Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

A bit can have a value of either 0 or 1; there are two possible values, hence the 2. You are correct that the 3 is from RGB.

A small correction on terminology, though: the 6, 8, and 10 are bits per channel, not bits per pixel. A pixel is comprised of three channels (one each for R, G, and B). So a screen with 6 bits per channel has 18 (6 bits per channel * 3 channels) bits per pixel. On LCD screens there literally is one pixel per channel, though we generally call them something else instead, like subpixels; but with other display technology that's not necessarily going to be the case.

Incidentally, the fact that the screen will accept 256K distinct values for each pixel does not imply that it can actually represent 256K distinct colors. The next step down -- 5 bits per channel, or 15 bits per pixel -- can only accept 32K distinct values, so a 6bpc display can represent anywhere from 32K to 256K distinct colors. I would expect the actual value to be somewhere near the middle of that range for manufacturing reasons (there's inevitably going to be variability in color faithfulness, which is why Lenovo sells a color sensor; so aim for the middle to ensure your screen is neither too good nor too bad).

 

Just received my w520! I am really happy so far, it shipped about 12 days earlier than estimated (I would attribute it to a low volume around this time of year).
I paid $1440 ($1600 w/tax & shipping) for 2720 and FHD 1080p screen, other components are all stock.

I should preface this by saying that I've never really used a Lenovo computer before, so I have little to no experience with hardware outside of Apple computers. So for those out there who are looking at switching from mac to windows (yes there are a few) here are my observations:

• It's hard to get used to the track-pad, it isn't as responsive and takes a different touch to get right. Scrolling on webpages feels a bit herky jerky. that being said, I'm getting more and more comfortable by the day.
  
• I looked at this screen next to my old 13" macbook and the difference is noticeable. the viewing angles are definitely better, the brightness is comparable and the colors look more true.
  
• I like the w520 keyboard is better than the macbook keyboard, it really is a pleasure to type on.

Everything seems to be working well in terms of hardware, but I do notice that my memory (physical and virtual) usage is consistently around 40-60%. Is this normal?

 

"•It's hard to get used to the track-pad, it isn't as responsive and takes a different touch to get right. Scrolling on webpages feels a bit herky jerky. that being said, I'm getting more and more comfortable by the day."

Most thinkpad users use (and love) the trackpoint, thats Thinkpads trademark as its more precise and easy to use because you dont have to lift between typing.

 

Just got word my w520 just dropped off at the house...Sweet!! Can't wait to get off work. Ordered on the the 11th and got to the house on the 19th..not bad. Will give feedback and maybe post a YouTube video as well. Let me know if you guys want any special pics and ill try to compile it all in a video

 

Did you buy it from Lenovo directly or through a reseller?

 

Memory usage that high in Windows 7 is absolutely normal. Windows 7 likes to store commonly accessed files in memory in order to speed up load times. Don't worry about your memory usage, Windows 7 handles it just fine.

 

Callil- I felt the same about the touchpad, so I went into settings and made it as sensitive as possible. It is now just about perfect (by perfect, I mean the same as on my old computer)

 

A minor issue: when I put the w520 to sleep and close the lid the DVD drive door opens. Googling doesn't come up with much. Any ideas?

Regardless, this thing is a pleasure to use. I should add a broad thanks to the contributors to this thread. It was very helpful in deciding on the purchase.

 

The computer is probably set to eject the Ultrabay media when it goes to sleep. I don't know how you would go about solving it, though.

 

Hello guys Just received my W520, great machine!
I have a couple of problems, actually I'm not on battery but turbo boost is disabled and it seems that the system only uses the Intel GPU and not the Nvidia quadro. What can I do to fix this?
I used the nvidia control panel to set the usage of the nvidia carb but the system still uses the integradet card.
Also, how can I access the bios? I was used to all other pc/notebook where you just have to press "DEL" key at the startup.
This is not working here!
Thanks

 

Any reason to pay 18euros to get the FHD screen checked for dead pixels? Anyone read about anyone having any?

 

You can access the bios by pressing F1 as soon as you see the Thinkpad/Lenovo splash screen. You will then enter the bios after a few seconds.

 

F1 for BIOS, under the Display section, you can toggle which GPU to use. By default, it is on Optimus, which will use the iGPU for everything except intensive 3D apps and stuff that will really benefit from the GPGPU processing power of the dGPU.

 

I have 0 dead pixels on mine, ever since getting it mid-June. I don't think that there's much reason to get the dead-pixel check since, IIRC, most computer companies will honor a repair request after 5 or so dead or stuck pixels, as long as the laptop is under warranty.

