Lenovo T530 Owner's Thread

Please do. I guess it was a stretch to hope for it to be delivered before my orientation. I hope it gets delivered to you safe and sound.

 

My T530 spent about a week in customs (in KY), but it arrived today. Haven't had time to boot it up and check it out yet though.

 

Got my T530 last night at 7:00 pm. The Shipping box had damage, but nothing inside appears affected. The battery and power cord are wrapped inside separate containers inside the shipping box, but they have room to move, so I was worried when I could hear items shifting inside the package. The only concern I have so far is the battery does not fit snugly into it's port. It's not like it's going to fall out, but it has room to wiggle around abit. I might add some foam into a key place or two to help that out.

-Processor=Intel Core i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)
-Operating system=Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
-Operating system language=Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
-Windows XP Mode=Windows 7 XP Mode - English
-Display type=15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
-System graphics=NVIDIA NVS 5400M Graphics with Optimus Technology, 1GB DDR3 Memory
-Total memory=4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
-Keyboard=Keyboard Backlit - US English
-Pointing device=UltraNav with Fingerprint Reader for Color Sensor, Smart Card Reader
-Camera=720p HD Camera with Microphone
-Hard drive=320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
-Optical device=DVD Recordable
-System expansion slots=Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
-Battery=6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+
-Power cord=90W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
-Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters=Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
-Integrated mobile broadband=Mobile Broadband upgradable
-Language pack=Publication - US English

I booted up last night and began loading software. The double antenna found more wireless sites than my other laptops and devices. The backlit keyboard is great in a dark room with two intensity settings. I got good audible warnings that the battery was running low (came with only 90 minutes charged). I have charged the computer completely, but haven't checked to see how much life I have been given.

It's lighter than the Dell I use for work. The keyboard is larger than the dell. Though, I keep getting my left hand shifted to the right one key. It will take getting used to. The texture on the touchpad feels unusual,but I like it over the smooth one.

I've set up the fingerprint scanner, but haven't used much more of the features yet. I'll post an update in the next day or two and keep you all posted.

 

Welcome to the club! Fix-it-yourself within moments of holding your brand new notebook.

 

My build is basically yours except one notable difference is the 9-cell battery. I guess I should expect immediate faults with mine, too. I hope that's your only problem, though.

 

Hey guys,

I've just ordered my T530, and I'm looking for some suggestions about which laptop memory I should get to upgrade for my computer. My T530 comes with a 4GB of memory. Does anyone know the brand of the pre-installed memory? I want to get to upgrade mine to a 8GB.

 

^^^ This or this will work.

 

Thank you,

any preference from you?

 

^^^ I usually buy G.Skill (for laptop upgrades and desktop builds). I've heard good things about the Corsair Vengeance. Good price, free shipping, your call.

 

I've been running Vengeance on my desktop (8 gb 1600) for the past year or so and have no complaints. Not sure about the laptop ones though.

 

i have one question about rescue and recovery and was wondering if any of you guys could help me. it asked me to make a rescue and recovery start up disc, so i made one, it consisted of only 1 cd to my surprise. It then notified me to make a backup. I am currently making a backup, not a factory reinstall. now, where is that backup going? on my hard drive or do I need to supply more discs? if its the harddrive, and my computer doesn't boot properly, do I just use the CD to boot instead and then I can access the backups/restores on my hard drive? im sorry if the question is confusing or the wording is wrong, i'm just a little confused here. thanks a bunch everyone.

 

^^^ 1 CD (boot) + up to 3 DVDs (data).

You could use all DVDs. But never, ever, use all CDs as you can spend 5 hours feeding in up to 20 CDs.

 

isn't the factory recovery? sorry, i was talking about the rescue and recovery backup discs. I used 1 cd for the "rescue and recovery start up disc" and then it proceeded to backup my whole computer for an estimated time of 5 hours, i assume that this "back up" is being placed in my hard drive, so if my computer doesnt boot up, i just use the start up disc to access that "back up" from the hard drive? thanks again.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I'd rather stop here and let the forum friends with hard experience help you in detail.

