Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Before 1.26, it would go down to a minimum of roughly 3000 RPM, and stay there until the CPU hits like 60 ~ 70C.

 

That was from last night but the initial benchmarks were about the same. I haven't done much with it since I restored it. I guess I will try the firmware update. I would imaging that this firmware update cannot be applied to the drive while running the os?

 

Hey Guys,

i just got off the chat with a lenovo rep and was quoted for the w520 with 3 yr onsite and 3 year tpp. the price was 2061.62 and it seems kind of high but i assumed its due to the warranty and the fact that all the deals they were giving before have disappeared as they were probably promotional tools. Anyways let me know if you guys think this would be a good buy, the rep told me that he gave me a 22% discount so....but i don't know if it is a good buy for the price. I know the pricing differs by country but i am in Canada and we generally tend to be a bit high. The specs are:

Intel Core i7-2720QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3,1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
15.6" FHD (1920x1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
Colour sensor
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
720p HD Camera with Microphone
Internal RAID - Not Enabled
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Express Card Slot, 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery
170W Slim AC Adapter - North America, Latin America (2pin)
Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
3Yr Onsite Warranty + 3Yr ThinkPad Protection

i am planning on upgrading the RAM right away and the HDD possibly down the road

 

I am running 1.25, where can I donwload 1.26? (And does it work with EU models?)

 

That system without the extended warranty should be around $1520-ish. Is the price before or after tax? I got the system in my signature for $1091.30 during the Easter sale in Canada.

 

Hi guys,

I'm not in the U.S. but have a friend who can help get it for me and shipped over here. I've seen plenty of people here getting their Thinkpads below the web price on the lenovo website, how is that possible? If anyone could share how talking to a sales rep directly would get a better discount then I'm all ears!

 

It should be on the US site, and it should work with all W520's.

 

if you do too many benchmarks you can get throttling on the drive. the ocz forums mention that in a lot of places. i would use the linux iso to do the fw update. you may have to do it on another machine. i never could get the w520 to sleep properly with the linux iso. i did the update with my old t61p. there is a new link to the iso on the forum. if that doesn't give you the speed you are looking for i would se the drive and reload the firmware. the safest bet would be to se the drive first then do the fw update then reload your os. it would probably work fine if you reload an image as well. once you flash the fw you will not be able to reflash the same fw on that drive. if you've done enough benchmarks to throttle the drive updating the fw without a se will probably not fix it

 

The warranty was quoted for $479 so i guess the price does come around to 1520 ish. the quote i assume is before taxes. Now if i were to buy the system i need it by tomorrow as i will be travelling starting monday. i found a local spot where i can pick it up tomorrow. It is almost the same price before taxes but the warranty takes a kick. if i still want the accidental protection warranty i have to pay an additional $150. the quote for that was


Intel Core i7-2720QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3,1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
15.6" FHD (1920x1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
- No color sensor on this one
- updated to 16 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory rather than 4
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
720p HD Camera with Microphone
Internal RAID - Not Enabled
- updated to 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm rather than 320
Express Card Slot, 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery
170W Slim AC Adapter - North America, Latin America (2pin)
Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN

so the quote was as follows:

the system for $1964.99, 4 modules of 4gb ram for $155, 3 year thinkpad protection added to the 3 year depot protection for $150. the subtotal comes out to $2273 and the total to $2570. the only benefit is that i can pick it up tomorrow. Is this type of money worth is for this system? i can hardly justify it but what do you guys think? also is on site service convenient? because that can be added on for $70

 

btw i am still undecided between the quadro 1000m and 2000m i cannot get any decent comparisons that i understand as i am not too familiar with gpus but i see that you have a 1000m, how well does that work with 3d modelling with autocad for engineering purposes and also solid works. Also how well does it handle the occasional games such as SCII

 

I am in the process of the downloading the linux iso currently. What do you mean by "se the drive" sorry I don't have a ton of linux background. I am basically going to follow these directions:

Guide OCZ-SandForce Linux based firmware update tool

My plan thusfar is:
1.) Image Current Drive (Acronis)
2.) Make Acronis Thumb Boot Drive w/ #1 Thumb Drive.
3.) Make Linux Ubuntu Thumb Boot Drive w/ #2 Thumb Drive.
4.) Add OCZ fwupd_v2.12.04 to Linux Thumb Boot Drive.
5.) Boot Into Ubuntu.
6.) SE OCZ Drive <-------------- What is this?
7.) Update OCZ Firmware In Ubuntu.
8.) Restore Onto Updated Current Drive (Acronis)

Any other ideas? These steps look good?

Thanks again for your prompt responses.

