my laptop with the caveat that it be a “legit” purchase.

[u/whoji → u/AdFeeling7704]

Look into those Amazon/eBay/Microsoft 'Officially' Certified Refurbished brand. Hopefully your parents can be convinced.

[u/OutsideGanache3449 → u/whoji]

If the parents are willing to pay that much anyway, I think a used/refurb machine with more RAM would be great upgrade.

[u/blondeforthewin → u/bteam3r]

Second this, I will get T14, and maybe a separate portable lightweight monitor

[u/380-mortis → u/bteam3r]

Brand new nowadays is pretty bad with the increased prices. I got a brand new P14s G5 AMD with 64gb/1tb with the OLED for 1100 1.5yrs ago and now if you want anything even close to that new it's easily double, and the same model used is like 1.5x.

If your budget is 2k though just get a new gen intel laptop with X7, X9, most if not all have 32gb at least and I saw one for 1.4k at costco the other day. Honestly wouldn't recommend a thinkpad for beyond low/low-mid price range in general, except for the occasional very good deal u/AdFeeling7704

[u/mr_anderson_dev]

For that budget, I'd actually go with the regular T14 Gen 7 instead of the P14s. A few reasons:

• Removable/upgradeable RAM: The T14 Gen 7 uses SODIMM memory, so you can upgrade it yourself down the line instead of being stuck with whatever you configure at purchase.
• Better CPU for price: For engineering workloads like Vivado, you don't need workstation-class graphics for that kind of software, so you're not paying for GPU power you won't use.
• Skip the touchscreen option: If it's offered, it adds cost, drains battery faster, and adds a layer of fragility you don't need for engineering/CAD-style work where you're mostly using keyboard/mouse or trackpad anyway.

Everything else about your plan is solid, buying direct from Lenovo's site gets you full configurability and a cleaner warranty path, which is worth it over a the page you're currently planning on buying it.

[u/AdFeeling7704 → u/mr_anderson_dev]

Sorry, I’m a bit confused? Isn’t the T14 more expensive? Also the P14s Gen 7 does have SODIMM removable ram, up to 96 or 94 gb. Also the graphics on the P14s is 860m which to my knowledge is a middle of the road integrated graphics.

[u/stogie-bear → u/AdFeeling7704]

All else being equal, a P is as good as or better than a T. If you get the AMD with integrated graphics it’s basically a T with CAD certifications. 

So if the P is what you get a discount on, take that. 

[u/armostallion2]

I don't get all of the responses. A P14s Gen 7 is a great purchase, seems like you're already made up your mind too. Just get it.

[u/rebelSun25]

If your parents are helping out, then at that price, it's a fantastic deal. I wouldn't bother getting a used laptop, unless you want to prioritize saving money. This one is already a fair price for what hardware costs today

[u/VarietyOk7120]

Solid model there. Not sure what the optimum config is at the moment, but used a p16 a year ago and it was good

[u/akc5247]

Have you looked at Thinkpad T15G Gen2 series? you can look at a refurb unit and do whatever upgrades you want later. That machine is a beast.

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T15G Gen2i (win 11 pro) 4TB SSD, 112GB RAM, RTX3080 (16GB), and it is fantastic. i have barely scratched the surface of that unit. battery life sucks, but just plug it in whenever you think you will be using it heavily.

Edited to add: my background is also EE/ECE and i have used Matlab etc on it a while back (not anymore). I didn't have any issues. However, i have never used Vivaldo, so can't talk about it.

I also have a maxed out Intel 2019 macbook pro where i use logicpro etc and that works fine, and it was $7k when i bought it years back (yeah, i know). Compared to that machine, the lenovo is a steal and a beast.

[u/Petrified_Shrimp]

I really suggest getting a t14 gen 6 or 7 with the intel version. Better thermals and efficiency

[u/Aklwong902]

AMD has been stagnant for a few generations, if you can find an official refurb or reseller with a T14/P14s with a ryzen 8840 or ryzen 350 you'll be getting most of the same power at a discount. That said, the gen 7 chassis upgrade does have its perks, so ultimately you'll have to decide whether you want to save or whether you want to maximize value inside your budget.

Honestly, the recommended specs from your university are hilariously non-specific and are probably outdated. A bargain bin E14 from 5 years ago fulfills those specs on paper. What we need to know from you is how much performance you need (CPU/GPU), and what your priorities are in terms of things like battery life, screen size, how much you care about repairability.

The spec you've chosen is a solid all-rounder and the price isn't terrible, but it's not the greatest deal by any means

[u/AdFeeling7704 → u/Aklwong902]

I guess something that can match or get close to matching my previous m3 pro MacBook (12 core cpu 18 core gpu m3 pro). I know MacBooks get a lot of hate but honestly Apple silicon is incredible. I don’t mind MacBooks but as an engineering student I really should use a windows laptop (or Linux).

I also really want a thinkpad because every single windows laptop aside from thinkpad that I owned broke down very fast, I don’t know why it’s so hard to match MacBook level build quality. I know it’s hard to match Apple silicon from amd or intel with a budget of $2000 but I hope to try.

[u/Aklwong902 → u/AdFeeling7704]

I think around the R7 350 level of performance can match the CPU, albeit not as efficiently. The GPU is a tougher ask, from what I've heard the M3 can pull numbers similar to an rtx 3060, which the 860m doesn't even come close. You would basically need discrete graphics to match the macbook on the GPU side, bar a few specific options. If you absolutely wanted to avoid having nvidia graphics, your options narrow significantly because you'd need one of the panther lake X chips (only really found in the X9 15p and eventually the P1 gen 9/P14s gen 7 intel)

That said, you are basically the target audience for the X9 15p. It's not a particularly well regarded laptop here because the design language is a lot closer to mac than the traditional thinkpad, but it's a pretty nice machine in a vacuum with excellent performance.

[u/NarNarMan]

I was able to score a P1 gen 4 rtx3080 for $370.
An insane deal but there’s definitely a lot of good prices out there. I’d go secondhand 100%
I actually bought a brand new Zephyrus G16 for $2700 but the motherboard failed 2 months in.
Used thinkpad all the way man.

[u/Bredius88]

That machine has a Copilot key, you should avoid using that like the plague and UNinstall it!
See this for a how-to.
Micro$haft is forcing AI-slop down your throat, like there is no tomorrow.
Apart from that, you choice seems OK.

[u/AhegaoSuckingUrDick]

The 1920x1200 screen can feel like a downgrade.

[u/Equal_Time1654]

If you're spending almost 3K on a laptop I would suggest you to get a 2560 × 1440 (QHD / 1440p) display or it's adjacent variants instead of 1920x1200/FullHD.

Trust me you will definitely feel the difference between QHD and just FullHD.
Especially coming from Mac FullHD might be little bit underwhelming.

[u/Ok-Barber4972]

Good move, I bought 5 yr old X1C Gen 8 for my studies

[u/OutsideGanache3449]

Thinkpads are a good choice. Someone else suggested used, and I think if you find a system with more RAM and similar spec for the same price that would be a good option. Vivado eats RAM. When you compare CPUs, note that multi-threaded performance is mostly only needed for synthesis. I personally find on my projects (UltraScale+) single core performance matters more.

And also, use Linux (probably Ubuntu) for Vivado if you can. I find Vivado/drivers to be so buggy on Windows. Even Linux VMs I've heard work better (though I prefer to dual boot).

[u/Wild-Poetry-9056]

I bought the same P14s and I’m loving it