Is there a better alternative?

If you want a ThinkPad, then choose the X1 Carbon instead. It’s similarly priced at $1,754 ($1,315 on sale) for the same Core i7-8550U, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and 14-inch Full HD touch display. And if you crank up the configuration to a faster Core i7-8650U, 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and WQHD display with Dolby Vision, you’ll add just $100 more. That will provide you with an equally robust build that’s thinner and lighter, a more comfortable keyboard, and a display that supports high dynamic range (HDR) video.

　　Or, you can step down a bit in size and look at the Dell XPS 13, which performs equally well and battery life in a chassis that’s significantly smaller. You’ll also spend less money, at $1,450 ($1,250 on sale) for the same configuration. You won’t enjoy MIL-STD-810G build quality, but the XPS 13 is no slouch in that department, either.

　　The ThinkPad T480s can also be equipped with an Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU, and if you’re looking at that configuration, then the Huawei Matebook X Pro is a competitor. It, too, uses that GPU in a slightly thinner and lighter frame, and it offers superior performance at a $1,500 price point 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a higher-resolution 3,000 x 2,000 display.

　　

How long will it last?

The ThinkPad T480s is built extremely well and will hold up to some abuse. Lenovo built in the latest components, and so the notebook should keep up with most of the productivity tasks it will be asked to perform well into the future. The warranty is a little disappointing for a business-class notebook, providing only a year of coverage.

　　

Should you buy it?

No. The ThinkPad brand alone doesn’t make the T480s stand out. There are better laptops out there around this price — and even better ThinkPads.