Is there a laptop fit to replace a ThinkPad?

Dash Lambda · May 16, 2019

I have a T450s that I've loved over its lifetime, but the hardware is starting to show its age. I was looking forward to the Tx90 series to see what I could upgrade to, but Lenovo really, uh... Yeah, Lenovo fucked up.

I'm looking for a laptop that:

Has the build quality and reliability of a ThinkPad.
Has as good a keyboard as a ThinkPad.
Has a 14" display.
Has good I/O, which includes an RJ45 jack and an SD card reader (I didn't even think the latter needed to be specified, but here we are...).

The XPS 15 is 15.6", so I'm not interested. The XPS 13 has the same compromises as the T490s, so if that's the competition I may as well stick with ThinkPads. The Razer Blade is a gaming laptop, and I'm not a fan of that keyboard. Are there any options that could beat the new ThinkPads by my standards, or is this just how the industry is now?

ahuckphin · May 16, 2019

Thinkpad T480

genexis_x · May 16, 2019

T490/T480s or T480

Electronics Wizardy · May 16, 2019

latidude 5490?

dell rugged 14?

Dash Lambda · May 16, 2019

8 hours ago, bindydad123 said:

Thinkpad T480

8 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

T490/T480s or T480

You know, I hadn't even considered the Tx80 series. The T480s has an RJ45 jack, an SD card reader, a non-integrated keyboard, an option for a discrete GPU, and even roughly equivalent CPUs since Intel didn't change much since then. I wonder how long it'll be easily available new...