Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Actually, the thread is from this website.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...510-120gb-sata-iii-m17x-r3-2.html#post7354820

 

Well, i got my w520 and my rep was wrong and it didn't come with a modem. I asked her about it and she said the W520 and most of their new models dont come with a modem. Only the laptops manufactured for their business partners have that option. The commercial ones don't.

Anyways I was offered a $50 credit. I'm contemplating if i should take it or not.... not that i have many other options :\

 

Whew! That explains the Intel 510 vs. OCZ Vertex 3 benchmarks!

Reminds me how I used to overtake Porsches with my Toyota in city traffic just by going a steady speed and timing the traffic lights correctly.

7 reasons I have decided to go with Intel:
1. Faster in real-life benchmarks (PCMarkVantage)
2. Does not freeze with the HDD LED light on.
3. Fits in the W520 drive caddy.
4. Likely to be the SSD SATA III choice by Lenovo in the future.
5. Intel's corporate reputation
6. Comes with Intel's SSD Toolbox
7. Intel SSD reliability history

Now if Lenovo can only fix the 30 second warm-boot ( "Thinkvantage Active Protection Sensor diagnostics start") startup delay for SSDs ...

 

You could probably return the laptop without a restocking fee in this case. However, the new deals aren't nearly as good as what you probably got. I'd take the $50 and buy a USB modem if you really need it.

Or, look a few posts back about possibly getting a FRU and installing the built-in modem yourself.

 

I updated the firmware on my c300 to the 007 release and haven't had any warm reboot issues since. (Knock on wood)

 

So as I posted here http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/566338-lenovo-w520-owners-thread-158.html#post7452275, I have used Driver 10.1.0.1008 and now
10.5.0.1007, and the results are beyond suck!
(SImilar results in Crystaldisk)

I am also getting
The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

I win biggest loser for slowest vertex 3!

So, ANY ideas?

Can someone confirm where the LPM patch is? and will that help the timeouts?

I am tired of watching the amber light!

 

Sorry for the two posts.
I am having some really janky results with my UltraNav, and was wondering what other folks experiences are. My specific issue is in one or two finger scrolling, it seems very Jerky, and Jumpy, not smooth at all. There is not a whole lot of tweaking in the control panel, so kind of at a loss.
Seems to take a while to be 'recognized' as a scroll gesture, then is 'herky jerky'.

Using driver 15.2.14.0.

ANy input appreciated.

 

If you even have a sneaking suspicion that there is a problem with the machine itself, get it replaced inside the 21-day limit or prepare for 2+ weeks of hell trying to get them to cut you a break.

 

No, you're not. I don't like owner's threads at all. They just end up being a jumbled mess.

 

I think other people have run into the iastor issue and you need to make some changes to your registry to fix it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/572043-sata-6-gbps-official-word-4.html#post7426953

 

I agree but at the same time I think people put too much emphasis on SSD benchmarks. The real world difference between the latest SSDs is negligible so reliability is more important to me. I mean, can we really tell the difference between 0.5 ms and 1 ms access times? Based on Anandtech, Intel SSDs have a failure rate of 0.5% and all others have a failure rate of 2.5%. Doesn't seem like much but this means Intels are 5 times less likely to fail if their drives continue to exhibit the same reliability.

Has anyone found a solution to the Advanced Protection Sensor diagnostic warm boot issue?

 

Well, I was thinking about Intel as well, and then decided go with Vertex. In this review they test 240GB drives. Those of you, who want buy 120GB drive need to remember, that Intel 120GB and 240GB have big difference in Write speeds. Also couple of days ago Vertex put on the market its new MAX IOPS drives that are much faster in random read/write then regular one that was put on test in review mentioned above. So, just keep it in mind.

 

I have a W520 on order that should arrive this next Monday.

After wading through this thread, I'm starting to question my purchase of the Vertex 3 120 GB Max IOPS drive. It's still wrapped up and in the box, but I am debating between keeping it and hawking it on eBay then buying an Intel 510 instead.

I suppose I'm looking for a few comments/personal experiences specifically related to the W520 to push me one way or the other. Any takers?

I also thought I had read somewhere (perhaps even in this thread) that if I bought the Ultrabay HDD adapter from Lenovo, that it is only capable of handling a 5400 RPM drive. I wanted to confirm that limitation before I pick up a WD Blue vs. the Scorpio Black drive. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance, this thread has been quite helpful so far.

 

The ultrabay adapter absolutely is NOT limited to 5400rpm drives. Even my 5 year old x60 ultrabase adapter accepts sata SSD's and 7200rpm drives, albeit at pata speeds. Rest assured, a new ultrabay adapter will accept any sata drive - the one for my t400/t510 certainly does, as does the x60.

I.e., the physical port on the adapter is sata; it will accept any sata drive (and will fit in the w520 if it is under, I believe, 12.7mm in height); the ultrabay itself accepts sata III >> result >> you're good to go!

