Workstation ThinkPads – eBay Price Guide

T500 to T590 Mainstream Series Laptop
W500 to P53s Mobile Workstations
All W Series Workstations
All P Series (starting with P or ending with p)
SL500 to L590, Z, R, S & G Budget Series
14″, 15″, 17″ models on this page

Google Master Spreadsheet

These ThinkPads have a BIG footprint! Originally I just wanted to have a page of just the 15″ T & L Series, one page of workstations. However, I was going to run into issues with the 14″ T460p models, and the P40 Yoga, because I wouldn’t really know where they could go. So instead it’s all here, all of the powerful ThinkPads. These all have RAM slots, thank Zeus! Since Broadwell, Intel stopped making removable processor chips for laptops. ThinkPad workstations are great if you require ISV certifications, however they suffer with a graphics card whitelist that cripples upgradeability. Its been awhile since I made a workstation guide with HP, Dell & Apple, so for now, we have this! 🙂

Pricing Guide Layout

Low     – The bargain bin of an ugly laptop, most likely it will be missing a power cord, drive & OS. Most of these are R2 Ready for Resale, & liquidated, in some cases they are broken systems from the original owner. Best for those who can repair computers & replace parts.

Mid      – The expected price of a decent, fully working laptop, available at a Buy it now price & best come with a power cord. For those who just want one to be fully working, this is recommended. For those outside the America, this might be the low price for your market.

High     – Typically laptops with great specs, lightly used and in excellent condition.
EX+ — Most of these are sold by top end refurbishers & or are brand new in box. For those who need warranties or for collections.

CPU — Denotes what processor generation a ThinkPad has. Additionally “S” denotes the system has a soldered CPUs (broadwell & later they are all soldered) & a “1” denotes the system has one RAM slot, & “0” means it has soldered RAM, unless otherwise stated.

# Sold   – How many sold in the last 3 months. The higher the better (300 great) or 0 means very uncommon or rare on eBay. These guides are done in six month intervals.

i7 — Some laptops have a lot of sold listings, so I did a higher spec search for them, these are listings that are sold with with an i7 CPU & one of the following; an IPS display, 16GB RAM, an SSD w/ 256GB or higher, or a HDD with 500GB or higher. I guess i gotta make one for the i9 CPUs and Xeons…. Next time!

Old Performance – 2003 to 2007

• these are the super old ThinkPads, pure collectors
• Don’t buy these if you’re wanting something to daily for online tasks
• Could not find any 51nb machines in these forms

Classic T Series | 2005 to 2012

These laptops here have a centered keyboard, the ones later have a numberpad added in. Additionally if you’re looking for upgrading your processor, you can with all of these. All of these systems have the classic 7 row keyboard, even the T530 can.

• Best value – T520
• Next Best – T530…
• Nostalgia – T43

T60 is known to run hot thanks to its ATI graphics, but the W500 heatsink is a common upgrade. I’m pretty sure all of these T61’s have nVidia GPUs so they have the GPU solder issue, to which the graphics shit out. These T43 laptops should be fine from the GPU flex when handling. I wouldn’t necessarily go for the T530 because it has the battery whitelist, it stops charging with 3rd party batteries. Skin on the dGPU graphics after the T520 and T530, they aren’t really worth it, and a W Series would probably be better anyways. All of these laptops have the traditional battery to the rear and the ultrabay slice if needed.

Quick Specs

• ATI Graphics option – T43, T60, T500
• nVidia Graphics option – T61, T510, T520, T530
• 4:3 – T43 all, some T60 (if IPS, then yes)
• 16:10 – Some T60, all T61, T500
• 16:9 – T510, T520, T530

• PATA – T43
• SATA – T60, T61 (SATA II if you do the bios mod)
• SATA II – T500, T510
• SATA III & mSATA – T520, T530

Modern T Series | 2013 to 2019

Lenovo caved in and started to put numberpads with the keyboards, these have off centered trackpoints & touchpads. IPS displays came back as an option

• Best Value – T560
• Next Best – T540p

I haven’t used any of these models, so take my advice with a grain of salt, talking out of my ass. T540p is the odd one out, as it has a DVD drive, last to have non-soldered processors, and does not have the internal battery. Models that had 3K optional displays required a whole different lid assembly as well, so it’s not a simple swap that you can do from the T570 and onward.

