Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

^^^ Windows 7 on FHD looks good and is readable at 125% (SegoeUI being a quality vector font). Windows XP, on the other hand, appears out of place with its bit-mapped fonts and icons being "optimized" for lower-resolution screens of the past.

Adobe CS5 apps looks good natively. (In Chrome, I enlarge the contents as needed. In Word, I always set "fit to page width.") If you work with graphics and images most of the time, you should order the FHD panel for the 1920x1080 resolution as well as for its display quality, which is much better than the HD and HD+ options.

 

Absolutely. I need the CD / DVD regularly, and the data partition on my existing machine is at about 350GB used. I'm not restricting the machine by putting a small drive in and I can't wait for the 480GB Vertex 3 to become available at £1728 incl VAT (!), so this is the perfect alternative.
And I have to admit - the idea of a little tiny drive under the keyboard is pretty cool

 

After a lot of reading in this forum, thanks to all who shares their informations.

I just ordered mine:
W520 with FHD-Display
i7-2820QM (8MB L3)
16 GB-RAM (DDR3-1600)
Nvidia Quadro 2000M (2GB)
500GB HDD (7200RPM)
win 7 Pro 64bit
Fingerprint-reader
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
9-cell battery
Thinkpad Sleeve Case
For 1767€ + tax
Shipping approx. 28th.

It's a lot, but worth it.
Oh, I can hardly wait.

 

modism: that's not a bad deal (for Europe) - where did you purchase from?

 

Similar spec -

FHD
i7 2820
4GB (ordered 16gb from newegg for ~ $180 cheaper)
500 GB (Have C300 SSD to pop in)
Intel Advanced 3x3 wireless
Gobi 3000 WAN card
Quadro 1000 w/ 2GB ram
4 yr onsite + thinkpad protection
win7
thinkpad mini-dock
ultrabay for 2nd hard-drive
etc.. etc...

Ordered 4/12, shipping around 4/26. Grand total ~2700 (US)

I hate the price, but I'm giving it a chance to impress / disappoint me.

 

Quick question, I was wondering how does game run on the 1000m. 2000m that cost 200+ is out of my budget. I know that 1000m is not a gaming graphic card, but I need something that could play game in medium setting. I am thinking about playing Starcraft 2, L4D2, NFS, and maybe Diablo 2 when it comes out.

 

This has been discussed several times in the forum. The NVS 4200M will run starcraft on high settings at 19 FPS, and medium at 60+. The 1000M is much nicer then the 4200M, so it should handle it with no problem. The 2000M will be even quicker.

Short answer: You shouldn't have a problem with medium / high settings for most games, but i'd worry about high end things like metro, crysis 2, etc, on high settings only. If you want something nicer, definitally look at a 460M, 470M, or 480M laptop, or even consider the 6970 at cards (Alienware, Sager, etc)

 

I ordered this for $1880 + TAX and free shipping:

I7-2720QM
15.6FHD (1920 X 1080)
NVQ2000M
COLOR SENSOR
4GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM
FINGERPRINT READER
720P HD CAM INT MICR
500GB HDD7200RPM
9 CELLL I-ION BATTERY
CPNAMLC+ 170W AC AD
BLUETOOTH 3.0
IN.CENT.ULTIMATE-N 6300
LENOVO THINKPLUS 3 YEARS - ON-SITE
LENOVO MINI DOCK PLUS SERIES 3 - 170W

 

Can't send private messages or create signatures?.

Note that that says 5 Quality posts. Not 5 messages that say "I'm just posting to get to 5". Those will be removed.

 

The tabook doesn't say the laptops don't support SATA III 6.0Gbps just that the optional harddrives offered by Lenovo are SATA II 3.0Gbps drives.

 

Does anyone know if the W520 can power on from LAN (wake on LAN from power off)? - i'm looking to use Logmein from the Iphone to power on the machine when out.

 

Apparently, the 2000M can run Crysis 2 on high settings.
Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Review: First Thoughts | StorageReview.com

The 3DMarkVantage score was 6,600 with the 2000m and Core i7-2920.

