Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Laptop: 15.6" 1080p, Ryzen 7 5825U, 40GB RAM, 1TB SSD Expired

this laptop comes with 8GB soldered RAM + 32GB stick

It's a weird config. Only 16GB will be in dual channel mode. Or has this changed in the newest chipset?

I am curious myself.

I am curious myself.

I don't know... seems like an awful lot to be paying for an E-series. (The hierarchy goes E -> L -> T)

You can get the same laptop [lenovo.com] with 16gb of ram for $782 with the same coupon codes and "upgrade" (lose dual channel though) to 40gb yourself for the same price if you find yourself needing that much ram.

It is $825, not $782. Check again. JUNEBIGDEAL is not a fixed discount, it depends upon the base price. However, I still kind of agree to get that model you recommended.

Now regarding your idea about E -> L -> T, let me correct you on that. Build Quality and material wise, since 2020, E series has been redesigned by a lot to make it slimmer, lighter and metal has been used in the lid and top base. It is actually superior to L series which is made of plastic completely. The Advantage L series has towards business Customers is the offered specification related to security and business specific features. For example, L series can be configured with Intel V Pro and Ryzen Pro series CPUs which may be required by some business due to their integrated security options. It can be also fitted with LTE cards, not available in E series. But if you're buying for personal usage and don't require those, E series is actually a better choice due to build quality.

But is ram upgradeable?

Only 16GB will run in dual Channel till DDR4Ram. In DDR5, it is different and it does not even hurt the performance that much if you use a single stick. The reason is that each of the DDR4 module has 2 memory channel and it is basically based on LPDDR4/X. If you have a single stick of DDR5, the CPU will connect with it in 2x64 Bit. If you have 2 memory sticks, irrespective of their size, it will run in Quad Channel and that too, for the full capacity.

A side note here on memory channels as a whole. In the desktop space, we're used to one memory module having memory for one 64-bit memory channel. That's true for DDR4, DDR3, DDR2 etc, but the DDR5 specifications move to 32-bit memory channels. So while each DDR5 module is still using 64-bits of bandwidth, there are technically two 32-bit memory channels worth of memory on each module. This can create a little bit of confusion, because it means that Intel 12th Gen, while still a 128-bit memory interface as previous generations, it uses 4x 32-bit channels, not 2x 64-bit. Undoubtedly companies (even Intel) still call this dual-channel, as a channel is usually inferred to be a 64-bit interface.

There is no easy solution here. 2DPC (two modules per channel) doesn't really mean much if technically channel there infers 64-bit but you're running on a 2x32-bit channel system. Some users are calling a DDR5 module a 'channel' with two 32-bit 'sub-channels', although that is more a twisting of reality, given that sub-channels are often something else in memory design. Because we've used the word 'module' to imply a 64-bit channel for so long, and because memory can be installed with more than one module per 64-bit channel, it's actually a mess in English to find not only the correct words but also ones simple enough to not make the situation overly complex. Perhaps it's time for some new words.