Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

I wonder what the battery life on that is...

 

I am about to purchase this system and would appreciate some advice:

Intel Core i7-2820QM Processor (2.30GHz, 8MB L3)1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 6412
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader
Dual RAID HDDs, 500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
RAID via Bay Adapter5
9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++60
Bluetooth 3.0
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)10
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable65
4270 : 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7

I will be running the dual 500gb drives as a RAID 1 system to prevent data loss. Down the road when SSD have gotten cheaper I will likely replace the HDs with SSDs. I would like to get three years of use out of the computer for all around use including some photo and video-editing as well as some light gaming and watching blu-ray videos at full resolution.

Does this seem like a reasonable system or would someone recommend any changes?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

Im looking for a laptop for film editing, some gaming, computer programming (java, game design, etc.), and college work. Would the W520 be overkill for that becasue I'm also considering the Dell XPS 15 or the Sager 5160. Mainly, form what i've read, I like how durable it seems (planning on keeping this for a good 4-5 years) and how great the battery life is (the dell and the sager only get 3-4 hours with standard work and 2 on intensive stuff).

 

Are you planning to install a BluRay drive yourself?

You might want to look for a model that comes with a 3-year warranty or upgrade the one on this model for a full 3 years.

 

I just checked out my local best buy store today just to make some comparisons in screen resolution, and I feel like the 900p screen is already pretty small and has more than enough work space. The store I checked actually didn't have any 1080p laptops, but I'm a little unsure whether if I want to spend the extra $200 on a 1080p screen if I'm just going to decrease the resolution.

Although I've used my parents laptops numerous times, this will actually be the first laptop I will own. I've mainly been using a desktop with a 1650 by 1050 22" monitor for the past couple of years. What do you guys think? Should I get the FHD screen or the HD+ screen? :s

 

Your system looks fine. It's a matter of preferences.

* The cost of a added the i7-2820QM over the i7-2720QM for a measly 0.1Ghz is not worth the cost.

* I'd rather you got 1 4GB DIMM and upgraded using all the memory kits we've posted in this thread. On sale, you should be able to buy another 12GB of RAM (3 4GB modules) for a little over $100 for a total of 16GB of RAM.

* If you must spent the difference in cash, then I'd put into an on-site warranty. With a Depot warranty you'll have to mail in your notebook for any repairs which means you lose 7 days of work. If you have a backup machine that might not be as big of a deal but for some of us losing a primary laptop at an inopportune (traveling, etc.) time can be disastrous.

* Or you could spend the money you'd save by getting an Intel 80GB mSATA drive for a bit of extra performance until you buy those SSD replacements.

* Finally, pickup a Panasonic UJ-242 blu-ray burner for less than $200 on eBay.

Those are only my preferences... if you're happy with how it's configured then go ahead and buy it. Also, I'd call in. Chances are you can get a 3 year on-site warranty and ThinkPad Protection thrown in for free like I did.

Thanks for sharing. The other option people have for quad-display is picking up a Matrox DualHead2Go but that is a more costly option. The benefit is that people won't see the performance penalty of a USB display adapter. The downside is it's almost 3x more expensive.

It sounds like the W520 will be overkill if it weren't for you mention gaming. Why don't you price out the XPS 15, Sager, W520, and also a T520 with integrated graphics? The IGP is no slouch especially for the kind of work you seem to be doing except gaming but check out benchmarks of the IGP. The benefit is the battery life on the T520 is a bit better than the W520. However, if you plan on running games then the extra power of a discrete graphics card will help.

 

I am backing up my blurays discs on hard drives and will be watching the back-ups on the Thinkpad. Alternatively, does anyone know of a bluray drive for the W520?

As far as warranty I am using an AMEX which doubles the 1 year warranty and will take my chances after that.

 

Thanks for all the advice. The reason why I am planing to buy the system online is that with my shareholder access and an additional 10% discount (USPTHINK48HR) the system as configured comes out to $2100 which seems pretty reasonable.

