Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Thanks zsero,

It's resolved now

 

Screen swap done!

I've just changed the screen, and it wasn't hard at all (it was my first screen swap). I bought the AUO B156HW01 v4 screen from eBay from an Australian Clevo reseller, LBO (actually he is on this forum too), for AU $118.00 including shipping (about half the price as people ask for the screen anywhere else).

The screen swap took about 20 minutes and the new screen is really nice! At first sight, the fonts doesn't look too small, its perfect size for me!

Just to report on the old screen: it was the 1600x900 panel:
FRU 93P5681 = Samsung LTN156KT02

 

Hi zsero,

Why did you swap the screen? Was the old one damaged?

 

The original reason:
Resolution: 1920x1080 vs 1600x900

The surprise:
Viewing angles: better
Brightness: I've never thought of this one, but the FHD panel is MUCH brighter.

The old one is perfect, I just found that it's much cheaper to buy a 1600x900 W520 and swap the screen compared to buying a FHD one. I'm still keeping the old screen in a box if I ever have to send the W520 for warranty repair.

 

I'm really interested in swapping my 1600x900 to a 1920x1080 panel. I've been looking around for a while now, and I'm still not sure about what panel to order.

If I order this panel for my W520 will it also just work?

 

I know this is kind of a late reply, but I just discovered the setting: it's in the Lenovo Power Manager program, under the Power Plan tab (in Advanced mode), the 5th option under "System Settings": Automatic Optical Drive Power Off, Enabled or Disabled. (Enabled meaning the drive is not powered on unless there's a disc in the drive on startup).

 

Yes, this is the Lenovo supplied panel in the FHD version and it's garanteed to work with a simple swap (no need to do anything with cables, dimensions are exactly the same, etc.).

I bought mine from this seller (they'll list every week) but the one I have has a bright pixel at the bottom of the screen and I think that is the reason why they are selling at half price.

If you want one with zero dead pixel, they go for 150-175 dollars plus shipping in the marketplace or for 150 GBP here: B156HW01 V.4 (LED) GRADE A+ - Kuzotronic.com

An other option which is reported to work is the standard gamut LGD02D9 (MC6JN-156WF1) screen as used in Dell E6520 and M4600 non-IPS models. Really nice screen and it's supposed to be available for cheaper.

 

I searched for "B156HW01" on eBay and then looked for a V4 panel and they all seem to be around £50. Are these the correct panels? Or would you suggest I order the £150 option?

AUO B156HW01 V4 V.4 LAPTOP LCD SCREEN 15.6" Full-HD AG COMPATIBLE (4263345330027) | eBay

Thank you so much for your help, very much appreciated.

 

If it ever shows " COMPATIBLE" anywhere on the description, then forget it, it means its not an AUO. There are pretty much 4 options:
- marketplace here (there are 2 sellers in the US now)
- LBOinternational on eBay (probably with a dead pixel, like mine)
- the UK seller I linked (Kuzotronic), garanteed to be genuine and pixel free
- https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/screen-part-number/B156HW01 V.4/ (I'd buy from here if I'd order today, it seems they are selling for really good price and provide warranty).

 

Excellent, thank you! I'm going to order from Kuzotronic then.

I'll post some images of the upgrade process when I can.

Thank you once again.

 

Just some tips for the swapping process:
- you don't need to touch the base of the laptop for this, just remove the battery to be sure there is no power on
- use sharp pins to carefully remove the screw covers
- use a credit card around the bezel to unlatch the plastic latches
- remove the 3 big screws
- remove the 4 small screws
- put a bubble wrap material on the keyboard and turn the screen to the keyboard
- remove the cable carefully
- change screens
- check if screen works before assembling everything

Read the HMM and watch the online traning videos in advance.

 

Having a little issue with my hard drive caddy, wondering if anyone has experienced this.

