Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

You didn't answer my question. In case you weren't aware, you can move to 16GB of RAM in two slots for $140. And that isn't folklore.

 

You're a touchy fellow, aren't you.

 

Nope. I thought it was rather funny you ignored several people asking about what you needed more than 8GB of memory for, including me, then posted the silly folklore about memory. All the while not knowing you can have 16GB of memory in the T520. No worries, I won't bother you again.

 

Wow, my audio/video issues are back, and they are horrible. I cannot play video without stutter/horrible sound crackling.. I thought it was a youtube issue but trying some of the movies I already had downloaded, it's not. video playback in VLC player is horrible if I have something else running...I started 3 downloads in Firefox and it started hissing/freezing on me. ridiculous that I am having these issues on something that is supposed to handle multiasking like this with ease.

 

Are you using optimus mode? Does it do the same thing when the BIOS is set to discrete display mode?

 

I also noticed the same issue in Optimus mode. I run in iGPU mode most of the time because:

1) I need to battery power.
2) I can sleep/resume using 4 4GB Kingston 1866Mhz RAM modules without any issue.

I tried Optimus mode and found:

1) Battery usage isn't as good as iGPU mode.
2) I can't sleep/resume with 1866Mhz RAM so I have to swap in a 1333Mhz module
3) The audio crackles and stutters. Sometimes it is quite bad.

In dGPU mode:

1) Battery usage is in the tank.
2) Sleep/resume with 1866Mhz RAM doesn't work requiring swapping in a 1333Mhz module
3) Audio is fine.

 

Thanks for all the reply about my screen use question. But nobody answered my other question sadly... Which where : HOW can i boot on a SD Card with the W520 (i do my netbook but can't here..) and how to "calibrate" the trackpoint once and for all so it'll stop f**** keeping moving almost everytime right after you stop using it?

And by the way do you get one or more red cap with brand new W520 (mine was used)? I want to buy some more on ebay but there are different type... Maybe for older Thinkpads. Oh and for those talking about RAM! My W520 has 12GB, i only had PCs with 2GB before (which is clearly way too low for anyone now) and i wouldn't have though my usage would go up to 90%! Most of the time i'm around 65%~

 

BINGO, we have a winner...

* Laptop, so more portable.
* Quality, so Thinkpad
* ExpressCard for ViDock type addons
* High powered cpu, if needed.
* Why > 16G ? Well, for the guys who think they seem to know it all, 32G allows for ramdrive usage, LOTS of cache, and plenty of room for some BIG apps, if needed. Just cuz -some- may not think -they- need >8G doesn't mean they know much or that their setup applies to everyone.

 

LOL. I'm a consultant, and I practically live in airports and hotels for months at a time. I have 1K status on United, and many of the flight attendants know me by name. I am VERY familiar with the inside of an airplane.

Feel free to use an iPad when you travel, but I'll continue to use my W520 on flights, as I did my T500 and my T60p before that.

 

Yep. 15.4" screen is fine in coach. 17" isn't, especially when the guy in front leans back. Plus, who wants to lug a 17' laptop through airports?

 

I don't think even my T410 (14" screen) is fine in coach. I think the perfect size is 13" or lower, as well as any tablet.

 

Wow, i just could see the screen strobbe and it's scary... I put the w520 on the desk next to my bed, lay down and then looked at the screen (above me so) and then i saw the horror..! But it wasn't lower if i put the brightness to 15 (max), it's just same as any setting... Not surprising my eyes are about to explode after an hour reading then... Would be good to know if those who got HD+ (i have FHD) have it so strong or less...

 

I fly weekly for work and the tablet mode is essential on Delta, where they give you virtually zero room (unless I "make the cut" for first class when competing with the billion miler dudes).

 

never noticed any strobe with hd+ ...

 

I just told how to see it. You don't while using normally, but its here.

 

Is the screen set to the native 60 Hz? Make sure there's no power saving settings lowering refresh rate.