 

Secure Erase?
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/ATA_Secure_Erase

 

Where are you guys finding this US sight? All I can find is:
Drivers and software - ThinkPad T420, T420i, T420s, T420si, T520, T520i and W520

Which lists the BIOS for the W520 as 1.25, not 1.26.

 

yep. sorry about that. if you secure erase before you do the firmware update you will probably have better results but you will also have to reload the os. if you can image your drive beforehand you will save yourself some work if you have a lot of programs. if you don't have much loaded yet i'd do a clean install of windows and then you'll know everything is set up correctly

 

Ugh guys, comon, I don't mean to be an a$$ and I know this thread is huge, but you gotta at least TRY! The BIOS question was just asked and answered yesterday..... again.

 

BIOS here
BIOS text

 

I'm not really sure for 3D modelling and engineering stuff, as I'll be starting university in September, but it works well for SCII. I can run SCII at native resolution on Ultra settings for the most part.

 

No worries. I got my image and I will post back with my results. Thanks again!

 

Bootable Tools for OCZ Vertex2/3, Agility2/3, Solid3, Revo, and Ibis SSD's

I followed everything from here but to no avail on increasing the speed of the drive. RMA requested.

 

In which part exactly did you fail? I got my Agility 3 120GB today and followed those instructions since the Windows based solution didn't seem to work at all...
Only exception I made was to burn the ISO to CD.

-Aleksi

 

Everything works from the link. My reply goes back a bit but my Vertex 3 MI is getting terrible speeds and I have done the reccomended changes but to no avail (Reinstall, re-image, fw update, secure erase...).

-Ian

 

Ahh, my bad... I actually have the same problem with my Agility 3. Tested my read and write speeds and those were somewhere round 200...
Of course it's much better than with HDD, but I was promised speeds around 500, so yes, I'm disappointed for now. Hopefully someone will come up with a solution of some kind...

 

Thanks. I'll put this on it once I get my laptop back. I've still yet to find where they link to the BIOS, just links that proves it exists on their server.

I ordered the Wenger Pegasus 17" backpack, if anyone is interested I'll post about what I think of it once it arrives.

 

I got my laptop yesterday. Everything works great. Bought it from Ebay for $300 shipped, brand new. Upgraded my Ram to 16GB (I love me some Newegg). FHD screen is just beautiful...so worth it.

edit: I meant to say $1300, not $300.

 

that's probably your best bet. those guys are pretty good to deal with. i started out with a v3 and an update from lenovo (bluetooth) wiped my drive. that was about the time a new fw update dropped so i se'd and loaded the new fw before i reloaded my image. big mistake. blue screens and stutters. never got it right. finally returned the drive and installed an intel 510. the ocz was giving me reads over 500 and writes in the 280"s. the intel is not as fast but it's been rock solid. something i have to have because it's a business laptop.

 

Unless I misread, you got a brand new W520 for $300? That has got to be the bargain of the century.

 

LOL...typo. $1300 is what I mean.

 

I have the 2720QM, 8gb ram. I get 7-8.5 hrs battery life with ~9/15 brightness. The main factor I have noticed is that this is with the factory install. A clean install I tried didn't get anywhere near this. I tried many tweaks - the only remaining thing to try was the WiFi reg tweak, but it didn't seem to be available on the support download site.

 

I have a factory install as well..it seems also when I make changes in power management that to get the settings to truly take place I have to do a restart after I apply and then everything seems to work with that I put the power to...or maybe I'm not waiting long enough to see the settings truly take place even though I've waited for about 10minutes...


A totally different topic now. I've installed VMWare workstation and trying to install fedora on my machine...quick question since I have never used vmware...Do I need to install Fedora on a partition then open into vmware or do I just open vmware and let it do the installing from the cd...cause I noticed when I do it that way it locks the cd bay like its using it for the operating system instead of installing on my hard disk so I can remove the cd...VERY new to linux and vmware by the way. Thanks in advance to someone more knowledgeable than me.

 

VMWare (and other solutions) will sometimes take control over some parts of your hardware, such as the ODD. Reason behind what you're experiencing is that fundamentally, only one operating system is allowed low-level hardware access to a device at a time (either Windows, or Fedora in your VM. Can't be both). If you need the ODD for Windows, you could go into the drop down menu with all the devices and release the ODD that way (sorry, I haven't used VMWare Workstation for awhile).

 

Anyone know what can make system update go "system update is not responding..." I have tried to reinstall it but dont help, I just installed win 7 x64 on my ssd and cant get autoupdate to work

edit works now.

 

There is a NEW Lenovo Support - Download Drivers and Software - page:

Lenovo Support - Download Drivers and Software (US)

I don't like the usability of the new page as well as the old one.

