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Home » Review of Lenovo’s ThinkPad P1, an Ultrabook Workstation

Review of Lenovo’s ThinkPad P1, an Ultrabook Workstation

Not too long ago, Lenovo invited NYCPPNEWS to Nice Shoes, a well-regarded color grading house and full-on production studio in Manhattan. We had a chance to tour all of the floors of the Manhattan-based creative house, then got into details about the soon-to-be released Lenovo ThinkPad P1.

This thin and light mobile workstation was touted as able to easily handle the studio’s work, according to Nice Shoes’ CIO/CTO Robert Kreske. He spotted it for its chops to handle everything from 5K and 6K workflows (an increasing reality for them) to on-set editing, augmented reality and VR.

With that sort of enthusiasm, I had to see what Lenovo’s new line of ultra-light mobile workstations was all about. Recently, I got a chance for that hands-on review. This time, I created a video (see below), which is sometimes an easier way to see where a piece of gear fits in for your particular case.

Until a few years ago, mobile workstations had a bad name among creatives. Heavy and underpowered, the machines were workstations in name only. With a name meant to remind you of their stablemates in the machine room, this gear was mainly good for editing proxy videos or doing a basic setup or review but little else in an app like Maya.

That’s all changed. We’ve reached a time of “peak mobile workstation” – CPU transistor counts now range well into the billions, new SSD designs offer huge improvements in throughput and storage, while even hot-running discrete GPUs have been tamed for the road.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Series – Smaller, Power Packages

Lenovo’s ThinkPad P-series of desktop replacement-class mobile workstations includes the top-of-the-line model, the ThinkPad P72. Introduced in August, this is no lightweight laptop (versions start at 7.5 lbs.), but the P72 remains the most expandable. Choices include up to 128GB of RAM, internal RAID arrays and a super-duper graphics card, the NVIDIA Quadro P5200, packed with 16GB of RAM. For those looking for a somewhat smaller footprint, check out the ThinkPad P52 which includes, among other things, a 6 GB P3200.

The third and newest member of Lenovo’s ThinkPad P-Series of mobile workstations is the ThinkPad P1, which we’ll delve into here. It’s one of the few mobile workstations that could be considered an ultrabook; remarkably thin and light (starting at 3.7 lbs.), it still offers the workstation power to take on today’s most complex apps.

Design and components

The exterior design of the ThinkPad P1 is very similar to the Lenovo X1 Extreme, also recently introduced. The difference is what’s inside. Whereas the X1 employs Intel Core i7 processors and GeForce graphics, the P1 is available with Xeon processors (which can run with more RAM) and NVIDIA Quadro-level GPUs. My review unit had an 8th generation six-core Xeon E-2176M and a 4 GB Quadro P2000 GPU sporting 768 CUDA cores.

In addition, the P1 allows for a remarkable amount of RAM, 64 GB of ECC (error correcting) memory (the unit reviewed had 32 GB). There is also the ability to install two 2 TB NVMe PCIe SSDs for a total of 4 TB of storage. If you have used NVMe SSDs before, you know how amazingly fast they are.

That’s a nice amount of storage for the machine; the drives can also run as RAID arrays. If you want to use more storage you can always add external devices via the two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the side of the machine. Thunderbolt 3 connections are so fast, they’re practically like an external PCI bus.

The 4K 15.6 inch display of the Lenovo P1 is also admirable. Available in touch as well as anti-glare, its 3840 x 2160 pixels cover 100% of Adobe RGB. The display also delivers 400 nits of brightness with 10-bit color, so not only are images nice and bright, but subtle color shifts and gradients appear smooth with minimal banding issues. There is an FHD (1920 x 1080) version of the display available which will cut down on battery drain, if that’s a concern.

What’s So Great? Lots.

There’s lots more that I could highlight and even repeat for emphasis: a small, proprietary 135W power adapter that uses Lenovo’s own charging port (USB Type-C ports can’t handle that much power), Gigabit Ethernet port, 80 Wh battery, and an 8th Gen Intel Core or Xeon processor that can reach up to 4.6GHz speeds. The fact that the Lenovo P1 is thin (0.72 inches) weighs only a bit more than a MacBook Air still makes me shake my head when I remember the ‘old days’ of just a few years ago.

The Lenovo Thinkpad P1 is one stylish mobile workstation “ultrabook” that you won’t mind taking to the office or on location. Sure, it’s bigger siblings, the ThinkPad P52 and P72 offer greater expandability and more powerful GPUs, but they’re also heavier to lug around and not as sleek. The P1 gets my nod as the one I’ll want to take with me.

Click here for information on the P1 and current prices on Lenovo’s website.

In addition, benchmark scores for CineBench and OctaneBench are also analyzed as well as images and close ups of the internals of the machine. Bottom line: watch the video!

 

About Joe Herman

Joe Herman is a filmmaker, artist and post production specialist and writes often about the industry. You can reach him at joe[at]legendmultimedia[dot]com. Or reach and follow him on Twitter @JoeHermanTweets.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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