Lenovo T530 Owner's Thread

Tell us about it! A clean Windows install, with only a couple Lenovo applications, will bring the disk footprint, memory footprint and number of processes at startup down to about half. (The SWTOOLS folder occupies over 4.5GB on your main drive, practically dead space that you pay for and cannot use.)

Yeah, fit-and-finish quality has been on the downward trend in the last few years. If you take away all the parts and components, and focus on just the things that Lenovo actually bring to the table, you'll be appalled.

 

Hope someone can help me with this. I'm trying to calibrate my T530 with a Spyder Pro 4. Each time I do it, I get a horrible pink cast on everything that's white. I'm pretty sure that's because the white point is set to 5800 and not 6500 but I can't figure out how in the heck to change it. If I go through the Windows 7 color calibration thing it tells me to click the button on the monitor. But this is a laptop. Help?

 

I know nothing about Spyder Pro 4 to make any comments, but...

"Monitor" means your laptop screen.

("Click" means point the mouse arrow on that "button" -- which is an image on the screen -- and press the left mouse-button -- which is a physical thing. That's an idea for the writer/poet: real, illusion, physical, virtual, intertwined.)

 

I'm sorry. I'm a little stressed so I wasn't very clear.

My external monitor, an NEC, has a menu button that I CAN click for some adjustments. My laptop that I am trying to calibrate does not. Clicking next in Windows calibration just moves to the next screen.

What I would like to do is find out how to set the white point or temperature in the T530 because 5800 is too cool and likely throwing the pink cast.

 

Is it possible to make the computer as clean or almost as such without doing a clean install? Thanks for any help.
My T530 is on the UPS truck going along a route somewhere. Its starting point was such a nearby city I'm getting pretty excited.

 

Hi guys, so I received my T530 a few days back and today I switched the screen myself to FHD. But the problem is that the battery life right after switching the screen has gone down significantly low, from around 6 hrs of light use to just 2 hours. Also, now I always see the GPU at atleast 53 percent usage even while idle in the lenovo power manager. It stays the same even if I go to battery stretch. Plz help.

 

I ended up ordering a T530 with the following configuration:

Processor

Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

Operating system Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)

Operating system language Windows 7 Professional 64 - English

Display type 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready

System graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000

Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English

Pointing device UltraNav with Fingerprint 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

Battery 6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+

Power cord 90W AC Adapter - US (2pin)

Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN

Integrated mobile broadband Mobile Broadband upgradable

Language pack Publication - US English

I've already got 16GB of ram, a 240GB ssd for the main drivie, 120 gb msata ssd, and a 160gb ssd for the ultrabay to put in it when it arrives. I need to test my code on lots of different OSs, so I use a lot of VMs. I will be in good shape as far as drive space goes. I got the shipping notification today, so hopefully it will arrive sometime next week. I can't wait, it has been a long time since I got a new laptop.

 

Nice system.

Now we're talkin'.

 

I am about to order a T530 and as I was going through the option I saw the 16g micro drive for $40. Is it worth it and what is it best used for?

 

What do you plan to use that 16GB drive for?

Why don't you add $40 and get yourself a decent 64GB mSATA SSD or SATA SSD, and use it for a boot/OS/apps drive? Windows 7 alone takes about 30GB. Adding applications to that boot drive and you're looking at 45GB easily.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I had no idea what the drives were and what they might be good for so thanks for the insight. I just might consider doing that.

 

The t530 doesn't have an hdmi port. I looked on amazon and found mini display port to hdmi female but they are labeled for macs. Would these work on this, or is there a better alternatives? I ordered 2 hdmi cables that are male sided.

 

labarbacoa, I gambled and ordered one of the cheap ones of amazon. I haven't received my new T530 or my adapter yet, so I do not know for sure, but the reviews for the adapter indicated that it will work with non-Macs too.

 

I'm planning to get a T530 soon. I plan to replace the HDD in the HDD bay with an SSD, and then place the HDD into a Ultrabay with an adapter.

