Thinkpad W540 Customization Options (or T540p?)

I am a computer science student starting another year at college and have narrowed down my choices to either the W540 or the T540p since I don't plan on gaming.

From what I've heard, the W540 seems to be a better option since it offers better processors and has more expandability options with the hard drive (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I have pretty much decided on the 3K IPS display due to the quality being much better than the TN 1920x1080 displays. Here would be my configuration options for both and the resulting prices: (relevant info only)

W540 ($1,807.77)
Processor: Intel Core i7-4800MQ Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.70GHz)
OS: Windows 7 Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 8.1 Pro 64
Microsoft Productivity Software: None
Display: 15.5” 3K (2880 x 1620), IPS LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
Graphics: W540 NVIDIA Quadro K1100M 2G (don't see the need to upgrade as I'm not gaming)
Memory:8GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (2 DIMM)
Pointing Device:ThinkPad TrackPad with Fingerprint Reader
Storage Subsystem: Internal RAID - Not Enabled to Not RAID Capable
Hard Drive: 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm (plan on buying an SSD and installing it myself)
Micro Hard Drive: No NGFF SSD
Optical Device: DVD Recordable (necessary for recovery discs, correct?)
System Expansion Slots: No Smart Card Reader
Battery: 9 Cell Li-Ion Cylindrical Battery 99.9Wh
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0 (future proofing)
Warranty: 3YR Depot + Sealed Battery

T540p ($1,589.22)
Processor: Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.40GHz) (best processor available for this model)
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64 preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 8.1 Pro 64
Microsoft Productivity Software: None
Display: 15.5" 3K (2880x1620) IPS With WWAN
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics (not using this for gaming, maybe the GT 730M would be better for 3K?)
Memory: 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600MHz SODIMM (would upgrade to 8GB)
Pointing Device: ThinkPad TrackPad with Fingerprint Reader
Hard Drive: 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm (will upgrade to SSD)
Battery: 9 Cell Li-Ion Cylindrical Battery 99.9Wh (better battery life)
Wireless: Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0 (future proofing)
Warranty: 3YR Depot + Sealed Battery

Are they any physical differences between the T540p and W540 that I haven't considered? Also, is the difference between the 4700MQ and 4800MQ worth getting the T540p instead? Also, the 3K on the T540p doesn't say "LED Backlight Anti-Glare" but does it have these features? Thanks!

 

Unless you really need the better video card in the W540 I'd really recommend the T540p. Yes, the display is the same. I'd stick with the Intel HD for better battery life if gaming isn't a concern. Don't know if there's a difference between the 4700/4800 CPU's, but there's a cpu compare tool on intels sites that's pretty good. Usually it comes down to virtualization support and stuff like that.

 

Thanks. It seems the T540p would be a better choice since it's cheaper and the display is the same. I've heard Windows 7 doesn't work as well with high DPIs, so do you recommend just getting Windows 8.1?

 

Yep, the major reason for going with the W540 is the more powerful GPU option. If you don't need it, stick with the T540p. Right, I would definitely recommend W8.1 over W7 for laptops with high-DPI panels (and also for most other new laptops, but that's a different story).

 

I've heard "issues" with the refresh rate of the Lenovo Y50 topping out at 48Hz with the 4K screen. Is there any sort of restriction like that on the T540p with the integrated graphics and the 3K display?

 

I will note however that Windows 8.1 is still not great with multiple displays and high DPIs, though better than 7. If the displays have different DPIs, expect things to be sharp on your main monitor (the DPI things are actually rendered at), and blurry on the others as things are raster-resized from that. On a t440s (1080p) with win8.1, with scaling enabled, the internal display looked great while my external monitor (lower DPI) was blurry. I opted for no scaling in the end and I put up with small text on the laptop (zooming web pages and documents where needed), but that isn't a particularly viable option with a 3K 15" display.

 

I intend to hook the laptop up to larger monitors and projectors, so this could be an issue. How well does the 2880x1620 resolution scale down to make things less blurry? I'm really getting the upgrade because of the IPS display, since I saw a night and day comparison between the non-IPS and IPS displays.

 

If you don't need the extra screen workspace, you can set the screen at half (quarter) resolution to still show everything clearly and not worry about scaling issues.

 

I run at 1920x1080 on my 3K T540P and you can't tell it from running native resolution. Tack sharp and awesome screen. IPS is a killer feature. Wouldn't ever deal with DPI issues myself, too much hassle, running at 1920 is just perfect for the 15" display. I have it running right now in a 3 monitor setup with the T540p as one and two other external 24" monitors. Windows 8 does a good job remembering all the different resolutions I have stuff set at so it's very easy.

