Thinkpad W550s Owner's Thread

Upgrading the Lenovo ThinkPad W550s
Parts Used:
Order from IBM maintenance parts and warranty center (18004267763)
Parts center (1-800-426-7378)
Internal 3 cell 44 Wh battery Battery Part number ‘ 45N1741 ‘
Lenovo ThinkPad Battery 68+ (6 Cell) 72Wh 0c52862
Lenovo ThinkPad Battery 68+ (6 Cell) 48Wh
Lenovo ThinkPad Battery 68 (3 Cell) 0c52861
LTE Network card ‘Em7345’
My digital 256gb 42mm M.2 NGFF Sata 6G SSD MPN:MDM242-SB-256
Samsung 850 EVO 1tb 2.5” Sata MZ-75E1T0B/AM
Corsair Vengeance Performance 16GB (2x8gb) DDR3L 1600MHz PC3 12800 Laptop Memory
CMSX16GX3M2B1600C9

Steps to take prior to upgrade

1. When ordering parts other than those listed above, make sure they’re compatible with the laptop
2. There are several ways to either clone your existing hard drive or install a fresh copy of windows onto your new one hard drive (this will not be explained in this guide)
   Personal thought –
   1. Acronos 2015 (backup existing/restore new),
   2. or fresh windows install
3. These upgrades may/may not void your manufacture warranty
   1. The manufacture warranty for this laptop is 3 years
4. This process is simple and easy to do, but be careful!!
   1. Major, unfixable, unwarrantable damage can be done

Only tools needed will be Philips screwdriver and plastic card

Steps to take for hardware installation:

1. Shut down machine
2. Unplug from wall, Detach any battery power/source
3. Remove 8 Philips screws from bottom (screws won’t come all the way out, they will stay with cover)
4. Remove bottom cover (Pull lightly, starting from front to back)
   1. Using a plastic card to help pry the cover from the unit itself is recommended

Battery

1. Remove 5 Philips screws holding battery placeholder
2. Remove placeholder, keeping screws (screws needed for installing battery)
3. Insert battery into place, don’t connect power cable at this time
4. Screw 5 Philips screws to hold battery in place

2.5mm Drive

1. Remove three Philips screws holding drive bracket in place
2. Disconnect sata plug from existing HHD/SSD
3. Pull out existing HHD/SSD with small plastic enclosure
4. Remove plastic enclosure from existing drive and place it onto the new drive
5. Plug in the sata plug into the new drive
6. Replace the three Philips screws to hold new SSD in place

M.2 Sata Drive

1. (use M.2 location below the Wi-Fi module) Remove the (1) screw from M.2 sata ‘holding screw’
2. Place M.2 sata drive (label down) into the connector
3. While holding M.2 sata drive down and in the connector, replace the (1) Philips ‘holding screw’

M.2 Sata LTE Data Card

1. (If adding the LTE Data network card – use M.2 location next to Wi-Fi module) follow and repeat steps 15-17

Ram

1. (If replacing both ram dims) remove existing ram dim by pressing metal tabs on sides until the dim is released
2. Push new ram dims into ram connectors while lining up gap
3. While pressing new ram dim into connector, guide it down at same time
4. When ram dim is in correctly, metal tabs on the sides will click into place, securing the new ram in place

(If installing a second ram dim) follow and repeat steps 20-22

 

Sorry guys, either my files are to large for server, even after shrinking them, or i get a different error

so bear with me, but all i can do is post a short link to my one drive for pictures

 

http://1drv.ms/1Hbd5dY Picture of bottom of laptop internals stock

http://1drv.ms/1HbdlJG Picture of internal battery bay area with metal plate removed

http://1drv.ms/1OJwFmK picture of internal battery screwed into place

http://1drv.ms/1OJwMyE picture of bottom of laptop after first half of updates

http://1drv.ms/1OJwPdZ windows battery program showing

http://1drv.ms/1OJwVSI lenovo battery program showing

http://1drv.ms/1OJwYhs picture of laptop with 6 cell external

http://1drv.ms/1OJx1K8 picture of laptop with 3 cell external

 

Thanks for pics and detailed post on upgrades. Could you post link to where you bought your laptop and thanks.

