T530 or W520?

Hello.

I have a question about purchase new unit. I have two options. And id like to know You opinion people.
I can buy brand new T530 i5,8Gb, NVS 5400m and HD+ display then for some time change CPU to 3630qm.
Or used, but in very good shape W520, 2720qm, 16 Gb, 1000m and main difference FHD panel.

What do You chose people. I mainly work on extended screen, some old Eizo with good color range and i want to sometimes put a eGPU to the unit. So i dont know if i need a FHD panel so bad. The viewing angles are great and color but im consider about small fonts and everythoing when i will work on the notebook somewhere. I will be use Windows 7 so theres not pretty much options for proper scaling like in MacOS and Retina display.

 

i would probably go with the W520, there is more ram capacity (32 gigs across 4 DIMMS).

 

Hmmm. Theres any diffrence besides new generation cpu and new keyboard (some compulsory fixes) in the t530 series over W520?
Im architecture student and i think 16 gb of ram will be enough for me.

3630 is faster than 2720 and screen, FHD panel is great but what with the comfort working on it? It is similar to the 14,1 inch laptop with 1600x900 or worst?

 

The FHD panel on either of these laptops will be pretty far ahead of a 900p 14" panel, by far. Not only do youget more screen real estate (pretty important for your usage), but also the FHD panels on the Thinkpad T5x0/W5x0 is also NTSC 95% color gamut, meaning that it'll be a lot more vibrant than something like a 900p 14" panel, or even other regular FHD 15.6" TN panels.

If you've not used a Thinpad keyboard before, there shouldn't be much of an issue using either the --20 or --30 generation Thinkpad keyboard. Though, if you've used the older Thinkpad keyboard, you'll find that Lenovo made some very odd choices in key layout in the current series: Lenovo ThinkPad W530 Review - Laptop User Reviews

 

Hmmm, ok.

But how do You compare work on the 14,1 with 1600 x 900 to 15,6 with a 1920 x 1080? The letters are the sam size small, Do You know what im mean.
This is some general question to the screen users, but thats the biggest consider for me.

 

The NVS 5400 is not that great for AutoCAD, the Quadro 1000m is better. The FHD is a 95% gamut screen. Also regarding PPI, i find it quite comfortable in my W530/W520/W510 with the FHD. I find my 14.0 inch T430s and T420/T420s with HD+ to be comfortable to use, just like the FHD on the W5x0.

It is really up to you what you get, since people are just giving you suggestions.

Fonts size is really a personal taste thing, no one really can tell you about what you should be comfortable with.

 

Thats id like to know. Right now im using a lenovo e420 with worst configuration ever so i need new unit so bad. I like keyboard in the e420, but W520 have old good fashion thinkpad keyboard, too bad its not backlit. Im thinking im going to buy W520 with FHD and maybe if i have extra money change 2720qm to something more powerfull.

 

The keyboard on the E420 isn't great, have a try of the W520 keyboard, it is much better in tactility than your E420 keyboard.

 

Do You know what is the most powerfull CPU for W520 which is worth buying? I mean do not kill pretty bad battery life and make notebook too hot.

 

2960xm quad core was the most powerful available. It is a quad core CPU, your battery life will suffer, but your fan will keep it cool enough, it won't burn you.

If your money is tight, just use the i7-2720qm, it is not that slow.

 

Anyone can tell me it is easy for amateur to change palmrest and back lid in w520?
Cus i cahve offer on hard configuartion with k2000m fhd and ssd 16gb of ram, but unit looks like that:

 

Please delete, double.

 

Define "amateur" You don't have to be a professional repairmen to change these, or have special tools, but it will take some time and patience with a screwdriver. There is an official manual for disassembly.

If the "unit looks like that", it does not appear to be in the urgent need of repair. Wrong picture attached?

 

Yeah i have some more photos but i add +20% to uglynes in reality. It seems to be used in some corporation or something, where people do not care about a stuff and it have linux so i need buy windows licences and obligatory change keyboard to us style.

 

do you mean like how much space you have to work? well on excel, you can see about 25% more rows and columns combined 1080 vs 900, also it is easier to have 2 sheets on word up or one web browser and one sheet with larger font

 

For a visual comparison aid:

768p


900p


1080p


Side-by-Side comparisons, 1080p:

 

For battery life and mobility, get the T530, for performance get the W520.

Also depends on what keyboard you like.

 

Changing the keyboard is a 10 minute operation at most. Add another 20 for palmrest if you've never done it before and are klutzy.

What do you mean by "back lid" ?

