My experience with my new T520

I'd like to share some of my thoughts regarding my new T520 that I got just a few days ago, and share a little info that I think may be useful to another potential buyer.

Stock Specs:
T520 - 1600x900 HD+, i7 2760QM, Nvidia NVS4200, 4GB Ram, 500 GB hard drive 7200 rpm, ACNOR bilingual keyboard, Finger, Bluetooth, 9 cell, 6300 Intel Wireless, Win7 Pro. Cost - $1250 CAD tax in.

I have done the following modifications:
- US English keyboard (MUCH better!)
- 8 GB (2x4) Corsair Ram (at 20 bucks a piece - you have to be retarded to buy from Lenovo)
- 240 GB Corsair Force 3 SSD - $289

I'm coming from a 3 year old Macbook pro that has the Core 2 Duo.

Screen
I was caught up for the longest time trying to decide between the FHD screen vs the HD+ screen. I decided on the HD+ because personally, I found that the 1440x900 on my MBP was sufficient, and I had a chance to use a T60/T61 with the WUXGA screen and found I couldn't deal with the small text.

Turns out the HD+ screen has the perfect combination of real estate / practicality for my personal taste.

Although it may not have 95% color gamut or whatever - it's still a very good quality screen. Viewing angles are very good, and colors are nice and bright. There isn't any of that 'washing out' of colors until you are looking at the screen from an extreme angle. Overall the screen is definitely above average and one that is absolutely usable.

Keyboard/Ultranav
I was looking forward to this aspect because everyone talks about how good the keyboard is. Needless to say - I agree with everyone. Enough said. At first I had the bilingual keyboard becuase that was the only option when ordering. THe layout was terrible, i hated it. So I then ordered a US english keyboard to install.

The installation was the biggest pain in the . After taking out the 2 screws on the bottom, the keyboard would still not budge at all. I had to pry off the entire bottom 2 rows of keys to get a decent grip and push it forward so that the clips became free. Once I got it out, installing the US keyboard was a breeze.

The touchpad is ok. Definteily does not compare to my MBP, but it's good for what it is. I mainly use the pointing stick anyway (which is excellent) so i disabled the touchpad. It's responsive and works fine, though.

Build Quality

As soon as I unboxed the computer I noticed right away that it was really solid. There is absolutely no creaks or flex in the chassis anywhere. I can lift the entire computer from one corner with no flex. This makes every laptop sold at Best Buy feel like a toy. The only thing that is bothering me is that the battery wiggles, even when locked. Other than that this thing is literally like a brick.

Performance
After putting in my SSD and extra RAM - I was speechless. The amount of power that the new Core i7's have is simply amazing. Combine that with 8GB ram, and a sata3 SSD, and it's blazing fast. What I have here is a multitasking monster. I ran a PCmark vantage test and it scored 17200 points.

In any case, I think that for any laptop an SSD is the best upgrade you can do, period. I got the new Force 3 SSD from Corsair. It's their entry level sata3 SSD. It uses the Sandforce SF2200 series controller. These controllers had issues early on, but they are now solved for the most part based on what I've read. The performance version - Force GT was $120 more and i decided against it. So far, after 48 hours of continuous heavy use, there have been no BSODs, crashes, or freezing of any kind. In fact, it's been perfect so far.

Battery
I got the 9 cell battery that sticks out. With normal use, Wifi/BT enabled, internet, word, powerpoint, screen at 75% bightness i can easily clear 7 hours. i have the slice battery on order as well, looking forward to all day battery power!


Overall, I'm very happy with it. In fact, I love it. Macbooks and Thinkpads will be the only laptops I will ever buy.

 

Glad it's working out for you! Nice self-Christmas present

 

I received two eval W510's when they first came out and one had the 1600x900 screen. I've had the FHD screen on all of the machines I've used ever since but I always thought the 1600x900 screen was perfectly fine for me, too. My T61p has the 1680x1050 screen so the transition would have been pretty easy.

The FHD at 125% DPI is nearly identical to the 1600x900 screen.

I used to agree with your quote above 100%. I might be starting to change my tune. The new HP Envy 15 looks interesting and I want to see what the second generation Ultrabooks cook up. For instance, the second gen Sammy Series 9.

 

Nice short review. I had trouble installing my 2x4GB RAM sticks as well. Removing the keyboard to put that second RAM stick is hard and I made some minor physical dents as I tried to remove the keyboard.

Yeah, Macbooks and Thinkpads (T or X series) are two of the laptop brands I'd buy. However, I'd also consider HP's Elitebook lineup as a possible 3rd option. As for others, none really stand out that well although we'll see where the Ultrabooks take us.

I'm curious. Why did you select the T520 and not the T420? The T420 has a HD+ option.

 

Because I wanted a real quad core processor. The t420 doens't offer the "qm" lineup of CPUs. I also don't mind the size of the T520.

As soon as the new W530 series comes out I'll be getting one fully maxed out. For that one I'll get the FHD screen.