Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

So have you been able to get 3 external displays to work? I'm specifically told by Lenovo support (and it was escalated and I was told the same thing) that the W520 will only support 2 external displays max.

 

I have the 170W mini dock.

 

If you would not be able connect 3 screens, return minidock and buy for that money ViDock and graphic card like ATI FireGL V5600 that has a dual DVI. Than buy Matrox splitter. You'll have 3 external screens and W520 screen active. That might be a little bit more expensive but this is the anly solution I see with W520. At least for now, until I get my W520 and test it with multiple screens.

 

This shows that W520 can't drive quad setup, only 2 external monitors and the laptop monitor:

Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Multiple Monitor Configurations: NVIDIA Optimus technology

Why is it so is beyond me.

 

xianking, what graphisc do you have 1000M or 2000M ?

 

This doesn't sound good. Why on earth would the other Optimus machines work but not the W520? Really?

 

I've got a black piece of plastic covering the modem port (US W520).

 

Great stuff!!! Canadian prices too!! It might be my time to dive in and get one!

 

Optimus may not work because the w520 uses Quadro 2000m. Part of the issue I had before I returned it, was that the settings would settle in on what the machine thought it saw. For instance some of the graphic setting gui would show 3 monitors when I only had 2. Sometimes identifying the monitors would report incorrect information.
Lets assume the the card works what you're left with is buggy drivers.

 

Thats strange. How did you connect the two of them? DVI and VGA? According to lenovo page you have posted you cannot use two DVI/DP?

 

Yes, please post Starcraft 2 benchmarks. I was also waiting to see the FPS on "extreme" mode. Thanks in advanced...

 

I have the 2000M.

Even the support tech was surprised that the T520 supported a quad display configuration and the W520 didn't. Pretty frustrating.

 

I'm surprised too. I know for a fact that the page linked earlier had the W520 listed as a supported machine for the quad display on the 170 watt dock, because I checked it when the sales rep offered it to me when I ordered my laptop.

 

I am getting score (Performance Information and tools) 6.9 for my Lenovo W520.
can anyone else want to share?

I am using SATA intel x-25m 80gb.
8GB RAM
2000m graphic card.

 

Quick question, does anyone know why type of blu-ray drive will fit the W520?

 

Does anyone know if there are any alternatives to the Intel mSSD at this point and when lenovo will offer it?

 

denisavu has reported putting a Panasonic UJ260 BluRay burner in his.

I intend to do the same and am curious about what software he or anybody else uses to watch BluRay movies and also to write BR data discs?

 

Renice is one, Renice Technology | Solid State Drive SSD. They even list the w520 as a compatible model. Here is a user review of the 120 gb model in the TabletReview portion of this website.


Doubt that lenovo will offer it though. Wish I had known about that before I ordered the intel. It has much faster write performance.

 

SuperTalent's also working on one (the CoreStore MV).

Actually, this one just fits into the mPCI-E slot as an mPCI-E device. So it might get blacklisted from the Lenovo boot cycle and BIOS.

On the plus side, as soon as a modded BIOS appears for the <model>x10's it should be usable.

 

I'm in the US

 

Has anyone purchased and implemented an mSATA drive and if so has that implementation been for the boot drive. If so please post brand, capacity, source, price, differential start up times, and any other metric that differentiates between the mSATA drive and a hard disk (320 or 500 7200). Thanks in advance.

 

I was checking my order status yesterday and saw my estimated shipped date is now not filled. Just the day before, it was April 21st. I called Lenovo in the AM to see what is going on and was told that they need 2 days to find out why this happened. I called again in the PM and was told that the ship date has not changed from the original April 21. But, the rep can't tell me why the date is not showing on the Lenovo's site. I ordered on April 11 with color sensor. I don't know if this is due to the back order on the color sensors that someone had posted. Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?

 

It might have shipped already. I ordered mine on the 16th and it had an estimated ship date of May 11th. But I received an e-mail today telling me it shipped so, possibly check the status at the bottom?

 

Yes the W520 can run up to 32GB of RAM but if you knew how much it cost then you wouldn't be asking. A very realistic amount of RAM is 16GB using 4 4GB modules.

There are 4 DIMM slots in the W520. 2 DIMM (two 2GB modules) factory configurations will run in dual-channel mode. 1 DIMM (1 4GB module) won't. Those that plan to upgrade the RAM themselves may prefer the 1 DIMM configuration so they don't throw out a module.

3 RAM kits have been discussed earlier in this thread.

Crucial DDR3-1333
G.Skill DDR3-1333
Kingston DDR3-1600

All of them should work fine.

