Some questions for W500 owners....

I am a designer and project manager for a small architecture firm and am about to dump my 5 year old Dell Inspiron 8600 for a shiny new one. I am considering the Thinkpad W500 specifically for the option of a WUXGA screen and its graphics power to run AutoCAD and other 3D applications. I use photoshop also quite a bit but nearly any machine these days can handle that. I am currently learning Autodesk Revit and plan to switch my office to this program so Revit will be used on this machine too.

This laptop is for personal use and don't really feel like I need a "corporate machine," but I will be doing work on it often. I do like the idea of more media options of some "consumer machines" like a HP HDX16t (which I am also considering). I would like to to watch a movie or listen to MP3s while working and have the speakers give decent sound back. The HP has 4 speakers and a subwoofer.

So are there many people here that find this machine does a good job of being a blend of professional and personal computer?

Are the 2 little speakers decent or are they the typical bad speakers?

Any AutoCAD or Revit users with experience or advice?

Thank you.

 

I have a t61p which is the predecessor and the speakers are abysmal. Supposedly they haven't changed.
I too work in architecture and the computer is more than suitable though. I have the 1680x1050 screen instead of the higher resolution one, so I can't help you on that, but mine is decent enough.
When you buy a thinkpad you're considering the build quality and reliability. This computer has been very solid for the year that I had it for, and I can't say I had the same experience with hp.

 

I've heard the WUXGA screen is fair to middling, but I've not seen one myself. If you've never seen a 15.4" WUXGA screen before, I'd recommend doing so. It has one of the highest pixels per inch of any notebook being offered right now. Some text will be very small. Some people really like this, but I think most would find it too small.

 

Thanks for your input. I do currently have a WUXGA screen on my dell and actually really like it. (I use a 19" WXGA at the office, which I hate.) I have the dpi adjusted to 120 so the text isn't super tiny. I have read that the WUXGA on the W500 is not very bright and that the WSXGA is much brighter. I find my screen now is a little dim and would like something brighter.

Durabilty is partly an issue. I don't travel too much with my laptop, just a few times a year. But I hate creaky, flexing computers. Doesn't make me feel good to plunk down $2K and have a creaky hunk of plastic, which is my current machine. Any movement on it you would think its about to fly apart with the noise it makes, although its still running after almost 5 years. I actually went into a best buy today to see the HP's and while they are nice looking the super glossy screen is little concern and they are not rock solid. If I need this new one to last another 5 years I want to know it will.