The Lenovo LOQ 15 laptop just dropped to $1000 — and it's our top budget pick for engineering students who need real GPU power

The Lenovo ThinkPad T1g Gen 8 is a powerful and semi-portable laptop designed for engineers, creatives, and power users who require a machine with high performance and multiple ports. It shares similarities with the 16-inch MacBook Pro but is larger and offers more ports, including USB-A, USB-C, Thunderbolt, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port.

The laptop is available in the US and UK, with starting prices of $3,632 (US) and £5,014 (UK). My tested version features an Intel Core i9-285H, 8 GB of memory, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD, weighing significantly and delivering strong performance. The display is WQUXGA (3840x2400) with an 800-nit IPS panel, and a dedicated GPU ensures the laptop's capabilities.

The screen and build quality resemble the MacBook Pro, while the inclusion of a trackpoint, privacy shutter, and human presence detection sets it apart. The laptop is relatively heavy but remains portable and fits comfortably in standard backpacks. Over a period of 163 days, I have used the ThinkPad T1g Gen 8 for various tasks, such as virtual meetings, project management, writing, and video editing, finding it suitable for most needs despite not being the best photo editing laptop.