T500 vs W500

I think the main difference between the T500 and W500 is the graphics cards and display options. I'm primarily interested in the W500 because of the WUXGA graphics, which i don't seem to see anywhere on the T500. Are there any other differences i'm missing? Size, weight, connections/ports?

I tried looking up the weight specs on Lenovo's site but they seem to conveniently omit the weight for the W series, so i can't compare it to the T series.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a W500 review? The closest I've found is a W700 review, but i'm definitely not getting a W700, so i feel that doesn't apply to me, even though they're in the same series.

I currently have a T61p and i don't ideally want anything bigger/heavier than what i have now... but the WUXGA screen is a must, I just want to know what i'm getting myself into. I actually already purchased a T500 that unknowingly had WSXGA+ then realized the error in my ways. I didn't realized prior to today that the T61p morphed into the W500.... no one sent me that memo. That WSXGA+ T500 will go to my boss and its looking like i'll be getting a W500 instead (in a few weeks). I want to make sure i get the absolute right laptop this time.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

 

I believe they have the same array of ports.

 

The T500 and the W500 are the same except for the graphics card and the screen option. In fact the T500 and W500 have the same graphics card with a different driver for the W500.

 

The T500 and W500 are identical in all respects except for the workstation graphics card variant on the W500, and the slightly different processor and screen options (WUXGA only available on W500). Both have switchable graphics, both have the same port array, both have the same exact chassis, etc, etc.

There is a W500 review on NotebookCheck, I believe. You will be better off looking for T500 reviews, though, since it's pretty much identical to the W500.

If you're interested, my review of the T500 can be found at the link in my signature.

 

MidnightSun, that's called self-advertisement.

lol just kiddin'

You are right about the reviews, the only thing I'd check is for the graphic card benchmarks.

 

Does the T500 also have the headphone jack at the front, like the W500? That stops me from 'upgrading' my T61p..

 

It's the same physical chassis. Read what MidnightSun said again.

 

Thanks all! I had a feeling the T500 & W500 were identical other than graphics/screen, but i wanted confirmation.

While the new headphone jack location is silly imo, it isn't a dealbreaker for me. I don't use it that often.

Looks like i'll be getting a W500 with WUXGA in a few weeks! Hopefully i'll be able to find a good deal.

 

The W500's videocard has twice the RAM of the T500. It's the same GPU core, however.

 

You will be able to find a great w500 for a great deal if there are still some around. Don't quote me on that since I do not know when they go to the outlet.

 

You sound like you know what you want. Rest assured they are the exact same computer with only those minor configuration differences. Couple things I can add just to be different

1. The added RAM for the graphics card serves almost no day to day purpose. The FireGL v5700 (nee Radeon 3650) memory interface can't access more than 256MB of RAM for a given instant in time/memory operation. Apparently that extra RAM does give some benefits for large shaders and specific operations for OpenGL programing though.

2. The W500 Thinkpad logo on the palm rest is different than the T500 logo. It doesn't say what series Thinkpad it is like Needmore4less' picture. (Yeah I'm really scrapping the bottom of the barrel).

 

My t400 only says thinkpad on the palmrest.

 

My W500 has "Thinkpad" on palmrest; "W500" at bottom right of screen casing.

 

Point #1 is exactly correct.

Point #2 is wrong - none of the current Thinkpads have a logo on the palmrest that says what series the laptop is from. That was used only on the _61 generation of laptops (Needmore4less' avatar is of a T61's palmrest). Therefore, cosmetically the only difference between the T500 and W500 is the "T500" or "W500" label below the screen.

 

I checked out the W500 and on a quick glance it looks like the main difference to the T500 are graphics, yet it is almost 50% more for a similar configured system. Is there more to it that justifies such a price difference?

 

It is a more narrowly-targeted machine, so those who need it buy it. But if you are not using it for CAD purposes and do not need a WUXGA screen, it's largely pointless to get it over the T500.

Recent heavy pricecuts to the T-series have reduced their prices significantly, a move that has not yet really translated to the W-series.

 

Get a USB headphone if you really hate the headphone jack in the front. That's what I did.

 

I'm going to try bluetooth. I read some reviews where people had that actually working with an acceptable connection and sound quality.

 

Learn something new everyday. Thought the T Series logo thing continued from the T61. Oh well. Like I said I was really stretching things so I guess I shouldn't be surprised I was wrong

I think it's ironic the T500 is now cheaper than the W500 when at launch it was actually the W500 would be cheaper. Seriously! You'd save about $250 for a nearly identical config. A good part of it was probably because the W500 included "more" as standard equipment: the WSXGA+ screen, C2D T9400, bigger HD, etc.

Edit: Incidentally, I remembered you used to be unable to get a P series C2D in a W500

 

For those who get bothered by front headphone jacks: it technically becomes not a problem if you have headphones with angled jack.

 

Or just do what I do and stream via BT

 

Ya, that don't sound quite as good. =)

 

The difference isn't so much w/ BT 2.0/2.1 and A2DP. I also connect a headphone amp to it though so that might make a little difference

 

I thought I ought to report how that went. Got a motorola "MOTOROKR S9" for 50 bucks (beware: there are fake headsets for $20 and another original one for $120). Using it with the built-in bluetooth of my T61p.

Setup:
Easy. Used some gnome-bt-applet to pair. Now it always connects automagically when I switch on both. ALSA has bluetooth support, and the headset appears as alsa output device in 'headphones' mode. Haven't looked into 'headset' mode when the mic should also work.

Connection quality:
Very good. No noise. Reaches into another room. Connection drops when nuking something in the microwave.
One minor issue: when a new song starts (or you pause and restart), the sound gets a bit 'faster' for a few seconds (at least I think so!). Not sure whether that is just braindamage or real. Could be a bluetooth limitation (sync/delay) or depending on the media player. Apparently there is also some parameters to tune for the bluetooth connection (like slaver/master etc). Didn't look into that because it's just not a big issue.

Comfort:
Of course that depends on personal preference and anatomy. At first I found it a bit awkward, but you have to give such things some time. Now I don't notice it any more and wear it for hours.

Battery life:
The promised 6 hours are not unrealistic. Didn't clock it though. Charges in maybe 2 hours. Uses standard micro-USB to charge. Can't be used while charging.

Sound quality:
If I connect it 'as is', the SQ is quite bad. I'm not sure that's a problem with the headset though. Could be the bluetooth-alsa stuff or the driver or media player. I also have crappy sound when connecting $120 bose headphones to the jack.
However, if I tweak the sound with an equalizer I get quite nice SQ. The point is: the hardware itself is capable of delivering decent sound.

Overall:
That thing is surprisingly usable. And the comfort of not having your head hardwired to the laptop is really nice.