Lenovo ThinkPad 14" T490 Black 2018
The quad-core i7-8550U and 512GB SSD provide responsive multitasking, while the 14-inch FHD IPS touchscreen and 3.2-pound build balance usability with portability. Its extensive port selection, including Thunderbolt 3, USB-C, HDMI, and Ethernet, offers connectivity rarely found in modern ultrabooks at this refurbished price point. This machine is best for students or business users who need a durable, keyboard-focused workhorse for document editing and web-based tasks, not graphics-intensive workloads.
CPU Intel Core i7 8550U
RAM 8 GB
Storage 512 GB
Screen 14" 1920x1080
GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620
OS Windows 11 Pro
Weight 1.8 kg
48 Overall Score
Price CA$551
Snapshot
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong port selection (81st percentile) 81st
- Strong reliability (80th percentile) 80th
- Strong social proof (79th percentile) 79th
- Strong portability (72nd percentile) 72nd
Cons
- Below average cpu (8th percentile)
- Below average ram (14th percentile)
The proof
Performance
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | Intel Core i7 8550U |
| Cores | 4 |
| Frequency | 1.8 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB |
Graphics
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Type | Integrated |
| VRAM Type | Shared |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 8 GB |
| RAM Generation | DDR4 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD |
Display
| Size | 14" |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 (Full HD) |
| Panel | IPS |
Connectivity
| USB-C Ports | 2 |
| USB Ports | 3 |
| Thunderbolt | 1 x Thunderbolt |
| HDMI | 1 x HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 4 and earlier generation |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
| Ethernet | 1 x RJ-45 (1Gbps) |
Physical
| Weight | 1.8 kg / 3.9 lbs |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
vs Competition
| Spec | Lenovo ThinkPad 14" T490 | Apple MacBook Air M4 | MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 | ASUS ProArt PX13 | Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition | Acer Predator Helios Neo PHN16-73-95G8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7 8550U | Apple M4 | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX |
| RAM (GB) | 8 | 24 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Storage (GB) | 512 | 1024 | 1000 | 1000 | 1024 | 1024 |
| Screen | 14" 1920x1080 | 13.6" 2560x1664 | 13.3" 2880x1800 | 13.3" 2880x1800 | 15" 2496x1664 | 16" 2560x1600 |
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Apple (10-Core) | Intel Arc Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 | Qualcomm Adreno | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro | macOS | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home | Windows 11 Home |
| Weight (kg) | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Battery (Wh) | - | 54 | - | 73 | 66 | 90 |
| Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare |
| Product | CPU | GPU | RAM | Ports | Screen | Portability | Storage | Reliability | Social Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkPad 14" T490 | 7.9 | 35.1 | 13.9 | 80.8 | 42 | 71.5 | 38.1 | 80.4 | 79.4 |
| Apple MacBook Air M4 Compare | 73.3 | 70.6 | 66.1 | 58.4 | 86.8 | 91 | 80.4 | 97.4 | 98.7 |
| MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 Compare | 63.5 | 64.5 | 80.8 | 80.8 | 91.5 | 96.3 | 72.6 | 59.5 | 88.2 |
| ASUS ProArt PX13 Compare | 88.8 | 78.6 | 91.1 | 75.3 | 95.3 | 92.7 | 62.5 | 59.5 | 95 |
| Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition Compare | 98.8 | 26.7 | 80.8 | 64.4 | 89.3 | 57.3 | 80.4 | 80.4 | 95 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo PHN16-73-95G8 Compare | 96.3 | 92.5 | 89.9 | 99.9 | 91.9 | 9.5 | 80.4 | 9.8 | 82.8 |
Price
Value & Pricing
From CA$551
Newegg.ca 2 offers From CA$551
Price History
Usage Scores
A full written review is coming soon. The specs, scores, prices and charts above are always up to date.
Other Configurations36
ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8365U16GB512GBBlackCA$410ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U8GB512GBBlackCA$451ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U8GB1TBBlackCA$493ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8665U16GB512GBCA$529ThinkPad 14" T490Intel N-Series N20016GB512GBBlackCA$550ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U16GB256GBBlackCA$556ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U8GB1TBBlackCA$593ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U16GB1TBBlackCA$640ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U32GB512GBBlackCA$693
Show all 36 configurations
ThinkPad 14" T490i5-8365U8GB256GBCA$259ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8365U16GB256GBBlackCA$290ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8365U16GB256GBCA$300ThinkPad 14" T490i5-8365U16GB256GBBlackCA$315ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8365U16GB512GBBlackCA$350ThinkPad 14" T490i7-8665U16GB256GBCA$360ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U8GB256GBBlackCA$399ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8265U16GB256GBCA$405ThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U16GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U32GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8650U16GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U16GB512GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8650U16GB512GBThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U32GB1TBBlackThinkPad 14" T490AMD Ryzen 7 27008GB256GBThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U8GB128GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U16GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490AMD Ryzen 7 27008GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U8GB1TBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U16GB512GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i5 8250U16GB512GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490i7-8565U40GB8TBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8550U8GB256GBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U8GB128GBThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U24GB2TBBlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel N-Series N2008GB512GBGlossy BlackThinkPad 14" T490Intel Core i7 8565U24GB1TBBlack
