Thinkpad T520 thickness

The T520 arrived today

Someone justify the thickness for the T520. Compare to my T60, the T60 was much slimmer and it seemed everything was tightly pack in together to maximize every space. I'm not feeling the thickness of the T520 (like the t420 size but need the 15 display).

I mean come on as we move forward the design should get sleeker and better. I bought a low end Lenovo from Costco a while back and return it because it had a cheap feel to it. This T520 feels like a Thinkpad with a lower end Lenovo shell.

 

one possible justification:

thinner laptops have overheating issues due to less room/airflow.

 

In my experience, an X1400 T60 had quite significant heat output even while idle. CPU/GPU chips have only gotten more powerful since then, so I'd think the cooling system needed to be enlarged.

 

The irony in this is that at least as far as the base is concerned, the T520 is structurally stronger than its T4x great-grandparent.

People equate weight and density to strength. They're not always related -- in fact when it comes to electronics, they're frequently inversely proportional -- but that's the human mind for you.

Colonel O'Neill's got a good point too: the T520/W520 mechanical needs to accommodate a quad-core CPU and a *very* power-hungry Quadro GPU. That means a lot of heat. The LCD governs the basic dimensions of the laptop, and that leaves thickness as one of the only ways to get a bit more airflow.

Also consider that a slightly thicker shell allows for a bit more play which allows the notebook to resist bending and torsion better. (That said, I suspect cooling is the main reason.)

 

however, i do think that for users that don't need the fastest i7 processor and nvidia graphics, there is definetly room for them to make the laptops slimmer.

for example, i have an i3 and intel graphics, and my system doesn't get hot at all. lenovo should make a thin/lighter version of the 14 and 15 inch thinkpads for those users who want a little more portability with a large screen but dont need quad core and video card.

 

See the Thinkpad T420s with Core i3 and integrated graphics.

 

good point, i forgot about that model. now i just wish there was a t520s since i prefer 15 in.