T520 Known Issues List

I'm trying to compile a list of "known issues" affecting the T520. Roughly speaking, things which
:

• Are directly related to the T520 design, hardware, and/or software. Generic Windows bugs wouldn't count for example.
• Don't function well or fit well or hold up to reasonable use. Lack of USB 3.0 wouldn't count for example.
• Aren't resolved by updating stock software and/or firmware.
• Affect many machines and thus aren't simply the occasional manufacturing or part defect

This is what I've come up with so far
:

• Battery fit: Installed batteries have some play and can shift or rattle
• Audio & Speakers: Maximum volume and lower frequencies are somewhat lacking. Volume can be inadequate when watching quiet DVD scenes.
• Optical media eject button: Is not recessed and can be easily inadvertently depressed when grasping the side of the notebook to move it
• Key press feel: Somewhat less firm or solid than earlier Thinkpads
• Touchpad: Surface has the "raised bumps" and a significantly different feel than smooth surfaces. The raised bumps can create less friction in some touching scenarios and more friction in other touching scenarios. Report(s) of the "raised bumps" wearing down in frequently touched spots. The touchpad surface is flush with the wrist wrests which makes it more difficult to locate the edges and there is no lip to guide the finger (when single finger scrolling along the bottom or right hand side for example). The user may have to disable various touchpad gesture and filtering settings in order to get basic pointer movement and/or single finger scrolling to work at an acceptable level (potential touchpad driver problem)
• The fan revs up and down ("pulses") roughly every 5 seconds, which can be an annoyance in quiet environments and/or when the fan is operating at a louder level to begin with (potential Thinkpad firmware problem)

Can anyone add opinions to this list?

 

Thanks for the post. I would add the following to your list of the criteria for reporting know issues:

• Aren't subjective or at least cannot be construed as subjective.

This would apply to your comment on the "raised bumps" on the touchpad surface. Some people (including me) may actually like the new touchpad design.

Overall, I agree with the low speakers and the DVD tray eject button issues.

My battery also moves a little bit but I've read that this is not necessarily a design flaw but is done intentionally to allow for contractions/expansions of the battery as a result of changing temperatures.

The biggest annoyance for me is the "pulsing" fan problem.

 

The battery on every ThinkPad I've owned has had some wiggle to it.

 

Thanks for the reply and sharing that view on the battery.

I'm not sure *completely* eliminating subjectivity is the ideal approach, for part of the usefulness of such a list is to draw attention to that which users *may* unexpectedly find annoying or lacking. Then again, one wouldn't want to go too far.

FWIW and on the subject of the raised bump touchpad... what I personally noticed, and learned from some others, was that how you use the touchpad affects whether or not you will like it. For example, when a notebook is on my desk my finger tends to be more parallel to the touchpad when I touch it and the surface area of my finger that tries to come in contact with the touchpad is larger and I don't press down to speak of. In that scenario, I think the raised bumps do seem to reduce friction a little bit. However, when I'm reclined on the couch and using the notebook in my lap, my finger tends to be more perpendicular to the touchpad and it is the tip of the finger that touches it and usually with some pressure. In that scenario, I find the raised bumps create more friction presumably because the tip of the finger conforms to the bumps.

 

Any gripes need to be placed alongside so many so many good things about the T520.

1) sound/speakers? - compared to the 500 line, they are the only obvious movement the wrong way - almost unusable - the 500 sound/speakers were OK

2) screen: on pure image density grounds, I prefer the 500's WUXGA panel to FHD, but in other ways the panel is a huge improvement.

3) fan pulsing: only for a few minutes in the past 10 days since I got the machine have I heard what sounded like fans "pulsing". I tend to suspect rogue program running themselves without request, but that is mere speculation....I found a few and turned them off - I hope that helped (smile)...hasn't happened since, but who knows? I hope it does not occur again too often...(smile) - this machine, like the 500, runs silent 95% of the time.

4) I have not found any of the other "problems" a problem...

 

Yeah, see, we'll each have our own subjective opinions of what is a "problem" and for every one there will likely be someone (possibly very many) who don't consider that "problem" to be a problem. I chose "issue" because is a bit more flexible in that it is something that will concern some but not necessarily all and there is often debate and disagreement over it.

FWIW, the fan "pulsing" happens while in setup on the two units I've checked so far. To be honest, I'm not familiar with the cooling/power profile implementation details and can't say how OS level drivers and programs can come into play. I think if it happens in setup that means it is to some degree a hardware and/or firmware issue.

 

The only issue I have found is that the speakers are mediocre. But if you have been reading the forums you would know that already.

My T520 is very quiet and very fast. The fan hardly runs at all. Did you mess with your system GNR?

The keyboard is superb. I have had numerous thinkpads in the past and this is the best keyboard yet.

The touchpad works great.

It is a wonderful machine.

 

What is GNR? In any case, I personally haven't done anything unusual to the laptop. I doubt hundreds of other X220, T420S, T520, T420, and W520 users on this and other forums who are experiencing the pulsing fan problem have tinkered with their laptops in any special way.