It's also nice to drop down to 1600x900 when my eyes get tired, ha-ha. Still very sharp. Also, in my 3 monitor setup, since the T540p is the furthest display away from me (docked over to the right), the display is set to 1600x900 so I can still see stuff that I drag over to that screen.

 

Yeah, I forgot about that option (which isn't quite as good when you're talking 1600x900 on a 1080p screen).

I'm honestly not sure how screen elements rendered for 2880x1620 scale down - it all depends on how much scaling you're doing. You have 212dpi there, so probably quite a bit. With 1080p on 14" (157dpi) and ~125% scaling, the external monitor was certainly usable, but blurrier than I'd like. Then again, office projectors never seem to look all that great anyways, and my setup involves using the external monitor the majority of the time.

For what it's worth, Apple does a lot of non-native resolutions with retina, and hardly anyone notices. Anything other than the optimal setting for the retina display means rendering at a higher or lower res than that (always 2X the usual), and then scaling it to fit the screen. I'm still not sure how they deal with the externals - it might be the same thing Windows 8.x does, rendering everything at the higher DPI and then scaling down to fit. Only, they only do 1X or 2X (hiDPI/retina), so it's a bit easier to hide it. In the case of running a lower resolution on the hiDPI 3K display, I'm not so sure. Depends on the person I suppose.

 

I was wondering how 1920x1080 would work since it's not a perfect ratio with the native resolution but I'm glad I'll be able to use it without any clarity issues. I basically have the flexibility of the 3K resolution while being able to drop down to 1920x1080 for apps that don't scale well, all with a nice IPS display. Cool

If you are using the integrated graphics card, do you know if the refresh rate is locked to 48Hz or something lower than 60Hz on the 3K screen?

 

Get the video card on either machine, gaming or not. You'll regret it if you don't.


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Well, in my display properties, all 3 monitors are listed there and the "built-in" display has "50p Hz" and "60p Hz" options with the 60 currently set. This is from the Intel HD Graphics Properties pages.

 

Even on the T540p? I've heard the card on that is pretty weak.

Thanks for the info. With aztec506's comment, do you run into any limitations with the integrated card that the discrete card would be better with and worth the price increase?

 

Not that I've noticed. I don't really do any gaming though...

 

what are you guys doing that's so intensive that a w540 is needed over the w530 or w520. I don't think I've read a glowing review of the w540 yet. Is the w530 still an option for you.

 

The W530 is a beautiful laptop. I had to choose between it and the T540p. If it wasn't for the 3k display on the T540p I would have kept the W530 instead. It struck me as an all around better machine.

 

I am aware of the complaints made about the trackpad, but can you explain why you think the W530 is better all around than the T540p or W540? Since I want to keep this laptop for at least three years, I don't want to buy last year's model unless it's really worth the older specs. Also, the W530 doesn't have a num pad, which I would prefer.

If there was a W530 on the Lenovo Outlet, I would consider it but I don't see any at the moment.

 

Also, I've seen issues with the W540 throttling, especially on battery. I've heard of using software like Throttlestop to fix these issues. Has anyone experienced this issue?

 

Well that's just my impression/preference.

I preferred the outer texture of the older Thinkpads. The W530 seemed more durable. The 540 series is a little smoother and more refined looking, but more slippery. I preferred the speakers on the W530, they were better for watching video's. I did not like that I had to buy a new dock and new adapters for the T540. Everything I had from my previous Thinkpads worked in the W530, not so for the T540. Some people like the numpad and some people think the off centered keyboard is awkward, take your pick. I'm not a huge fan of the new keyboard and the fact that the Win 8 functions are overlayed onto the function keys. I liked the older dedicated volume and mute keys. On my older Thinkpads I've done cpu upgrades, thermal paste redo's, etc. relatively easily. I don't know what those same operations would be like on the new series, but I'm thinking not quite as easy. I'm sure there's other little things, most of it is my preference for things long past

The pro's of the 540 series just to keep it even; the ability to plug in an LTE module (first upgrade I did). The high res screen that is IPS. That's it. Just those 2 things, but that was enough for me. I really had to decide which was more important, the screen or the keyboard, which would put me with the W530 or the T540p, and I decided screen. I don't regret it, but I do avoid using the keyboard as much as possible.