 

Does anyone know of a source other than Newegg for the Intel 310 Series (Soda Creek) SSDMAEMC080G2C1 mSATA 80GB mSATA drive?

I don't understand why this drive seems to be exclusive to Newegg.

 

Life time waranty... eur, for the user that is.

 

Can anyone tell me how long the 9 cell battery lasts while using the W520 to surf on WLAN or in Word (i.e. taking notes)? I saw Keith's 6.5 ~ 7 hours, but I was wondering if anyone else had any information. Thank you.

 

@arlcrane You could go here. (PROVANTAGE)

 

Call in, configure the system, give them the coupon code, and then tell them you're a shareholder for the discount. At that point, ask them what else they can do. They'll probably still find a way to throw in something for free or get an additional discount.

If it wasn't clear... others got the shareholder discount over the phone but it's your money so do what you think is best.

 

Well, I think I'm about done tweaking the install, SSD, boot time, etc. (fwiw, using RapidBoot and using Windows Boot Time Utility to measure the Windows boot, I getting a consistent 13.5 sec boot time).

Now, it's on to getting serious about moving things over from my T61, so my W520 can replace it as my everyday PC. I think I am going to install Office and a few other things on the SSD, but everything else will be installed on the HDD. Likewise, I am going to move the Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos folders to the HDD (as well as my PST file for Outlook). I think I am going to keep the rest of my Users folder on the SSD for now.

Since I did a clean install of Win7 on the SSD, I am curious what others feel are "must have" apps (mainly from my SWTOOLS folder). I went through Device Manager and made sure there are none of the dreaded "Question Mark" devices, but I have not installed anything else from the SWTOOLS.

So what else is worth installing on a clean Win7 install on a W520?

 

I don't know how many accounts and mails do you have, but Outlook on my machine is annoyingly slow, and I cannot wait till I put the whole thing on the SSD. If you have a free space, i would try to put also the PST on the SSD. Just my 0.02.

P.S.: the first thing I always install on a fresh system is firewall and antivirus.

 

Thanks AESdecryption, for the link. Unfortunately, Provantage, like Newegg, is back ordered on the Intel 310 series msata (80 G).......until May 30, they say.

 

15% off coupon: LENOVOVIP
stackable with lenovo.com/student or lenovo.com/visa for extra 5% off.

 

Hi everyone,


I am a grad student and I would like to buy a W520. In this thread a lot of people got really good offers and I was wondering if you could help me a bit with my order and propably give me sone recommendations...

Hereis what I configurated for me onthe lenovo website:

ThinkPad W520 - 1 Yr Depot Topseller Warranty Edit
Processor: Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3) Edit
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Edit
Operating system language: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 English
Display type: 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready Edit
System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory Edit
Color sensor: No Color Sensor Edit
Total memory: 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) Edit
Keyboard: Keyboard US English
Pointing device: UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader Edit
Camera: 720p Camera Edit
Storage subsystem: Internal RAID - Not Enabled Edit
Hard drive: 500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm Edit
Optical device: DVD recordable multiburner
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 4 in 1 Card Reader Edit
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++ Edit
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 170W AC adapter Edit
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0 Edit
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN) Edit
Integrated mobile broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable Edit
Language pack: Language Pack US English
: Fingerprint Reader

Accessories and options:
2YR Onsite + 2YR ThinkPad Protection


Price is 2328 USD. Any suggestions about the configuration?

What do youthink is a price I could negotiate for this?

thank you ver much!

Best,

ben

 

Thanks for that coupon code. Just went ahead and ordered my W520.
Happy Easter!

 

No worries, just use this when you have you laptop next to you:
Amazon.com: Israeli Civilian Gas Mask w/ Nato Filter: Home Improvement

 

Is this coupon code just for today? When is the expiration date of this code?
Thanks!

 

Are you able to switch display gamuts on the W520? Specifically, is there an sRGB and a separate wide gamut (Adobe or proPhoto RGB) choice? Would you be able to profile the display separately in these different gamuts?
Or is it just all one....?

 

Anyone know the difference in outdoor useability between standard X201 Tablet display and W520 FHD?

