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    Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by zacharyp, Mar 31, 2011.

  1. Periklis_Pap

    Periklis_Pap Notebook Consultant

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    Yes but with the warranty (and I want that) it is around 1780. Also I thought of upgrading the RAM by myself but then I thought that if a problems occurs that involves the RAM the tech guy will be out of my door ready to fix it and I will have to wait for half the RAM from newegg :S
     
  2. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    A 4GB module is around $30. You are paying like $100 extra for it.
     
  3. Periklis_Pap

    Periklis_Pap Notebook Consultant

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    good point :D
     
  4. owler_OZ

    owler_OZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    What are the exact tech specs for the RAM (I know you have to keep some sort of clock speed in mind for compatibility?)
    Also, where did you see the RAM for $30? Can you provide a link please.

    Thanks.
     
  5. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    DDR3 1333, timings 9-9-9-24. They have been on sale for $30, and I have no doubts that they will be on sale again.
     
  6. sgt_deacon

    sgt_deacon Notebook Consultant

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  7. Stark Raving

    Stark Raving Notebook Enthusiast

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  8. Bill Nye

    Bill Nye Know Nothing

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    This is definitely a repost, but maybe I'd get better results here.

    Does anyone here also own/have owned either a MBP 15 or a Dell XPS M1530? If so, can you put up a side by side picture with the W520?
     
  9. frozenlandscapes

    frozenlandscapes Notebook Guru

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    I don't, but this link might help
    Sized Up: xps 15 vs m14x vs w520 vs MacBook Pro
     
  10. jfh3

    jfh3 Notebook Enthusiast

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  11. cpslo15

    cpslo15 Newbie

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  12. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    I have the exact setup you're planning (1 dimm stock, 2 Mushkin model 996647) and I have no compatibility issues whatsoever.
     
  13. drunckenmonkee

    drunckenmonkee Notebook Consultant

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    it shouldn't cause any problems except that all your memory will run at the same speed of your slowest RAM. since you have 3 sticks of ram, make sure you install them in the proper slots. i don't have that information readily available but i'm sure some of the other guys on the board can tell you.
     
  14. Mech0z

    Mech0z Notebook Evangelist

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    Is the face recognition considered safe? The W520 has a high quality cam I suppose that increases the safeness of it? Just how safe it is compared to fingerprint
     
  15. cpslo15

    cpslo15 Newbie

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    Great! Thanks a lot. What slots did you install the Mushkin in?
     
  16. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    Hello again :)
    I have another question about this machine and the lenovo power control.
    In the lenovo power management there is an option called "Lenovo Turbo Boost+" that is a sort of a fan speed control.
    How does this work?
    If I keep it off, the fan is incredibly quite but if I put this thing on, the fan starts kicking pretty good even if the system is in idle.
    Is there anyway to setup this feature?
    Or should I have to manually turn this on and off every time I'm going to do something CPU intensive?
    Thanks!
     
  17. vandenkj

    vandenkj Notebook Enthusiast

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    I own both a W520 and a 2009 Macbook Pro. The size is roughly the same except for the thickness. However, thinner is not always better.The Macbook Pro is indeed thinner and because of this it gets too hot to keep on my lap sometimes. The W520 is thicker, and it never gets overly hot on the bottom when it is on my lap. The W520 has much better cooling because of it's increased thickness.

    I will also add the FHD screen on the W520 is slightly better than the Macbook Pro 2009 in my opinion.

    Later versions of the Macbook Pro use Sandy Bridge, so maybe they run cooler now.
     
  18. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    I'm sorry but I need even more help ehehe.
    I'm plugged (without the battery) and, in power manager I have GPU to 100% and CPU only to 34%. Whatever I do the cpu is stuck at 34% :(
    Any hint?
    Thanks!
     
  19. infinus

    infinus Notebook Evangelist

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    Make sure you have the newest 1.26 bios. Also, the fans will kick up to the lenovo turbo boost+ speed once the CPU gets hot enough. In my opinion however it does wait a little too long to kick up to that speed.
     
  20. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    I have bios 1.26
    the CPU is stuck at 34% and the fa istant-kick pretty high as soon as I activate the lenovo turbo boost+ (even if the CPU is pretty cool).
    Do you think something is wrong here?
     
  21. infinus

    infinus Notebook Evangelist

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    No, that's what it's supposed to do, kick the fans high early. The fans will go that high automatically once the CPU is hot enough without clicking that button.

    Try resetting your machine. Shut it down, unplug it, pull the battery, press the power button 10 times, battery back in, plug it in, boot it up then see what you get for cpu percentage.