Try another rep or ask someone on the forum to send you their rep's info.

That's very strange. Can anyone else with a dock confirm?

Earlier in the thread we also discussed the Panasonic UJ-240.

The major brand everyone is using is the Intel Soda Creek mSATA drives. Capacity is 40GB or 80GB. Prices can be found on NewEgg or Buy.com. When I get my system and the mSATA I can post this information.

That's how most of my desktops are setup. I don't see it being vastly different in a laptop that supports 2 drives... in fact, I'd prefer this configuration.

 

So only 3 days after you ordered, they shipped ? Pretty fast I think.

Unless they mistakenly shipped his order to you instead, which might be why his order no longer shows the estimate date ?

 

Any member that has a problem with something another member says should use the reporting function and not this thread to argue about it.

Bickering messages have been removed from public view.

 

I am looking at the following configuration but the difference between pricing it on the website and reported pricing by various members here is extremely large even if one took into account various discounts. I would welcome any assistance with how to obtain pricing like that reported in this forum and alternatively any discount structure which gets me to this point.

Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 English
Microsoft Windows 7 XP Mode - English
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display,
Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
Color Sensor
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Keyboard US English
UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader
720p Camera
Internal RAID - Not Enabled
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD recordable multiburner
Express Card Slot & 4 in 1 Card Reader
9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++
Country Pack North America with Line cord & 170W AC adapter
Bluetooth 3.0
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable
Language Pack US English
ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (170W)
3YR Onsite
Web price net of tax. $2,567.99
Price for this configuration reported in this forum $1,882.00
I might be willing to forgo the MiniDock for a lower price but if I could get the type of pricing reported in this forum I would consider the MiniDock.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry. I forgot to post in my previous message. My apologies if successive postings are bad form. Per an earlier posting of mine regarding lenovo availability of mSATA drives, I noted in the last hour that lenovo now lists on the web the Intel mSATA 80GB drive as an option which can be configured at $370.00

 

Have you tried calling in, asking a member for their rep's info, or using the various programs mentioned throughout this thread?

Most of us will buy it from an online retailer for almost half the price and install it ourselves.

 

I understand that lenovo's prices are high and many will want to purchase this item separately and at a substantial price savings. Given an earlier post that I saw that noted that lenovo at that time had yet to quote it in the configurator, I thought this news item might be of interest.

 

does the W520 come with max of 32GB memory or 16GB?

 

xianking,

What external LCD panels did you try and how were they connected?

 

Or $189 at Newegg.com - Intel 310 Series (Soda Creek) SSDMAEMC080G2C1 mSATA 80GB mSATA (mini PCIe form factor) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD

 

I think so too. My estimate is not filled as well. I scrolled down and at the bottom it was showing "shipped on April 19". I just ordered it on 13th. It was shipped from China and on UPS site I see that laptop should arrive at Friday, Aprill 22. It is very fast (I live in DC). I did get free shipping when ordering this laptop so, do not know why it is 3 day delivery but no complaints

 

SAME!! So excited =)

 

I have 3 Hanns.G HG281 LCD displays. Here is how they were connected:

1. Through the VGA on the dock.
2. Through the DVI (left side) on the dock. (to HDMI)
3. Through the DisplayPort (right side) on the dock. (to HDMI)

The VGA display wouldn't work until I unplugged one of the others, then it would work. Any two of that combination would work. I tried every other combination I could think of, but this was the combination suggested on the Lenovo site for a quad configuration with the T520. ( Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Multiple Monitor Configurations: NVIDIA Optimus technology) I had assumed this would apply to the W520 as well, but it doesn't.

Thors.hammer, you stated earlier in this post that the W520 would indeed support three external monitors. Was this based on what you thought it would do or on what you have experienced?

Thanks for your reply.

 

Hi. I'm really glad that this forum exists. I plan to buy new notebook and W520 seems like perfect candidate.

What I haven't found so far are real world tests of Quadro 2000M. I really wonder how it performs in Premiere, After Effects and other CUDA enabled products together with new Sandy Bridge quad CPUs. I mean is the GPU powerful enough to gain significant boost in these applications?

Thank you for your answers.