 

Hello everyone. After much research (and some lurking on this site), I've finally bought a W520, which will be shipping out the 9th. I'm having some regrets though, as I ended up getting an i7-2640M processor instead of one of the quad cores.
My full specs: Intel Core i7-2640M Processor (2.80GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz)/15.6HD+ (1600 X 900) LED/NVQ1000M GR/8GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM/128GB SSD ATA

The laptop will be used for movies, music, internet, and Photoshop.
Should I have gotten the i7-2760QM processor? Would I notice a difference?

 

Being a workstation class notebook the W520 tends to excel doing extreme number crunching work so many people opt for the Quad Core processors. But for your uses specifically you probably won't notice that much of a difference between the Dual Core and Quad Core processor in real world scenarios, the Intel Core i7-2640M CPU is still a fast processor in its own right.

If your unit had been shipped already then I would suggest to try it and see how it goes. If somehow the Dual Core setup is not adequate then you have to bear in mind that there is a restocking fee should you return the unit back to Lenovo.

 

If you do decide to return the dual core (though I think it'll be fine), try calling Lenovo will allow you to exchange the laptop for a quad core model (probably with you paying for the difference). Hopefully by talking over the phone you could avoid the restocking fee.

 

I gotta say, my W520 is pretty awesome for my purposes.

At home, I hook it up to a Vidock and enjoy gaming in 1080p with internal monitor. On the go, I use the 1000M to enjoy some gaming @ 720p. The Extreme CPU is really helpful for computational purposes (Matlab, offloading Physx from eGPU to preserve bandwidth, Playstation 2 emulation, etc...), as well as to do video transcoding for videos I put on my phone.

The FHD screen is comparable to the Vaio Z's FHD screen while being bigger in size, great for comfortable viewing.

 

Does anybody know if I can get a better deal than LENOVO THINKPAD W520 i7-2720QM, FHD, 8GB, 500GB 7.2K | eBay? I'm a college student residing in CA, and I don't care for the 3-year warranty(I'm fine with a 1-year warranty).

 

I would just call Lenovo directly and haggle over the phone. My laptop (excluding the extra 8GB and the SSD) was $2167 retail when I was buying it, but I haggled it down to $1665 before taxes, or about $500/24% off.

 

I suck at haggling ...

I've found Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook 427637U B&H, though... it's a little cheaper... reputable, and no tax + free shipping... I'll probably go with them on January 17th...

Is it true that the W520 picks up dust and oil more than the X220 or other laptops? http://www.notebookreview.com/shared/picture.asp?f=58109 is not a pretty sight!

 

Tigerdirect pricing: Search Results for lenovo w520 at TigerDirect.com

Lenovo Student Shop Pricing (Got mine here, around $450 off):
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=F2A3EC7C45634AE8AB0F26CCAC867854

 

I have researched and waited for over a month now, can't wait to finally order it.. only a few days left!.

Have to order from the US, because the prices in Norway are ridicules .
A W520 with 2000m costs like 3500 dollars, talk about price control.

But I have to ask..

I define how I like the laptop by how the keyboard feels. If the keyboard sucks, I hate it, I can still use it but I still hate it.

So how does the keyboard feel?

 

Prices in Europe are ridiculous I ordered mine here in Germany and I had to shell out ~2300 €!! Anyway, the keyboard's really as good as everybody says I'm sure you'll love it.

 

Ah yeah I feel you man

Can't wait to get rid of my 2010 MacBook Pro

 

Where do i check that? I mean for settings, not 60hz.

Still nobody answered those...

 

I can't address the first two questions, but I can address the third.

Every Lenovo laptop that I have ordered new from the factory only arrived with one track point tip. I have ordered a replacement once for my daughter's laptop, and I received a set of three. I think i bought it on eBay. Each tip had a slightly different shape and feel. Just pick your preference, and save the rest for future use if needed.

 

You should be fine, spend the extra cash you saved on loading up the memory. Photoshop will suck up anything you can throw at it. But if you do want to upgrade, check your local laws, lots of places have 30 day buyer's remorse laws that let you return anything within 30 days for a full refund.
When I bought mine with the FHD screen I was told they would let me down grade to the lower resolution at no cost if I didn't like it. So I'm guessing if you wanted to upgrade they probably won't charge you restocking fees.

