Thinkpad T510 Owners lounge

I ordered T510 last week, shipping date is set for Feb. 9th. I used to have a T43 (given to me by my dad) and it worked great for me. It lasted a total of 7-8 years, and in between I owned couple other laptops - but didn't last while T43 is still okay but is too outdated and on it's last legs. So, after waiting 5 months for Lenovo to release the T510...I finally went ahead and bought myself one.

Specs:

Processor - i5-520M 2.4 GHz
OS - Windows 7 Pro (64bit)
Display - 15.6" HD+ Anti-Glare Display with LED Backlight
Graphics - NVIDIA NVS 3100m Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Memory
Memory - 2gb (i've a 2gb stick at home)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Camera, 2.0 MP
HDD - 250 GB 5400rpm (ordered Hitachi 500gb 7200rpm for 59.99 from tigerdirect)
Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Reader
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Bluetooth w/ antenna
Wireless - Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250

Came out to be $1213.54 through my company and 10% discount. Not bad, I did buy a 7200rpm drive though.

Can't wait for it to arrive. I'm going out of the country for couple months on the night of 16th of Feb, so hopefully I'll get it before then on a 2 day shipping - if Lenovo ships it out on the projected date of feb. 9th.

I haven't seen any reviews on T510, but did read couple of reviews on T410, which is practically the same laptop with a smaller 16:10 screen. But, if there are other T510 buyers on the forum, would love to hear about your experiences. T410 users are also welcome. I'll give my thoughts once I get my hands on it.

 

First, congrats on the machine. Second, you're cutting it awfully close on the shipping. Even if it ships on the 9th it's still got to come over from China and clear customs. The two day shipping does not start until it clears customs. Most of the time it's pretty quick, but there can delays. There's a bunch of W510s sitting in customs right now. See here.

 

Uh-oh, that's not lookin' good for me. Anyway, thanks for the link. I almost went for the W-series, but figured T series fits my needs easily. I hope they let the laptops go through the customs.

 

I'll say a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers for you, but if it doesn't get there, you'll have a nice present when you get back.

 

Thanks, i'm prayin' as well. I really don't want to wait...i've been buyin' bunch of movies that i planned to watch on my trip on my new laptop, and I highly highly doubt I'll be gettin' it now. ugh! I'm glad you prepared me for a huge disappointment. I need to figure out plan B for my laptop situation.

 

Well if your T510 doesn't make it, you can always take your T43. On the plus side if it breaks, you lose it or it gets stolen, it won't be a big loss. Can't say the same of the T510.

 

I just received a new T510 on Wednesday and am loving it. It's pretty big, but incredibly well built. The build quality seems light years improved from the T400 machines we have at the office.

i5 520m
4GB DDR3
500GB 7200RPM
Intel HD
Intel WiFi Ultimate 6300
Windows 7 Pro (64bit)
DVD +/- RW
UltraNav w/ Fingerprint
1600x900 LED
WebCam

Pros:
+ 1600x900 is perfect for me
+ Latest chipset
+ Incredibly fast
+ Not much crapware out of the box (fresh install still recommended)
+ Keyboard has NO flex at all, absolutely perfect experience
+ Touchpad is greatly improved, great texture & full of multi-touch goodness
+ Heat management seems to be working very well with quiet fans
+ Great deals through SPP

Cons:
- 1 dead pixel (sad)
- Somewhat thick
- Backlighting not perfectly uniform, though much better than expected and hardly noticeable
- A little more expensive than competition, but well worth it
- ThinkLight still useless, backlit keys would have made this perfect

 

Sounds great. Would love to see some decent pictures (perhaps in comparison to your older ThinkPad)?

 

In case a T510 owner has a keyboard flex problem, see this thread.

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T5...T510-and-the-keyboard-also-flexes/td-p/200953

Copied from the thread

From early reports of keyboard flex on the T510 (thanks erik_h!), the problem was quickly identified as affecting one particular keyboard (FRU: 45N2211). It was discovered that a small percentage of this particular keyboard was not built to spec and could cause flex. The fix is to replace it with another keyboard...either 45N2071 or 45N2141 (U.S. English).

 

The T510 is at the top of my list for my next laptop (also waiting on the Dell M4500). I would appreciate it if a new owner could post the weight of their machine. Lenovo says "starting at 5.89 lbs.", but Newegg lists the model they offer at 6.2 lbs. I plan to use it as a desktop replacement, but also for occasional business travel.

Thanks in advance.

 

Huge shame Lenovo caved into 16:9 screens for business laptops.

16:9 = FAIL

 

I copied 49ersmylife's template...