 

this is purely an insurance policy. I know most screens do not have dead pixels but there have been some posters who have said that they have dead pixels, which can be quite frustrating if you spend a lot of money on a machine only to find a little black spot in the middle of your screen.

with that said, they don't offer this option for the US (at least not that I'm aware of), but if they did, i'm not sure if i'd get it anyways as i don't think dead pixels are that common. I guess it depends how much that peace of mind is worth to you.

 

Went through lenovo

 

What was the estimated shipping date lenovo gave you when you ordered?

I ordered on the 15th and mine is estimated to ship the 22nd. 7 days later

 

Lucky you! I ordered mine on the 17th and got an estimated ship date of August 1st.

 

Estimated ship date was august 6th

 

Thanks!
What can you tell me about turbo boost?
In the windows performance panel I have only 4,6 for the cpu and 4,2 for the graphic part :O How can it be?

 

Oh wow. If you have the time could you post your config?

 

Sounds like you are suffering from throttling. Is your battery in?

 

Hi!

First of all I have to say this forum has given me a lot especially when considering buying this machine so thank you about that!

I finally received my W520 last Friday. It has been a great laptop this far, just like I expected. I've read many posts considering the throttling issue, but haven't yet figured out if I'm somehow able to check if I'm affected by this problem?

I got worried when I saw my "Windows system classification". CPU got the worst score by 4,6 points which I'm quite surprised cause I have Intel i7-2820QM on board. My old PC with some AMD 4 core processor scored way more, so I think this CPU should have the same and even more to give.

So I rerun the test. Made sure that all settings in "Tinkvantage Power manager" were set to "max". I also triggered the "Lenovo Turbo Boost+". On top of it it says "Intel Turbo Boost Technology support active". On BIOS (ver. 1.25) I've set all properties to "max", I think. Despite all the changes the score remained the same.

Is there something I may have missed? Is there something I could do, check, try, or do I have to wait calmly for a new BIOS update release?

(Some of the text are in quotes because I live in Finland and have my UI in my own language so the translation may not be exactly correct.)

-Aleksi

 

Make sure your battery is in, and if it is, wait for it to finish charging. Use HWInfo64 or CPU-Z to monitor your CPU clock. If it is under, well, the stock speed, it is throttling.

 

Does anyone have any backpack recommendations for this laptop?

I've been looking at this one:
Newegg.com - Wenger Blue COBALT 15.6" Computer Backpack Model GA-7343-06F00

But I am open to first hand accounts / opinions.

 

Oh, by the way, Lenovo released the official 1.26 BIOS here.

As for bags, I'm personally looking for a bag that can fit 17.3" laptops, so there is a good amount of room for a 15.6" laptop to sit in and not rub against anything.

 

Okay! Thanks for the tip! I really was surprised of this thing cause earlier today I was doing some really heavy video rendering with Premiere Pro and it acted out like a charm!
My battery is actually charging for now so we'll see...

Bought yesterday a Wenger Synergy backpack and by far it seems perfect for my purposes.
I'm going to use it primarily on school and it seems large enough for my W520, some cables, power BRICK and probably will carry also my books without a problem!

I had a chance to compare it in store to Cobalt. In my opinion Cobalt seemed also a good backpack but comparing to Synergy it seemed like a cheap copy of it to me. All the materials and so on didn't feel even close as tough in Cobalt compared to Synergy. Synergy is also little larger than Cobalt. Might be a good or not so good thing depending on your needs.
Synergy is a little more expensive but I suggest you to get it if you can afford it!

 

This is another thing I was thinking, is it better to go for a bag meant for 17" laptops or a 15.6" bag?

I'm also considering this bag:

Newegg.com - Wenger 17" PEGASUS Computer Backpack Model GA-7306-06F00

It doesn't seem over bearingly big and a bit of extra room may be nice. thoughts?

Did you find a 15.6 Synergy or did you go for the 15.4 Synergy? I've only been able to find the 15.4 model.

 

Ahh. Who has the best deal on a W520 with FHD right now?

 

Well actually the shop I got it from said 15,4" size on their website, but when I got to store they had the 15,6" size there at the same price.
Thought that maybe Wenger updated it's size to 15,6"? Don't know, and that guess isn't based on any hard evidence.

-Aleksi

 

Alright I'll see if I can find a 15.6 version. I may just go ahead and grab the 17" version that I linked to so I have more room for books/notebooks though.

 

Oh, that Pegasus looks nice. I always like having my bags one size bigger than what I need just for more space. Time to find a Canadian retailer that carries it!

 

Hello everyone,
Just curious what you think of this quote that I got from calling them. I told him that I got a discount through one of my employers and he said he has a better one so here's what was quoted to me.


Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
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 DDR3 - 1333MHz (1 DIMM)
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 Advanced-N 6205 (2x2 AGN)
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable
Services and software
2YR Onsite + 2YR ThinkPad Protection

I was quoted $1955.90 for the configuration above.