I'm using 2nd hard drive Caddy F Lenovo Thinkpad T420 W520 T520 | eBay recommended by Thors Hammer

The issue is something is vibrating and buzzing against the laptop, and usually if I press on the caddy or down on the laptop chassis that will stop it for a bit. Not sure what it is!

The bad fix would be two switch it with my SSD, which doesn't buzz while in the caddy. But then I wouldn't have that easy access to switch out drives if I want to!

Thanks

 

Do you have the four screws screwed into the sides of the HDD used in the caddy so it is locked into place properly?

 

Hey everyone
i still have severe and annoying soundproblems with my w520. One of the many examples: Everytime i click on a folder in windows 7, you hear this "click" sound, right? Well, in my case, every click is also accompanied by this very ear-unfriendly "bip sound", like when your wearing a headset and push the connector inside (sorry, dont know how to describe it better).

This random annoying sounds also happen at usual soundplayback.

Did anyone had the same issue? Any idea how to fix this? (cause im tired of it by now...)

 

Hey everyone, got a quick question..

I've settled on a W520 and I'm looking through lenovo's outlet and I'm seeing two configurations... the key difference between them being... one has both a Quadro 1000M and an HD3000, and the other has only the Quadro. Now, I didn't think there were any versions that had just the Quadro and not both, but the Estimated battery life for the configuration with only the Quadro is significantly less...

Lenovo Outlet - ThinkPad W520 Refurbished - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops
Lenovo Outlet - ThinkPad W520 Refurbished - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops

I'm assuming that's just a mistake, but does anybody have any information to confirm? Did they ever do a version of the W520 without Optimus to improve battery life? Otherwise the config with the better CPU seems like an obvious choice.

Thanks!

 

No, they will always have the Intel GPU in them (Optimus). Either Intel + 1000M or Intel + 2000M. It's just some mistake made by the web admin or something.

 

Don't worry, every W520 has a Quadro inside!

 

Does anyone know if the w520 comes standard with windows wireless display? I saw an item in my start menu that said "install wireless display" I clicked it as I want to watch baseball from my computer to the TV wirelessly. I haven't bought the netgear push2tv yet as I'm waiting on my u300s to come in - Monday Yea! I know it has it and was just curious if the w520 has it. Since I'm not familiar with it I don't know if it was installed or not when I clicked the link. A dos box come up for a very quick time, then I got the windows message that the program might not have installed correctly - install again with recommended settings or no leave it alone"

 

Originally Posted by gustin View Post
Hey everyone, got a quick question..

I've settled on a W520 and I'm looking through lenovo's outlet and I'm seeing two configurations... the key difference between them being... one has both a Quadro 1000M and an HD3000, and the other has only the Quadro. Now, I didn't think there were any versions that had just the Quadro and not both, but the Estimated battery life for the configuration with only the Quadro is significantly less...

Lenovo Outlet - ThinkPad W520 Refurbished - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops
Lenovo Outlet - ThinkPad W520 Refurbished - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops

I'm assuming that's just a mistake, but does anybody have any information to confirm? Did they ever do a version of the W520 without Optimus to improve battery life? Otherwise the config with the better CPU seems like an obvious choice.

Thanks!

Why would you buy either of those if you can get a new one for the same price or cheaper? Sign up for email and you will get a 10% discount that you can use on a new one and often they have sales of 10-12% off.

 

I am also having this problem, it is particularly noticeable when wearing headphones... anyone have any suggestions?

 

I was thinking... I may have to get a mac for tethering to my DSLR (Nikon D5100)... I just got my w520 and really haven't put in much applications on it yet buuuuut...



Its awesome!

 

In my experience refurbs are typically great deals. I have not been able to configure a model similar (FHD screen, 8GB ram, i7-2760QM, 500GB 7200 HD) for anywhere near this price. This includes a number of discounts through my company and through lenovo itself.

If you have an experience that's contrary, please let me know, but I have been unable to.

 

Any tips to get OS X 10.6 or 10.7 to successfully run in vmware workstation or vmware player? I did try a tutorial before, but could not get it to work. Thanks!