Specs:

Processor - i7-620M 2.66 GHz
OS - Windows 7 Pro (64bit)
Display - 15.6" HD+ Anti-Glare Display with LED Backlight
Graphics - NVIDIA NVS 3100m Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Memory
Memory - 4gb
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Camera, 2.0 MP
HDD - 500 GB 7200rpm
Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Reader
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Bluetooth w/ antenna
Wireless - Intel Centrino N1000

Price before CA tax: $1,354.90
Price after CA tax: $1,480.23

Unfortunately I still have to get a friend to forward it over to Hong Kong. For some reason Lenovo HK prices are extremely high. Looking forward to replacing my Dell XPS M1530.

 

Congrats on the new T510, cygy2k. Wish u well to use it.

When u can, pls weigh it and tell us how much it weighs.

Thinking ... I have seen a review about a T410 that says it's 2.5Kg (I'm metric...), so with a T510 advertised at 2.7Kg ,what's the point of getting a T410 to just save on 200g...?

 

That's very true. I'm sure T43 can slug it out for another 2-3 months.

 

Congrats man on a new laptop. Great config. When did you order it, and what was the shipping date on it? Just curious how long it took, and where are you located?

Backlit keys would be so awesome. I really like the new Sony F series, but it was too big for my liking.

 

I'll do that if I get mine before I leave, along with some pictures.

 

Just received my T510 (impressed UPS made it through the snow mounds here in the nation's capital!)...I am blown away by the lines, fit and finish, and overall quality of this machine. It usually takes me about an hour to upgrade the RAM and hard drive; it took me all of 5 minutes. This machine looks very much built to last.

And not the tiniest bit of keyboard flex. The screen casing is slightly "software" than that of my T61 but definitely not worrisome.

Great job, Lenovo! We can all stop whining about the glory days of ThinkPads being over. This one is a keeper!

 

Hey fellow T510 owners.

Quick question - does yours make any sort of noise towards the left part when accessing or writing to the hard drive? Mine seems to make a louder and more high pitched noise than standard hard drive accessing, different sounding - I even swapped out the drive and still the noise. It's not something I can hear unless putting my head within about 6 inches of it, but it sounds different than the sounds I'm used to hearing on laptops.

 

The problem has been solved now, I got a new keyboard.

 

Nice to hear this. How is the battery life and do you have discrete or integrated graphics?

 

Mine got shipped a day early.

I hope it makes it before 16th!!!

 

Well, I'm returning my and looking elsewhere. The screen quality just isn't good enough for this price/class of notebook. The 1600x900 screen is great for sharpness but the backlighting just isn't even enough and looks grungy towards the right edge of the screen. The trackpad area is also getting annoying as the texture just isn't smooth enough for constant precision use.

 

Is the Thinklight really that bad? I have an Elitebook with the light at the top and it works ok. I'm looking for something new and a backlit/lit keyboard is a must.

 

Why not just get the full HD screen? What else are you looking at?

 

The point is that the screen sucks for this level of notebook and I don't want the higher res, I already have that on my XPS 1645.

 

Im really curious how the 1600 x 900 looks. Ive never seen that resolution before. Can you maybe take a picture of it sitting next to the XPS.
Use the notebookreview homepage maybe, so we can gauge how many lines can and cant be seen between the two res.

Ill understand if you dnt feel like doin it.
Im just curious.

 

I REALLY want to get the T510 but I'm a little concerned about it's thickness... Specs say it's 35mm thick? That's awfully thick (and thicker than the T500). Can someone measure the thickness to confirm? I'm hoping that that thickness includes the "feet" on the bottom and hopefully the thickness of the laptop itself isn't 35mm.

I'm also thinking about getting the FHD screen. Is that resolution too small for a 15" screen?

Thanks in advance.

 

@MasterAv:
In the W510 owners thread (around #400 maybe) there are some comparison pics between the W500 and W510 (should be the same as T500/T510, at least for the exterior) that give a good impression of the difference in thickness. It's actually not that bad.

Resolution can never be too fine, but your OS or applications can be bad at scaling.

 

I don't blame you...however, I'm been buying Dell Precisions lately and the t510 seems pretty cheaply priced to me....I'm just saying don't expect 'too' much out of it for that dollar range. I'm looking at getting one myself because of the price...guess I'd have to try the Full HD screen....I cancelled my m6500 due to the USB 3.0 debacle..

Is the T510 USB 3.0? or rather have USB 3.0 ports? tks

 

I received my T510 today. Haven't used it much, will write more about it in a day or two. No flex on the keyboard or the screen, I wished it was 16:10, but what can you do? I like the 15.6" size, so - 16:9 is pretty much the standard nowadays. Anyway, I'll write more later, and try to answer some questions (if you have any).

 

I'm very interested to hear from anyone who has the HD+ screen how they think it compares to the 1680x1050 screen in the T61 (which I think is pretty dim and low contrast). I do not want the FHD screen because my primary use is photographic editing for web viewing, and wide gamut screens are a poor choice for that use.

