Thinkpad T510 Owners lounge

I already got my key using keyfinder and downloaded Windows 7 (from that clean install thread).

 

You can't use that key to install, you need to use ABR. That key is OEM only and only works with the already activated system -- it will not activate via phone or web. ABR will save both the key and the activation, so together they will work.

 

Where can I get ABR?

edit: Nevermind, I just saw your sig. Does this work with Windows 7?

 

I am going to buy this laptop tomorrow, the setup is going to be: for $1200 an i7-620m, HD+ screen, 4GB RAM, NVS 3100m, 9 cell battery, and a SSD, which was an $100 upgrade. Is the SSD worth the $100 upgrade from a 500GB 7200 RPM HDD? Will it make the whining noise with either of them? Thank you

 

So I ran your program on a flash drive, but it only generated the backup-key.txt. I don't see the backup-cert.xrm-ms file anywhere.

Did I do it correctly?

 

^ I used keyfinder and the cd key was enough. I didn't need to use the restore.exe from ABR.

 

It should have also made the cert file. ABR only works on original OEM installs, so if you or someone else reinstalled clean at some point, it's not going to work.

 

Using it on my T510 I received today, and only getting around to uninstalling the bloatware now.

It definitely is the OEM install, because the key your program pulled is different from the Windows 7 sticker.

I'll just enter the OEM code when and if I ever need to re-install.

 

One thing that's bothering me is the blue tone bias of the LCD. It's not a deal breaker at all, just different than what I'm used to.

The monitor in the back is a 23" Dell S2309W running Win 7 as well. All 3 displays are running stock ICC profiles without calibration.

 

I would just like to mention something. When I got my thinkpad, there seemed to be a small whining noise when I opened IE (but I wasn't sure if it was CPU whining since it wasn't loud at all). But doing a clean install and installing all the proper drivers, not downloading most of the thinkvantange stuff and using firefox has stopped the noise. Not only that but now my computer is much faster too. So I highly recommend everyone to perform a clean install upon receiving their thinkpad.

 

Just ordered my T510 today, i7-620m, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA Nvs 3100m, 9 cell battery, 128GB SSD, HD+ screen, I can't wait, only cost $1200. If i call in and complain about the shipping date, is there a good chance I'll get it sooner? Or is the shipping date not always accurate? I've read through all 47 pages before, forgot exactly what people were saying about shipping. Thank you.

 

@Student92 - I have almost the same set-up but with FHD - and to me the 128GB SSD was worth it. Way quieter... I don't ever think I heard a whining noise and I had my since March. Way cooler too and waking up from sleep mode is almost instant. It appears after it recognizing my fingerprint its on.

 

Hi ecco88,

What is the model number of that T510 of yours, the one with a i7-620m and 15.6" FHD.

How is the screen? As good as others say?

TIA

- avi

 

I figured out why your ABR program didn't work, it's because I downloaded the regular version.

I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 beta version and it works perfectly. Thank you.

 

I ordered a near identical T510 (except i5-540m) on 5/23, with an estimated ship date of 6/14, but it actually shipped on 5/27. So you'll likely get it a fair bit sooner than Lenovo says.

Can't wait for mine either.

 

Oh, that's great news . So I ordered mine on May 29th, estimated ship date is on 6/17, let's hope it ships within a week. It seems like that would be a really long time to ship a notebook anyways. And once it does ship, is it another 5-7 business days on average?

 

Hey guys do you think this adapter:

For only $7.43 each when QTY 50+ purchased - DP (DisplayPort) Male to HDMI Female Adapter | DisplayPort to HDMI | DVI | VGA Adapters

would work to connect my t510 to my TV's hdmi?

 

I ordered my T510 with an i7-620m, and I'm looking for a notebook cooler, anyone have any recommendations that will work well with it? How much difference in cooling should I expect with it? Also, should I buy notebook speakers?

 

I got to use a T510 with I7 in it this past weekend, I didn't notice any heat issues at all. The fan ran most of the time on it's lowest setting which to me wasn't annoying at all and the temps were very low (100F-105F on the proc) for most trivial tasks. I don't know if you'd need a cooler. The speakers were also a step up from my T61P however it's still a laptop (and a business laptop at that) so if you want good sound get some external speakers.

The build quality was definitely better then my T61p, I put all my weight on it and couldn't find much budge at all. The only thing that feels a bit weaker is the back side of the LCD, but from what I've read, that's a bit decieving since it'll still protect the LCD under a lot of weight.

 

Yep, from reading around here, that seems to be about the average. If you're in the US, UPS imports everything to either KY or CA, so shipping time depends on how close you are to one of those. Dunno about other countries. Mine shipped on 5/27 and cleared US customs yesterday.

 

Wow, it already shipped, only took 3 days after I ordered it. Estimated shipping date was 6/17, so I guess that doesn't really mean anything. Can't wait to get it, and I live less than a day's drive from KY, so it shouldn't take too long for UPS to get it here.

 

Got mine today!

What I like: very fast, quiet, awesome keyboard, and good build quality (in most aspects, see below).

