Thinkpad W701 Owners Lounge

Well, after 4 weeks of wait I've received one a week ago (config 25003BU).
I intend to build ultimate laptop using it as base, thanks to Lenovo platform openness (and MXM 3.0 too )

Now answering some questions splitting from thread in other subforum

The RGB LED 1920x1200 wide gamut anti-glare display is LTN170CT08-L01 from Samsung.
The gamut (white) in comparison to sRGB (gray):


The reds colours are not issue at all. They are of extremely vivid scarlet.
It's white colour I didn't exactly like, it looks like slightly pinkish to me, even when colorimeter insisted on it being correct temperature (same happens to me with OLED screens). However manual calibration fixed that.

 

wished that Lenovo could bring the IPS LCD to the 17 inch range.

 

Hi, I'm considering joining this exclusive club, can you tell me a little about your experience of owning/using a W701?

Thanks.

 

Well, I use X200s on a daily basis and I appreciate the same keyboard layout (save the touchpad, which I keep disabled). The tablet is a bonus (works well with Windows 7's handwriting recognition tools and with Photoshop).
The calibrator works well (in my case it is paired with X-Rite Passport Color Checker profiles) and together with a configured Photoshop it yields satisfying color reproduction.
Four core/eight thread processor is more than enough for my compilation tasks (Visual Studio 2010). 96 GPGPU cores will, I hope, help programming in Open CL.
On battery, it works c.a. 2h. In the idle mode, my W701 consumes approximately 38-40W.
I was however little disappointed when noticed that I need to purchase separately the cage and rubber bumpers for a secondary disk... There were no extra trackpoint caps in a box.

 

I am excited with my W701, because I don't mind purchasing things to tune it up - in fact I bought it solely as a platform in customizing in mind.
- it has industrial design, yes. All it looks are centered around *function*, not "looking good". I don't buy 2.5K machine for show, I buy it for doing it's job spectacularly. And you can see Lenovo put a lot of thought in the *function* of the design.
- for such powerful machine its very sleek. I mean, it almost as powerful as some Alienwares or Sagers, being twice as thin and half as light
- speaking of Alienwares, W701 is also *silent*. Pretty quiet even on full load (quite a feat for quad core i7 and high-end graphics card). Cooling system design is marvelous.
- no glossy plastics in design, yay! So no fingerprint smudges, and no need to use microfiber cloth for cleaning to avoid scratches
- matte screen. No more seeing yourself like in the mirror. WUXGA RGB LED screen is great - brightness, contrast and colour are top notch. It also 16:10 - not squished vertically as many other modern 16:9s!
- keyboard. Proper keys, not this fancy new "chiclet" (other word for "flat"). Plenty of travel.
- no sensor buttons, all buttons are physical with good tactile feedback
- i also like indicator positioning under the lid (and on the other side when lid is closed). hinge design makes display raise quite a bit when opened - quite ergonomic
- you get all peripheral devices you can imagine. eSATAp, USB 3.0, Bluetooth, color calibrator, wacom tablet, fingerprint scanner, VT-d, etc. - all in one machine
- thinklight. Basically you have a built-in tiny keyboard&little of table lamp
- openness. That's was my huge reason to buy W701. I mean, all service manuals & schematics available online. You can buy parts online. How cool is that? Not to mention this laptop is actually MXM 3.0. I fully intend to try to cram Radeon HD 5870 in it
- the LID closes by proper latch, not by spring like on lot of modern "consumer" laptops - you don't have to pry it open
- great construction. Magnesium alloy chassis - that what makes it ultra-stable while being only about 4cm thin. Disassembly not hard at all. Spill-proof keyboard

Well, I can go on and on like that

Maybe some not so good things:

- battery life. Yep, it is small. About 2 hours. I haven't got much more than that on any other powerful 17" laptops I've owned, so I am totally fine with that. This is desknote anyway, not indented to use on the go for too long anyway.
- speakers. They produce very clear sound (actually big plus for them not being "tinny"), but due to size totally lack bass and stereo separation. For me being used to Toshiba's Harman kardon it was quite a downgrade. But - speakers are easely upgraded, you can just get any great mini USB speakers that available out there. I'd prefer upgrading speakers over upgrading the screen for example
I use headphones a lot and I appreciate Lenovo thought of actually placing headphone DAC circuitry on the separate mini-board, which separated from the main board => makes sound in the headphones amazingly clear from system noise.

 

@ Ingvarr,
Finally! It's high time we got some feedbacks/reviews of this system, which is available for quite awhile.

Could you make a small review perhaps?
Please run some benchmarks, post the temps, etc.
And the most important - pictures!


Will eagerly follow your progress.
I too have a business system as a platform for customization 8740w, W701's direct competitor.
It will be great to compare the cooling, performance, etc...

 

All good Ingvarr, exactly the kindof stuff I wanted to know... it being fairly quiet is something I never thought about, whilst I should have, my present desktop that I'm replacing it with has a noisy gfx card cooler that has irritated me for some time now! What you say is much what I got the impression of from what I see on the Lenovo site, only you've given me some solid examples of how their thinking impacts on the user. Thanks!

I wonder, how useful is the wacom tablet, as a CS4 and CAD user you think it will be more than just a novelty?