Has anyone figured out a way to
a) see all updates on one page?
b) only see the recent updates ?

 

Soon to be W520 lenovo owner here....

Has anyone got any experience of the relative benefits of the 2720 vs 2820 processor with regards to Virtualisation? I know secondary SSD for hte VMs is key to performance but not sure if I'd be better going up from the 2720 or not....

Current shopping spec below is coming in at just over £2K so any further increase will need some justification

Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3)1
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA Quadro 1000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
128 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA4
DVD recordable multiburner5
9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++

+ ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III which will take a second SSD - probably Crucal M

 

New additional 10% savings on W520, together with barnes & nobles gold = interesting offer!

if you can bargain some more with a sales rep, it seems to be an outstanding deal!!!

 

Good evening
Once again I need your help I'm having some troubles with the screen calibration. I'm using the PANTONE color calibrator that I found on the machine but the results are not that good. Whatever combo I choose, the screen gets too red or too blue. Do you have any advice? Are there alternative programs that work better? Should I use any particular background image to help the color calibration?
Thanks!

 

+1

Totally agree. The new website design is very complicated, compared with the old way, which was very simple and straightforward. It's like Windows 7 is far more complex, convoluted, and unnecessarily complicated compared with Windows XP. Things that used to be out front for easy viewing are now buried deep down, so one is forced to mount a drilling expedition just to find what they are looking for.


/rant off

 

I am very disappoointed with the microphone, I thought that now I got duel mics it would make my voice clear, but I get massive complaints on Ventrilo, and it dont matter if I connect a 3. party mic to my docking station or use the inbuild ones, its bad nomatter what, if I use a 3. party soundcard everything is fine, and this issue persisted after a format c:

 

Use a headset. For a good cheap headset, see Microsoft Headset: LifeChat LX-3000 | Microsoft Hardware. They are available nearly everywhere here in the USA.

Wait until you actually use Windows 7 for over a year and try to go back and use XP again. They you'll find it's the opposite.

The new website design at support.lenovo.com sucks.

Save the money on the CPU and go with the 2720. Spend the money on memory and disk or SSD instead.

 

Yea, this is for a development machine. I had used OCZ in the past and was hoping that some of these types of issues had been resolved. My old SSD is an Intel one and it is nothing but rock solid. I may also pick up an OWC Mercury Extreme Pro to test out too because they have a better warranty and I have heard good things about them.

 

I wouldn't buy the RAM from Lenovo, they really overcharge you for it.

 

I've just checked Lenovo website and realized that it's available the bios Ver 1.26 (I have installed 1.25) I read the specs and appears this:
- Fixed an issue where the Turbo Boost function did not work on some processors when working by the AC adapter.
Does anyone installed and confirm that the Turbo boost issue has been fixed?
My configuration

W520 Intel Core i7-2720QM
nVIDIA Quadro 2000M (GF106M)
12 Gb (2x4Gb G.Skill PC10600) + (1x4Gb Original Samsung PC10600)
HDD 500 Gb
Bios Ver 1.25

Thank you

 

Yes, spend your spare money on SSDs, rather than on the 2820 processor upgrade.
If you are thinking about 2 SSDs you may want to put them in RAID. If so, you should order a W520 with RAID controller on the motherboard - it can't be added later.

 

OK, I'll give Win7 a reprieve from the dog house. I've only just messed a bit with it on my son's new computer, so I don't really know it well.


But I do hope lenovo fixes their support site. It is miserable compared to the way it used to be.


OOTM

 

RAM, hard drives/ssds, and other add-ons are like wine at a restaurant: seems to be where the house makes a lot/most of their profit.

 

I've noticed a relatively long delay in reconnecting to my wireless network after waking up from sleep. My Acer netbook and T61 are connected by the time I've logged in. My W520 takes an additional 10 seconds or more. Anyone know of a fix?

 

The BN and the 10% discount were too much to pass up. Finally, getting a new laptop. Can't wait to get it and install my SSD.

 

I guess it depends on how you define fixed... I can say that TurboBoost works fully when the machine is connected via AC. I believe TurboBoost is disabled and SpeedStep is crippled when on battery and graphics is set to discrete. If graphics is set to Optimus or integrated then SpeedStep works fine on battery, but TurboBoost I am not sure of.

 

What RAID controller do they use? I thought it was just Intel Matrix (software). IMO it's better to get SSD+HDD than SSD in RAID though.

 

I second this. The speed advantages of a single SSD outweigh any RAIDed HDDs, especially with a good SATAIII SSD.

 

Been a while. What was the final price/specs? I'm still trying to decide if I want to pick one up.