 

I would also add, however, that you might still consider getting the 1tb WD Blue drive. When you use an ssd as your main drive, you get used to a silent and vibration-free laptop. Personally, I get annoyed sometimes with the noise/vibration my Scorpio Black 500gb drive generates when it spools up in the ultrabay, and wonder sometimes if a quieter Blue drive would be better. It sounds crazy to get a lower-performance drive on a thoroughbred like a w520, but if you don't need crazy transfer speeds for your ultrabay drive, you might consider something quieter...

 

As I mentioned just above, if you want buy Intel then go with 240GB drive, not 120. Then difference will not be that noticable. 120GB has pure performance as for me. I had Vertex 2 and Intel X-25M and without any tests I could tell that Vertex was much faster in everyday operations. I did not have any issues with any of those. Intel's 510 120GB IOPS are pretty low compare to Vertex 3 120GB MAX IOPS. I bought Vertex 3 (120GB version) for myself. But, if I could spend $550-$600 for SSD then I would consider Intel 510 240GB.

 

Ditto, I just installed Mini Dock Plus Series 3 - 170W , and have the laptop display (1920x1080) and two dell u2410's (1920*1280):

The Nvidia software is a bit flaky, but it eventually worked.

 

How are the external monitors hooked up? DVI, VGA, DP...

 

Thank you for the info regarding the UltraBay port as well as your experience with the Scorpio Black drive. At the end of the day I don't necessarily *need* Black speeds since the drive will mainly be used for bulk storage of images/video/etc. Any real work (video transcoding and the like) will be done on the SSD - after which, the material will be moved to the UltraBay drive. I guess a WD Blue it is!

I honestly can't even remember where I read that little tidbit about 5400 rpm vs 7200 - but the person making the claim was mentioning something about insufficient power on the SATA connection there. I'm glad to know he was wrong.

Having never owned an SSD in the past, anything will be a step up as far as performance is concerned. The 250 GB drive from Intel is outside the budget at the moment, so I would have to go for the 120 GB model. I have had so/so luck with OCZ memory in the past, and I suppose my main concern is reliability. Then again, one of the main reasons I decided to ask was this part of Anandtech's review of the regular Vertex 3 drive regarding TRIM performance:

The OCZ Vertex 3 Review (120GB) - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

While I understand that this is the worst case scenario, the drive will be used to manage a decent amount of incompressible data. I won't be doing it all the time, but the computer will definitely be used for manipulating/resizing images from my D5000 as well as converting full 1080p camcorder video to share with the family.

I'm sure I will be happy - it's just one of those things that gets in your head, making you question whether or not you just blew $320!

 

The statement about delivering modem only for the business partner might be true. I have ordered my model by German reseller notebooksandmore.de - premium equipment (Model NY423GE / 428223G) and got it with modem, I did not even ask for it...

 

I ended up ordering 60Y3207 (modem daughter card) last night. I think I may need to order screws but it looks like it comes with everything else (see attached picture from reseller). Hopefully there is a connector on the laptop motherboard on non-modem equipped machines.

 

I think it really comes down to what you are looking for. If you are planning to deal with considerable amounts of incompressible data, then the sequential performance of the Intel 510 might appeal to you since that is what it appears to be tuned for. Also, for the TRIM performance, I think that the scenario that Anandtech simulated is a very extreme case and unless you expect to fill your SSD completely with incompressible data, you shouldn't have to worry about it. On a side note, I don't think it's recommended to ever fill your SSD 100% with any type of data as this will slow it down considerably.

OCZ seem to be marketed towards enthusiasts with their high max speeds and Intel appears content to market itself to the enterprise demographic by not straying far from what they say you are getting. I don't doubt that OCZ is faster than Intel in many applications but the gap has closed considerably since the X-25M days. I also am not one who likes to tinker with my PC much after I set it up so I don't want to have to deal with higher "maintenance" that might come with an OCZ. If you choose to go Intel, you may very well get a dud as 0.5% is still a pretty high failure rate when they are selling thousands of these things.

Also, regardless of manufacturer, all 120gb SSD will be slower than their 240 gb counterparts.

In the end, if you are worried about buyers remorse and concerned more with everything working properly, you might be better served to go with Intel as the odds of your SSD dying are lower and you are less likely to run into compatibility issues. The sequential performance is better than OCZ in some cases as well.

 

Testing with one DVI and one display port.
will use both display port tonight for production.

 

Can anyone confirm whether the FHD screen is useable outdoors? (Shaded area is fine). I'm coming from an oldish Macbook with glossy screen

Also, I've read the 9 cell protrudes ~1" from the back. Is this in addition to the dimensions listed in Tabook?



Thanks!

 

Would work better if it had sub sections. Lots of the talk in this thread tends to resolve around running SSD's and multiple drives and also lots of talk on the best third party memory to use etc. Even if those two areas had their own sections this thread would be a hell of a lot smaller!

 

Yes to both questions. It works well poolside under an umbrella. And the 9 cell battery sticks out.