 

I am trying to connect my W520 to a projector through VGA and I would like to have duplicate display. Once I connect the VGA cable, the only option it offers in display options is the extend or use one of them. So, I press Fn + F7 but what happens is that it creates something strange in the display options a monitor with both 1 and 2 written like that 1|2 and then another one called 3 and does not do the duplicate display. I have an important presentation and do not know how to fix that?

I just found that this a common issue with the W520 and I do not like the manual workaround solutions like using the discrete graphics. I am not sure how a business machine like this has this flaw. My question now I'd this problem fixed by now through BIOS or driver update? If not, does this problem occur with all Thinkpads?

 

where do i sign up to get the 10% off email?

 

right on the first page!



or just do a search on "lenovo save 10%"

 

This is not unique to the W520. The discrete BIOS setting is the best and most reliable method to insure it works.

 

Hey... I don't know if I'm allowed to link things but here, just read what I have in the hidden thingy...

Spoiler

Theres some instructions in there in the notepad file, but its confusing. I got a general Idea researching over the net. theres different ways to run mac, one is booting from its own Hard Drive (I might try this later... got the ultra bay ready) The other is what I did with VMware which creates a virtual environment. Only thing is if you have the w520, goto the bios, securities, turn on the virtualization (VT) stuff on. You need to have virtualization going in bios for any computer to be able to really run this. I don't know if you have a w520... but its dependent on your processor. If it has hyperthreading. its got a solid chance to run it. Otherwise.. you'll have to check..

Read the following stuff and get an Idea of what needs to be done while downloading...


http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=266514

Mac OS X Lion running on my Lenovo Thinkpad W520 - YouTube

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=258562

tonymacx86 Forum • View topic - ThinkPad W520, Dual Boot Win7 & Lion, Two Hard Drives

Take care and enjoy!

 

As per the forum rules, discussion about how to break Apple's EULA and run OSX on non-Apple hardware is not allowed on NBR. Just a head's up.

Spoiler

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sit...ts/657029-you-can-now-discuss-hackintosh.html

 

Wow, didn't see this happen >.<

*egg on face*

 

It seems like im not the only one with this issue. Can anyone help?

 

Well, I followed your links and looked at the prices. I bought the FHD, 4g (adding my own) i7, smallest hard drive (320 i think, I had SSD already) and a 2 yr warrantly for only $100 or so difference. To me, the new is worth the $100. Without the added 2 yr warranty they would have probably been the same price.

It's all over their site. Go to the US homepage. Look in the right bottom and there it is.

Just an added note about this. I followed the advice from some fellow members and called and asked an agent for his best price. He was willing to give me 12% off. He sent a quote. A few days later they had a sale with similar discounts. I called him and he gave me the sale price plus the 12% we had negotiated. I ended up not even messing with the 10% email discount. Maybe they were trying to move product that day, who knows.

 

Would this be a problem with a product like T420/T520 with Intel HD Graphics 3000? I do not actually need the discrete graphics. I just need to be able to connect my laptop to one or two at most external displays and connect it smoothly to projectors when doing a presentation. I will appreciate your advice on that.

 

I noticed that it only occurs with sensitive headphones. I also noticed that in general less sensitive headphones pick up less noise. The solution is to dial down the volume on your headphones, if they have a volume dial. This is the only solution I've found. Actually, at first I didn't even know about the noise because I keep my headphones at 50% volume on the dial because they are loud otherwise, and I accidentally knocked the dial out of position one day and had to readjust it, and when I had it at max volume I heard the noise.

 

@pchome: I don't have the issues you're describing with my T500's switchable graphics. Perhaps it's an Optimus issue? I don't have an Optimus machine, so I can't really comment on that.

As a workaround for a presentation, though, you could just use the Extend option, and Powerpoint will allow you to display the slides on whichever monitor you choose (and there's the additional benefit that you can display notes on your screen if you need them).