 

Does anyone know if you order a W520 with RAID if they include the DVD-drive or not? It seems like you are paying quite a premium for the RAID option (when it is a "$0"), if they don't include the drive as well.

And yes, I know you technically shouldn't be able to use it, but it's an academic question. How would they expect you to load software?

 

I have ext Lenovo DVD/RW I can connect to USB. I did not order RAID, I thought I will configue it on my own later. My laptop should arrive on Monday and now I do not know what should I do...

 

Have you thought about using a regular 2.5" SSD instead? You can get a 120GB Sata III drive for close to the same price as the mSata Intel 310,

Newegg.com - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

If you need a regular HDD too, you could put it in an Ultrabay adapter.

Advantages are:
1) more capacity options
2) better performance
3) slightly easier install (keyboard removal not necessary)
4) easy to remove HDD for better battery life in certain situations

 

I want to try mSata SSD too, exclusively for the OS. Do you think that the performance will be OK? I also want to put something like Intel510 to the main HDD bay exclusively for my work files (big graphic files) and then I want to put the standard 500Gig HDD into the ultrabay for multimedia.

OR I can put the OS on Intel510 and buy this Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 128GB 50mm Bulletproof mSATA (Mini SATA PCI-e) SSD - MDMS-50128: Electronics and put work files here, but I know nothing about this drive and also its quite expensive.

The last thing is, if I go by the first way, if Intel510 is not an overkill and for example Intel320 would be enough. What do you think?

 

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this with the CAPEASTERBUNNY as I am Canadian:

ThinkPad W520 - $1091.30 - 1 Yr Depot Topseller Warranty
Ships within 9 bus. days

Intel Core i7-2620M Processor (2.70GHz, 4MB L3,1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.4GHz1
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)12
15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED backlight Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
NVIDIA Quadro 1000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) No Fingerprint Reader
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable5
9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery60
None
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN10
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable65
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty7

Future planned upgrades include:
- Another 4GB Module of RAM when they are on sale
- A SSD when they are mainstream
- A BD burner when they are mainstream
- Maybe a mSATA SSD

Yes, I know the 2620M is a dual core. The same configuration with a 2720QM is about $100 more. For my purposes (will be a computer engineering university student), i.e. note taking, office productivity, and some gaming, a quad core would be overkill anyways. Any comments?

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the mSATA does not support SATA3. So if you are already planning to get an SSD for the main HDD slot, I don't know what the benefit of using the mSATA slot would be unless you really needed that additional 80gb but with that in mind, you might as well go for a slightly larger SSD in your main HDD slot then.

 

I'm not positive about this but I've heard that if you didn't order your laptop with a RAID configuration, there is a good chance that you cannot activate this later as the non-RAID laptops ship with a different motherboard that doesn't have a RAID controller.

 

you may be able to get a better deal if you check out visaperks.ca and get a quote for your machine then talk to a rep (I can PM my rep as not all reps will do it ask for him (start with chat to get a conversation going) if he can do better then the visaperks price)
I got my quote and my rep knocked some more off it

I noticed the only extra you have is the intel centrino ultimate since the hd+ 1600x900 come default with the quad core

I got the quad core only extras were quadro and intel centrino ultimate for 1275.62 (not including tax) so taking the 225 +tax off for the quadro 2000 and you get your machine for cheaper then your current config

 

Yes, I know, that is why I say that now I do not even know what to do... I think I'll take it. Still STAT III as OS drive will be better then mSATA. In ultrabay I can put 750GB 7200RPM HDD, or 5400RPM 1TB drive.

Thank you for the reply.

 

thats right, maybe put 256 G intel510 will be better solution, even a bit more expensive. Can you do partitions on SSD right?

 

I answered several issues with that configuration here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/7411458-post1106.html

It won't come with a DVD-drive unless you order one. I've had an ultra-portable since 2002-2003 that doesn't have a DVD drive in it. You can use USB sticks, an ISO image mounter, or an external drive to load software.

