Article introduction

Part 1 Full text with 3,300 words and 50 pictures.

The original text is in Chinese, and it was translated by Google.Please understand that there are some unsatisfactory words!The original text can be viewed at https://www.song1118.com.

The article is divided into the following chapters：

• Finally heavy

• Have a style

• Think twice before acting

• See the opportunity

Finally heavy

Three months ago, the author conducted a comparative evaluation of the 2021 ThinkPad mobile workstations P14s and P15s. The author divided the two into light-weight mobile workstations. The comparative evaluation article issued by the author is as follows:

Three weeks ago, the author evaluated the ThinkPad mobile workstation P15v, which is also in 2021. The author classified it as a medium-sized mobile workstation. The evaluation article is as follows:

Now, it's finally time to evaluate the highest-end models of ThinkPad mobile workstations in 2021, namely the 15-inch P15 Gen 2 and the 17-inch P17 Gen 2. The author classifies the two as heavy-duty mobile workstations. 

Explain the word "finally":

As early as the beginning of August, the author placed an order to buy the ThinkPad P17 Gen 2 with the top version of the Core Duo. It was not until recently that I finally received it, but it has been forced to become the top version of the Core P15 Gen 2...

As a result, I had to place another order to purchase a Xeon top-matched version of P17 Gen 2, and received it smoothly;

Finally, by chance, a P17 Gen 2 with a mid-range version was also tested during the period;

In this way, there are a total of three. The originally planned P17 Gen 2 evaluation article was finally turned into a joint comparative evaluation article of P15 Gen 2 and P17 Gen 2 after three months, which can be regarded as the realization of an additional wish of the author. This is also the hope of many readers.

Explain the term "heavy":

In fact, there is no need to explain more, just one sentence: P15 and P17 are the top models in terms of size, weight and performance in the current ThinkPad P series. 

In short, the author is "finally heavy" in hand.

But on the current official website in China, the promotional pages of ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 and P17 Gen 2 have not appeared for a long time. On the P series page, the P14s, P15s, P14s AMD and P15v and P1 of 2021 are listed, and there is one more. Set the 2020 P15, which is P15 Gen 1.

For P15 Gen 1, the official used a propaganda phrase that the author has never heard of-"Tartu-level mobile workstation with strength".

The author used Baidu and Google to search for the term "Tatu" and found that only the following clear results were used except for Lenovo's domestic websites in China.

After analyzing with some netizens, this "Tower Chart" should be the abbreviation of "Tower Graphic Workstation". The meaning of "Tower Chart-level Strength" is to describe its powerful performance and the ability to replace the Tower Graphic Workstation.

Derived from the long-existing term "Desktop Replacement Laptops" (Desktop Replacement Laptops), but the "desktop" is replaced by a "tower graphics workstation", which can more vividly illustrate the P 15/17 workstation position.

However, the term "tower graphics workstation alternative mobile workstation" is too long to converge, so it is neatly reduced to the term "tower-level strength".

In this way, it should be the initiative of Lenovo's marketing department to call "Tower Graphics Workstation" as "Tatu" for short and use it on the official website of the publicity copy?

Have a style

After understanding the meaning of the word "Tatu", the image of P15 and P17 in the author's mind is more powerful, let's take a look at how "powerful" their actual appearance is!

The styles of the outer boxes of the two are the same. The height of the outer boxes of ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 (hereinafter referred to as P15G2) and ThinkPad P17 Gen 2 (hereinafter referred to as P17G2) is the same.

The thickness of the outer box P15G2 is slightly thinner:

The width of the outer box is also slightly narrower for P15G2:

The built-in battery warning sign on the outer box of the P17G2 is only the traditional UN3841, while the P15G2’s built-in battery warning sign has a new UN3091 sign, which shows that the factory date of this P15G2 is later than that of the P17G2;

In addition, the sealing label is also updated for P15G2: a laser anti-counterfeiting mark is added.

After opening, the layout of the two is the same: the left is the main unit protected by black foam, and the right is the accessory inner box:

Take out the items in the outer box, and you can see that the body of P17G2 is significantly larger than P15G2:

Although the size of the inner box of the two accessories is different, the items inside are basically the same, except that the power cord is a Chinese standard and the other is an American standard.