 

Hey everyone, I had a thought and wanted to see what more knowledgable people might think.

I was thinking maybe I could pick up a cheaper t520 with a sandy bridge i7, put an SSD in and upgrade the ram, and I would have a pretty comparable computer to the i5 ivy bridge version. Any thoughts? I know I lose out n the new graphics card, but other than that what you guys think? Thanks.

 

^^^ That's a very good idea if you can get one at lower price. "Losing out" on the graphics card? Well, depends on what you use the notebook for.

SSD is getting significantly less expensive. Plus, Crucial recently introduced mSATA SSDs if you're so inclined (no need for UltraBay caddy adapter). And 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 can be had for around $40. For 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333, this pair is attractive.

Oh, how could I forget, the keyboard.

 

^the 530 will be my first Thinkpad(and laptop lolz) and I will be missing out on the critically acclaimed keyboard altogether. What exactly makes it so special?

 

Hello all!

I am seriously considering getting the T530.

My question is this, can the 55++ battery and 27++ slice from the T520 work with the T530? I figure it should work since it's only a slight model change, but then again I figure you owners and experts would know best/for sure.
Specifically, can the 57Y4186 battery and the 57Y4545 slice work for the T530 as it did with the T520? I am in love with this combination of battery power.

Also, I found documentation that stated this: New battery models (70+, 70++, 81+, 82+) feature a hardware authentication chip. These batteries will work in 2012 and older ThinkPads. Existing battery models (55, 55+, 55++, 66+) do not have a hardware authentication chip and will be recognized, but not be charged, in 2012 ThinkPads
Does that seriously mean that it won't charge when being plugged in? Like if i wanted it to be recharged, I'd have to find some kind of external charger?

...If that is the case, would the batteries that they offer on the website be better/have that authentication chip? The batteries given on the website were these: ThinkPad Battery 70++ 9 Cell (0A36303) and the ThinkPad Battery 28++ 9 Cell Slice (0A36304). It seems that the model name/number for these batteries are completely different from the other batteries (57Y... vs. 0A36...).
How do these "available" batteries compare to a set of 55++ and 27++? Is it comparable, worse, better?

Is there any better way of going about what I am trying/attempting?
If there is a post/thread that contains this, please point me in the correct direction; I did not know how to word and go about searching for this type of situation/question.

I thank any of you in advanced for any suggestions, information, considerations, and advice.

 

Also having issues with an older battery (not that old, was used in a T420), a 6-cell, model 55+ I believe. My T530 will not charge it and on boot pops up a battery warning. Really sad to see this. Probably to combat fakes and knockoff batteries?

 

Does anyone have a clue why my T530 wakes up in less than a minute on its own after I put it on sleep. In the beginning, I thought it might be my wireless mouse dongle attached to it, so I removed it and the problem still exists. Also, I though it might be that I have the LAN attached, so I removed with no luck. So, basically the led is closed and nothing is attached to the machine and it wakes on its own which is so frustrating. I experienced this before with W520 and not it happens again with the T530. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

It also does another weird thing sometimes, when I leave it open with no activity for a while, it sleeps (which is normal) but also does the same thing and wakes up in few seconds on its own.

 

I had the same problem with the T530 waking up on it's own. Here's why: Run the Lenovo Power Manager app, the one you get from clicking on the large battery meter. In there, look for the options related to "wake timers" I think it's called. You want to set that to be "Disabled" Right now it is set for "enabled."

I thought it was odd that the app was set that way by default.

 

I bought 2x8 GB of G.Skill @1600MHz for my T530 and they were defective - RMAed to Newegg. Replaced them with 2x8GB of Corsair Vengeance @ 1600 MHz and they work perfectly.

YMMV.

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or knowledge on the subject?

Hmmm that was what I was worried about. As I said, I found some obscure documentation that, again, stated: New battery models (70+, 70++, 81+, 82+) feature a hardware authentication chip. These batteries will work in 2012 and older ThinkPads. Existing battery models (55, 55+, 55++, 66+) do not have a hardware authentication chip and will be recognized, but not be charged, in 2012 ThinkPads. It is good to know that it is confirmed on happening on the old T420/520 55+ batteries. It looks/seems that I have to simply accept the newer 70++ and the 28++ batteries...