 

I bought it off Lenovo configured to base base model. The way i wanted it configed at Lenovo was $2500 and only 500gb ssd, vs 1tb ssd and 256 gb m.2 ssd.

I canceled that due to shipping, and bought somewhat of a basic one off amazon.com.

It was base model kind of, 3k non touch screen, 256gb ssd and 8gb ram. Was around $1500.

I'd recomend buying it configured closer to what you want as an end result. Problem was it was Tuesday of this week and I left for buisness trip this friday/yesterday. So I needed a laptop, like ASAP. Best next day shipping laptop model, was the one i recieved. I'd receomend going through laptop upgrade king's website. They seem to be very reasonable and extremely customizable. You just wont get shipping out of a preconfig like on amazon (which is only 2 available next day models)

If you truely want my shipped model, id say forget it. It didnt include the internal, and came with the 6 cell battery which isnt the high compacity, so i got the same huge sized battery, but only half the capacity. Non touch 3k which i want touch. For $1500-1600. For that you could get the built in battery, pick your external battery, and everything else. Not slamming where i bought it from, just not the config i wanted, but i got it and set up in time, so no complaints.

But laptop itself, I really really like. Just about everything about it. Just wished there was a 14" model, be nice to shave off a few inches to make it easily more portable for plane/car use. But even at 15", its really nice, and still pretty portable, definitly thin. and weight is around 5 lbs, but distributed perfectly and doesnt feel like 5lbs.

 

Within the next few days I'll have a decent review put up, and in a month or so I'll follow up with a more detailed review. But overall, I really like the W550s. I have the w540 and had the thinkpad14. This is definitly the better mix of power and portability. I also have a MSI Workstation 17", both GT and GS versions, as well as Asus g751, samsung series 8, macbook pro retina 15, retina pro 13, yoga pro 2, asus zenbook (several models), and I'm sure theyres also quite a few others mixed in there. My work laptop is the Dell precision m4800 and latitude 5000 something series. And I'm fairly certain that the w550s will be replacing all as my daily driver. Only my SP3 cannot be replaced.

But major things to point out, battery life, light/medium/heavy use is not a problem. Size/weight great. Keyboard is a thinkpad, enough said. Trackpad and buttons, OMG over last years. I love it! 3k screen is great, just really bummed about lack of touch, but im on windows 7 so not a huge failure. But i know it will become an issue if i ever upgrade windows.

I'll be posting my first review with a good selection of benchmarks, and try and include screen shots or something with that. Sony vegas pro 13, lightroom, probably borderlands 2/prequil and diable 3 for games (all i really play lately), assortment of file conversion software mainly video.

anything else you guys would like ot have tested or know about please feel free to just comment on here and ask. If its cheap or free, i will try and get to it.

 

Great so a backup and restore will actually work on a System Boot Drive. I will do it today. Watch those front corner base cover screws. They have enough torque on them (at least in mine) that hollowing the top is possible without good pressure and a good phillips head screwdriver.

 

This is totally off topic but I am intrigued that with all your equipment you value the SP3 that highly. I carry a most recent generation Ipad Air but just don't find that much use for it. I also have owned my X220 for 3 years but have never used it. That 12 inch screen just isn't enough real estate for me. The 15.6 is about minimum and the QHD (I had to use 150%) really helps out that issue on the W550S over my W520. I am used to twin 27 QHDs on my desktop so it is hard to get anywhere close to that on the road.

 

dblkk, thanks so much for the detailed information, and especially for the photos. Helps me a lot to know that the internal battery can be added later. Also is useful to know that the two six-cell battery packs are same size. Generous of you to take the time to write everything up for us, and to post the photos. Thank you.