Not sure if this is overkill or not. I plan on using it mostly for work. I'll be running solid works and then remote desktop to may main work computer to look at existing drawings and spreadsheets. The occasional game when I have some down time. Wouldn't mind hearing from those of you who are experienced with this.

For some reason it seems like a little much, not sure if I need to insurance. i'm pretty good with my tech. This macbook pro is 6 years old and looks new. Then again, i would like to have some kind of warranty.

 

I got a quote for mine with the FHD, 2000m, 500gb HDD, and the Intel 6300 router for $1555 before taxes and $1666 delivered. Only differences between ours was the warranty and the color sensor.

I purchased mine yesterday and i can't wait to give it a go.

 

Even with the 2720QM processor? That's a really good price. I tried to get my salesperson to stack the 10%discount and he said he couldn't. I'm kinda disappointed.

 

Not sure if this has been answered, but does the 800mhz throttling on battery effect the dual core (2620?) CPU? Or is that just a quad core thing?

 

Mine was $1500 before taxes, $1664 after. Mine's different in that I have the Intel 6300, no color sensor, and Bluetooth 3.0 (though that was a freebie at the time). The 2yr Onsite TPP warranty brought up the total price to $1750-something.

 

Never got stuck at 800 MHz on my 2620M. Though, I do suffer from the throttling on battery issue.

 

Did either of your sales people give you permission to send other people to them for a better price? if so can you send me a PM? I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe i can forgo the color sensor but still that's not a huge savings. everyone seems to have been quoted at least 300 less than I was.

 

The Lenovo recovery partition on the W520 is roughly 16GB in size, with 9.1GB used and 6.7GB free. Is it SAFE to resize this partition and reclaim that 6.7GB of free space? Would it break the rescue and restore process?

 

While it is not a permanent fix, have you looked into the ThrottleStop app? That actually makes everything work! Unfortunately most of my time is spent in Linux where there is no equivalent so Lenovo still needs to get off their and fix this!

 

I haven't tried it, and I have no intention on doing so. I don't really mind the throttling on battery as I don't do anything intensive while on battery anyways. However, it just peeves me that I paid twice what I would've for a CULV class laptop and I'm getting the same, if not worse, performance on battery. I have no doubt that ThrottleStop will work as a workaround to the issue, but the fact remains that Lenovo needs to fix it at the BIOS level.

 

I read in another thread that the 1.28 version of the BIOS was supposed to fix some of the throttling, is that true?

 

Some people here say that 1.26 have fixed their throttling issue, and I am going to try it out over the weekend perhaps.

 

No, the battery is not it. I updated the bios to 1.26 and now I have 7.4 for the CPU and 6.9 for the graphic card! This should be correct, right?
Is there any way to know if the turbo boost is up and running?
Thanks!

 

Huh! I'm kind of relieved now.
I updated my BIOS last night to ver. 1.26. During the night my battery had also charged up. So first thing in the morning I had to rerun the Windows system test again.

Went to Thinkvantage Power manager and set it to full power. Then started the testing and noticed that while the test automatically turns on the basic theme in Windows, my Power manager also gets it's power slider from full to half way! So I quickly re positioned it to it's Full power state and waited for the test to go through.

The result was really satisfying. Other values remained the same, but now CPU got a rate of 7,5 points!
So I don't yet know that which of the things really affected on my gained score, but I know that it's working! At least for now...

-Aleksi

 

I have no doubts that Lenovo will get this fixed. Following the threads on their support forums they've acknowledged that the current bios only partially fixes things. Earlier back when they announced they had found a problem with the code they had explained that it was third party code and that they were working with that vendor for the fix. It can take awhile to go back and forth with another company. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Lenovo engineer (maybe the one that found the issue) that knows how to fix it but they can't due to some legal obligation. I encounter that often, where I'm the one that's found a problem with some code, and I can tell the author of that code exactly what the problem is, but I can't implement the fix. It's tough but if we are patient we'll get a complete fix!

 

The 1.28 BIOS is for the T520.

"The T520 had 2 more revisions than the W520. The 1.28 for the T520 is like the equivalent to the W520's 1.26."

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/595753-official-t520-bios-1-28-thread-2.html#post7722696

 

Hello guys! I have spoken with a rep from Lenovo and he gave me a quote for the following machine of 1.938$ (no taxes)

Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD recordable multiburner
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Bluetooth 3.0
ThinkPad b/g/n
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable
1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller
3Year Priority Onsite + 3Year Accidents

Is the price good? Should I proceed with the order?

 

That looks quite high. Get the stock 4GB instead of 8GB of RAM, will save you a lot of money. As well, upgrading to a better Wifi card may prove to be beneficial. With 4GB of RAM and an Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300, without the extra warranty, it should be about $1500-ish.