Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

You cannot use both. It is one or the other.

 

Hello.

I'm a student and I'm interested in the new W520.

For Example:
ThinkPad University W520 Modell 4282W17
i7-2820QM
FHD
Quadro 2000m and so on.

I need power for my modelling and my calculations, but i also have to use it almost everywhere, during lectures, in libraries ...

So the noise is very important for me, can anybody share his/her experiences.

How is the noise during simple tasks (like office) and how is the noise during the use of CAD-Systems?

Thank you for sharing!

 

While the W520 is a very good machine it will be terrible if you have to move around with it. Why not get a T420 or T420s with discrete graphics.

 

For someone with 600+ posts I'm not sure if you're joking or actively trolling. Either way, for most people here the better discrete GPU is worth the extra pound or two.

 

Does that mean if we have the integrated mobile we can disable it and install the mSATA?

 

I was serious. Come on, it's 6lbs plus the 2lb power adapter. But maybe the performance bump is worth it over the T-series.

 

I don't want to seem as though I'm trolling here so I'll excuse myself from this thread. Was just trying to convey that while the W520 is very powerful, someone considering it that also needs portability should carefully consider whether or not a T model is enough performance wise.

 

Yes you should be able to remove the integrated WWAN card and swap it with the mSATA drive. If you plan to do this then there isn't much point in buying the WWAN card in the first place since the W520 will come pre-wired with the antenna if you want it later.

HAHA! Okay, if you say so! I was pulling you leg so no need to leave.

You bring up a valid point of consideration: weight. I don't know why people fret over a couple pounds here and there. I used to have a tiny 8.58" x 1.16" x 6.97" laptop that weighed 1.99 lbs back in 2003 (8 years ago). It had a Pentium M 1.0Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 40GB drive, 802.11b wireless, 8.9" screen, etc. It was a novelty (for its size and power) at the time. I found myself carrying both my bigger Dell M60 and the tiny laptop whenever I traveled because of the limitations. The 15.4-15.6" range is perfect for a single laptop set up these days based on computing and graphics power. If I went up to one of the 17" workstation laptops then I might consider something like the tiny laptop I had before to complement it for more mobility. I'd end up carrying both. So I come back to the main question: What difference does a few pounds make for people that actually use their laptops to do real work?

On a side note, I paid well over $2700 for that little laptop 8 years ago. Today I paid almost $900 less for a machine that will run circles around it. Amazing, isn't it?

 

My current Notebook is a T500, and in my opinion it isn't heavy. The weight of the T520 and the w520 is the same.

A colleage told me, the NVS4200 isn't a good choice to use 3D-CAD systems like CATIA.

 

Unless you physically can't carry a certain weight, then it is all a judgment call / relative. The bigger the screen, everything else being equal, the better the machine is to use; the smaller the screen, the easier the machine is to carry around. I have carried around a 15/15.4" notebook for 10 years or more. It got heavy, but I loved the machine so much I put up with the weight. But it does add up when you also carry books and other things! If you really want "easy to carry" (they are all "portable"), then I think a 12" or even smaller and without internal DVD drive is much more sense than just going down to a 14" from a 15". The really little beasts can be amazingly able at doing almost everything, and you barely notice their weight at all! With a 15", you never forget them...

 

Anyone with a W520 that can tell if it suffers from CPU whine (My i7 620lm whines which is easy to hear on my X201)

 

Does anyone know if the W520 comes with a "dummy" ultrabay adaptor? If not, what is the part number for this item?

 

Does nobody know yet if DDR3 1600 is supported?

 

I'm coming from a T500, and I never had a problem carrying it around to lectures, library, etc. Guess it's just a personal preference.

 

If you go to lenovo.com/visa and are paying with a visa card, prices are definitely lower (10%), but for some reason, the option-ing is different. This wasn't the case a few days ago and the main site is still the same, so don't know if this is a permanent pricing thing.