By the way, rozello, can you, please, check what ECP ID you have? It is possible that Lenovo is shipping laptops with new Embedded Controllers that are not affected by the fan pulsing problem and you might be one of those lucky ones. Check pages 5 and 6 of the following thread:

T520 fan plusing noise every 5 seconds - Page 6 - Lenovo Community

Edit: Sorry for missing that the OP's username is GNR.

 

Right click on your speaker icon in your system tray, then go to playback devices. From there, select 'speakers' and hit properties. Go to the enhancements tab, and then select loudness equalization.

Should fix your low volume issues.

 

Infinus,

Thanks for the tip. Would enabling bass boost help? I tried it but I am not sure there is a difference.

Also I have a ssd. The bios is set at legacy/uefi at bootup. Is this the correct settting?

Thanks

 

Thanks for the tip. It did make the speakers louder.

 

Having SSD doesn't have anything to do with the Legacy BIOS vs UEFI boot priority. You may use either with an SSD. If you want faster boot, you may want to consider UEFI Only but some things may not work properly (e.g. fingerprint reader) until a fix is issued.

 

Thanks for that suggestion infinus. I did play around with enhancements early on but it sounds worth trying again.

I noticed the fan pulsing straight out of the box and before I started updating, tweaking, or installing applications. I spent a long time reading the related threads in different forums. I believe a hardware and/or firmware defect slipped into the new T, W, and X Thinkpads. That new ECP with support for a new controller information discussed in that Lenovo Community thread seems to reinforce that belief and the idea that a combined hardware and firmware fix is required. I'd like to see more evidence to support that idea, though.

 

I do have the newest controller version 1.15 and the newest bios.

I'll leave the bios settings as they are. The machine boots in 20 seconds so to change things around for some potential problems to shave a few seconds off boot time is not worth it.

 

I also think Lenovo shipped laptops with a defective Embedded Controller and they now are trying to solve the problem by replacing the EC in the newly shipped laptops, hence there is support for two different controllers in the new BIOS releases.

What bugs me is that, after all leads provided by laptop owners (the problem is well documented and is definitely known to Lenovo as older IBM ThinkPads had the same problem), Lenovo is trying to fool their customers with the faulty ECs that it's a Power Manager issue.

I doubt they will admit it's a hardware problem as this would mean that they will have to recall or replace the ECs for free. In the end of the day, it's likely that new Lenovo customers with the new ECs will not experience the problem but thousands of those who already bought their laptops will have to learn how to live with the annoying pulsing fans.

This is just a theory but, after reading posts on Lenovo Forums, and especially responses by Lenovo reps, this theory sounds more and more plausible.

For the discussion of the fan pulsing problem in T520 on Lenovo Forums see:

T520 fan plusing noise every 5 seconds - Page 5 - Lenovo Community

The other sections of the forum are also filled with threads on the same very problem in the T420, T420s, W520, and X220.

 

Which do you have rozello?

1) T520 ECP Version 1.15, ID 8AHT33WW
2) T520 ECP Version 1.15, ID 8XHT33WW

You can tell which one you have by going into setup. Maybe there is also a way to see the ID while in Windows?

 

I have #1 8AHT33WW

 

The THEORY is that if your T520 was equipped with the new embedded controller which some people SUSPECT will be used to fix the pulsing fan issue then when ECP Version 1.15 was installed you would have gotten ID 8XHT33WW.

Are you absolutely, 100%, zero point zero percent probability of doubt, sure that your fan does not "pulse"? Take it into a silent place. Deactivate any fan related addons. Hold your ear near the fan for a few minutes while it isn't under heavy load. Put it under heavy load and wait for the fan to ramp up and hold a higher RPM. Listen to it again very carefully for a few minutes. What you should hear is it very briefly "revving" or "pulsing" every 4.8 seconds or thereabouts. Whether the sound of the pulsing is quiet vs loud, acceptable vs unacceptable isn't the question. The question is, does it "pulse" at all.

Thanks for your replies.

 

ivybridge,

Reading through the Lenovo forums also left me with a poor opinion of Lenovo. I don't think the "peer-to-peer support community" with limited rep participation model works well.

On the other hand, when I spoke with Lenovo Tech Support (Atlanta) they were very professional: "Yes, this is a known issue and Lenovo is working on a fix but we don't yet know when it will become available". They didn't ask me to try ANYTHING. I was hoping they might have a trick up their sleeve but I still hung up with a good feeling simply because they gave me a straight answer off the bat and they didn't waste my time or theirs.

I think we need to be careful about fully buying in to the idea that the fan pulsing will be fixed in the current models.

 

What is a heavy load?

 

An update: In the Lenovo.com forums, one or two people have posted that BIOS 1.28 solved their T520 fan pulsing issue. So maybe that issue was just a firmware issue and 1.28 will fix the issue for everyone.

 

I can confirm, flashing BIOS 1.28 solves the fan pulsing issue.