 

I DID confirm that all 4 batteries are 94Wh so that must mean something... I wonder if it isn't different/all that bad to replace the the 55++ with the 70++ and the 27++ slice with the 28++ slice...

 

I wanted to share my two cents on 6-cell battery life on the T530 for those interested to know and also to ask if this shot duration I got is normal for the type of usage I had and if there is any advice for improvement on battery life. I got only 3 hours with the 6-cell based on the following adjustments/usage:

Brightness 11 (I cannot imagine how some people can work with brightness less than 9!)
WiFi: On
Maximum Performance is chosen on battery in Power Manager and in BIOS
Backlit Keyboard off
Not charging any external device
Browsing the Internet using Firefox with about 20 tabs open
Editing files on Word and Excel
Skype, Yahoo, and Live Messengers are open

Thoughts?

 

Thanks for the advice. You are right and this can help. I also wanted to let you know that I could figure out what was waking the machine up by itself and could not believe it was "The Magician Software" that comes with the Samsung 830 SSD. Once, I closed it and prevented it from loading in the startup, problem is solved. I tried everything else and that is the only thing that worked. I figured it out by using the -laswake command in powercfg. This software is not actually necessary to run in the background and its functions has to be initiated by the user when needed.

NEW ISSUE: Now, I am really frustrated as the initial problem was solved but currently the laptop sleeps by itself if I leave it inactive for 5 minutes and does not wake up by itself anymore but I cannot determine what makes it sleep. I have power settings that it should not sleep on battery except after 60 minutes.

 

That is why they are so cheap sometimes. The G.Skill set you had is selling for $80 now on Newegg!

 

Thanks so much for your time Susan

 

encountered my first problem with the t530. I left my computer on with the lid open and I went away for some water and some tv. coming back, the screen the black and I assumed the laptop went into hibernate. no problem. i push the power button, and the power button is now flashing the green light. like 2x a second in a steady pattern. I moved my mouse, pushed the keys on the keyboard, nothing. the wifi indicator and the hdd indicator were both green. I then pushed and held the power button for 5 seconds, and the computer turned off itself. I turned it on, and it seems fine. i'm going to try this again. anyone else have this problem? thanks.

 

Hello!

I've recently ordered and received a W530 (having assumed that there are no T530s which have 4 DIMM sockets, but actually there are), and I'm quite disappointed:

1. The W530 is very noisy, even when just idling (about 2800 RPMs at the lowest fan level 1)
2. The 90W AC adaptors do not charge the W530 (or at least keep it at the same charging level) although the W530 itself typically consumes only about 30W or less.
3. The miniDisplayPort does not work from integrated graphics (at least under Linux)

So I'm considering returning the W530 and obtaining a T530 instead. But before I decide this, I need your help:

1. Are there quad-core T530s which are not as noisy as the W530? What is the fan speed (in RPMs) at the lowest fan level? (Under Windows, the tool "ThinkPad Fan ControL" should be able to determine these values. Under Linux, "cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan | grep speed:" should prodice the RPM value.)
2. Do T530 machines accept 90W AC adaptors?
3. Is the miniDisplayPort of the T530 detected under Linux when the integrated graphics is used?

The 2 topmost problems seem to be actually firmware issues. Maybe it is possible to just "reflash" a W530 to a T530? (This would reduce the effort of returning the W530 and ordering a T530, which is currently actually more expensive than a like-configured W530.)

 

1) Unsure, my T530 is dual core and its silent unless I'm gaming, then the noise becomes barely noticeable, I use headphones so I don't even hear it. Can't speak for QC though, where did you get that certain T530's have 4 DIMM slots?
2) My T530 uses the 90w adapter, i5-3360M NVS5400M. The QC machines require the 135w adapter; they might charge with 90w if the system is idling or off, can't say for sure though
3) On the W530 all display adapters (VGA, DP and DP/DVI on dock) are connected to the nVidia quadro chip; On the T530 the VGA port is connected to the intel chip and the DP to nVidia only, here's an article you might be interested in reading, it's for the T520 but it should apply to the 530 Triple-head monitors on a Thinkpad T520

As for your firmware claims, the motherboards are different and the GPU's are different. I mean, you might be able to get it to work but I wouldn't try it. Also, that article I linked to might work for the W530, so try it out, if you really need the performance then the W530 is your best bet, too bad it needs that huge brick though.

