Lenovo's ThinkPad P71 Packs 7.5 Pounds Of Xeon Power For VR Creators

Lenovo has just unveiled three ThinkPad P Series laptops during the Solidworks World 2017 conference, including one model that's ready for virtual reality experiences, while also powerful enough to create and produce its own VR content. The trio of workstations are the P51, P51s, and P71 — the VR-ready rig in question.

***Lenovo ThinkPad P71***

The P71 is considered a replacement to 2015's P70, quite a bulky rig that was very powerful, owing much to its Xeon processors and Nvidia's Quadro graphics. The newer 17-inch P71 packs upgraded iterations of the Xeon processor and the Quadro GPU, allowing the rig to achieve VR-ready certifications from Oculus, HTC, and Nvidia.

"Content creators working with demanding VR workflows require the most robust and reliable performance possible," said Bob Pette, Nvidia's Professional Visualization VP. "Lenovo's VR-ready ThinkPad P71 with Quadro Pascal-based GPUs for mobile workstations provides the performance, features and memory required for creating the most compelling VR experiences anywhere."

The P71 is slightly heavier than its predecessor at 7.6 pounds. It comes with either a 1080p or a 4K display, can be configured with up to 64 GB of RAM in four slots, and may be packed with 2 TB of PCIe storage.

Like the P70, users may opt for a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor instead of Xeon, although with the P71, there's no option for a Touchscreen, unlike the P70.

***Lenovo ThinkPad P51s***

Those aching for a touchscreen, however, there's another option: the 15.6-inch P51s, which comes with options for a touch or a non-touch display, which in turn can be configured with either a 1080p or 4K resolution. The thin and light workstation weighs just 4.3 pounds, features seventh-generation Intel Core Processors, Nvidia Quadro M520M graphics, up to 32 GB of RAM in two slots, and up to 1 TB of storage.

***Lenovo ThinkPad P51***

To cap the trio, Lenovo also unveiled the 15.6-inch P51, offering users a choice of between a Xeon and a seventh-generation Intel Core processor, with options for either a Full HD, 4K, or touch displays. This models comes in at 5.6 pounds, packing four memory slots, and the Nvidia Quadro M2200M, which is more powerful than what's inside the P51s.

Lenovo adds that all the refreshed ThinkPad P Series laptops offer dual-fan cooling systems and 2400 MHz DDR4 memory, the fastest one available on a mobile workstation.

The P51s comes out in March, and it'll be the most affordable of the trio at a starting price of $1,049. The P51 and P71, meanwhile, will be available in April, and are both more pricey: the P51 will start at $1,399, and the P71 will start at $1,849. While at the conference, Lenovo also showcased its professional VR solutions with hands-on demonstrations from partners Virtalis and DotProduct.

Lenovo's new ThinkPad P Trio sure does encapsulate a lot of markets: those looking for a more-than-passable VR-ready rig, or those who can shun that and just be fine with a beefy, top-tier-specs-laden mobile workstation, VR or not.