My question is: The HDD slot is a full size HDD slot, so I can get a normal SSD and not worry about getting the slim 7mm SSD right?

Thanks guys.



Edit: To the guys above, Monoprice will likely have the best price on Mini-DP to Female DP adapters, and they are non brand-specific as DP is a universal spec.

 

Get the 7mm.

 

Hi,
I'm very much interest in buying a T530. For some opportunities I'd like to have a powerful machine, but I really need it to be quiet for normal operating.

I read many postings here. What I do not understand: Some say that quadcore machines are noisy, others are happy with quadcore and say it's dead silent.

So how noisy is a quadcore? Will a i7-3610 CPU be ok? Or should I stay with dual core for safety reasons?

One more question: It is mentioned here that quadcores have a bigger PSU. Are there photographs where 90W and 135W PSU can be compared?

Thanks for your help,
Uli

 

Heat is generated when the CPU and GPU are pushed to their maximum states. The fan kicks in to dissipate the heat. Now it gets noisy.

Quad-core, or any, processor does not run "noisy." The only advice I can offer is twofold: (1) if you don't do intensive graphics and don't need NVIDIA CUDA support, get Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics -- by the way, the NVDIA NVS 5400M is not significantly better than the HD 4000; (2) if you game, get a decent gaming desktop system and don't expect any ThinkPad to perform swimmingly when you push it through games.

90w, 135w and 170w power supplies:





(Photo courtesy elCheapoDeluxe)

 

Thanks for the quick answer.
BTW, I just examined a Fujitsu E782 with quadcore i7-3612 and Intel HD4000. Here the fan started (and stopped) quite often, even when the machine was doing almost nothing. Not very loud, but noticeable.
So you think a T530 quad would behave differently?

 

Not all fans and fan operating logics are designed equally intelligently. The (seemingly random) behaviors of the fan, and the noise it generates, have nothing to do with the quad-core processor.

I have never sat in front of a Fujitsu E782, so I can't say.

 

Please help me understand some of this new tech. I am wondering about mSATA drives. If I understand correctly I can install one in a T530 and then install win 7 on it as opposed to the HD, is this correct? Also what is the transfer rate for the PCI express slot? If I order an intel 6205 AGN that should still leave that slot open, correct? Thanks for the help, obviously it has been a while since I have upgraded

 

Correct. (The stock HDD in the primary bay can be retained as a storage drive.)

SATA 3 Gbit/s.

Correct. There are 2 PCIe slots. One wired to accept either WWAN card or mSATA SSD. The other wired to accept WLAN (WiFi) card.

 

I have observed the same exact behavior with T530 customized with 3720QM and NVIDIA 5400. Do yourself a favor and get the dual-core i7 or may be even i5 if you do not need the i7 with Intel HD4000 graphics only and you will be so happy.

 

Second that.

 

Thanks for the help. One other question. How would I go about installing win7 on the mSATA drive? If I install the drive before I start the T530 can I tell it to install it on that mSATA drive or would I have to make the recovery disk and then install win7 on it?

 

Are you saying that getting the Nvidia 5400 is not necessarily a good idea? Is it possible to turn it off in the BIOS? I ask because I placed my order last night and figured for $50 it may not be bad to have. I got it with an i5.

 

Spending $50 and then turning it off. Sigh. I'd rather use that money toward RAM or SSD.

 

You install Windows 7 on the mSATA SSD as you would any drive. Two approaches:

You can make the factory recovery discs (1 boot CD + 3 data DVDs; or 4 DVDs), turn off the notebook, remove the stock HDD, reboot from the bootable recovery disc, then restore onto the mSATA SSD.

Alternatively, you can do a fresh Windows 7 installation on the mSATA SSD, then install the necessary device drivers and selected Lenovo applications. Read the Hearst Guide.

Once restoration or installation is done, you have to set the boot order in BIOS to bring the mSATA SSD to the top. After everything has started OK from the mSATA SSD, you can put the stock HDD back in and format it to make it a storage drive.

 

True enough, but are you saying that the 5400m isn't worth it? It was my understanding that there were somethings that it was at least a little better at than the HD 4000.