 

It would be nice if anyone with a T530 quad core could comment on noise or fan RPMs

Lenovo ThinkPad W530 Vs. T530, What’s the Difference? says:

It would be interesting to know if quadcore T530s can charge (or at least prevent discharge) with a 90W power supply. (One reason to have 90W power supply compatibility in a ThinkPad is that the external battery EL1901 actually has a Lenovo-90W-plug which means it acts like an external AC power supply without the AC part. I can verify it worked with a dualcore ThinkPad T510, but it does not work with a quadcore ThinkPad W530.)

That's good to know. Thank you. When having used a ThinkPad T510, accessing the DisplayPort from the Intel chip was no problem at all, this must have been changed over the revisions of the T5*0 series.

Well, when comparing

• http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/g4uj05us.txt vs
• http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/g5uj05us.txt

then it is apparent that the BIOS IDs (G4ET37WW vs G5ET30WW) are different, but for example the ECP IDs (G4HT32WW) are the same, which hints that the embedded controller is the same for both T530 and W530, both hardware- and software-wise.

But on the other hand, if it is true that the embedded controllers are the same, then it may be that the thermal settings (e.g. which fan speed at which temperature or fan level) are also the same (so a downgrade from a W530 to a T530 won't make a difference), unless it is the case that the BIOS tells the embedded controller at boot that a certain thermal profile is to be used. But if this is the case, then it is also likely that the thermal profile can be re-set by software anyway, making a hardware downgrade essentially a software change again, which should (in theory) be doable without a hardware downgrade (e.g. by running a special software which tells the embedded controller which thermal profile (or even which power supply policy) is to be used).

Maybe there is not so much a difference between T530 and W530 with respect to fan speed, noise, power supply acceptance but more a difference between quadcore models (either T530 or W530) and dualcore models.

 

I have the T530 with quad-core and yes, it is as noisy as the W530. Though it is not so hot, but the fan is continuously running (24/7) and that is what probably make it stay pretty cool. However, I have to tell you that I am assigning it the Maximum Performance mode. Have not tried other less powerful modes but honestly, I would not because that's why I got a quad core machine. Do I see it OK for the fan to run continuously? Absolutely, NO. However, it seems like that with the current PC industry, you have to pay a tax for any advantage you get.

 

Thank you for reporting this.This makes things interesting. Maybe the following is true:

1. Keeping a quadcore W530 does not solve the noise problem.
2. Downgrading to a dualcore W530 may solve the noise problem.
3. Downgrading to a quadcore T530 does not solve the noise problem.
4. Downgrading to a dualcore T530 may solve the noise problem.

If I have to pay the noise price constantly to have the quadcore-over-dualcore advantage about 2% of the time, I'm not willing to pay and rather stay at dualcore speed levels.
If I have to pay the noise price only when I actually use the CPU cores (more than barely at near-idle level), then I'm willing to pay (because this will not happen often).

Your finding means that downgrading to a T530 may not exactly be the solution, but downgrading to a dualcore model may be the solution (to the noise problem). Unfortunately, when downgrading to a dualcore model, I would also have to pay the price to only have 2 DIMM sockets (which means "just " 16GiB RAM instead of 32GiB RAM).

Maybe we should ask Lenovo to "just fix" the firmware by lowering the fan speed in case of quadcore idleness? It seemed to have been successful before as this post tells:

Some people may think reducing the fan speed from 2800 RPMs to 1800 RPMs may reduce the noise to just 2/3 of the old noise. However, this may not be true, because of the qualitative difference between a turbulent flow and a laminar flow. In essence, a lower fan speed may mean that there are nearly no turbulences anymore, and it is the turbulences which produce most of the noise, not the wind speed itself.