 

I dont have volume control on my headphones, but this sounds also occur without Headphones and even when the Volume is turned to 50%.

It must be something with the soundcard. I just cant believe that this has to be normal, because its just too annoying and distracting.
Im really clueless what to do though...

 

It is definitely caused by the sound card. If I'm not wrong, it is caused by the power management for the sound card; turning sound output off whenever there is no output needed, and when output turns back on, it causes a "bip". My netbook makes the same noise, but only after there has been no sound playing for like 5 seconds.

Adjusting volume in Windows doesn't do anything, it has to be a hardware volume adjustment for the "bip" to be filtered out.

 

I don't know if it helps, but I have not installed any sound card driver (using the windows built-in one) and I have an absolutely noise-free output.

 

thanks. i signed up yesterday, no emails yet. we'll see ...

 

Hi Guys,

Installed a 128gb Crucial m4 a couple weeks ago into my w520 (only drive I currently have in the laptop). How can I check to make sure it has the latest firmware? And if it doesn't, do I NEED to install the new firmware, bc I rather not risk losing my data if any issues arise while install. Also, how can I check the speed of the crucial, I'm really not seeing the speed I thought I would, however the Window's performance score is giving my HDD a 7.9

 

Just download the latest firmware, it will tell you what firmware you are on now. Also flashing is safe for the M4, but just in case save your data.

You don't need to flash the newest FW, but you should!

 

So... If you find out if you have the same problem which is a driver problem (which i highly doubt, sound) install the drivers to see if you get the problem.

 

Been super busy sorry.

No I do not. I don't have any screws holding the drive in place and I don't see where they would go either!

I like the convenience of swapping drives from the caddy quickly so I'm not sure i want to screw it down anyways. What I thought was happening is the black piece that snaps down is popping up while moving around in my bag. I'm not sure that's it though

I'm guessing I probably need to find a way to screw the drive in and just use external hard drives instead of swapping. Or buy another caddy

 

The 4 screws go into the drive before you insert it into the caddy. The heads of those screws slide under the bumps inside the caddy and essentially lock the drive in place and suppress vibration.

Take a close look at the pic for the caddy at Auctiva Image Hosting

This is a closeup for the caddy at 2nd hard drive Caddy F Lenovo Thinkpad T420 W520 T520 | eBay

See the attached pic with my Nimitz(tm) caddy and the 750GB Hitachi drive inserted. Notice the head of the screw is under the plastic guide bump (one of four). Locks things down nice and tight.

 

That definetely sounds feasible. Any idea how i can adjust the hardware volume?

I think there were times when this "bip" sound didnt occur for half a minute or so. That had to be instances, where the power management permitted it to be permanently on. How can i make this last for the whole time?

Edit:
I found this Thread:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows...er-save-speaker-click-on-the-n100/td-p/158176

Apparently he got rid of that problem by modifying the registry settings. But im not confident in fiddling around with the registry...

 

Eaglez21 - just put SSD benchmark software in google search, you will find utilities to measure your speed. ATTO is a good one, some mfr suggest that one. You might have gotten one from Crucial with your drive. There are others, but ATTO will do what you want.

 

Colonel, I would like to thank you and I am posting here the link to the third party two finger scrolling software that you posted in the Lenovo forums a few months ago. That has really improved the 2 finger scroll and has been the most helpful piece of software for me! Now I am happy with my W520.

two-finger-scroll - Two finger gestures for Synaptics TouchPads on Windows - Google Project Hosting

If there is a sticky note for these downloadable enhancements, please post this link!

 

I agree, but truth be told, this "downloadable enhancement" probably violates a few Apple patents and is kept on the down low for that reason?

 

Sometimes when I boot up my W520, it takes up to 3 minutes to fully load. Most times it boots up normally (40 seconds with SSD)

On these abnormally occasions (Windows 7 64bits), it loads and shows the "Windows" text. Then it goes blank\black for up to 2 minutes. After that it loads up.

Can anyone help? Thanks