Lenovo ThinkPad vs IdeaPad: Which Laptop Should You Go For?

In this post, we will be comparing ThinkPad vs IdeaPad, and review some of their most popular models.

Lenovo laptops do not need any introduction. According to market research conducted in 2018, Lenovo was the leader in global laptop sales amassing a whopping 22.2% of global laptop sales.

And ThinkPad and IdeaPad were some of their most popular flagship series.

Lenovo ThinkPad laptops were launched in October 1992 in Japan. The model was inspired by a Japanese lunch box called Bento.

This series of the laptop was initially sold by IBM until Lenovo owned the copyright in 2005. ThinkPad was designed and developed for business-oriented purposes which witnessed incredible popularity with corporate and business users.

On the other hand, the Lenovo IdeaPad series was launched in January 2008. This series of laptops marked a deviation from the business-class ThinkPad series.

IdeaPad was designed for consumer-oriented purposes and grabbed a lot of limelight. Great aesthetics were their primary aim so that they could grab the attention of the youth and tap into the younger market segment.

Lenovo ThinkPad vs IdeaPad

To do a thorough comparison of IdeaPad vs ThinkPad we have selected a few criteria that will help you decide which flagship variant suits you the best.

• Usage
• Design & Display
• Processor & Performance
• Pricing

ThinkPad vs IdeaPad: Target Audience

ThinkPad is used by the business community, corporates, and programmers. It is a device for professionals whose line of work is completely dependent on their laptops.

IdeaPad on the other hand is targeted more towards the public, rather than the business class.It is a consumer-focused laptop that is relatively cheaper than the ThinkPad series. This laptop is highly preferable for base content creators, non-business students, and general users who just want to browse, stream, and connect through social media platforms.

ThinkPad vs IdeaPad: Design & Display

ThinkPads are powerful working laptops for professionals and businesses. So, the device has a pretty basic design that is reliable, durable, and does not aim at unnecessary features.

It has a TrackPoint, the signature ThinkPad feature. It acts as your mouse pointer and is half as handy. ThinkPads series are built from a range of different materials. Depending on the series you go for you can get ThinkPads made of Titanium, Magnesium, plastic, and even carbon fiber which allows you to carry your laptop around not so conducive environments. ThinkPads have a screen size between 13.3 to 15.6 inches and certain variants come with a high-quality 4K display.

IdeaPad laptops are better-looking than ThinkPad. These laptops are sophisticated, slim, and lightweight which let you carry them all day long with ease. IdeaPad series is built out of aluminum, features a sleek body with powerful entrails. IdeaPads come with decent displays, but the brightness and contrast ratios are lower compared to the ThinkPad series. IdeaPads have a screen size of roughly 15.6 inches and come with a Full HD display.

ThinkPad vs IdeaPad: Processor & Performance

ThinkPad laptops have high-end configurations and come with i5 or i7 processors. This series deals in Intel as well as AMD processors which are cost-effective. The core of these laptops is robust and can function perfectly even at max CPU usage. They are developed keeping CPU performance as its priority.

ThinkPads are loaded with high-quality 8GB upgradable RAM, HDDs & SSDs hard drive, and boast of long battery life. Apart from businesses, this device is also best for live streamers, editors, graphic designers, and programmers. 

IdeaPads are a lot more aesthetic and lighter than the ThinkPad series. Several laptops of this series have i3 processors and only the top models feature an i5 processor. From a processing standpoint, it is not as powerful as ThinkPad but still worth every penny. 

These laptops come with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, HDDs or SSDs, sophisticated motherboards, and decent battery life. A configuration perfectly suited for daily use. This is an ideal laptop for content creators, students, teachers, and for daily entertainment. 

ThinkPad vs IdeaPad: Pricing

The ThinkPad series starts at around $650. This is a great starting price range given its configuration. IdeaPad laptops start with a price range of $360. They are well more affordable compared to the ThinkPad series and are meant for the masses. 

