Hey everyone! First time posting here.

Recently my T14 Gen 1 that I'd been using for 4 years died from a motherboard short, so I was on the hunt for a new laptop.

I happened to know a laptop seller personally who had a brand new, unopened P1 Gen 5 with i9-12900H, 32GB RAM, RTX 3080Ti, and 2.5K 165Hz display for $1465

I've been using it for about a week now, and while this is obviously a 3-year-old laptop at this point, I wanted to share my honest thoughts. I'll break down what I loved and what disappointed me.

**The Good:**

First off, it's surprisingly light for the specs - 1.8kg isn't bad at all for a 16-inch powerhouse. The build quality is excellent and feels rock solid. The magnesium and carbon fiber construction means I don't even need a laptop sleeve. Though to be fair, my old T14 Gen 1 was just as tough.

The keyboard is absolutely fantastic. That classic ThinkPad feel - tactile and clicky in all the right ways. You simply can't get this keyboard experience anywhere else. Hands down the best laptop keyboard out there.

Speaker quality was decent too. Not amazing, not terrible, but the output volume really impressed me. It gets plenty loud and feels appropriate for a creator-focused machine.

The display is gorgeous. Colors are accurate and that 165Hz refresh rate is perfect. I don't really care about 4K, so this high refresh rate panel is perfect for me.

Performance has been solid. No stuttering in Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Blender, or Unreal Engine. Most AAA games hit 120+ fps on high settings without breaking a sweat.

**The Not-So-Good:**

Now for the biggest pain points - thermals and battery life. The 90Wh battery isn't small by any means, but on this laptop it might as well be.

Even just web browsing on battery makes this thing run hot. I can feel the heat through the keyboard, and using it on my lap literally feels like my thighs are being cooked. When plugged in, the fans go absolutely mental and it gets scorching hot. I disabled Intel Turbo Boost which helped a bit, but didn't solve the fundamental issue. If anyone has solutions, please drop them in the comments.

I was naive thinking an i9-12900H and RTX 3080Ti would run cool and quiet in such a thin chassis. That was wishful thinking. Without a laptop stand, you're constantly dealing with throttling and fan noise. Using this in quiet spaces was honestly embarrassing lol.

Battery life maxes out at 4-5 hours even with power saving mode on and just doing basic document work. Pretty disappointing runtime. I always have to carry the charger - definitely not an all-day machine.

If I could go back a week, I probably would've grabbed the i7-12800H with RTX A2000 model instead. I think that combo would've been cheaper and run much cooler.

Despite all the issues, I genuinely love this laptop. The "minor(?)" problems aside, it doesn't bother me at all. Love the design, functionality, and performance.

Thanks for reading this wall of text, and hope everyone has a great day!

ThinkPad P1 Gen 5 in 2025? - My real-world usage review