 

I just ordered the following config (4282W17):

-39.6 cm (15.6") matt Full-HD LED (1920 x 1080, 95% Farb-Gamut)
-Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM QuadCore (2.30 bis 3.40 GHz mit Intel® Turbo Boost, 8MB) -4GB (1x4 GB) DDR3-1333
-500GB 7.200rpm • DVD+/-RW DL
-NVIDIA® Quadro® 2000M mit 2GB
-Intel Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 802.11abgn/ Bluetooth™3.0
-color sensor
-fingerprint reader

1999,20 € incl. taxes

I upgraded the ram to 8GB Kingston hyperX 1600Mhz. 84,90 €
3yr onsite warranty. 39,90 €
Lenovo ThinkPad® Sleeve Case 15.6". 17,90 €
Additional 6-cell 55+ battery. 35,00 €
Lenovo ThinkPad S-ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter 3. 44,90 €
Lenovo Mini Dock Plus mobile Workstations mit 170W. 172,00€
+ 7€ shipping

for a total of 2327,73 € (-3% discount) --> ~3330 USD

This is the price from the Lenovo university program (student discount) at a german reseller.

The same config (except for the ram) on the Lenovo homepage is available for 2806,3 €.
(~4000 USD) The only thing missing in this config is the drivebay adapter.
The Dock alone costs 254,36 €...

I envy the pricing in the US....

 

I bought mine there and it's being shipped over here right now. It should be here tomorrow(left Louisville, KY about 6 hours ago). The only extra costs are 19% (Märchensteuer ) and 12,90 for Nn. UPS. At 1EUR = $1.40 that's sweet

Overall, I'll get something that here costs 2200EUR for less than 1500EUR final price, with 3 years international warranty, and I'll get it in 3 days not 3 weeks. Go figure.

 

@marcob

Is this the ebay modell you're referring to? I was thinking about that, too.
BTW, which config did you order? Did you have to file any customs papers?
Besides, I don't have to wait 3 weeks they are available..

 

Item#: 170628571669

As listed.
Extra: another 8GB RAM (for a total of 16), already have a 256GB 2.5" SSD, ordered another one (240GB Vertex2) for extra storage so that I won't be needing a mechanical HDD anymore.
Also ordered a bay HDD adapter of 12.7mm height (which you won't get if you order directly from Lenovo).

No. Everything is handled by UPS.

Well, most of them aren't and 3 days it's more or less what it takes DHL to have them delivered inland.

 

Well, most of them aren't and 3 days it's more or less what it takes DHL to have them delivered inland.[/QUOTE]

I've had DHL deliveries the next day.. but yeah it's gonna take a few days more, especially since the long easter weekend is coming up. Since I've been waiting for 5 months now for this modell to be available I will hold out another week or so.

Do you already have a german keyboard? If yes, what did you pay? The only one I found on ebay was ~79€. I think with all the extra costs I wouldn't have saved a lot. And I wanted the i7-2820 cpu. With that I would certainly have paid almost 2000€ for the laptop alone as well. And the american power supply doesn't have a grounding conductor..

 

No. And I don't need any because I so very much hate it for programming.
I worked only with english keyboards since around ~2000.

I doubt it. And keep in mind, not everybody is a student

The power supply has everything it needs for international operation, including a Schuko. And even if it's not included, it costs like 5 Euros.

 

I'm not a student either, but I work at a university.. maybe I would have saved a few bucks, who knows.

Regarding Schuko:
http://msinetpub.vo.llnwd.net/d1/keithcombs/blog/images/w520/brick_bottom.jpg
There's only two pins. But of course it doesn't really matter.

 

I ordered on April 18th with the same estimated ship date of May 11th, with the color sensor. Received a shipment confirmation today via email.. My online status hasn't changed online though...

 

I ordered on 4/18 too but no update yet. Jealous

 

Orderred yesterday now the waiting game begins

estimated ship date 4/5/11

 

Thors.Hammer: Where are you getting your information? I own the W520, and have tried to drive more than two external monitors, and have failed. Also, the documentation I linked to does not support your statement.

 

All my monitors have DVI connectors. But there are only two DVI connectors on the dock. I am able to drive only two external monitors plus the laptop screen at the same time, exactly as documented and illustrated in the link I provided from Lenovo. When I attempted to attach a third external monitor using the VGA port on the dock or the VGA port on the side of the laptop, it didn't work. If I got the VGA-connected monitor to come on, one of the DVI monitors shut off.

I suppose I am assuming I cannot use both the DVI and the neighboring DisplayPort adapter at the same time. I don't have any DisplayPort monitors.

 

Hallo, there is a cheaper Core i7-2620M 4MB L3 Cache + 512KB L2 option for the W520,
my question: can i later upgrade to a Core i7-2720QM ?

many thanks from vienna