Now let’s check out some of the best ThinkPads.

 3 Best ThinkPad Laptops

1. Lenovo ThinkPad E595

Best Price to Performance ThinkPad

Tech Specs

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Lenovo ThinkPad E595 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD non touch IPS display. It has a net brightness rate of 250 nits. That means you can work with this device on a bright sunny day without even squinting.

Its design is like that of a Japanese Bento lunch box which gives it a minimalistic feel. It is made of Aluminum and a mix of durable plastic, perfect for round-the-clock usage. 

This business machine is powered by a Ryzen 5 processor with 8GB RAM and a 512GB SSD hard drive. Its RAM can be upgraded to 32GB and includes an AMD Radeon Vega 8 GPU.

You can get an admirable battery life of 9 hours which is enough for practical uses. This is not a gaming laptop per se, but if you upgrade its RAM and GPU, then games like Fortnight, Max Payne, and Hitman can be played on medium settings.

The classic laptop has a backlit chiclet keyboard and a fantastic TrackPad. This makes it suitable for typing and a num-pad on the right side completes a full-scale keyboard.

The webcam quality is 720p which is decent for Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. It consists of two microphones at the top for recording without the need to use a separate microphone. 

The E595 is lightweight, easy to carry, especially compared to its siblings. If you are a programmer, businessman, accountant, or grad student, this is one of the best ThinkPads you can get. 

Pricing: Around $1,000. 

2. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen 

Best Overall ThinkPad for Work

Tech Specs

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The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen has a 14-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare Touch Screen display. A high brightness screen with excellent contrast and vivid color makes it a perfect choice for work as well as entertainment.

The device is lightweight and slim and is made up of carbon fiber and Magnesium alloy. There is a Nano Sim slot for connectivity and a privacy switch at the top. Without a doubt, this is a premium laptop with sufficient specs for hardcore productivity.

The X1 Carbon is based on Intel’s 11th Gen core i7 1185G7 coupled with 16GB of RAM. The 512GB SSD hard drive enables swift read and write thus elevating its overall performance.

It comes with an Iris XE graphics card which is capable enough for running games in medium settings.

A 57WHrs battery can provide all the kicks that the processor needs for long working hours. It comes with a Windows 10 Pro inside other than a 720p HD webcam, a fingerprint sensor, and Bluetooth 6 for new-age security and connectivity.

Unlike the previous model, the backlit keyboard is short with no Numpad section. Its stable and rigid structure and security features make it suitable for entrepreneurs.

Pricing: Around $2200.

3. Lenovo ThinkPad P73

A Desktop Laptop

Tech Specs

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Lenovo ThinkPad P73 is the ThinkPad flagship, the Mobile Workstation with bombastic specs and serious hardware inside. This Lenovo P series model is the only one that comes in a 17.3 inches giant 4K display. It is built for durability, tested, and passed on 12 military-grade requirements.

The P73 is powered by Intel’s Xeon processor and 32GB DDR4 RAM. There’s a wholesome 1TB SSD hard drive added in. Solid State Drives consume a lot less power than their HDD counterparts and allow faster data access.

With the huge battery, this P73 workstation will provide you a battery life of up to 17 hours. And that’s despite the NVIDIA Quadro graphics card, letting you render 4K content effortlessly, best suited for video and photo editing, website designing, and content creations, not for gaming.

The P73 has a 720p full HD webcam like the other ThinkPad models. But it has an additional security feature called Clink Glass and IR sensor for Windows Hello. It also has a backlit keyboard, a mouse pad, and a trackpad that sports a fingerprint reader. 

In short, the P73 workstation is a bulky yet robust ThinkPad best suited for graphic designers, programmers, and users who need a laptop that can withstand hazardous work conditions.

Pricing: Around $3900.