 

to add on the previous post for 900p

900p at 90%, i use libre instead of word



900p at 100%, pages start to get cut off on the sides, but since most documents are 1" margins, you can still fit 2 pages

 

Thanks for the support people!

Im stuck.
Still dont know w520 i7 2720, 16 Gb RAM, 2000m with 160 SSD (i have my 240) or W530, 8 Gb RAM, i7 3630, 500 Gb hdd. W520 is a little bit cheaper but i must change back protector for LCD, palmrest keyboard and buy windows ... But i can sold SSD 160 and have more ram.

 

Well, the -2720QM and -3630Qm aren't very different at all in terms of performance, so you really won't notice any differences between the two, though the -2720QM would have the edge in things like virtual machines (since it has certain instruction sets that the -3630QM lacks). RAM is cheap, so I wouldn't let that determine your decision imo. And since you already have a 240GB SSD, the storage drive is moot. I assume that both your W520 and W530 options have the FHD display, which is what I'd get.

 

Damn. Im still worry about the FHD panel. Im affraid of hurt my eyes with such a small letters so thats why im looking for a dusplay from hp probook LGD0258.
But it seems to be unavaible even on ebay...

 

My eyesight is horrible and a FHD 15.6" display still doesn't bother my eyes at all. Even my 12.1" 1400x1050 laptop doesn't bother me either. Really, it'll probably just take you a day or two to get use to the PPI, probably less if you leave the DPI at 125% instead of switching it to 100% (like I do).

 

Scaling in win is horrible so i want use 100%ppi. Thats why i looking for this amazing display from probook, but as i can see is impossible to buy it.
So many FHD nowdays...

 

One thing to bear in mind: the quality of the display itself is likely to affect the eye fatigue more than the resolution.

Take this from someone who has *horrible* eyesight (overdue for Lasik by at least five years) and has zero issues using 1600x1200, 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 on 15" laptops at 100% in W7 as long as the panel itself is of the above-average quality...which means a very good TN (such as one seen in W520 FHD) or decent IPS...

Obviously, YMMV.

 

Hehe im propably the most annoying nrw user ...
But i seen some fhd laptops (Sony Vaio s15) and all its so tiny, mostly i use external monitor, about 70% but...

 

This has to be the w520, the real estate, screen clarity, 4 ram slots and keyboard and cheaper price make it a fairly easy decision for me. Having used a 4th gen i7, 3rd gen i,7 and 2nd gen i7, I really couldn't tell the speed differences in general use.

 

Wear reading glass, people. It's way better once you get used to it.

 

Nah. I don't want FHD to do't hurt my eyes and make it reading glass (sorry for poor english). Thats my bother came from ...
If i get extra money what i should choose w520 or w530 with better battery life?

 

Please delete, again double...

 

On the W530 i can get about 6 hrs battery life with the 9 cells in mixed use mode of surfing web, word processing, and light cad. On the W520 i was getting about 4.5 hrs on the same sort of use.

 

Why You change W520 to W530. Becouse it is new and You was curious or it is better in You opinion?

 

why i bought the W530? i was given three of them, so why not. I still have the W510 and W520.

 

Hmmm, which one You like most, W520 or W530?

 

W530 is cooler running, the only thing i dislike is the keyboard layout. While, the W520 has better keyboard but it runs hotter.

 

I'd like to use new computer on eGPU as well (so then i turn of dGPU and use integrated). It is possible to get too much hot on quad in w520?

 

I'm sure that it's possible, given that the W520 has an ExpressCard slot. Perhaps you could check out NBR's eGPU section here to confirm: Graphics Card Forum, eGPU

 

Guys!

What do You think about this unit:
W530

What is the name on this broken part? It is easy to replace?

 

that is the base case. You have disassemble the entire machine to replace it.

 

But its not pretty complicated?
And what do You think about this offer is worth of it?

Do You buy this machine on my place? Or looking something else.
And base case, theres any technical name for this part?

 

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?DocID=UM014941

Lenovo calls it Bottom cover assembly.

Yes it is complicated if you've never stripped apart a ThinkPad before, you have to remove essentially everything as documented in the HMM link I posted.

 

Thanks!

I checked it before, should think before post and its looks pretty complicated, so i make contact to the local lenovo servise in my Country. I wait for the answer how much it will cost.

Btw, what do You think about the price and laptop? I should wait and looking something else?

 

I mean it seems fair, but eBay is unpredictable, so I don't fancy giving out waiting advice unless you wish to wait a very long time to get cheap W530's.