Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 first impression: Faulty GPU
Beautiful laptop gets instant RMA :(
I purchased a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 laptop for a side project I've been working on. This was directly from Lenovo's online store and one of the first available for sale in the United States.
The P1 Gen 7 boasts impressive specifications, including an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 4070. Lenovo markets it as an "AI"-ready laptop thanks to available pro-level GPUs and Intel's built-in "neural processing unit" (NPU). And physically, the P1 Gen 7 makes a strong first impression, rivaling the precision and build quality of Apple's MacBook laptops.
Unfortunately, as soon as I powered it on things went downhill. My particular unit had graphical corruption and display flickering from the moment the Windows 11 setup wizard popped up. I tried updating the BIOS and drivers, but nothing improved the artifacting. From my experience with other machines, this indicates either bad memory or a bad GPU and requires replacement hardware.
I needed a working laptop immediately for my project, so I authorized an RMA for refund with Lenovo and purchased an Alienware M16 R2 with the same specs for $400 cheaper in-store at Best Buy. I hope Lenovo will improve the quality control on these laptops because people don't have time to go through support chatbots and inevitably wait for replacement hardware. RIP.