Lenovo W530: Aftermarket Recommendation

Hey Guys,

I'm going to buy a Dock for my Lenovo W530. I was wondering what are the best aftermarket products for the Lenovo W530.

- Want to upgrade the ram to 32GB, so RAM Recommendation
- SSD Recommendation
- 27 inch monitor
- Mouse & Keyboard

 

For RAM, I tried Mushkin RAM. low voltage, cheap and looked nice. Although not very strongly as my laptop is yet to be delivered, just result of my Internet search.
Update:
Also it's recommended in the W530 owners thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/675361-w530-owners-thread-18.html


For SSD, if you are happy to spend money, get Samsung 830. I think that's what Lenovo is using anyway.

If you want something else, then go Sandisk. Seems the closest to the Samsung one, and almost all people who used it are happy.

 

I bought Corsair Vengeance RAM, and it has worked fine for me. And I second the recommendation for the Samsung 830 series SSD. It makes the computer feel as fast as it should be.

 

I would buy a SSD on price. They're all very fast.

 

I buy/recommend SSDs based on reliability. Generally, Intel and Samsung make the most reliable consumer-focused SSDs. After eliminating less reliable SSDs, then I buy/recommend on price and price/performance ratio.

 

SSD: stay away from OCZ. Intel 520/330/320 is the way to go if you travel with the laptop, so that you can get HDD AES encrypted w/o messing with Bitlocker/Truecrypt etc. If you don't care about encryption, or prefer to use a software solution, Crucials and Samsungs are fine too.

Monitor: Dell U2711 is a decent one. There are similar HPs etc, just look for larger than 1920x1080.

Mouse&Keyboard: For me, with W520, the standard Thinkpad USB Keyboard with Trackpoint ( 55Y9053 ) works best, making switching between desktop and laptop use easier. Layout is no longer the same with W530, and Lenovo hasn't updated the USB keyboard, but I'd probably go for the same anyway.

 

For SSDs, I usually buy based on reliability > price > power consumption > performance. The top reliability picks seem to indicate drives that use Intel, Samsung, and Marvell controllers: so basically, Intel (minus the SandForce drives), Samsung, and the Crucial M4. Intel and Samsung do have better idle power consumption figures than the M4, but the latter is usually the most affordable option.

As for a 27" monitor, some of the Korean IPS 2560x1440 monitors for ~$350 are the best picks, in my opinion. The use the same panel that is used for the Apple 27" monitors, at about a third of the price. See this thread.

 

While Intel and Samsung have the lowest failure rates for SSDs, they're low for all SSDs. I've had OCZ SSDs in all my desktops for a couple years and they've performed flawlessly.

 

Get an mSata SSD and keep the HDD.

I'm not disappointed with that anyway

 

I upgraded my W530 with a Crucial M4 SLIM (be sure to get the 7mm version otherwise it will not fit) and Corsair Vengeance RAM. Everything works fine
I discovered too late, but you can also buy the mSATA version of the Crucial M4 (or the Samsung 830), you will get the same performance and keep the HDD for storage at the same time.

 

True. That way, you can have boot/apps drive, storage drive and optical drive.

Strictly speaking, though, the mSATA port runs at 3Gbit/s. (The chipset supports 2 SATA 6Gbit/s ports and 2 SATA 3Gbit/s ports. Lenovo assigns the two former to the primary bay and the UltraBay. Lenovo sells UltraBay HDD as a configuration option.) I doubt that most users could perceptively notice the difference in speeds.

 

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GSQ

What do you think about that "G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600" RAM on the Lenovo W530.

 

That G.Skill pair will work. I usually buy G.Skill, but I've heard good things about the Vengeance, just to offer you another reference point. At that price and with free shipping, I'd take the G.Skill.

 

I didn't know that. That's a shame any ways.

 

I'm using corsair vengeance, runs very nicely. For the SSD, i would consider an mSATA if you aren't using a WWAN card. I've found Sandisk make decent mSATA SSDs. For a regular SSD, Intel or Samsung