 

Thanks! This was very helpful. I am seriously thinking of picking up a mSATA drive and putting Win7 on it. That shouyld make my system nice and quick Does Lenovo include a lot of unnecessary bloatware?

 

A 64GB mSATA SSD ( like this) would provide ample space for boot/OS/applications. But it doesn't hurt to get a 128GB if you can afford it.

Yeah, call it bloatware or whatever, but after a fresh installation, the drive footprint, the memory footprint and the number of processes at startup are reduced to about half.

I don't really know what that "little better" is. You do need NVIDIA CUDA support? What is CUDA? OK, you don't need it -- you don't need the low-end 5400M. Just another part that adds weight and another thing that you have to "manage."

By the way, hang on to your order. Don't inflict pain on yourself by "modifying" or "canceling" it.

 

Hey everyone, I read a comment that said someone thought the 5400m was somewhere between the 620 and 630m video cards. I was wondering if anyone has done any gaming, playing something like MW3 or Mass Effect 3, and could comment on how these run on the thinkpad. Thanks!

 

I have about 24 updates from Windows Update that will fail.

I just unboxed my T530-2359 (Windows 7 Professional fyi). After running into the problem, I even restored the machine to the factory default.

After all that, there was no dice on it working and even resorted to calling Software Support.

What I was told was this: that apparently they are aware/informed that there is a "batch" of windows updates called "bad updates" plaguing many/most of the Lenovo laptops. (what in the world does microsoft windows "bad" updates mean? Are they out-dated? Are they defective in some way? Shouldn't/Wouldn't they simply pull the updates then?) And, like software customer service you would imagine, was told that (paraphrasing) since my machine is working okay and it's not really conflicting with anything, I can either install them manually myself or "ignore" it and let it go. Then, of course, they offered the ridiculous $180 premium software support to continue to give any kind of help.

In the end, I wanted to confirm if it was a widespread problem or a unique problem specific to my machine (i.e. my windows OS/installation is corrupted for some reason random or otherwise) and if I needed to return my machine. Apparently, it is supposedly a widespread problem.

The reason why I am here (outside of telling you such an entertaining story :tongue: ) is to see what any other owners (maybe specific to T530 owners) have to say? Have you been plagued by this problem as software support claims? Have you run into a type of fix or solution? And what do you think of this situation? It shows that Lenovo may be messing/"customizing" the Windows OS and should consider revamping how they "edit" the changes and/or making it less incompatible with the Windows OS. What do you have to say?

 

This is all CRAP! There is no problem at all with any Windows update on any configuration of the T530 or any other ThinkPad. You are probably doing something wrong that may include, but is not limited to:

1. Not restarting the machine after some updates or other installed software that require you to restart.
2. You are trying to re-install the updates while at the same time you are installing third-party software.
3. You are installing Windows updates and Lenovo updates at the same time.
4. You have open applications or browsers that conflict with the install of these updates.
4. You are using a non-genuine or corrupted copy of Windows.

Try to first avoid the previous issues without re-installing Windows but if they do not help because there is a damage that already happened, then first, do a clean install of Windows and then start the updates without having any applications or browsers open. Whenever the update require you to restart, do it and do not choose to restart later. After you are done with Windows update, you can install and/or update third-party applications.

Let me know if this helps.

 

I had this problem a month or 2 ago. The problem was that some of those patches were being applied out of order when you try to apply all of them at the same time.

Just select the first half apply them, then to the next one.

 

I am looking to upgrade the ram on my soon to be T530 and was wondering if any of you have used ADATA XPG DDR3 1600 1.35v CAS=9 memory? If not do you know if this would work alright for a T530? I was also looking at the ADATA mSATA drives does anyone know anything about these. They seem to get good reviews at Newegg. Thanks.

 

Dmayner, looks like great stuff to me.

