Lenovo W510 Owner's Thread

Any idea when or if ever Lenovo will put in a DirectX 11 GPU into this machine? As matter of fact, for a machine like W510, how significant is the difference in graphic performance between a GPU supporting DirectX 10 and 11 features?

 

Strange indeed, could be an chipset/power saving thingy.

I haven't had the time yet to do iometer tests, that might reveal where the problem is. (or starts/stops)
Sequential performance is OK but small block sized IO is rather poor, especially at QD1.
It does however perform OK in RL as a "workstation", compared to my E6400 the W510 is a killer.

 

I looked online and there is a bit of a confusion going on over the ultra bay hdd adapter. can anyone tell me whats-where-I could just get one without getting coned into buying the "exact duplicate" from those who wanna sell it to you just need to throw in an extra space.

another question I've got I looked around and found 10k and 15k laptop HDD's wow I must've been sleeping. anyway some look a bit thicker will that be a con b4 pressing the trigger gently ?

 

I believe someone had mentioned a cheap HDMI to DP cable somewhere in this thread, but I can't find it anymore... anyone happen to know where I can get one?

 

Thinkpads are primarily business laptops. Look at their IdeaPad series if you want faster or cutting edge graphics. This line was launched 6 months ago, so any new GPU (which would be a major change to the architecture) is not likely any time soon.

Go to newegg.com ( Newegg.com - hdmi displayport adapter) or monoprice.com ( Video Cables - DisplayPort), or google. It should take you less time to find one by searching than asking others. Those adapters or cables are about $10-$20.

 

HEY GUY'S...I'm going to be an aerospace engineering student. So do I need a really powerful laptop? Like some people say YES others say NO...please help me decide

So pretty please helpy me

 

You're talking about 2.5" 10K-15K drives?
They've been around for quite some time, for servers, SAS mostly.

They won't fit in a laptop.
The only drive that could have worked in a laptop is the WD VR with its SATA interface but it won't fit.
The ultimate in performance are SSDs so why bother with HDDs?

 

I could stop the 'whining problem' by playing around a bit with the ENERGY MANAGER program version 3.25.

Just regulate the adaptive controller. I get the whining at every low-level watt property!
Only the highest possible watt level works for me. As soon as i go to a lower level (even if it is 1-2 watts) i get the whining.

best regards

 

I'm in need of Space, since better PC pushed me into a better quality video editing and that eats allot. ill be probably happy with 0.5tb 7200rpm in the ultra bay. I have tried the Kingston SSD 128 GB and its not a huge difference I'd rather get more ram.

currently at 8GB RAM & 320GB HDD happy but want all my stuff to be on laptop rather than on externals as it proves more usefull when you can use it vs how fast you can use it.

 

Has anyone looked at battery life with a SSD vs. HDD? Do you get more with the SSD, or do you get the same results as some past tests (i.e. Tom's Hardware) where some people actually noticed decreased battery life with SSDs?

 

Any battery life difference would be marginally small. Laptop drives consume very little power (1-2W). The big power draws are the LCD, CPU, GPU.

 

How well does the touch screen work? Is it responsive or is there some lag?

 

Hi all,

First of all, I am new to this forum and have been reading this thread dearly ever since I ordered my W510 in early June. This is an excellent thread and it is great to know there is such a large base of W510 owners who help each other out.

I ordered mine on June 2nd and received it on June 16 which was a lot faster than the estimated delivery date. I got mine with the following specs for CAD$2446 including tax.


Processor
Intel Quad Core Extreme Processor i7-920XM (2.00GHz 8ML 1333MHz)

Operating system
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64

Display type
15.6" HD+ Anti-Glare display LED backlight and WWAN antenna

System Graphics
NVIDIA GLM DG 1GB, AMT

Pointing device
UltraNavFPR for Color Sensor

Color Sensor

4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (2 DIMM)

Integrated Camera Module 2.0MP

500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

Optical device
DVD Recordable, Ultrabay Enhanced

Express Card Slot & 5-in-1 CR

9 cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery - Dual Mode

135W AC Adapter; NA, LA, (2pin)

Integrated Bluetooth PAN 2

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300

Integrated Mobile Broadband (3G WWAN) - Qualcomm

I have owned a T23, T30 and X61 Tablet in the past so I am quite comfortable on settling on a Lenovo to replace my overheating Vaio Z. However, I am a little disappointed with the computer initially:
1) the build quality - the left palm area creeks and the keyboard wasn't installed properly leaving a huge gap on the side closest to the monitor. The keyboard was so jammed to the chassis that I had take off all the screws on the bottom just to install the keyboard properly.