The two power supplies are exactly the same, and are exactly the same as the previous generation, both are 230 watt power supplies.

Allotrope

The two are taken out and placed in parallel, and the difference is obvious.

But the thickness difference is not very obvious, the P15G2 on the right is slightly thinner.

Add the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 mobile phone with a thickness of 8.3 mm, and compare the thickness between the two:

If the two are placed as shown in the figure below, you will even see the thickness of the front of the P17G2, which is still lower than the rear of the P15G2. It can be seen that the thickness of the two bodies is gradually increasing from the front to the rear.

But the width of the 17-inch P17G2 is greater than that of the 15-inch P15G2, there is no doubt.

The material of the upper cover of the two is PPS695+50% GF, not to mention the explanation of specific terms, to put it simply, it is an enhanced version of composite engineering plastics.

The bottoms of the two are placed flat for comparison. To the left of the center is a square bottom maintenance hatch of the same size. There is a thin strip of foot pads on the front and left, and a thin strip of foot pads on the rear, plus densely thin strips of heat dissipation air intake. Grille.

It can be seen that the P17G2 has a relatively larger number of cooling air intake grilles.

The bottom left corner (equivalent to the bottom right corner of the C-face palm rest) has their respective models: ThinkPad P17 Gen 2 and ThinkPad P15 Gen 2.

Like the ThinkPad P15v Gen 2 I reviewed earlier, because the bottom of the fuselage is made of PA+50% GF, compared with other ThinkPad models that use a metal body, there is no special labeling similar to Al (aluminum alloy) and Mg (magnesium alloy). )—The author thinks that although engineering plastics are not perfect, they have many advantages. Officials should label them without discrimination. It is the expression of “material confidence”.

At the bottom right corner, there is a label for pre-installed Windows operating system, and the label below indicates the specific models (Type Number) of the two:

P15G2 is 20YQ-004TUS. Currently, P15G2 only has 20YQ and 20YR. The US at the end indicates that this is a standard ex-factory model sold in the United States. The ex-factory date is September 2021 and is made in China.

P17G2 is 20YV-CTO1WW. At present, P17G2 only has 20YU and 20YV. The CTO immediately after that indicates that this is a customized model. The factory date is July 2021 and is made in China.

Since the P15G2 factory date is two months later, the difference on the outer box described above: the P15G2 sealing label has a laser anti-counterfeiting label, and the battery warning label has increased UN3091-the reason may be that.

P15G2 was shipped from the factory in September and arrived at the author after a trip to North America in China. It took almost two months. It can be seen that the efficiency of the current multinational logistics is really worrying. And the DELL Precision 7760, which the author placed in June and purchased in the same position as the P17G2 and sold in China, took about three weeks to get it.

The author’s evaluation article for DELL Precision 7760 (hereinafter referred to as 7760) has already issued evaluation serial 1 and serial 2 five months ago, and has not issued serial 3, but is waiting for the arrival of P17G2 in order to carry out cross-brand co-positioning. Type of contrast.

Five months later, 7760 can finally "hand-to-hand combat" with P17G2!

In September, the author also tested the 15-inch DELL Precision 7560, which is positioned at the same position as the P15G2. Because it was a friendly test, after the evaluation article was issued, it was the first time to return to Zhao, so now I can’t negotiate face-to-face with the P15G2. "Now, performance comparisons can only be made on paper.

The 7760 is compared with P15G2 and P17G2. The width of the 7760 body is between the two, and the thickness is slightly thinner than the two.

The left side of the fuselage of the 7760 and P15G2 and P17G2 are compared, and the longitudinal depth of the 7760 is also located between the two.

The port layouts on the left side of the fuselage of P15G2 and P17G2 are exactly the same, from left to right:

Exhaust vent on the left side of the fuselage;

• HDMI 2.1: If the discrete graphics card is T1200, it is 2.0;

• USB-A 3.2 Gen 1: Support shutting down and external power supply;

• SIM card slot: the factory without WWAN card is blocked here;

• 3.5mm audio output and input composite port;

Compare the three on the left side of the fuselage.