3 Best IdeaPad Laptops

For a detailed comparison of ThinkPad vs IdeaPad, here are the 3 best IdeaPad for you 

1. Lenovo IdeaPad S145

Best Budget Laptop in IdeaPad series

Tech Specs

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Fast and inexpensive, just what the Lenovo IdeaPad S145 is all about.

It is built out of Italian plastic with a metallic texture that looks quite simple. The screen size is 16 inches with FHD anti-glare display. It has a maximum brightness of 220 nits and the lid has a brushed metal finish with a privacy lock slide button.

The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i3 8th Gen processor with 4GB RAM along with an 8GB configuration option. It has a 128GB SSD hard drive and Intel HD graphics card with improved cooling systems.

The processor and hard drive combination are perfect for your office work and multi-tasking. However, you may face performance issues if you try to run too many CPU-intensive processes.

The S145 has a decent webcam and speakers given its price. The battery is of 2 cells that can give you a life of up to 4 hours, which is a bit disappointing. The keyboard is durable and supports big keys for easier typing.

This is a mainstream laptop that is developed for work, play, and browsing. Overall, the specifications are decent for this price segment. 

Pricing: Around $450.

2. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14

Best 2-in-1 Laptop from Lenovo on a Budget

Tech Specs

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Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 has a 14inch IPS 1080 touch display with 215 nits brightness level. The overall build is of high-quality plastic and magnesium alloy which is sturdy and rigid.

The touchscreen is easily the best takeaway from this laptop, quite handy, and rated as one of the best touchscreen displays on a laptop at this price point.

The Flex 5 is decently priced given its hardware specifications. One downside of this laptop is, you may witness some frame drops and color grading issues.

It is powered by Ryzen 5 5500U Zen 2 processor and a Radeon Vega graphics card. Even though it has a 16GB RAM clocking at 3200 MHz as it is soldered, you won’t be able to upgrade it if you desire.

The CPU performance is great for the Ryzen chip in this price range. There’s a 256 SSD hard drive added in. 

It has 6 hours of battery life under active usage. Keyboard, touchpad, and speakers are decent and durable at this cost. The webcam quality is good and comes with a slide cover.

The IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is ideal for frugal multi-tasking with the touchscreen adding excellent value to this underpriced beauty.

Pricing:  Under $600.

3. Lenovo IdeaPad L340 Gaming

Best Budget Gaming Laptop in 2021

Tech Specs

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The Lenovo L 340 Gaming laptop has a minimalistic design with an aluminum surface and is built of hard plastic. It is equipped with a 15.6 inches 1080 IPS FHD display with a matte finish. It can be bent to 180 degrees and the brightness level is 200 nits with a high contrast ratio. 

The L340 is powered by the Intel Core i7 9750 processor and comes in variants of 8GB to 32GB of RAM. The hard drive is a 512GB SSD which sets a benchmark for the premium IdeaPad segment.

What makes this one of the best laptops even today is its integrated discrete graphics card, the vital necessity for gaming.

This machine comes with an NVIDIA GTX 1050 3GB graphics card. Considering the 9^th gen i7 and the ample RAM, you can play the latest games on this laptop at decent graphics settings.

Few laptops out there match the price to gaming performance compared to this L340.

Other than that, the webcam has a privacy filter lock slide button with a low-resolution front camera. The blue-backlit keyboard allows fast typing while the trackpad is decent too.

The inbuilt speakers are not something to boast about but you will surely get a proper pair of gaming headsets for sure.

In short, if you’re looking for a laptop that will help you balance work and gaming, this L340 is a steal. 

Pricing: Around $750

Conclusion

What you must have understood by now in a ThinkPad vs IdeaPad comparison is that both these series are meant for similar functions but on different scales. Where ThinkPads will outdo any IdeaPad in sheer multitasking performance and computing power, IdeaPads are easier on the budget and offer a larger variation of their capabilities. We’ve listed the best Lenovo ThinkPads and the best Lenovo IdeaPads to help make your choice even easier!

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