 

Does anyone know if the maximum capacity of the M. 2 2242 SSDs for this laptop?

 

The M.2 maximum is based on the fact only a 42mm M.2 card can fit. Lenovo states that only single sided M.2 cards will work which would limit to 128gb, but several other Lenovo models people have put double sided M.2 cards in (256gb) and works just fine. Which i can confirm.

As of right now, the largest capacity 42mm M.2 card is 256gb. Hopefully with all this 3d vram, maybe a 42mm might come out with a higher capacity.

 

As for the SP3. I totally agree with the 15" being almost minimum for 'workable area'. Like i stated above i had the Lenovo thinkpad 14 for a while, and it was borderline a pain.

But size aside, PEN INPUT! #1 reason why surface pro cannot leave my side. 2nd and still huge fact, full blown pc. I hate using it to type, but as pen input pc, it is unreplaceable. And when I'm on a plane, or even in an airport, the smaller size (which is less than ideal) works, where pulling out even a 14" laptop is a no go.

another huge plus for SP3, is that when im at a clients site, and i have to program and download to PLC/DCS systems, its much easier to hold surface as a tablet and use the pen, then it is for balancing act with my laptop to do the same.

 

Just match what is in your machine. But get the 8 meg DIMMs. I got Crucial. The only secret is that it needs 1.35v or less. You will see an L suffix on the DDR3 PC3-12800 memory on the Lenovo website. Apparently that just means it is 1.35 v. That suffix I could not find on most memory modules, but apparently the lower voltage is what is meant by that.

I did my recovery disks and simply quit at 13 CDs. So I should order a set of recovery disks, but I can find nowhere on the Lenovo site to order them. Does anyone have the part nos for the machine with W7 Pro Downgrade from Win 8.1 for the W550S? And the address or number or website to order them?

 

Here is the site to get the recovery media: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/lenovorecovery/entitlement

 

As far as ram goes, I'm not sure what timing or how easy it is to match the factory ram. But when I went to order an additional 8gb stick. It was around $90 for the 8gb stick on amazon with 5-7 day shipping. But for $105 plus prime 2 day shipping, I was able to get corsair vengence 2x8gb sticks. So i just went that route, and replaced the existing with the new set. I know have an extra 8gb stick, but feel that was the right move.

So word of wisdom, find what you need to replace, but also shop around. you could very well even spend less on 2x8gb sticks than purchasing just an additional matching 8gb stick.

 

Thank you for the link. Apparently it does not yet work for the W550S. At any rate it asks for a S/N, which on the W550S is only found underneath the external battery. Entering the S/N found there and hitting submit does nothing. So my guess is Lenovo hasn't yet updated the W550S information into their rather lame website.
UPDATE: I was able to get the Recovery Media Ordered when I entered the S/N on the back of the machine but left out the hyphen that appears between the 2 and 3rd characters of the S/N. Also on mine the 3rd character is a number rather than a letter like the next 6 characters. That also fooled me as my 3rd character looked like an Oh (O) as opposed to a zero. So if you know Lenovo's secrets you are good to go. My recovery media on my order was free as in no charge. That was pretty cool until I realized the media provided was the 8.1 and of course my machine is Win 7 x64 downgrade from 8.1. No great worry as we will have Win 7 and 8 combined in Win 10 here pretty soon. I still have 4 licenses of Win 8.1 I bought some years ago that have never been used as the one machine (X220) I put them on made me realize that it is a mostly unusable OS; at least for someone conversant with Win 7 and without a touch screen.

I tend to forget how much time must be dedicated to a simply machine change of mostly the same OS and software. But it does take several weeks of rather tedious effort.

I think the machine will be good however and it it turns out not able to replace my W520 I will use it until the real W550 comes out. After a few days of use I am still often typing gibberish because I center my fingers in the wrong place on the keyboard, but that is operator error. I do wonder out the 1-2 or 3 second delay from typing on the W550S keyboard until the appearance of the letters. That has already been mentioned by others in this thread.