I'm in the same situation. I'll organize a return on Monday and reorder with the modem and RAID. This holiday weekend has slowed things down a bit since I receiving my system on Thursday. Let me know what you decide to do.

Yes, the CPU on the W520 can be replaced. The 2nd generation i3, i5, i7 systems use the FCPGA998 socket. Not all Core i7 quads support DDR3-1600. The Core i7-2600 series quad core processors only support DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333. The chipset no longer has a memory controller because it is in on the CPU die. FSB is 100Mhz. I wouldn't bank on the future because Intel's Ivy Bridges comes out next and Intel may change the socket. I believe the Core i7-2700 series is worth the cost not only for faster memory and more cache.

If by "micro SSD" you mean an mSATA drive then yes this situation is possible. Whether it's best or not isn't a judgment call I can't make for you.

You will only get 2 DIMM slots versus 4 with the quad cores and only be able to use DDR3-1066 or DDR3-1333 memory with a 2600 series processor. You can read the specs here:

Intel® Core? i7-2620M Processor (4M Cache, 2.70 GHz)

Intel® Core? i7-2720QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)

If you intend to play with virtualization then the extra RAM slots will be helpful. Other than that I think your system is fine for your needs.

SATA3 doesn't really matter for the mSATA slot because that drive won't be able to take advantage of the speed. The benefit of the mSATA slot is low-power, tiny size, and the option to free up the primary and ultrabays for larger drives. In fact, it's quite feasible to run a W520 without a primary bay hard drive and keep the ultrabay empty too. In fact, if I had the integrated graphics version of the T520, then that is the config I'd run for maximum battery benefit.

This is correct. I've confirmed this on my system in addition to that thread on StroageReview I posted earlier.

I'd check the Anandtech benchmarks to be sure but I don't think SATA3 provides as much of a real-world benefit as some make it out to be. 4K performance is what matters the most for that particular usage but, like I've said before, each person should do what makes them happy.

An SSD can do partitions.

 

I thought so too. I tried to set the BIOS of my W520 to RAID, but the option was not available

After much searching, I found out that if you configure your W520 with "RAID not enabled", Lenovo will ship you a unit without the RAID controller hardware.

The W520 Hardware Maintainance Manual (p.137-140) shows that there are different system boards: "with RAID adapter" and "no RAID adapter"

The option "RAID not enabled" on the Lenovo order page is misleading. It should say: "No RAID adapter" just like in the Maintanance Manual.

See: No RAID option in Thinkpad W520 BIOS - Lenovo Community

I guess I'll have to send mine back and order another unit "with RAID configured by Lenovo"

 

WHAT!? A computer engineering student talking about "overkill" with regards to how much power the computer needs?
I didn't know such "overkill" existed!

Also, there's a way to get the quad-core processor on that machine + Windows 7 Professional + Fingerprint reader + Smart card reader for about 50 bucks more. You need to dig for it, but it's mentioned a couple times in this thread.

Just remember that it's got the 128GB SSD selected by default so you'd need to de-select it.

Besides- if you ever need 16(32) GB of RAM, the quad-core board's the one to get since it's got 4 RAM slots instead of 2 on the dual-core board.

 

Most OEMs that ship RAID options ship several options. No RAID, RAID but not configured (single drive), RAID but not configured (2 or more drives), and RAID (configured with multiple drives).

It is difficult to tell what Lenovo's intention was for their CTO configurator, but it needs to be fixed/clarified. Hopefully they will see the value in shipping RAID capable systems, but with a single drive so you can configure it yourself with the drives of your choice.

 

I think there is just one.

 

The Quadro 2000M graphics card specs say that it is capable of delivering up to 2560x1600 resolution. So, I bought a new NEC PA301W monitor, which has a native resolution of 2560x1600. I have that attached to the 170W docking station with a Dual Link DVI-I cable (which I understand is necessary for 2560x1600 resolution) and a 1600x1200 monitor attached to the other DVI port with a Single Link DVI-I cable.