 

Damn you are making me jealous

 

About what screen brightness would you say allowed you to view your screen comfortably?

 

Any Canadians in this thread receive their w520. if so could you tell me how long it took from the day it shipped to the day you received it

 

Has anyone done a clean install of Win 7 64bit? I've lost functionality in my ThinkVantage key. Not that I want to use it, but was wondering how to get it working. All the Lenovo software and drivers are installed.

 

Just got my W520 today, put in the HDD caddy and... GAP!!! How disappointing. I've e-mailed my rep to see if there is any way to get the caddy they are putting in the RAID models. I do not want dust and cruft building up inside my hard drive bay.

Has anyone had any luck with generic/other caddies from eBay on the W520 (i.e. with no gap)? If so, I may try to return the Lenovo caddy.

Thanks,
Ben

 

Yes about 20 pages back in this thread.

 

Out of curiosity, what's the part number on your HDD caddy? I ordered one as well, and want to get the return process started now if it will give me the same gap.

On another note, has anyone found an external USB dock for the Ultrabay DVD drive?

 

FRU P/N 43N3429
ASM P/N 43N3428

 

And on that note, could someone who has the RAID caddy that does not leave a gap post the FRU part number for the proper caddy? Thanks in advance!

 

Well that's unfortunate - same P/N here.

I suppose "compatible" and "works properly" mean two different things over at Lenovo.

 

Thanks. So it's about 14.68"x10.65". Need to work out if it'll fit in my bag. I'm hearing too many issues with the X220.

 

The caddy that comes with 'RAID Enabled' W520 should have a different part number / FRU number. Those has a filler on the caddy that closes the gap. But I am not able to find the part number for it.

So anyone that has RAID, can you see if there is a part number on the caddy ??
.

 

Nope - not yet. Apparently it shipped on May 2nd, 2011 - I can't get tracking information either, for - I'm guessing - reasons listed earlier in this thread.

I'm just chilling waiting for it to arrive - I have my 80GB Intel 310 here and an extra 4GB ram. I just ordered some other parts: another 8GB ram, an Intel 510 120GB (probably would have been smarter to just order a 250GB Intel 510 at the start and not bother with the 310, but whatever - I'm not stressed - it's still going to be fast...), and just ordered the Lenovo Ultrabay Caddy III thingy. And - I have already received my my extra 170W power brick!

So, I have a few parts to arrive over the next few days regardless. I'm not sure if I'm going to set up the OS on the 310 or on the 510 drive: probably the 510 and keep all of my key apps there. Then I'll use the 80GB 310 drive for STEAM and similar The 500GB HDD is going in the ultrabay for all the extra stuff.

Just burned an ISO of Win 7 64x Pro - will download the rest of my drivers as well so that I can go to town on this machine when it arrives! Of course, we know how this will go: get OS up and running, then maybe install Office, CAD software and then it will pretty much be STEAM and a few games to start off with!

Edit: Oops - sorry, this should have been posted in the W520 Shipping thread!

 

I got one on eBay for $19 from uq511 and it works fine and is the right size. I believe Volker has the same one.

 

I am about to order this one unless anyone thinks it won't work.

2nd HDD hard drive Caddy For LENOVO Thinkpad T510 W510 | eBay

 

That's the one I also recently purchased and am now waiting to arrive. I bought it based upon Volker's report on it.

 

According to this page it should be 60Y5513 but my RAID-enabled W520 has this line:

1 60Y7204 SBB RAID VIA BAYADAPTER $0.00

I suggest giving Lenovo a call.

 

I ordered this one too. Waiting for it to arrive. But it is 12.7 so, I do not see why there should be a gap.

 

I do not think there will be a gap but I'm not sure it will work at all, since the photo doesn't show the plastic peg sticking out the back.

In terms of giving Lenovo a call -- it's useless. They insist that the 9.5mm caddy is the correct one for the W520. One even says that he thought the gap was normal and by design, and that he'd never heard of a Lenovo HDD caddy that didn't leave a 1/2" gap! But he did offer to RMA the caddy for me if I wanted to.

Also, we should probably move this talk to the dedicated thread to prevent any additional pollution on this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574287-third-party-ultrabay-ebay-wont-work-w520.html

 

You can get the key to launch any executable of your choice by patching the registry as below:

Code:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\TPHOTKEY\8001]
@="c:\\Program Files\\MyProgram\\MyProgram.exe"
"File"="c:\\Program Files\\MyProgram\\MyProgram.exe"

In a similar manner can get Fn+F1,Fn+F10, Fn+F11 etc. to launch something.

 

7-8 calendar days to GTA. Sales rep over the phone can usually give a tracking number.

 

The "original lenovo" 9.5mm ultrabay adapter is a disaster

However a 10cm piece of 0.25" self-adhesive foam weatherstripping tape from home depot fixes all issues. No gap left, black, does not rattle.

 

thanks I live in ottawa so the time should be similar

 

Thanks a lot for the info. I'm in Windsor so I'm hoping for a delivery early next week.