Loving my Lenovo ThinkPad P53 so far. Incredibly fast boot up time due to the SSD drive. While I initially needed a computer with more storage space than 512mb, I was happy to find out after speaking with a Lenovo rep, that this particular model has three drive bays and can support at least 6TB of M.2 SSD storage so in the future, I plan to add (2) 1TB SSD's to have 2.5TB's of SSD storage.
This system has 4 DDR4 SO-DIMM 2666 MHz ram sockets and can take up to 128GB of ram. It comes installed with (1) 16GB DDR4 chip and I plan to add another 16GB ram chip to hit 32GB total.
I am not sure what material the outside of the laptop is made of but it has kind of a leather or suede like feel to it which makes it easier to grip than most laptops I have had that are shiny metal or plastic. The back of this laptop has (2) thunderbolt connectors, the power cord connector, and an ethernet port so basically, all your main connections can connect at the back of the computer so you don't have any cables hanging out either side of your laptop. I use a USB-C to USB 3.0 Type A adapter and connect my USB 3.0 docking station right to the back of my P53. This is especially helpful when you have multiple displays connected in that you can have a more seamless look by having your laptop right next to the other displays without cables in your view.
On the left side of the laptop you have (2) USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI port, and an SD card reader. On the right side of the laptop, you have a USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 1 port and a headphone/microphone jack.
My P53 has a full-size backlit keyboard with a numeric key pad along with a fingerprint reader. The web cam has a sliding shutter that Lenovo calls ThinkShutter. When you have the shutter closed, a red dot is visible so you know that the shutter is closed and you don't have to worry about potentially being seen when you don't want to be seen. I find these features extremely helpful and use and appreciate them very much.
The preloaded Lenovo Vantage software is easy to use and gives you access to several resources such as checking for system updates, viewing your warranty details and support options. One feature I really like is the Battery charge threshold. It allows you to set a “stop charging at” percentage so that your battery stops charging after the percentage of charge you selected is reached. According to the feature, it states that if you normally keep your laptop connected to a charger, your battery lifespan will be better if you keep the battery charged at a value below 100%. I think mine defaulted at 80% and I have left it that way.
This is my first time owning a Lenovo computer. I have had both Dell and Toshiba laptops in the past. After some recent issues with my Dell laptop, I decided to switch to Lenovo. I have not had this laptop for very long, but it seems to be built very tough. It is by no means a lightweight computer. The specs I got from Lenovo say it is 5.51 lbs. without a touch screen, but I trust the weight makes it more solid. The screen hinge system looks and feels rugged. This model does not have a touch screen. If it did, I am not sure I would use the touch screen feature too much. I feel it would be too heavy to hold it in your lap and surf the web while you are watching tv in bed or on the couch. Also, I don’t like the smudge marks created when I touch a screen with my finger. I am quite happy using it with just a wireless mouse and a wireless keyboard that connect to the laptop via my docking station.
The P53 keyboard has a red button and the palm rest has a touch pad, and you can use either to move the mouse pointer around your screen. They function great, but I usually use my mouse so I can't quite get accustomed to the red button and the touch pad although I imagine on say a long flight where space is at a premium, I can see where they would be functional enough and easy enough to use instead of a mouse.
This is not a cheap computer, but for the money spent given the upgradeability and ruggedness, I feel it is money well spent on a system that can grow with you and be useful for years to come. As applications continue to grow in complexity and size, I don’t see someone running out of ram or storage capability with this system in the near future, you can just keep increasing your storage and ram as needed. As far as reliability is concerned, that remains to be seen given my short time with this system so far, but if it’s reliability approaches anywhere near the level of upgradeability, the ruggedness and the solid feel of the Lenovo P53, I think it should be just fine.