The port layout on the right side of the fuselage of P15G2 and P17G2 is exactly the same, from left to right:

• SD card reader: Dedicated MicroSD Card Reader (UHS-II) (MMC, SD, SDHC SDXC);

• USB-A 3.2 Gen 1;

• Exhaust vent on the right side of the fuselage;

• Security keyhole

Comparing the three rear fuselages, there are relatively few ports on the rear of the 7760, and the layout numbers of P15G2 and P17G2 are exactly the same. From left to right:

• The heat dissipation vent on the right side of the rear of the fuselage;

• RJ45 wired network card port: upgraded to 2.5Gbps, which is higher than the 1Gbps of 7760;

• Power interface;

• Two Thunderbolt 4 ports: compatible with USB4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, and support PD3.0 and DP1.4a;

• A USB-C 3.2 Gen 2: supports PD3.0 and DP1.4;

• The heat dissipation vent on the left side of the rear of the fuselage;

Comparison of the bottom of the three;

The P17G2 has the largest body, with a body size of 415.44 x 280.81 x 24.41~32.45 mm and a weight of 3.67 kg;

The P15G2 is the smallest collective, with a body size of 375.4 x 252.3 x 24.5/25.25~31.45/32.2 mm. The touch screen version is slightly thicker and weighs 2.87 kg, and the touch screen version weighs 3.07 kg;

The body size of the 7760 is 400 x 263.6 x 25.98~28.6 mm, and the weight starts at 3.01 kg.

Open the upper cover of the screen to compare, the difference in size between P15G2 and P17G2 will be more obvious. At the same time, it can be seen that the borders around the screens of the two are not the narrow borders pursued by current fashion.

The left and right sides and bottom of the screen bezel of the two are exactly the same width. The upper border of the P17G2 screen is wider.

The upper center of the two screens is a camera and an infrared camera, which support Windows Hello face recognition function, and both have a camera physical occlusion switch.

P15G2 and P17G2 adopt a vertical screen axis design, and the expansion angle of the top cover of the two screens can exceed 180 degrees.

The measured two screen axes rotate smoothly and dock smoothly, which makes the author feel good about the quality of their workmanship.

The most high-end mobile workstations of the three major PC brands, the DELL Precision 7 series has been unable to expand the screen cover at 180 degrees since last year. On the contrary, the HP ZBooK Fury series started last year and the screen cover has been restored to support 180 degrees. Expand...

I believe that one day, when all laptop screens do not support 180-degree expansion, the ThinkPad P series should not exist anymore...

After unfolding the upper cover of the screen, you will find that the height of the base of the P15G2 is almost the same as that of the P17G2.

On the contrary, it is a part of the front of the P17G2 fuselage base, that is, the palm rest has a larger area and a slightly lower height.

Therefore, in theory, the P17G2 palm rest will bring better comfort when users use it for a long time.

In terms of keyboards, the two are exactly the same. The detailed parameters can be seen in the official table attached to the picture. On the whole, it is still at the level of the head in the current laptop.

In terms of the mouse, the two are exactly the same:

The touch version of the mouse adopts a click pad design without physical buttons, and the shape and area are exactly the same;

Pointing stick mouse system Red pointing stick and three physical buttons.

The distance between the touchpad of the P17G2 on the left side of the picture and the edge is significantly larger than that of the P15G2, which is one of the manifestations of the greater depth of the body of the P17G2.

For the specific parameters of the touchpad and fingerprint reader, please refer to the official table attached in the figure.

The P17G2 has a larger body depth, and the distance between the keyboard and the B surface on the C side is also large, so that the speaker lattice grill in this part is also the P17G2 area to be larger.

In addition to the smaller depth and width of the P15G2 body, the power button cannot be placed on the right side of the keyboard like the P17G2, but on the upper right corner of the keyboard.

Both are marked with Dolby Atmos in the lower left corner of the keyboard on the left side of the palm rest.

Due to the different processors used by the two, P15G2 is the logo of the Intel Core processor, and P17G2 is the logo of the Intel Xeon processor;

Think twice before acting

In this way, in appearance, it is a simple and direct result that P17G2 is larger than P15G2.

But why is it that the P17G2, which uses the same motherboard as the 15-inch P15G2, is so much larger and heavier than the 17-inch DELL Precison 7760 of the same era? The weight alone weighed 660 grams?