 

dblkk,

Did you transfer the aluminum heat barrier on the HDD to the new SSD? I did not as it appeared to be glued to the platter drive. Wondering your thoughts?

BTW, the Acronis clone operation from the as sold HDD to the new SSD in a SATA enclosure worked swimmingly well. No problem on boot up at all.

 

What am I missing here: 1) Turn on Trim, 2) turn off drive indexing, 3) turn off Superfectch and Prefetch, 4) Stay in AHCI mode if you have changed it, 5) turn off scheduled defrag and don't defrag, 6) disable paging, and 7) disable hibernation/sleep. I think that about covers the changes to the system for the SSD.

 

pkincy, as for the heat thing, no i kept that glued on aluminum foil on the existing ssd. No harm no foul.

as for what your missing. I have a samsung, and i just use the magician software as it configs all settings for me. I think the big ones that really matter are disable hibernate, and make sure to keep AHCI mode.

Windows will see the ssd and turn on trim. once windows enables trim then the degrag just turns to trim, nothing for the user to need to do

drive indexing, no harm no foul

superfetch prefect, ssd's dont use so i guess no biggie to turn off or on

paging, same thing, no harm no foul

Other than that, its about it

 

Or you could look at upgrading to an 11ac router. I'm thinking about the same upgrade as the T440p I have has the 2x2 11ac card that is in the W550s. I connect at a 300Mbps phy rate at home (11n) on the T440p where my T520 connects at 450Mbps. However, at work, where we have some AC APs I connect at 867Mbps (2x 433.3Mbps per TX/RX chain).

 

I see tech radar has review the w550s. Pretty positive review.

 

So ran into an issue while trying to upgrade the LCD to a LG LP156WF4-SPU1 (glossy) - old TN 1080p panel is a N156HGE-EA2 from Innolux.

Brightness is at max and no brightness control is available (fn +f5/f6) do not work.

Windows does not recognize the lcd panel (even though in bios it reads the model properly). Tried keeping it as "generic pnp display" under device manager > monitors. Tried it under "thinkpad display 1280x1080" and it still does not read. Anyone know where I should go from here? I've tried everything from uninstalling to reinstalling the intel/nvidia drivers with no luck.

 

Try testing using a linux (like 'linux mint') boot dvd or usb, and see how it work there.

 

Just got my laptop. Pretty disappointed so far. The laptop is severely laggy with the 4gb ram. Also, does anyone notice on their bezel, at the bottom, there is a big separation between the screen and the bezel? The fit and finish just seems cheap and poor. Also, the touchpad is extremely finicky and it seems to have some weird acceleration going on while using the touchpad. I wonder what happened to the good old days when things just worked. I bought this laptop after buying a crappy Dell Inspiron 17 4k laptop where it had a really crappy unusable touchpad (very similar to this). Frustrating. Anyone else experience this issue with the touchpad?

edit - to be more specific about the touchpad, when i try to select a certain link in a small area (like a text), the touchpad accelerates fast at first, but then as the pointer gets closer to the text I want to click on, it will drastically slow down to the point that my finger will go off the touchpad trying to select it.

edit 2 - also, im just watching a youtube video about a camera review, and surfing the web, and then checking some apps but i get severe lag where the pointer will just lag and disappear, and lag and disappear again. Then the speakers make a cackling sound. I'm not sure what's going on but this is a really piece of crap lenovo so far.

 

4gb is going to feel laggy. There's some tuning you can do but these days you should really be running with at least 8 - it's not exactly expensive. Possible you got a lemon, since you just got it you can try exchanging it - your experience doesn't match up.

Touchpad acceleration can be tweaked. Take some time, read up, update your system, etc. If you hate that and want something out of the box, the mythical "just works", then buy a Retina Pro (and then visit the Mac forums where you'll find many posts about equally annoying things).

