Although it does not have a very new configuration or too strong performance, the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is still one of the old laptops that offers the best value for money, a durable and sturdy working and learning tool. Students and office workers will need it.
The ThinkPad T480 was launched in early 2018, so far it is quite ‘old’ but is still one of the business Ultrabooks that many people love. Although it does not possess a modern, powerful configuration, it is still powerful enough to help users complete office work, or students need a durable learning tool that will accompany them for many years.
1. Overview of Lenovo ThinkPad T480 laptop design
When you hold the ThinkPad T480 in your hand, you will immediately notice its sturdy and practical appearance. With a weight of about 1.6kg, the device is very easy to hold thanks to the rubber surface on the lid, however, this surface is also very susceptible to fingerprints, so be careful to clean it regularly.
Lenovo ThinkPad T480 design belongs to the ‘copper pot’ class (Photo: laptopdeal).
A special feature is that the entire chassis has undergone durability tests according to military standards, ensuring resistance to impact, vibration and other harsh conditions. This is really a big advantage, especially for users who often have to move and work in many different environments.
In terms of connectivity, the device has one USB-C port, three USB-A 3.0 ports, HDMI 1.4b port, RJ45 Ethernet port, SD card reader and security Kensington lock. This number of ports is more than adequate for the needs of connecting keyboard, mouse, and headset accessories for office workers and students. Even for a 6-year-old laptop, the fact that it has a USB-C port is very valuable at this time, it will be useful in some situations.
Full connection port (Photo: laptopone).
2. Screen of ThinkPad T480
Although not a laptop specializing in graphics, the Lenovo T480’s screen is still enough to meet daily working and studying needs. 14-inch screen with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) with IPS panel provides sharp images, realistic colors and wide viewing angles. In addition, the anti-glare coating reduces reflections so users can work comfortably even in strong lighting conditions.
The ThinkPad T480’s screen may not be bright, nor is the color vibrant, but the image is still very clear and easy to see thanks to the IPS panel (Photo: laptopdeal).
However, the screen brightness is only average (about 215 nits) and the sRGB color coverage is not high (about 60%), which may be more limited for those doing work related to graphics and editing. photo or video. However, you must know that this Lenovo ThinkPad T480 laptop is not designed for color-intensive tasks, but focuses on comfort and practicality when working.
Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad T480’s screen is still a good choice for office work, studying, surfing the web and is a highlight compared to some other popular older laptop models.
3. Keyboard – Touchpad
The keyboard of the new Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is truly excellent, true to ThinkPad quality, the 1.7mm key travel provides an extremely comfortable and solid typing experience. If you often have to type text every day, you will definitely appreciate it. this keyboard. In addition, it also has a 3-level backlight for more convenience when used at night. This is an equipment that not all cheap laptops today have.
In the middle of the keyboard, we have the ThinkPad’s signature red TrackPoint to move the mouse cursor while typing instead of having to take your hand off and use the touchpad or external mouse. If you are new to TrackPoint, you will probably encounter a lot of inconvenience, but once you get used to it, you will see how great it is, and how Lenovo always retains TrackPoint across all generations. The later ThinkPad is not without reason.
The keyboard and touchpad of the ThinkPad T480 are excellent (Photo: laptopdeal).
Below the keyboard there are two left and right mouse buttons. They are quite stiff but allow relatively intuitive clicking. In the middle is a special button that can coordinate with TrackPoint to perform some simple operations such as scrolling up and down, left and right.
The T480’s touchpad has a moderate area, it’s not as spacious as the new generation 14-inch laptop models, but in general it’s enough to use, and the multi-gesture experience is excellent, smooth and accurate.
4. Sound – Security
The ThinkPad T480’s speakers are of average quality, moderate volume and almost no bass, but the mids and highs are not too bad, enough for video calls. The 720p HD web camera comes with a built-in microphone, allowing you to use it during calls quite well. A highly appreciated advantage is that its webcam even has a physical cover, helping to better protect privacy. For a laptop launched in 2018, it has a lot of good value until now.
As a business laptop, of course the Lenovo T480 laptop also has security features. It has a fingerprint sensor that integrates ‘match-on-chip’ technology, which enhances security and reduces the risk of system hacking. The fingerprint sensor works sensitively and quickly, helping users log in to the device easily.
5. Configuration and performance of Lenovo ThinkPad T480
The model evaluated in this article has a fairly basic configuration with Core i5-8250U CPU, 256GB PCIe SSD and 8GB of RAM, without a separate card. This configuration still works quite smoothly with current office tasks such as word processing, excel spreadsheets, fast web browsing and watching Youtube, and can even edit and render a short 1080p video. During that process, the machine operates very smoothly and coolly, even when multitasking with many heavy tasks, the heatsink inside the machine only creates negligible noise.
Basically, this 14-inch laptop model is equipped with a power-saving processor and only has an integrated Intel UHD 620 card, so the graphics performance is negligible. However, if you want, you can also choose to buy a version with a GeForce MX150 discrete card. Although it is not a powerful GPU, it still provides a bit of performance to play League of Legends or CS:GO at the configuration level. low to medium.
The configuration of the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is not powerful, but it meets daily learning and working performance well (Photo: laptopdeal).
The best thing about the Lenovo T480 is that it has two battery options, a flat battery and a convex battery (power bridge). With a flat battery, it only has 24Wh, while with a convex battery you can choose 48Wh or 72Wh depending on your needs. With a 72Wh battery, the device can operate up to 17 hours in light use mode, an extremely surprising number for an old laptop like this. Furthermore, it also has the ability to change the battery very quickly so usage time is almost not a problem with this Lenovo laptop. On the other hand, the convex battery also has the effect of raising the chassis to increase ventilation, providing better heat dissipation efficiency, and the keyboard also has a more convenient slope for typing.
Although the protruding battery will increase the weight of the device and its appearance will look a bit odd, in general, with the two advantages of usage time and ergonomic tilt, it is best to choose this type. This battery is instead of a flat battery.
6. Should I buy a used Lenovo ThinkPad T480 laptop?
The ThinkPad T480 is an elegant business laptop. Although it has the disadvantage of a dark screen and poor color reproduction, it really still deserves to be a laptop that every student and office worker should consider: tank-like durability, the best keyboard. second market and performance needed to work and study. It also has a lot of connection ports, and battery life is quite abundant. Even if you find the Core i5-8250U performance too low, you can also choose the more powerful Core i7-8650U version at a price not much higher, only ranging from 6 to 7 million VND depending on configuration. Overall, this is a relatively affordable price for an old laptop that can still be used for many years to come.
If you are looking for a reliable old laptop for daily use, it can be said that the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is the top choice today.