What I don't like: the screen (it's probably decent as far as laptops go, but I'm coming from a PVA panel desktop LCD so any TN is going to kinda suck in comparison), mine appears to have the 'CPU whine', which is especially annoying with no HDD noise and how quiet the fan is, keyboard flexes very slightly if you push on it overly hard (this is being very picky, as there's no issue at all when actually typing), doesn't sit perfectly flat so the bottom left corner gets pushed down slightly when I put my palm there, and they didn't put in the bluetooth card that I ordered.

This may not look good as my list of 'don't likes' is so much longer than my list of 'likes', but in reality most of those are very minor I'm quite happy with it overall. Just have to call up lenovo to get my bluetooth mPCIe card.

 

No bluetooth? That really sucks, it's a shame you have to wait so long because of some stupid mistake. Mine shipped from China yesterday, if you check your shipping tracker, how long does it take it to actually get into the US? How loud is the CPU whine, and does it only happen under load? Thanks, hope you don't have any more problems with it

 

Aside from the performance upgrades, how do the T510 and W510 differ? Particularly, when matched up [where they can be] on the screen and internals, what sets them apart?

 

Anyone overclocked the GPU in this notebook?

 

Actually, there was bluetooth. I just failed to notice that it was turned off by default. Oops.

It took 3 business days for me between ship date and arriving in the US.

The CPU whine is pretty quiet, pretty much any background noise will drown it out. It only happens under load for me (regardless of how much it is, anything other than idle). But there's supposedly something you can do with the power management settings to reduce/eliminate it. I think I'll just turn the fan on with tpfancontrol for any occasions I find myself in a very quiet environment, it's a much less annoying sound.

All the CPU options for the W510 are quad core and all for the T510 are dual core, the GPU is better, there's a color calibrator option for the screen, there's a touchscreen option on the W510, and there are 4 RAM slots instead of 2. I think that's it.

 

The W510 also has two USB 3.0 ports, other than that and the GPU, CPU, and screen, they are extremely similar.

 

I got my T510 today . I can hear the whine but it is very slight so it does not bother me. Build quality is excellent with no problems that I can see so far. I was worried about the screen but I actually like it (HD+). Everything is running fast and efficient and I love it.

 

Has anyone with an i7-620m had CPU whine problems? Or is it only with the i5-540m? That would be odd if it did it with every processor.

 

my t510 has i7 620m and I've been experiencing whine problem since day 1.
The whine noise like doubles when i have anything usb plugged into it. I can hear it even with background noise.

 

Great... and has anyone found out why it does it? Or is there any way to stop it? I think I read earlier if you undervolt it or something.. I forget

 

im not really sure whats causing it.
I've tried everything thats been suggested. playing with power settings, bios settings, tried that throttlestop app that was mentioned in this thread. non worked :/.

From what i've read, undervolting the new core i series is kind of difficult.

 

I think the only way to fix is to send it to lenovo so can change internal parts. Using software might work but you will be compromising either the efficiency of your battery, your cpu, or both.

 

the whine is very soft for me.. maybe i just got a lil lucky?

 

I'm hoping that people are just complaining and that it isn't bad, I'll be listening to music 90% of the time anyways. Have you done anything to try to fix the whine though?

 

No I havent because its that slight. I heard it was just because of the processor and really no perfect fix. I put the computer under load and it was still the same.

The only problem I experience is a little keyboard flex around the fingerprint reader and thats it. (makes a squeak every now and then)

 

Checked my tracking information again, on 6/3 and 6/4 it says carrier and customs released, does it usually say that twice and does that mean it's now inside the US? Or does that mean it's now at the exact place before it ships out, from what I've read before it's in Louisville. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Once I get it though (expecting it Tuesday) I'll do a review and everything, another one can't hurt.

 

Anybody know?

 

Try to download and launch the "ThrottleStop 2.00 Build 25"

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

I'm not sure if that will help you, but I got rid of my noise by just starting it. It looks like it's related to C states of CPU....

 

Yes, most likely it will work.

 

Just received my T510 today.. and I love it. The build quality is fantastic, it seems better than it was... in 2003, so I guess that should be expected. The i7 and SSD destroys, but my favorite thing about it is the screen. I'm used to crap, so it may seem better than it really is, but it looks amazing during Call of Duty. The only thing I don't like so far is the touchpad, but I'll get used to it.

 

After using the Thinkvantage "Factory Recovery Disks" to burn it onto a DVD-R, can I format the recovery partition? Or do I still need the partition?

 

Once you've burned the disc you can get rid of the recovery partition if you want, you can still restore safely to factory spec from the disks.

 

Instead of formatting you can delete it and then extend the main partition to use that space. There's no reason to deal with separate drive letters.

 

Ok, how do I delete and extend it? It isn't a right click option, so I really don't know what to do from there. And thanks for the suggestion, it is pretty lame that I lose 10GB of space because they don't want to include recovery disks.

 

A quick google for "windows 7 extend partition" will turn up plenty of results. Please note that when doing hard disk operations, there's always a chance something could go wrong, so make sure to backup your data.

 

Alright, easy way to get 10GB more of space =p. Easeus Partition Master was great, took about 30 seconds to do everything.

 

Congratulations, when did you order yours? I ordered mine on May 30 and still no news ! My credit card hasn't been charged yet too, is this normal :S

 

I ordered mine on May 29th, but it only took like 3 days for it to be put together. I got lucky. And yes, they won't charge you until it's ready to ship/just shipped.

 

Mine took about a week before I noticed a charge.