 

I think it's just the lack of memory for the lag. I'll be picking up new memory. What is the speed and latency of the stock ram in the W550s? Thanks

p.s. i got the touchpad weirdness sort of resolved in settings, though it's starting to do other weird things now like jump to different locations.

 

Well I restarted and now it won't go to the loading screen. It just turns black after the lenovo boot screen. I've restarted 50 times and took out batteries and CMOS as well and still doesn't work. Any suggestions? Thanks much appreciated

Tried restoring reformating and everything else. Nothing works.

 

Hi all, I have just got my laptop today, it comes with windows 7, has anyone know how to upgrade it Windows 8.1 Pro?

I could find where is the key for windows. By the way, can I use the windows 8.1 version that I downloaded from Microsoft website?

P/s: does anyone know what M.2 card will benefit this laptop? Can I install the OS on it?

 

Most people use Crucial here:

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Lenovo/thinkpad-w550s

But you can go with any memory that matches those specs, likely. Make sure you match voltage, etc. too.

You really may have gotten a lemon. Your comment on the screen gap is also concerning, I haven't seen that. Did you get this straight from Lenovo? Depot or onsite warrenty? If you just got it you may be able to get a quick swap from them without having to wait weeks especially if you escalate.

 

It should have come with the "downgrade rights" key or something - I haven't bought a Lenovo with Windows 7 like that so I am not sure how they handle it, but if you log in to their support site with your serial number you should be able to dig around and find it. From there it's a pretty easy upgrade. You'll need to use the version they recommend I believe.

You need a 42mm M.2 card - which is short. That will rule out anything over 256gb. Also it's M.2 SATA III. Search Amazon, Trancend makes a nice 256gb one that works and in the US at least it's pretty cheap. You can use it as your OS drive and stick with a cheaper spindle drive for storage, or put an SSD in there too, whatever works for you.

Edit: Paragon makes a Migrate to SSD package for $20 that works very well and is painless. Some drives like Samsung come with their own (if they aren't sold OEM). Or you can do it manually. If you have $20 to spare the Paragon way is the easiest.

 

Hey thanks for the reply. Yeah, I think it's a lemon. I can't even access the recovery options saying that there are missing files or anti virus interfering. (i've literally done nothing besides uninstall Norton). Not only is there a gap between the bezel and the screen, but the screen itself is offset, I can see the black border of the screen exposed on the left side. I just requested an exchange, but will it take a long time again? I don't want to wait another 20 days. Is there any way to get a preconfigured laptop shipped to me so that I don't have to wait for the build time? (currently says May 5th as ship date)

Thanks

 

Can anyone who is willing to risk it,

go here:
http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/pro...ooks/thinkpad-w-series-laptops/thinkpad-w550s

and download the driver for the video card and see if it crashes your computer?

 

Best bet is to call them and plead your case. Normally depot warranty means exactly that - they weren't being deceptive, at least. However since you just got it and it clearly got to you with problems you can probably plead your case, but I am sure you will need to spend some time on hold and talk to more than one person.
I got the onsite+accidental damage with mine, few hundred extra bucks saves a lot of hassle (in my case, even if I drop it).

 

Wow same problem on my new W550s. Screen went black upon first boot, but I thought it was just windows being windows.
Now the screen always turns off after the Lenovo loading screen. If I close the lid and open it again, screen will come back on.

 

Hi, may I know whether this laptop can fit Samsung Solid State Drive 850Evo M.2?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-E...d=1428163877&sr=1-15&keywords=Samsung+850+EVO

 

A little bit of an update.

So it seems like the underlying issue is that my computer is not detecting the K620M video card. It's when I try to install the nvidia drivers from lenovo's website when the computer will crash and never boot up again. I managed to create a working system restore point after reformatting it. So why won't my nvidia GPU detect?

 

No. You need a 42mm M.2 drive; that one is 89mm.