Specs Rundown

• DVD – T540p
• SATA III 7mm – T540p to T570
• m.2 SATA 2280 – T540p to T550
• m.2 SATA 2242 – T570 to T590
• m.2 NVMe 2280 3.0 x2 – T560 to T580
• m.2 NVMe 2280 3.0 x4 – T490 (+ NVMe 2242 3.0 x2 slot)

• 15.6″ HD TN – T540p T550 T560 T570
• 15.6″ FHD TN – T540p T550
• 15.6″ FHD IPS – T560 T570 T580 T590
• 15.5″ 3K IPS – T540p T550 T560
• 15.6″ 4K IPS – T570 T580
• 15.6″ 4K HDR IPS – T590

Mobile Workstations 15.6″ | 2015 – 2019

Looking for a computer with workstation graphics but not requiring the power hungry processor? These machines here are basically Quadro GPU verstions of the T500 series that (usually) has an i7 as standard.

• Best Value – P50s
• Next Best – P52s

Some of these models can come with an i5 CPU; W550s, P50s, P51s, & P52s. If you’re looking to maximize RAM, the limit is 32GB of RAM on all models except the P53s. But the P53s has either 8GB or 16GB soldered and one RAM slot, so a max of 36GB or 48GB is achievable. Like the T Series it is based upon, the P50s & W550s will require a lid assembly if you’re thinking of the 3K panel upgrade. All of these have an integrated battery inside, only the P53s got rid of the removable battery in the back.

• 2.5″ 7mm – W550s P50s P51s P52s
• 2242 m.2 SATA – W550s P50s
• 2280 NVMe 3.0 x2 – P51s P52s
• 2242 NVMe 3.0 x2 – P52s P53s
• 2280 NVMe 3.0 x4 – P53s

• 15.6″ FHD TN – W550s
• 15.6″ FHD IPS – P50s P51s P52s P53s
• 15.5″ 3K IPS – W550s P50s
• 15.6″ 4K IPS 72% – P51s P52s
• 15.6″ 4K HDR IPS – P53s

Classic Thonks | W Series 2008 to 2014

Big, heavy & in charge, the successor to the T61p was the W500, and the W700 if you needed more power.

• I decided to put both 15″ and 17″ machines, the latter in bold
• Best Value – W520
• Next Best – W540

I was proud to own a W700ds, they are hard to come by but the prices on them aren’t that bad for now. The W540 has dropped down in price, it is coming closer to W520 pricing in some aspects. With the exception to the W540/1, the performance on these machines for video editing are outclassed by Skylake quadcore laptops.

15.6″ Workstation – P50 Series & P1

Lenovo took the p suffix and put it in front, making the P Series, bringing a higher standard & price than previously seen from W Series.

• P1 “Ultrabook Workstation” is a step up from the previous P50s models, so it is here with the P50 🙂
• G2, Gen 2, 2nd Gen, many different names for the second P1
• Best Value – P51
• Next Best – P1 1st Gen
• But consider… – P50 under $500
• P1 = P52 | P1 Gen 2 = P53
• P1 models are X1 Extremes but with Quadro graphics & more dRAM, P50 models are thicker and have numberpads
• Quadcore units – All Models P50, P51 | Base Model P53, P1, P1 2nd Gen
• Xeon CPU available on all, 8MB cache on P50, P51, 12MB on the rest
• P53 has a 230W Charger on the fucking eight core i9-9980H

At launch, the P50 was criticized by fellow ThinkPad Enthusiasts and PowerUsers because of the price to performance ratio. They were at a premium on top of Dell Precision & HP Z-Book workstations, which have been keeping a good name for themselves. As a matter of fact I’d get one of those over a W Series ThinkPad because you can upgrade the GPUs on them. These P50 series brought back the MXM cards again, but have the damn Lenovo whitelist in the bios, which means you’re stuck with keeping the same FRU’s for that system.

