Mobile workstations: the ThinkPad P Series

Where an ordinary laptop grinds to a halt, this line begins. Mobile workstations have a dedicated NVIDIA graphics card, more memory capacity and heavier cooling, so they can run at full power for hours on end without throttling back.

What kind of work

CAD and CAM, 3D rendering, video editing, simulation and large datasets. If you work with software such as SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Revit or Creo, certification matters more than raw speed: the manufacturer then guarantees that the graphics drivers have been tested with that software.

What to look for

Look at memory first - 32 GB is the starting point here, not the ceiling. Then at the graphics card, because that determines what your software can handle. Weight is the trade-off: a mobile workstation is heavier than a T Series, and you notice that on the road.

Besides the P Series, the ThinkPad T15g also falls into this category: the same class of hardware in a T chassis.