 

I'm close to pulling the trigger on a 120gb OCZ Vertex3 SSD drive to replace the 500gb drive in the primary bay. Questions as to whether this drive will work at 6gbps aside, to which there seems to be no definitive answer - how do I get the system up and running on the new blank drive?

 

I actually agree with this. My wife carried around a 15" ThinkPad with the 9 cell battery for years. After I noticed how little she uses battery power, I gave here my T400 and it's flush battery. She loves it. Easier to carry back and forth to work.

There are so many factors to consider. Each person is going to weight those factors differently. That includes how heavy the machine is.

The thin and light machines these days are perfect for many peoples needs. Love traveling with my T410s though I wish it had better battery life. Looking forward to testing a T420s to see how it fares.

Having said all of that, if someone told me I could only have one machine, the W520 would be at the top of my list.

 

I found this article useful:

How To Clone Windows 7 from HDD to SSD;

 

Thanks, I see you have the drive on order from your signature; are you certain there will be no problems running it? I saw this youtube video YouTube - Macbook Pro 15" 2011 - Vertex 3 SSD - Opening 45+ apps at the same time and it's got me excited

 

Lenovo doesn't seem to allow you to order the Quad Core variant of the W520 without the 9cell battery (at least here in Canada), I assume this is because the battery life would be terrible. Can anyone comment on whether they are using a quad core with the 6cell battery and what their battery life is like? Given the 94Wh vs 57Wh ratings I assume it might be 30-40% less battery life?

Also, the additional batteries offered for the W520 order screen don't mention the W520, only the 57Y4185 model that supports the "T410/T510/W510/L412/L512 Series", is that fine?

Is anyone using the 6cell with Quad Core and can give their subjective thoughts? I'm thinking I prefer to carry the laptop without the battery sticking out, and if I can get ~4hrs that might be good enough for me.

 

The W520 fully supports SATA III.
And the OTZ Vertex 3 uniformly gets #1 reviews.
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SATA 3 SSD Review – Conclusions | The SSD Review

I can't see any reason why the #1 laptop and the #1 SSD should not be able to work together. (Maybe I will post a video of opening 45 apps at once on the W520 ;-)

 

I considered this too but all of the specs I've read seem to indicate the 6 cell and the 9 cell weigh the same amount. If that's really true then you are reducing your battery life for something that amounts to a cosmetic change.

If you order the 6 cell and find out the specs are wrong on this, please chime back in.

 

I had 3 W510 machines (2 820QM and 1 920XM) that all had terrible CPU whine.

I have a W520 with the 2820QM with absolutely no CPU whine.

 

My W520 with the 2820QM and 2000M will last about 6 hours on the 9 cell under normal use.

 

@Dauntlessone76008:
you have a W520 with the 2820QM, could you please tell me your experiences with the fan noise, because I'd like to buy the same one?

Turns the fan in idle off? How's the noise? audible, low, constant?

Under stress? Low, changes every now and then?

Thanks!

 

nobody can show real photos of the w520 ?

 

Bing and Google are your friend. See https://picasaweb.google.com/lenovoblogcz/ThinkPadW520#

You might also try searching for "thinkpad w520 review" in google or bing. More photos on the various review sites.

 

While waiting for my W520 to ship, I want to see if I can go ahead and buy the additional 4gb ram I wanted. I don't want to waste the one that came with the laptop. Does anyone know who makes the 4gb card that comes with the laptop or know where to buy it?

 

I am also interested to know about fan noise on W520. My experience say it will make some noise as fan will run at ~2500 rpm with graphics card and powerful cpu. But how loud is question & under what type of stress and room temp.. all matters.

 

I ordered from here:

Computer memory upgrades for Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

 

So apparently the person I chatted with using there chat application just gave me the visa deal which is why it was the same price. He also said he couldnt do anything else. the visaperks offer expires today. Lets hope viaperks has another deal tommorow

Another quick question since ram is usually cheaper elsewhere it would likely be best to just get the standard ram that comes on the machine and then upgrade it right ? Is RAM easy to install on this laptop (I have never done in before)

 

Can someone put up some youtube videos of it running and such like a review.