 

I actually like the screen. I've HD+ and I just watched a HD (720p) video on it, and it looked pretty darn good. Brightness has 15 levels, and I'm constantly on lvl 11. I don't ever see myself going all the way. Maybe 13 max if I'm watchin' a movie in the middle of the day. I've worked on T60's before, and the T510 screen blows it away. Now, it's not the best screen in the market, and no one should expect that to be honest, but I personally really liked the screen. I do wish it came with at least 16:10 screen, but what can you do? I prefer 15.6 screen, so not many options out there.

 

How about some pictures of all angles. I would like to see exactly where all the ports are placed!

Which resolution do you have?? the 1600 x 900 ??

 

The T510 does not have USB 3.0 ports, but the W510 does, I believe. This is because the W510 has an additional USB 3.0 controller, which is absent in the T510 (presumably to keep prices lower) - the Intel chipset does not natively support it.

There are plenty of pictures of port layout on the Lenovo website - go to the T-series page and click the tab with pictures.

HD+ would mean 1600x900 resolution.

Has anyone received a T510 with the FHD panel yet? I'm interested in seeing how that screen compares to other Thinkpad panels and perhaps RGBLED panels on the Precision M4400 and Studio XPS 16.

 

Yes, I have the 1600 X 900 resolution. I'll post the pictures in a day or two if that's okay, just been really busy.

 

I wonder if the owners of arrandale-configs are able to switch between dedicated gfx and IGP on-the-fly. AFAIK, HM57 chipset should support this feature.

 

Bad news. It seems like there is no possibility to switch between discrete NVIDIA and arrandale IGP. -

 

Had to dig around for a review for the model, so here's one with several pics: http://www.thinkpad-forum.de/thinkpad-hardware/t-serie/84155-t510-ist-da-ein-paar-vergleichsbilder/

The T510 screen looks very nice!

 

I returned my T510 because of the absolute rubbish screen - I've seen better screens on eMachines, seriously. And that is coming from somebody that has owned literally over 100 laptops.

 

which screen did you have? the FD+? Reports like this are spooking me on Lenovo's....I won't have the FHD on a 15 incher either.

 

So which laptop would you suggest for a great screen?

 

How bad is it? Is it Because of Color accuracy? Veiwing angle? Brightness? Reflection surface? Corner distortion? Color consistency?

I am asking this because i am planning to buy the W510 with either HD+ or FHD screen and i would like to here more comment.

I believe all (PC) laptop nowadays are all pretty much the same with the same price range. They all have the same technology, same OEM, all built the similar ways and same specification.

Man, you must have exceptional good eye and superia color sensitivity.

 

Screen is fine on mine. Colors are great; I have the HD+; 1600 x 900 screen. Granted, it isn't a Macbook Pro screen with a 98% color gamut but it is nice enough to watch movies and edit photos with. Heck, I even played Need for Speed Shift on the laptop and the graphics looked gorgeous.

 

From the pictures I've seen so far, the T510/W510 FHD screen looks gorgeous! It'd be interesting to see some side-by-side pictures of the T500's WSXGA+ CCFL and the T510's FHD screen ... although it will likely make me even more envious

 

*crossing my fingers* that the T510 HD+ screen is decent....

 

I certainly may have gotten a lemon, but the screen was very similar to the most recent T400 I had late last year. Whites are very yellow and the backlighting goes from perfect in the center of the screen to a gradient like effect to very dim on the right and left edges.

This was the 1600x900 on the T510.

The reason I doubt it's a lemon issue is that I've worked with over 200 T400's at work and about 65% of them have similar rubbish screens.

 

T510 First Official Review I could find... IN german but you can use google Translate http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenovo-Thinkpad-T510-4349-4JG-Notebook.25431.0.html

 

Maybe it was a lemon because my whites don't have a yellowish tint by any means. It is beautiful; love my T510!

 

Seriously, did I mention I love it. I tested alot of laptops in making a choice; probably looked at laptops for about 6 months before settling on this. It was between this and a Macbook Pro. Although the Macbook Pro had some features that were very cool such as the backlit keyboard and some of the software in the MAC OS, I decided to stick with the more customizable PC laptop. Great computer though; love the keyboard, the screen, the build quality, love the rubberized top. Did I mention I love it?

 

What kind of battery life are you guys seeing on your T's? Also if you could comment on whether that's with Intel or Nvidia graphics. I'm so torn between the T and W. It's the graphics adapter that has me so torn. It's just a bit hard to stomach that a 2 year newer Thinkpad purchase will have graphics that are equivilant to my current T61P, but I guess I've never really gamed much on it so it shouldn't be too big a deal.