 

I pretty sure it can, most if not all business machine can do that and since the Thinkpad is the mother of business notebook I can't think of a reason why not.

 

Does anyone know if a W520 with RAID 0 or 1 comes with an optical drive?

 

No, it does not come with optical if RAID configured.

 

Guys where is a good place to order my w520? and if there is any discount code i should be aware of?

 

The best thing is to call their sales department (1-866-968-4465) and talk them into giving you a discount. Price out your configuration online and then take away 25%-30% from the total and tell them that's your budget. They are usually able to work with you. You can also always try to have them throw some freebies in.

If you prefer not to call, try lenovo.com/visa if you plan to pay with a Visa card or lenovo.com/spp if you're a shareholder, or lenovo.com/familyandfriends otherwise. All of them give you default discount on everything. I don't think there are any coupons applicable to W520 at this time.

 

Several people have already asked if the W520 has also the dreaded cpu whining noise the W500 and W510 models have (which makes them completely useless in quiet areas). Unfortunately no answer so far. If I knew the problem is fixed, I would order immediately!

This high pitched noise occurs if you run on battery. It goes away if you disable speedstep in bios.

See here:

New W510 - High Pitched Whine/Sqeal Using Battery - Lenovo Community

 

I'm curious, since I bought a w520 recently with the 320GB HDD to upgrade later to an SDD, what's the normal procedure to get the OS on the new drive? Does the laptop come with discs to reinstall the OS, or is it through a recovery partition on the hard drive? What do you guys normally do?

Reading that forum, it sounds like it might be an issue with the processor doesn't it? Hopefully the new processors don't have this problem.

 

Couple of people posted previously that there is no CPU whine anymore.

 

Could you please point me to the right page. This thread is huge.

The search function is buggy and finds nothing for whine or whining in this thread at all (even if I typed it myself).

 

That's good advice. Keep trying till you get someone that's willing to work with you. Some seem to have no power and will try to pressure you in saying you can only get the deal if you buy it right now.

 

I am just about to order the following config, just looking for a good deal on it.



Anyone have a favorite rep? Please PM me if so!

Many thanks for all the helpful posts.

 

100% agree with you, kimocal! And after 2-3 hours unseccess trying on the phone and chat with Lenovo, potential buyer usually give up and, either buy for higher price, or try talk to others here on the forum, who got the right price and get theirs rep's contact info
Matbe it is easier start talk to guys here on the forum? Why spend 2-3 hours for nothing?

 

PM sent

 

That's just how it is with a lot of things in life. 80-90% of people will take or accept what is given to them. Like for example, my auto insurance was not going to cover a comprehensive claim and kept trying to push me away saying it wasn't possible to cover even though I've been with them for 15+ years and had 1 minor claim and no accidents. The claim itself was valid. I kept escalating it and I think they finally realised I was not going to accept their bs on not paying it. They finally did agree to pay for it.

 

Yep. You just MUST be bold. Bold, but polite. When I sent to rep specs I want for W520, she quoted $1650 plus warranty and minidock for edditional price. It was 20% lower that I would pay on Lenovo.com - not bad. But it was not great! So, I said her - "Ok, I'm ready to place my order with you tonight if I get minidock for free". In 30 minutes she replied - "This is the LOWEST I can go" and quoted new price - $1470 !!! for the same specs. Remember, you MUST be bold... and polite. Good luck all

 

Sorry to spam the thread, but thank you all so much for the replies! I will certainly keep you all updated as to how this plays out.

 

I think someone is PM'ing you their rep info, but while that price is good, you should be able to do better.

I know that through the Canadian Visa Lenovo site (and via chat), I was able to get just over $200 cheaper and that included the 500GB drive, so really about $240 cheaper. I think others have done even better.

 

can you tell if this looks good

i2720 / 1900x1080 FHD/ 320GB HDD/ 1000M/ wifi 6300/ 4GB = $1231 + $95 3yrs depot warranty + tax.

 

Are you sure that's not 320GB HDD?