In short, I think it is both technically possible and desireable it to slow down the fan for not only dualcore models but also quadcore models for the lower fan levels.

 

This actually makes me wonder. There are T530 variants offered without nVidia chip (e.g. ThinkPad T530 2392), but still with miniDisplayPort.

1. Is the miniDisplayPort connected to the intel chip only in non-nVidia-T530-variants, but connected to the nVidia chip in all other T530 variants?
2. Is the miniDisplayPort not connected at all in non-nVidia-T530-variants, but connected to the nVidia chip in all other T530 variants?

 

There is also another part of the equation that you forgot; the dGPU. I personally believe that it is a big deal of the fan noise and the temperature. Unfortunately, quad-core processors have to come with a dGPU. If I just could get the quad-core CPU with only the Intel graphics, I would be the happiest person especially that I pay for the dGPU while I do not want it but I have to since I wanna get the quad-core CPU but it definitely adds to the noise and heat issue.

 

You keep mentioning the 4 RAM slots option in the T530. It is a FACT that that T530 only comes with 2 RAM slots with any configuration. Do not believe anything else.

 

Yep. That's why I went w/ the W530. Didn't need the faster GPU...wanted the 4 memory slots for VMs...

 

I understand that. Just wanted to make sure you know that there is no T530 with 4 slots regardless of whether the CPU is dual or quad-core.

 

You can use an i7 QM and disable NVIDIA/Optimus in BIOS to use HD 4000 only.

(Yeah, for certain use cases, I wish I could do a CTO of quad-core and integrated graphics only.)

 

Unfortunately, the mDP and the DP in the docking station are connected to the dGPU and if I disable it, I won't be able to connect to my external monitor at home or office So basically, I am stuck with the dGPU and though I changed the preferred card to be Intel HD 4000 for all applications, the system insists to use the dGPU for even very simple software like Firefox, Windows Live Mail, Messenger ...

 

so, 1) yes, 2) that wouldn't make much sense, in integrated models all display adapters are wired to the intel graphics chip

 

My T530 continues to sleep by itself if left without any activity within 5 minutes though I chose that it sleeps only on AC after 60 minutes. It does this only while on the docking station and does not do it on battery. I tried to Google the issue with no help. Anyone had a similar experience with T530 or any other ThinkPad?!

 

So my T530 is finally "in production" 2 days after it's first estimated ship date. Yay!

 

Got mine with the 5400RPM 500GB drive, since I was planning on putting an mSATA SSD in it, but I've been playing with it with the HDD, and it is super slow. If you're going to get a T530 with a HDD, spring for a 7200 RPM, for sure.

 

Did you ever try to run your quad-core T530 on a 90W adapter by any chance ? (the quad-core ship with a 135W adapter as far as I know). I asked this question before and someone said that it would run but maybe at a reduced power (or maybe like the W530 where you can use the 90W adapter to recharge the battery when the laptop is off/asleep, but not run it).
Thanks a lot for any answer on that.

 

Add me to the club I purchased a T530 with the following specs:

Intel Core i3-2370M Processor (3M Cache, 2.40GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA NVS 5400M Graphics with Optimus Technology, 1GB DDR3 Memory
4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard Backlit - US English
UltraNav without Fingerprint Reader
720p HD Camera with Microphone
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable
6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+
90W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n

I didn't have to make any real compromises to keep it under $800. I don't need the IB processor(+$30) or the 9 cell battery(+$50).

 

As the saying goes, buy what you need with what you have. Congratulations!

(Just a side note, though. The zero-dollar upgrade, as shown here:

​

would make the IIntel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN) an obvious selection.)

 

Crap I caught the free backlit keyboard though. I'll call them tomorrow.

Sent from my HTC One S

 

an article about T430/w530/X220/T430s screen comparison. it might helpful.

Lenovo ThinkPad X230, T430 and W530 Screen Comparison (video, pics)

I wonder does T530 screen like T430? I mean worse than w530 with same resolution? if you read article, you will get what I mean.