 

Hi guys, I made a similar post earlier but got no reply. Here it is again with a few updates. So a few days back I got my T530 with a 1366*768 screen. I made a switch to the FHD screen myself, and since then the battery life has decreased tremendously. Today I found out that the NVIDIA GPU is not being used while I am on chrome. So is it possible for the FHD to consume so much power? I looked up and the HD screen consumes 9 W of maximum power while the FHD consumes 11.5 W max. So I can't figure where this extra battery is going. Any help will be appreciated.

 

OK, thank you for the advice.

However, I am still tempted to go for the 3610... it's so powerful. Any more quadcore owners who can chime in here? Are your quad machines dead silent when idling or when doing office work?

Thanks for more answers,
Uli

 

Actually, Lenovo stopped offering the 3610QM option since a very long time in the US but may be you are ordering from another country where you have this option but please take a word of wisdom and get the dual core i7. I definitely understand your temptations for the quad. Ore but I sure you will blame yourself later especially if you do not need it. Also, wait for others' feedback.

 

I was reading in the thread that instructs how to put a clean copy of Win 7 on your machine, that if you use the finger print device that you should set your bios to legacy. Does this apply if you have the finger print reader or only if you use it? Also what advantage or disadvantage is there to using legacy over UEFI?

 

I love the Thinkpad software that comes pre-loaded on these machines.

I've been reading this thread for awhile and was wondering if it's better to get a 128gb SSD from Lenovo or get a stock HDD and order a bigger one (SSD) from newegg and clone the HDD to the new SSD?

Also how much room is free on the HDD/SSD one it comes from the factory? I want to install WOW on the machine (as well as MS office)
I currently have a T61 that plays wow just fine

 

You like the Lenovo BLOATware...really? I may agree to the power manager or update software but nothing else. Anyway, it is your choice but the majority of people here would recommend clean install to you and removing the bloatware. Definitely, do not let Lenovo steal your money and upgrade yourself by buying an aftermarket SSD. The most reliable and fastest now is the Samsung 830 and you can get it in 256GB for under $190. Formatting such a drive and using it as the primary uses at least 15GB out of it size in addition to the space that will be used by the Windows and Office.

 

Well maybe I was a bit hasty in saying I love the bloatware. I love the power manager and fingerprint software. I want to put windows 8 on it (which I also love) but I'm a little worried about driver/application support as there doesn't seem to be any for my T61.

Can any one confirm the footprint of the Lenovo install?

Thanks for the advice on SSD

 

I absolutely agree to the power manager and fingerprint software but this does not mean at all that you should clone your stock HDD to your brand new upgraded SSD. Just do a clean install and then download these software from Lenovo's support website. As of Windows 8, do not worry at all, it will work just fine on the T530 with almost same drivers for Windows 7 and there are even beta drivers now for Windows 8 on lenovo's website. However, I do recommend that you hold off for Windows 8 anyway till the oficial release, so you do not have to reinstall it again. The official release should be very soon probably in October and Windows 7 is still perfect!

Good luck...

 

Fingerprint is optional, so only one thing left: power manager. That's a lot to love, eh?

Right. (XP users said the same thing when Vista was introduced. What does a bunch of square tiles do to you?)

 

Thank you for all your advice

I don't know about the tiles but I love the "lightness" of 8. I use the classic desktop with my favorite programs pinned and if I want something else I simply hit windows and type it in and hit enter. So much faster than the old start menu.

 

On Windows 7, you can lay your favorite program icons on the taskbar. You can start a program with a single click. No typing, no menu hunting...

 

I know but win 7 isn't as fast to boot, shutdown, resume from sleep. The task manager is WAY better and I find it to be more responsive.
That said it does crash more.

I'm thinking of getting this
Buy the SanDisk Extreme 480GB Internal Solid State Drive at TigerDirect.ca
then I won't have to worry about space for awhile.

 

I can only laugh.

tigerdirect? Hmm, try newegg.ca.

 

Thanks found quite a few on newegg.ca

Getting back on topic I plan to get the fastest dual core proccesor (Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz))

I've been conflicting reports on heat. Does this get to hot to keep on ones lap? office/web/email/wow

Thanks in advance for any insight!