Now, both monitors are displaying a picture that is OK in all respects, except that the maximum resolution I have been able to get on the 2560x1600 monitor is 1680x1050. I tried to set a higher resolution with both the NVidia Control Panel and with the native Windows 7 Screen Resolution window, with no success. The tables just don't go up that far, and setting a customized resolution of 2560x1600 was not accepted.

I assume there is some setting that needs to be changed to get the full 2560x1600 resolution out of the Quadro 2000M graphics card in the W510. I called Lenovo support and no one there had any idea about what to do about this.

Can anyone please provide me with the solution? Thank you.

 

Does anyone know if the pre-configured w520 models (that can be purchased from various resellers) are capable of RAID?

 

I just bought my W520 online.. Estimated ship date of 5/19, which is ridiculous. I wish I had found this thread first! I got a 10% discount with no freebies and thought that was a good deal (LOL). Live and learn.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed. But skimming this whole thread got me worried:

1. I did not bother to opt for Windows XP mode, thinking nothing of it at the time. I plan on re-installing Win7 anyway so I figured it didn't matter. But does this mean that hardware visualization support will be disabled? Is this something that I can turn back on?

2. I did not opt for RAID, as I won't be using it right away and I wanted the DVD drive. But I didn't realize this means they won't put a RAID chip in there at all! I'd like to keep the option for the future... Is there some way to get them to put the RAID chip in, even if it is not (yet) being used?

3. Why are some coming without a modem installed? Seems archaic, but I might actually need it for sending faxes at some point. I'd hate to RMA it over something so silly.

4. Finally, I opted for the HD+ resolution over the FHD. A 1080p resolution in a 15" display will give me eyestrain for sure, and I've never been happy with Windows' higher DPI settings (it usually screws up the size of dialog boxes in the engineering applications I use). BUT, am I reading it right that the FHD display has a higher color gamut and a brighter display? Would the FHD work better than the HD+ outdoors? That would make a difference for me.

Can anyone shed some light on these issues? I'll probably call sales tomorrow after the holiday, but it'd be nice to hear others' experience on these issues.

 

As far as I know the 2560x1600 external resolution is only supported by the displayport.

 

I agree...I thought you were already planning to install a SSD in the primary HDD bay. I guess I didn't understand the point of using the mSATA slot if you weren't going to use raid and already were going to install an SSD in the primary slot. Sorry about that.

 

Thank you. I changed the connection for that monitor to the DisplayPort, and that solved the problem.

 

Will I really need a quad core for anything? I don't plan on doing anything too heavy. I mean, the only reason why I'm even getting a W520 over a T420 is because with the current sale, I feel that a T420 simply isn't worth configuring to over $1500.

I plan on maxing out both DIMMs to get 8GB, I think that's more than enough. With 4GB of RAM on my desktop, I've yet to seriously break 3GB (besides the few programs I was making which ate up all the RAM, don't try storing a lot of 12MP images as strings of RGBA values and have the program keep all of them in memory.)

Yes, indeed, a computer engineering student is.
If you are talking about the FNEPP, I don't want to do it, it feels illegitimate since it is for friends of IBM employees if I understand it correctly. Conversely, with the FNEPP, this configuration is still $95 cheaper than the quad core version. I am a bit concerned about battery life as I want, optimally, more than 8 hours, and I don't know if a quad core will deliver.

 

Maybe you need to install drivers for the monitor?

 

Im not the person to ask when it comes to technical stuff but you likely will be fine. The deal I got was when I called my rep with the offer seeing if they could dobetter then the visaperks offer. I just checked my config and it doesnt seem to be as cheap as before. Turns out my deal was the FNEPP at the time (didnt know i at the time until someone from here pointed it out) but he offered it to me so I took it

 

As I understand it, from benchmarks, the 2620M is as fast as a 740QM overall (faster in <= 2 threads, slightly slower in >= 3). I'll pocket the $100 saved toward a slice battery (if battery life is insufficient) or a new battery (for when this one dies). I'm going to get it ordered after dinner, hopefully it'll arrive soon (Lenovo forecasts 9 business days before shipping).

 

I ordered last tuesday so I am hoping it ships this week