    Are you on max performance for your power plan?
     
  22. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    It worked, thank you very much :D
    One last question, this means that I MUST have the battery in when I boot the system?
    I don't really like to keep the battery in when I'm plugged :( is there any way to safely remove the buttery after the system is turned on?
    Thanks!
     
  23. Mylbee

    Mylbee Notebook Enthusiast

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    You can safely unplug your battery simply taking it away while you have power supply connected.

    -Aleksi
     
  24. Dharmaraja

    Dharmaraja Notebook Consultant

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  25. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    Lenovo Turbo Boost+ just keeps the fans at max RPM so the CPU gets maximum cooling, always, and so Turbo Boost will be enabled for a longer period of time. Or at least, that's how the theory goes.

    Quad core W520's are known for throttling down to 800MHz without the battery. My dual core W520 works fine, though.
     
  26. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    It seems that I have to repeat this procedure EVERYTIME I plug/unplug or if I turn on the machine without the battery :/ otherwise the CPU will get stuck at 34% That is pretty sad
     
  27. sgt_deacon

    sgt_deacon Notebook Consultant

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    Mine shipped today as well. Does anyone know if this means that it is in China or if it is in the states?
     
  28. Stark Raving

    Stark Raving Notebook Enthusiast

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    Mine shipped today, too. I believe they all start in China, and then spend some quality time in Kentucky. I'm not sure if that's for everyone or just certain regions. I'm in Washington, so we'll see how long it takes to get here. Where is yours going?
     
  29. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    All of them start in China.
     
  30. sgt_deacon

    sgt_deacon Notebook Consultant

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    Rhode Island so I assume we'll get them around the same time, I might get it a day later though.
     
  31. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    I have both sticks on the bottom of the laptop (Slots 1 and 3) and the original Samsung stick in Slot 0. It's not the proper way to do it for the best performance (you should pair by brands as well as memory type, so the Mushkins should be Slot 0/1, and Samsung in 3), but I'm too lazy to change it and as I said, I'm fine with it.
     
  32. Out of the Maelstrom

    Out of the Maelstrom Notebook Evangelist

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    You really do not need to run your computer with the battery removed. It is some kind of wives' tale that the battery will die if you run the computer with the battery in the machine. It won't. I am still using as my daily machine a T60p for more than 5 years with the same battery it shipped with. That battery is still holding 74% of its original charge capacity. Not bad for a 5 yr old battery in constant use, always in the machine. I seldom run on battery. I use the Power Manager advanced option to automatically adjust charging of the battery to maximize its life. PM does what it says it does. 5+ years on the same battery, plugged in 95% of the time with battery in the machine. ;)
     
  33. infinus

    infinus Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, what out of the maelstrom said it correct. No need to unplug the battery. It doesn't trickle charge or continuously top it up. Lenovo Power Manager does a good enough job of managing the battery.
     
  34. liveify

    liveify Notebook Enthusiast

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    Mine shipped today as well! Can't wait
     
  35. Chris123NT

    Chris123NT Notebook Guru

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    Mine shipped today as well, can't wait to get it :)
     
  36. halobox

    halobox Notebook Deity

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    FYI,

    Somewhere on this forum is a shipping thread for the W520. The owners thread is for technical question/answer, discussion, issues.

    Please take the shipping discussions elsewhere.

    Thanks
     
  37. cpslo15

    cpslo15 Newbie

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    Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate it. They didn't end up coming today, but hopefully tomorrow. I'll probably just take the lazy way as well when I install them and not remove the keyboard.
     
  38. kuja01

    kuja01 Notebook Guru

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    Thank you very much! That is really good to know :)
    I believe this solves every issue :D I will take a look as soon as I hve couple of minute (I will ask for you help again if needed ahah thank you!)
    The machine is great and the screen is AMAZING, I never had such a good screen. I'm just spending some time with the calibration.
     
  39. dimm0k

    dimm0k Notebook Consultant

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    Hottest temps yet... Ran Starcraft II at Ultra for a couple of games and the temps touched 96 degrees!!
     