-games running showing fps
-comparing screens
-cpu noise
-power on speed
-shut down speed
-ultrabay blu-ray substitutes fit; Lenovo's blu-ray is $1,000+ no, thanks.
-etc.

Waiting on mine with the i7 2820QM processor and 2000m graphics.

 

The Core i7-2720 and up definitely support DDR3 1600. Intel's website is great for this info... Intel® Core? i7-2720QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR00W, SR014

What don't have is a field report of someone on the forums testing it out yet.

This site has real pictures too. It's been linked several times in the thread so far.

Yes, get the 4GB SODIMM in 1 slot (not 2 which is the default option) then head over to Crucial.com and order the RAM. The hardware repair manual was linked here several times and it includes easy instructions on how to do the upgrade. Just make sure you're careful, ground yourself, etc.

 

Is there any reason not to get the W520 over the T520 other than weight ? Its studier, about the same price and quadcore is kinda standard.

I get abit heavier powerbrick and a bit less batterylife, anything else?

 

The weight of both should be the same, only the powerbrick is heavier.
Maybe the T520is more quiet, but I don't know.

 

But if I got the quad version the chassis would be thinner and therefore worse at dispersing heat?

 

Did you mix the one that came with the W520 with 1 from crucial? Or did you replace the existing card with all crucial cards?

 

They use the same chassis and have the same dimensions. See http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf for the specs and answers to some of your questions.

 

Realize this thread is for W520 owners but notebookcheck Germany just ran their usual in-depth tests on the T520 (link copied here run through google translate)... looks like the 1600x900 screen has pretty average real world brightness but decent contrast ratios.

Also, it had starcraft II benchmarks:
min - 149 fps
medium - 30 fps
max - 19 fps

W520 tests to come soon...

Google Translate

 

that seems like good news to w520 owners as 30 fps means the starcraft 2 runs okay which means since w520 should be able to run starcraft 2 at decent settings (probably high)

 

This W520 is whisper quiet. Under extreme load the fans are barely noticeable. If you enable "Lenovo Turbo boost" on battery then the fans do run constant but still not anywhere near annoying.

 

I noticed that these pictures provided do not show the Lenovo logo on the oppisite side from the ThinkPad logo on the lid. This Lenovo logo was not on the W510.

 

Does anyone know where I can get an user/tech manual for the W520 (can only find the W510 in the Lenovo site)? After reading the various reviews, I am pretty sure there are 4 memory slots and can take a max of 16 gb but the various memory sellers indicate 2 slots and max of 8 gb. I just want to confirm. Thanks.

 

Here you go:

Lenovo Support - Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad T520, T520i and W520

 

w520 hardware repair manual page 71 and 78

it does have 4 slots

 

If I get a chance tonight or tomorrow, then I'll put together a quick W520 FAQ that summarizes the thread. I won't waste my time if people don't think this will be useful.

 

On the Newegg site where it helps you choose the memory, it lists 4 W520 models: 4270, 4276, 4282, and 4284. Does anyone know what the various models represent? My order has the 4270 and according to Newegg, it has only 2 memory slots.

 

The quad core does have 4 slot, but the dual core only have 2 ram slot.

 

There are 2 slots in the bottom that are empty if you bought 4 GB or less memory.

The 2 slots under the keyboard hold the original stick or sticks.

In my case stick. I have added 2 sticks to the bottom slot. I will add the last extra stick under the keyboard tonite.

Perry

 

The 4270 and 4282 have a dual-core cpu, and two memory slots (up to 2X4GB=8GB).
The 4276 and 4284 have a quad-core cpu, and four memory slots (up to 4X4GB=16GB).