 

Haven't found a way to fix that damn moving trackpoint yet...

 

There I finally ordered the laptop!
Ended up with the 4276-3MU, 1849$ + shipping at Laptop Authority.

Core i7-2760QM 2.4 GHz, 1920x1080, NVIDIA Quadro® 2000M 2GB, 500.0 Gb HDD, 4 GB RAM, Intel 802.11a/b/g/n wireless,3 years Warranty

Ended up with that model since the 2760QM is newer (Q4-11) and seem quite heafty on performance.

CAN'T WAIT ARRGGGGG!

EDIT: They shipped it in under an hour <.<

 

Thats quick shipping. Looks like a nice system setup. Enjoy!

 

Yes the customer service was great, they answered all my questions.
They were going to ship it the day after, but after I asked about delivery estimates to Norway he shipped it the same day (within the hour to my suprise ).

Good price, great service, what more could I ask for.

Now I just hope Fedex will be the same, been hammering the tracking number

 

Hey Folks, ordered mine a week ago for the new semester of art and design school (2760QM, nvidia 2000m, Color Sensor, FHD, 4GB RAM, 500gb HDD, 3yr onsite+TPP), and was planning on putting in an 80gb SSD boot drive, and putting in 4gb of extra RAM.

When getting the RAM, is the Lenovo store stuff any better than a stick you'd find on Newegg or Tigerdirect, or just ~$10 more?

EDIT: Link to Lenovo shop

 

For your consideration:

FRYS.com | Corsair

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Laptop Memory, 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM, 8GB

 

I'd wait for DDR3 1600+MHZ 8GB modules...

 

Lenovo's prices for individual memory sticks are actually pretty reasonable. Their prices when bundled and pre-installed in a new laptop have a ridiculous mark-up, but when sold separately, they aren't that bad. Quality is not any better or worse than similarly spec'd RAM from a 3rd party distributor like Tigerdirect or Newegg.

 

I want to use w520 with the external monitor and I also have the external keyboard and mouse. So, is it possible to work with the W520 closed lid? or Do I need a docking station to do this?

 

You can do but don't forget to tell Windows not to turn off or go standby when the lid is closed via the Power Options.

 

That means my laptop monitor will be on, even I close the lid?

 

The system will be on but the LCD monitor will be off when the lid is closed. I do exactly the same with my ThinkPad R61e using Windows Server 2008, the system will always be on with the lid down unless you specifically tell it to switch off. If I need to access it I just use Remote Desktop Connection so the whole concept will work without problems.

 

Thank you for the info.

 

Keep in mind the system doesn't breathe quite as well with the lid closed. I don't think it does any long term damage but I do think it runs a couple of degrees warmer. I mostly run lid down in the dock.

 

It probably does run warmer with the lid closed but I've been running my thinkpads in a dock for a lot of years without problems. The docks do seem to give a bit of trouble though. my t61p was the warmest in a dock. The w520 is the coolest.

 

Sorry I wasn't through, stupid Envy touchpad.

Anyone have any troubles putting a good SSD in the W520? I think I read it has SATA III which would be great.

Thanks..........

 

Thinking about ordering my first Lenovo, a W520.

I'm trying an Envy 15 as HPs are all I've had lately. Problems right off the bat - restore discs did not like it when I put a Samsung 830 SSD into the machine and reds are terrible. I haven't color calibrated it yet though. It's a nice unit, but probably not what I'm looking for- a desktop replacement with a wide gamut for Photoshop.

So, anyone know of any good 20-25% coupons?

And, has anyone had any problems sticking 3rd party SSDs into the W520s? I understand the SATA ports are SATAIII which would be great.

Thanks in advance,
David

 

I've had great luck with the intel 510.

 

Barnes and Noble discount

Call Lenovo, haggle over the phone like you would with a car. See if they'll give you the 10% email promotion they run on their website.

I got 24% off mine this way (I can PM you my rep if wanted).

 

Sure, I'd appreciate the reps extension. I know I can get 10% via the email thing, I'm hoping for 20% at least. How do you like yours so far?