 

The W550S seems to be moving along. The change from the platter to the SSD and from 4 meg to 16 meg was a huge help. I do have one problem I can't yet solve, but it is more a W7 Problem not a Lenovo deal. On the personalization for the graphics, I get no response. I have the blue screen with Think in the lower right corner and can't get it to change. Whether I try the slide show or a simple Window preinstalled Theme. Something is locking the display to the Blue Think screen. Any thoughts/ideas? Thank you.

EDIT: gpedit.msc can prevent themes or desktop background from being changed. As expected my W7 in the W550s was delivered with none of those preventions enabled. So now I am stumped.

 

That is a strange issue. Not to state the obvious but you are sure you are getting the correct model drivers, right? The K620M is fairly new (and this is the first Lenovo with it) so the drivers are probably wonky too, I know they are old (for nVidia, I mean, the chip is new, the drivers aren't) and official "references" drivers aren't out yet.


Have you tried any of the modded OEM drivers from LaptopVideo2Go? They used to be my go-to place for laptops with discreet graphics, back when I used to have laptops with discreet graphics. Now that I have one again I am probably going to have to hit them up myself

They have the 350.05 drivers for Windows 8.1 x64
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/31434-v35005-windows-8-64bit-nvidia-mobile-oem/

Note you don't want to install it with the OEM inf - that probably won't even install/detect your hardware. You want to use the modded inf - the version on the page I linked (which is 6.012) added support for the K620M in March.

Update your Intel IRIS drivers too while you are at it (do one at a time though).

I *think* this is something to do with the Lenovo Power Manager (believe it or not), or there is some display manager thing that I always disable. In any case it is almost certainly an external Lenovo program that is superceeding the default Windows theme selector. For some reason I remember it being someplace obscure in the Power settings, check around in there.
All this reminds me why I always download all the manufacturers updates to a usb drive and do a hard wipe every time I get a new laptop. My work prefers I use their Enterprise Windows 8.1 anyway which isn't tied to a particular machine.

 

Hey there, thanks for the reply. I tried that and it installed fine, but when I restarted, it froze to a black screen again. Weird thing is that after I refreshed to a restore point, and all the sudden it detected my K620M video card. However, it had an error that stated: "Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)".

I'm not sure if there is something wrong with my video card or not. Am I supposed to see it in the display options of the BIOS? Because I only see the intel card. Other than that the computer works fine it's just that for whatever reason I cannot get any video drivers installed without it crashing. If it was a video card failure would it really cause crashing during driver installation? To me it seems like the drivers are recognizing the card, it's just that for whatever reason it's not able to install without crashing.

Thanks

 

There is a new driver dated March 2, 15 on the Lenovo website for the 620M. I am trying to download it now, but it appears several thousand other people are too. It tells me that I have 11 hours to go to download a paltry 323 MB file. And my connection is 10 MB/s, so it is not that end being slow.

 

I take it you have Windows 7?

 

I do. Win 7 Pro x64 downgrade from 8.1.

I am 4.5 hours into the K620 driver download. Lordy, Lenovo has a slow website.

Hope mine doesn't crater when I upgrade the driver.

 

You won't see it in the UEFI bios no.

Could very well be a "bad" card at this point, although what exactly bad means I couldn't tell you. Could be something simple like the heat pipe has come unstuck somewhere along its path (maybe over one of the memory chips) - hard to tell really, it's not going to jump out and tell you. Obviously this isn't normal for a W550s What has Lenovo support said?

 

For what it is worth, after my 5 hour download of the video driver dated March 2, 2015, mine did a relatively smooth driver update (lots of black screens as it updated) but a normal return to performance. Time for you to have warranty take a look at it.

 

Just a little bit of hard to find information re: warranty. I normally buy onsite service but apparently only bought depot service on the W550s. So I tried to find out what that means with Lenovo. Is the Depot in China, the US, or locally. There is a website choice on the Lenovo site for warranty service centers and it shows 6-7 in the San Diego area where I live. However to be sure I called Tech Support and was told if they could not talk me through a fix to my machine then they would send me a box and the machine would have to be mailed to Memphis for warranty work. Not liking that answer I will change to onsite warranty. Their system for doing so is quite convoluted. You first return your extended warranty. After 2-3 days that shows in their system. You then call back and buy a new upgraded warranty to the onsite service. Seems inefficient but it is what it is.