  40. vegas3416

    vegas3416 Notebook Guru

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    That's it? That's pretty good coming from a macbook pro 2011 model(me coming from that model)..I just got my w520 and installed windows ultimate, put another 8 gigs and my owc 6g sata iii ssd and in getting some good results..7.9 on the hard drive, 7.6 on CPU..and 6.9 on video card..great machine just getting all the right drivers was fun..still need a little more tweaking and she will be right where I want it. Battery gets good life as well..haven't pushed it but got an easy 4:30 on it..still had quite a bit left before I plugged in to do quite a bit more downloading just because. Have to put a modded office 2010 and adobe cs5 on next ;) (modded..lol) just need to order my bay adapter to put back the original hard drive for storage and I should be done oh and install SC2
     
  41. infinus

    infinus Notebook Evangelist

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    That's the only thing I disagree with Lenovo engineering on. They spin the fans up to 3300-3600rpm and then rely on throttling to control temps (once you are above 95C the machine is throttling to control temps, you may or may not notice it, but the cpu has no turbo boost dialed in and will issue noops to try and cool). The fans can be spun to 4600rpm on this machine. I have tpfancontrol set to take over control from the bios once the temp is passed about 85 and go up to 4600rpm. This keep my temps around 80-85C.

    If this shortens the fan life, so be it, a fan is easy to replace.
     
  42. Out of the Maelstrom

    Out of the Maelstrom Notebook Evangelist

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    No problem. Glad to help. I tried taking my battery out for while, and then I got the nightmares of sudden power outages. Since I'm using a U.S. electrical outlet plug for my power brick, and I have traveled to countries where I need to use a plug converter, sudden breaks in the power were happening too frequently for my sanity. So, I just put the battery back in and decided to trust that Thinkpad's Power Manager would do its job. It has. I don't know much about other brands' power management software, but I believe Thinkpad's power management is top notch. My evidence? A 5+ year old battery still going strong! :)
     
  43. infinus

    infinus Notebook Evangelist

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    Just out of curiosity, what brand does power manager report your battery as? Is it a Panasonic? I've had WAY better luck with those over the Sanyo's. I've also had an LG pack that was decent. I think the LG packs operate at a slightly different voltage though. They used cells that peaks at 4.35volts if I remember right rather than 4.2 volts.
     
  44. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    :eek:
    My temps go up to 86C under SCII on Ultra settings and I thought that was bad! Guess the extra 20W from the 2720QM + 2000M really do add up.

    I get 7 hours quite easily on battery. What are you doing on battery?

    Oh, as another point, besides me not needing the battery for now as my W520 is just sitting on my desk turned off (it is 30C in here, I really don't want to be running a laptop), I leave it out because it is a Sanyo and I've read that they have poor durability.
     
  45. dimm0k

    dimm0k Notebook Consultant

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    Gonna have to look into tpfancontrol as well. Sounds like Lenovo's been causing throttling at any chance they can get! I think I'd rather have the fan crank up a little more than have the CPU throttle. Mind sharing your tpfancontrol.ini?

    Actually run my video on discrete only because of Linux not being able to handle or switch properly, which might be a cause why things are a bit worse on my end. Then again I don't know if Optimus would switch to integrated at all while in SCII. Are you running any sort of fan control on your end?
     
  46. Boxytheboxed

    Boxytheboxed Notebook Guru

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    If anyone could PM me the name of a good rep to order my W520 from, that would be much appreciated. I know theres also some sort of Barnes and Noble discount, if anyone has more info on that, it I would be eternally grateful.
     
  47. sgt_deacon

    sgt_deacon Notebook Consultant

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    Go to this website create an account and then log in:

    Lenovo - Barnes and Noble Gold


    So I'm considering partitioning the drive that I got with my W520, one partition for the OS and one for data/programs. Anyone know a good size for a Win7 partition? I haven't decided if I am actually going to do it, it seems like a lot of work for a small reward. However it would make reformatting a lot easier if I decide to.
     
  48. kirayamato26

    kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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    I believe that Optimus doesn't work THAT well at switching between GPUs, as in, it only switches on window switch and whatnot. I'm not running any kind of fan control besides the BIOS.

    The noise could drive people around you insane, though, and your laptop might suffer irreparable physical damage. :p
     
  49. MCheiron

    MCheiron Newbie

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    Hi,

    I am super excited. On Sunday (7/17), I ordered my new W520 (FHD, NVQ 1000M, Intel N-6300, everything else in standard configuration) and it shipped yesterday from China (7/21). It was about time since my T61p is getting old. Thanks for all your great comments here, which convinced me to go with a Thinkpad again. I also ordered the Intel 310 mSATA and will have a couple of fun days installing everything.

    Do you have any tips, how I should start?

    Thanks!
     
  50. pkincy

    pkincy Notebook Evangelist

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    You don't say what size you have but I don't think I would go below 80 GB and I also would put the OS and programs on the same partition and data and files on the other.
     
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