The author got angry and invited the two representative elders of P17G2: ThinkPad W701 and ThinkPad P71, and then put the five together to compare:

• DELL Precision 7760 on the left;

• The above is P15G2;

• The middle is P17G2;

• ThinkPad P71 on the right;

• Below is ThinkPad W701.

Comparing the stacking of P17G2 and the two elders: the top is P17G3, the middle is ThinkPad P71, and the bottom is ThinkPad W701. It turns out that the vertical depth of P17G2 is longer than four years.

The previously listed P71 is still slightly larger;

The ThinkPad P71 can be built with two M.2 2280 SSDs, a 2.5-inch hard drive and an optical drive. The optical drive can also be replaced with an optical drive box to achieve a total of four built-in hard drives, and the P71 also has a built-in ExpressCard 34 card. Slot, the number of other ports does not fall into the wind.

The horizontal width of the P17G2 is basically the same as that of the P71, but it is actually slightly larger than the W701 that was listed 11 years ago; 

Comparing P17G2 and W701, the place where it wins in physical size is its longitudinal depth and thickness, which are lower than W701----but:

1.W701 is a product 11 years ago;

2. W701 uses a 17-inch 16:10 screen;

3. W701 has an ExpressCard 34 card slot, with 1394 and eSATA interfaces;

4. W701 uses VGA and DVI old interfaces that are not small in size, and its space occupation is much larger than HDMI, miniDP, Thunderbolt, and USB-C interfaces;

Not finished yet:

5. W701 adopts a seven-row keyboard, an optional drawing board on the palm rest, and a digital pen can also be built into the machine;

6. W701 can accommodate three 2.5-inch hard disks (or two 2.5-inch hard disks and one optical drive) model, if all can be replaced with M.2 2280 SSD, the physical space of W701 should be able to accommodate 7 built-in hard disks .

After the top cover of the three screens is unfolded, the P17G2 on the far right is one end higher than the P71 with the same 17-inch 16:9 screen in the middle. This is a reflection of the larger vertical depth dimension on the B side, which is an ergonomic point of view. Advantages: When the user sits and watches the screen, the angle of the neck bends down relatively small.

However, the W701 screen on the far left, in addition to the advantage of 16:10, is more prominent.

It is undeniable that the appearance of the P17G2 is indeed more elegant and concise than the two predecessors, and there are not so many hideous ancient ports.

But it is also undeniable that on the outside, the P17G2's keyboard layout, keystroke key feed and pointing stick system, and various status indicators are also streamlined and compressed a lot. Unfortunately, the old lady said that one generation is not as good as one generation. .

As a multi-drive notebook enthusiast, the most unacceptable thing is: the previous generation ThinkPad P17 Gen 1 can only have two M.2 SSDs built in? !

Fortunately, thanks to the new platform that supports PCIe 4.0 SSD, P15G2 and P17G2 have added a PCIe 4.0 SSD card slot. Otherwise, readers may not have the opportunity to read this review article.

If the reason why the P15 and P17 are extremely stingy in the number of internal hard drives is to ensure system stability, reduce system power consumption, or insufficient space in the body, then the same generation and the same level of DELL Precsion 7 series, HP ZBook Fury series , Why can the 15-inch model realize the built-in three hard disks and the 17-inch model realize the built-in four hard disks in the case of a smaller body and lighter weight?

See the opportunity

So far, the number of texts has exceeded 3000, and there are more than 50 pictures and texts. However, the evaluation progress described in the article is just opening a box and then comparing the appearance...

Originally I wanted to be lazy and combined the two reviews of P15 and P17 into one review, and now I found that the two combined reviews for comparative evaluation, the amount of content to be written and the number of pictures used are beyond my expectations. According to the original If the plan is divided into three chapters, the first one will break hundreds of pictures with 10,000 characters...

In order to prevent readers from watching fatigue, the serialization method is modified, and every serialization is controlled to be about 5,000 characters and 50 pictures.

So, Part 1 ends here.

The content of Part 2 will be the disassembly, internal comparison, theoretical function analysis and performance estimation of the two.

Stay tuned!