I have had a lot of onsite service on my W520 and it is quick and efficient and the repairs are done (assuming you know the problem so the tech can bring parts) in your home or office. My X220 has never been used (too little screen real estate to use with Win 7) so has never needed service.

In short I would recommend onsite service as a warranty choice.

 

Hi guys,

I just got my W550s, and I am super excited to install the new rams in today. The laptop had its fair amount of stutters here and there, but I am hoping that was due to the 4gb ram that initially came with the laptop in my configuration. I currently installed an 500 samsung ssd, and that helped it to run so much quicker.

I have a question for all w550s owners. Does your speakers make any weird noise after a sound is played? After a song ends, or even after a windows alert sounds play, there is a 3-5 seconds noise that sound like 'sssss' or hissing sounds that follow, and it goes silent. I am trying to figure out if this is an issue with my computer, or it is just a cheap speaker that comes with our laptops. Other than this, I don't have much issues with the laptop, but it is starting to annoy/worry me.

I also hear coil whining a bit, but that is not a huge deal for me.

 

For all that are wondering about upgrading the "Windows 7 with downgrade rights from 8.1 pro" you can simply grab a disc image of 8.1 pro from Microsoft, use their tool to put it on a USB drive, and install from inside OS. It automatically reads the right key and activates, and it installs like a fresh OS install, putting all your old programs in C://windows.old. You do need to go through and re-download all the Lenovo drivers.

As others have mentioned, my laptop has some major lag issues that happen intermittently. There will be a lag/stutter/delay while typing on the keyboard in any app, the mouse will randomly slow down and get to about 2-3fps while on normal desktop for a few seconds, and certain programs would get extremely low FPS on both nVidia GPU and intel GPU, with the nVidia one being just a tiny bit better. Notably, Visual Studio Ultimate 2013, Adobe Lightroom 5, Adobe Photoshop, JMP Pro Statistics, Icewind Dale EE. Full 3D games seem to work fine, but 2D apps lagged really bad. I tried upgrading to a 256gb SSD and 16 gb ram from the stock 500gbHDD and 4gb ram, and it did not help at all. I also upgraded from 7 to 8.1, did not help, downgraded back to 7 with a fresh install and put the old HDD and ram back in, still same issues. My last issue was that the battery (6cell 72wh) fit very loosely into the laptop and wobbled a lot.

Lenovo said to send the laptop in for repairs, and now its been a week without my laptop and I haven't heard anything back..

Edit: A side note, the lenovo power management software makes the laptop VERY slow when it detects that its not flat on a desk (through its "intelligent cooling" function) but I had also uninstalled that for testing, and all my weird lag issues were still present.

 

When I bought this laptop, I read reviews it everywhere I read stated that the W series laptops always come with 3 years on-site warranty. So when ordering my W550s, I thought the '1 year depot warranty' was just a glitch. One of many that I would notice on Lenovo's website. Unfortunately, it wasn't a glitch and I guess it only has 1 year depot warranty. When I purchased Dell business laptops, they always come with 3 years onsite warranty which I absolutely loved.

Lenovo is honestly disappointing in terms of how their service is and their support. But I won't go into that now. How much did it cost you to upgrade your warranty?

 

I hate to say it, but apparently my upgrade to the March 2 driver for the K620m was not as successful as I had hoped. Windows did an overnight update last night which required a reboot and like others I now get a black screen of death rather than an OS when I reboot. I have yet to figure a way to get to a restore point which I had deliberately created just before I did the driver update a couple of days ago. I may go ahead and do a fresh Win 7 install and start over. How might I find the Win 7 product code from my machine to use if I use a generic ISO file for Win 7 x64 (which my machine came with). Also where might be a good source of the Windows ISO files to burn a disk?