From the P51 and onward you get 4GB of dRAM as standard, however the P53 looks to be more flexible as it can use both Quadro and RTX graphics, the latter having options for 6GB or 8GB of dRAM… Dolby Vision HDR is only advertised on P53 and P1, so if you need that color palette, you’ll have to go for those. On the P53, the i9-9880H beats the E-2276M on Cache, cores/threads, & Max turbo boost, idk in actual performance tests.

Specs rundown

• All have 15.6″ Displays
• FHD IPS – P50, P51
• FHD IPS 72% sRGB Gamut – P52, P53, P1, P1 G2
• FHD IPS Dolby HDR 72% sRGB 500 nits – P53, P1 G2
• UHD/4K IPS 100% sRGB – P50, P51, P52, P1
• UHD/4K Dolby HDR 100% Adobe Gamut 500 nits – P53, P1 G2
• UHD/4K Dolby HDR 100% DCI-P3 – P53, P1 G2

• Two m.2 2280 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 – All Systems
• 7mm SATA – P50, P51, P52 | Some P53 if they have Quadro (not RTX)

• Processors?
• I will do a comprehensive CPU comparison at a future guide 🙂

17.3″ Desktop Replacement – P70 Series

Lenovo’s revival of their workstations meant that it would bring back a massive laptop again, after a 5 year hiatus, the P70 models have been going strong with those who ditched their desktop.

• Best Value – P70
• Next best – P73
• 16GB dRAM – select P72 and P73 models
• 64GB RAM Max on P70, P71 | 128GB on P72, P73
• ECC Ram only on Xeon units & 64GB Max on all
• Two Xeons available on

The “best” screen on the P73 doesn’t have the amazing contrast ratios & color gamut as the P53 & P1 G2 OLED option, but it won’t suffer to burn in. Even then, Specwise the P50 series is extremely similar to the P70 models, there is not really any difference other than footprint. If you’re thinking of getting a bigger GPU option, the P70 is a superior choice, however I cannot comment on cooling & performance.

Specs Rundown

• FHD IPS 72% sRGB Gamut – P70, P71, P72, P73
• UHD IPS 90% sRGB Gamut – P70, P71
• UHD IPS 100% Adobe Gamut, 400 Nits – P72, P73

• 2x NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 – P70 P71 P72 P73
• 1x 2.5″ 7mm SATA – P72 P73
• 2x 2.5″ 7mm SATA – P70 P71

14″ Portable Workstations

These laptops have quadro graphics in the smaller 14″ footprint.

• Best Value – T460p
• Next Best – T470p?
• Why – P40 Yoga

Thanks to the success of the P50 and P70 machines, Lenovo Launched a P40 alongside the P51 & P71. Additionally they brought back the p variant of the T Series, as the T460p. However, instead of it ruining the ‘p’ suffix name (No high end CPU standard, doesn’t come with dGPU standard, no optional LCD as the standard), it was an actual upgrade than the damn base T460. Yeah it has a soldered CPU and it could not come with a dGPU, but at least the machine has a quadcore CPU that the base T460 or T460s can’t be equipped with….

Uh, so anyways, these can be nice options to have. The cool thing is that these can come with Quadro graphics, 1080p IPS displays as standard. The 14″ machines are cheaper than the P50s variants, but I’d only consider them if you don’t want the wider 15.6″ form factor.

• Display Options
• FHD IPS – P40 Yoga, T460p, T470p, P43s
• FHD IPS Low Power 72% gamut – P43s
• FHD IPS Privacy Guard 72% gamut – P43s
• WQHD IPS 72% gamut – P40 Yoga, T460p, T470p
• WQHD Dobly HDR IPS 100% Adobe – P43s

• Maximum RAM
• 16GB DDR3L – P40 Yoga
• 32GB DDR4 – T460p, T470p
• 40GB or 48GB DDR4 – P43s | One RAM slot

• 7mm SATA – P40 Yoga, T460p, T470p
• m.2 2280 NVMe 3.0 x2 – T460p, T470p
• m.2 2242 NVMe 3.0 x2 – T460p, P43s | WWAN Slot
• m.2 2280 NVMe 3.0 x4 – P43s