2) My W510 came with the faulty BIOS which only recognized just over 3Gb of ram rather than the full 4Gb. Thanks to this forum I learned about this issue in advance and quickly resolved it.

3) The bluetooth was completely wonky which kept cutting of connection with the devices every 30 minutes. I call Lenovo support and had to reinstall several Lenovo programs to resolve the issue.

4) The high pitch noise from the computer is very annoying

Although these issues are now resolved but the first impression didn't start off too well. However, as now I have used it for close to 2 weeks I has grown on me very quickly and the above issues are slowly being forgotten... as long as they don't come back and bug me again!

 

How did you solve the high pitch issue?

 

9 cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery - Dual Mode

Does anyone understand what dual mode means? rechargeable and dis-chargeable?

 

I believe it's a reference to the new "automatic" management mode that will shift over to keeping your battery in a lower charge state if you aren't using it. There was a post about it on the official Lenovo forums a while back. So instead of lowering your charge thresholds manually it takes care of it for you if you are never using your battery.

 

Here's the post: New Power manager - lenovo community

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear - the high pitch issue is not solved but for some reason it now only happens once in a while.

Also, the bluetooth disconnection issue seems to have came back...

 

Finally received my W510. No complaints so far.

Does anyone use an online backup service like Mozy? I have been debating signing up for Mozy/Carbonite vs. something like Iron Mountain. This would be for about 1gb of my work files.

Thanks!

 

I believe this thread deserves a Sticky. I think all major models deserve their own stickies.


Set Sail

 

Arghhh aye captain!

 

I actually think this thread deserves the delete key.

Anyone ever read the whole thing?

 

Ya...Me.
Not in one sitting....

 

whys that

 

wait what happened? Also how does the W510 handle crysis?

So i got an update on my situation:

So as u can see, I'm down to either the W510 or Y560..what u say? I recently decided to go Lenovo because of the performance and build quality they give, I here there customer service is exceptional.

 

Y560 has a better GPU (MR5730 vs FX880M) but I don't see an anti glare screen option... For me the glossy screen is a deal breaker. If only they could offer an ATI card with W or T series... Tough call.

 

but suuuuch a low res screen

w510!!!!! fullll hd

I know you have made up your mind but I would take a look at the new dell laptops, they have a little more gpu power

are you sure you can settle for 3 hours of battery life?

I (for reference) am starting undergrad engineering in September and am having a hard time swallowing the 180 dollar price of another 9 cell battery

*just looked it up it is the Dell Precision M4500
*heres the review http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5728&review=dell+precision+M4500


*** one more thing!!!!
can someone please read the review and confirm for me that the are using the DUAL core 620 processor
not the QUAD the claim to have
and the the 5 hour battery life is due to the dual core????

 

Does HD+ come with an IPS panel?

 

I think the only way he's going to get more than 3 hours is by not having a quad core, as you've mentioned. On the bright side, I think the battery life on this Lenovo is better than its competitors. I tried out a HP Envy 15 for a week. It came with a 6-cell battery that barely got 1.5 hours, and that was on a brand new battery, low brightness, bluetooth turned off, and wifi not at max. When I hooked up the 9-cell slice for a total of 15 cells I only added roughly an extra hour and a half or so. I'm not sure about the Dell's though.

 

Yeah I'll have to live with have around 3hrs battery life

idk good question

The dell precisions cost to much

yeah i guess so, but workstation kinda gets the edge in CAD, but don't really matter, I asked a Y560 and he is like u better go with the W510 idk why he said that XD?

 

Nope. Not even the FHD, AFAIK. They are all TN panels.
The only IPS panels in business grade notebooks are the ones found in HP 8740w and 8540w (but they are still on backorder and up to date no one has received them yet).
I'm waiting for my order with IPS 30-bit screen from early April (along with other unlucky early adopters who jumped on it from the day one of the release announcement) and still it doesn't look like I'm gonna see it before mid August, if at all.

 

FHD definitely doesn't seem worth the money on a TN. Oh well, at least the laptop is durable.

 

yeah and powerful. Really since Canada doesn't have the 3D Y560D yet...I'm gonna wait, and if it doens't come out by august then my money is going towards the W510. The only reason I'm not going for the precision is the money

 

Idk if its worth anything but here are my builds

which one is a better buy then? u can see the precision cost more

 

Holy Zombie Cow!
That M4500 costs 2x more than a similarly configured W510 here in Canada! With today's 25% OFF, you can get your W510 for 1300CAD. Dunno, why you're wasting your time


<<<< Correction: 1574CAD with the FHD screen.

 

Where is the today's deal?