 

Try searching google with this query:

whine site:h t t p://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/566338-lenovo-w520-owners-thread

Edit: Take the spaces out of http. The forum is autoformating my url.

 

sorry corrected. otherwise all time best deal on earth...

 

Yeah, I was about to get my credit card out.

 

I would say not bed at all. I just suggest you to pay $100 more and get onsite. I just got my W700DS from service yesterday. It was surprise for me, that allowed time for them to repair your laptop is about 5-7 business days. I got 3 years on site for my W520.

 

Actually it's a darn good deal even without the SSD. Can you PM with the details on how you got it? (Not sure If I can receive PMs yet).

 

Since you've had some experience with the depot warranty, do you know if they will ship you parts if the repair is easily handled by the user (say replace a faulty keyboard) rather than having to ship the whole laptop in?

 

Something like a keyboard, palmrest, etc they will send it you. Look at the parts page for the model. If it says CRU next to a part, it's a Customer Replaceable Unit. Some tech reps will even send something like a heatsink/fan if you tell them you can do it.

See if there are any Lenovo service providers around you. I have one within 20min of me that has very low turn around time. I call Lenovo and set up a service ticket for a problem (Depot warranty). Then call the service center with the ticket number which they use to order the parts. Next day, I take the machine to them and they give it back within a couple hours. Not all service providers have such quick turn around time though.

 

Caveat: I wouldn't send a machine to the Lenovo 'depot' though. All machines that come back seem to always at least have case misalignment problems, sometimes worse.

 

Yes, they ask you if you want to install it yourself or ship it to them. I had graphic card and motherboard replaced so, I decided just ship it to them

 

mostly I am looking at mother board failure , video card not working , hdd fail or screen blank out otherwise I don't see myself sending the machine to depot.

Anyways I will have my backup in case I need to send this one to depot.

 

HDD failure is another one where they'll send you the replacement.

 

That's pretty awesome. Nearly as good as onsite. There are several service providers near me according to the ibm/lenovo site. Is having the computer serviced by an authorized service center in the terms of the Depot Warranty? I thought it had to be shipped back.

 

also what you said make lot of sense that to contact near by service center (authorize)

we have some center near by & it will be lot cheaper and almost quick as on-site service. but I can imagine using someone only for changing screen. mother board or fan unit. Other parts are 5 min job (for $95 three yrs is not bad)

 

Yea warranty wise it's the same. Instead of whichever company runs the Depot, it'll be the local service provider that bills Lenovo for the warranty work. I plan on upgrading to 3yr Depot when my initial warranty is almost up, you can get the upgrade through costcentral for $102 at anytime (before the initial warranty is up).

Call around first though. It's not easy finding a service center with quick turn around. Most take much longer than the depot.

 

Here's a link to the Warranty terms (warning .pdf):
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/l505-0010-01-en.pdf

 

That's good to know and not a bad price. I went with the 1 year standard depot + 1 year TPP (Oh $hit) warranty as my wife has this VooDoo touch that somehow makes electronic devices not work. Can't figure that out and I know she'll be jealous of the new toy and want to use it on occasion. Better safe than sorry, lol. I also bought it with my American Express CC which provides an additional 1 year warranty for free. Lots of other CC companies provide a free warranty extension. Call your CC company to see if they do and you can save on that extended warranty a bit.

 

Great! Thanks for the info. Have you used the Win XP Pro option for Win 7?
Is it a complete boot into XP or is it displayed inside a window?

 

I have not used it, but I did order the option with my W520 (which is still about 2 weeks away from arriving).

From the reading that I've done online, I think both options are available - you just need a min of 4GB ram (which obviously the W520s come with) and I'm guessing more Ram would be better, but again, this is just a WAG... So really, my post is useless

 

Try the eCoupon "ECOUPONS10" for another 10% off. And if you go to Lenovo via a link from Lenovo ThinkPad Coupons, Coupon Codes, Deals and Rebates - eCoupons you should be able to get another 4% back after purchase.

And this is without yet having tried the sales rep tactic...

No PM's for me yet.