 

Lenovo Canada


Use this coupon after adding to cart: CAPCANADADAY

 

my parents are busy with bills and ...I can order at the end of july or so..I hope there is a discount during that day

wait so is teh W510 better then the elitebook 8750w and the precision?

 

Those discounts appear quite often, every few weeks, not a problem to get one.

W510 is on par with the rest in performance and probably even better in terms of reliability. The only con (IMHO) is the lack of ATI graphics option. MR5730 or M5800 would be perfect for 15". Personally, I'd go for W701 if it had MR5870/M7820.

 

that is a really decent price
if you think about it 25 percent off is an amazing steal for this laptop

 

Ahh well, Im gonna make my thinkpad over the top most powerful lappy. And OMG it is a steal, that discount is amazing =D. I might go for a i7 820QM. wait can't u buy a ati card for a lenovo though

I wish the W series is gonna get 3D just like the Y series
Also I believe lenovo is the way to go, more stuff, cause the elitebooks in canada sucks...unless there a good deal :S

HP EliteBook 8540w Mobile Workstation (ENERGY STAR) (FN095UT) specifications - HP Products and Services Products

HP EliteBook 8740w Mobile Workstation (ENERGY STAR) (WH274UT) specifications - HP Products and Services Products

Also to Aikimox where do u get amazing display pictures? They all look mythological?

 

Actually, not long ago there was a 30% off and I almost bought a second one with a 920XM for the price of the basic config Alas, couldn't manage 2k in 3hrs...

1) For W7xx - yes (IIRC, FX880M is soldered into the mobo, but I might be wrong, maybe those who disassembled their systems [Tyrell?] will correct me), but you still need the BIOS support and a modified heatsink, plus, some stability issues could arise, since the system wasn't tested with other GPU's. Not to mention that you will void the warranty.

2)
3D screen will probably be of a glare/glossy type and trust me, you don't want to have a glossy screen on the main notebook that will be moved from class to class and probably used outdoors quite often
Plus, 3D is still a bad joke, let the tech. mature a bit, read reviews and owners feedback...

3)
There won't be any good deals for HP Canada simply because there's no HP Canada . They only sell notebooks through a network of retailers, hence limited configurations and higher price. Welcome to the ... erm..Spine of the World

4)
Mostly from martial arts, mythology and PC games

 

I concur with everything that has been said about HP
yes they make some great notebooks- I for one really wanted that metal case- but the fact that you can't customize or in reality purchase an HP notebook in Canada is ridiculous.
At the end of the day I bought my w510 (at not much of a discount- major time crunch-) it was 100% percent worth it....
I went with the 820 upgrade and while I haven't played with a 720, the 820 is amazingly fast.

 

1). Oh and dayum Tyrell engineer right there.

2). Yeah might not be good enough for the consumer line, most probably the 3d technology is better for industry and military.

3). Oh never knew...DAMN Canada should get wid it. :laugh:

4). OMG thats sick man...and what games?

Yeah kinda agree with you. My dad is like take my HP desktop with me and im like i still need a powerful laptop. HP cost so much, this desktop cost more then the others and it came with only a Q8200 @2.33Ghz, 6GB RAM and a stupid Nvidia Geforce 9500GS (that broke and now is replaced with a noob of a Nvidia 210 ) So HP is just I don't even think the hardware is enough for my type of school work and future work

 

For those who have successfully upgrade their BIOS... I'm curious, did you guys have password protection set for the BIOS/HDD?

Also, I've noticed a "switch" on the left side next to the Firewire port. What is this switch for? Currently it's highlighted as green.

 

just buy this laptop and stop moaning. (get 30%) fx880 = it its soldered on that's a shame but those that arnt usually have more problems hence not soldered on. not a gaming beast but outdoes any dell for sure quality wise

 

Good point

Also is the quadro fx 880 any good? is it a low end gpu or mid-end?

 

according to notebookcheck.net
its a class 2 aka mid

however I would describe it as a very high low end....
thoughts?

 

I do not use password protection for HDD/SSD and I've yet to set a system password for my W510.

The switch is for switching wireless On/Off.
(handy for getting more battery time when wireless is not needed)

 

Didnt mean to vear off topic a little. Im planning on purchasing the ThermalTake BlacX External Hard Drove Docking Station.

Im wondering.., instead of carrying that hunky clumsy enclosure around, is there a eSATA cable out there that would work with the eSATA port on our W510. I bought one of these

Newegg.com - TRIPP LITE 18" SATA to eSATA Transition Cable Model P952-18I

when i got it, i plugged it into an Intel SSD drive but nothing happened ! Do i need one that has the power connector on the other end?