 

The fans actually are so quiet, my 7200RPM Scorpio Black noise started to really annoy me. In the end I've replaced the "big data" HDD with 5400RPM 640Gb Samsung Spinpoint M7E - its almost silent, has great throughput (almost like 7200). Don't need very fast data drive anyway, since all stuff needing to be quick is on Vertex 2 SSD

Well, for me wacom table is just a novelty - I am a graphics programmer, so primarily type a lot and watch a lot of pretty animations So I didn't really need pen tablet, but it's mandatory if you need a colour calibrator - and in any case, this was the cheapest "all-in" model, so I've kind of got it as freebie.
As far as I can see, it's working pretty well, I can scribble Pressure-sensitive too. Completely integrated in the Windows 7 - for example, for pen input & such. You get several spare pen tips.

Just popped in additional 2Gigs of RAM (they go on eBay at totally bargain prices now), for the total of 6Gigs. 4 DIMM slots are really useful
Current WEI snapshot:

I think I need to upgrade a graphics card

Verbose:

Code:

Windows System Assessment Tool
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> CPU LZW Compression                          272.88 MB/s
> CPU AES256 Encryption                        130.48 MB/s
> CPU Vista Compression                        569.88 MB/s
> CPU SHA1 Hash                                801.57 MB/s
> Uniproc CPU LZW Compression                  82.23 MB/s
> Uniproc CPU AES256 Encryption                51.17 MB/s
> Uniproc CPU Vista Compression                158.73 MB/s
> Uniproc CPU SHA1 Hash                        369.59 MB/s
> Memory Performance                           11647.52 MB/s
> Direct3D Batch Performance                   491.19 F/s
> Direct3D Alpha Blend Performance             501.46 F/s
> Direct3D ALU Performance                     294.52 F/s
> Direct3D Texture Load Performance            280.02 F/s
> Direct3D Batch Performance                   488.15 F/s
> Direct3D Alpha Blend Performance             496.75 F/s
> Direct3D ALU Performance                     266.66 F/s
> Direct3D Texture Load Performance            225.22 F/s
> Direct3D Geometry Performance                352.11 F/s
> Direct3D Geometry Performance                195.49 F/s
> Direct3D Constant Buffer Performance         276.70 F/s
> Video Memory Throughput                      20045.60 MB/s
> Dshow Video Encode Time                      2.51143 s
> Media Foundation Decode Time                 0.75212 s
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read                   207.95 MB/s          7.3
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                       154.67 MB/s          7.5
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate              0.74 ms/IO          7.9
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs                  8.27 units          7.5
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                     2.49 units          7.9
> Responsiveness: Overall                      20.57 units          7.7
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor                0.0

 

The main criticism I've seen so far of the W701 is that it's ugly and bulky. It's hard to tell from images on the net, also it's hard to get to grips with its size, anyone have a good image with something to scale it against, a can of drink, a ruler or something?? The only alternative would be to pay £1000 more for a dell with the same specs and a sleek looking M6500 silver base. I thought I'd try something other than dell, my desktop was from dell and though it was a good purchase and has lasted well, I'm interested in trying something different.

In terms of the specs they look exactly what I need and I'm getting the impression overall that Lenovo tend to be reliable and their service good. Do you find this to be the case?

 

Huh? I've seen M6400/M6500 in the flesh and it is not smaller by any means. What given you such impression?

The dimensions of W701 closed is 41cm x 31cm x 4cm

The "bulky" criticism of W701 I've personally seen comes from people who didn't use many 17" desknotes at all. It's more criticism of 17" size.
As person who used solely several 17" size laptops I could say that W701 is very compact for 17" of this power. The only one I've seen slightly smaller was Toshiba P100 (and this was long ago). HP 8730w is maybe slightly (half cm?) thinner too, but at the expense of second hard drive bay...

I haven't used Lenovo service at all, so I couldn't say anything here. This is my first Thinkpad

 

It looks more sleek... I mean it doesn't look as, well, lumpy. Maybe it takes up about the same amount of space.

How long have you had your Thinkpad, I'm taking it as a good thing that you've never had to contact Lenovo? I'm trying to find some stats regarding reliability for the M6500 and W701 if any such things exist.

 

w7xx will be my next laptop

 

Huh? Lumpy? Both W701 and M6500 are, well, pretty much like perfect square bars when closed - they have no protrusions and is of very similar dimensions. Dell has metal-ly lids, while Lenovo has black rubberized lid, that's the major difference.
Have you actually seen M6500 in your own eyes? If you want slightly sleeker case, you should go for HP Elitebook 8740w (as I said it will cost you second hard drive though => smaller case, less space inside).

I considered getting M6500 but finally thought against it because:
- W701 is MXM, Dell is not
- Lenovo actually has hardware&service documentation and parts available publically online
- and M6500 has somewhat louder cooling system

I had my Thinkpad for only like 3 weeks now, so I will not provide any stats here . Considering both M6500 and W701 were released on the market quite recently, I doubt you will be able to compare their reliability in any meaningful way.

 

Yea, I looked at the elitebook and liked it visually, only I didn't like the way the flat keyboard looked like it would feel. Saying that I was tempted to save money with some reconned 8740w's with 3 year warranty, last years duo core processors going for only just over £1k with 4 gigs and fx2800 cards! But the keys totally put me off. I think visually the M6500 is somewhere between that and the W701. When I look at the web images of the W701 they don't fill me with desire. It looks to me like standard laptops and the blue keys unbalance it visually for me. Saying that, I don't want to make a choice on looks alone! I just think my long term satisfaction will be influenced by it.

1. MXM means it's easy to self upgrade gfx card??
2. Yea, I like that too!
3. That's interesting, and something I've been asking about the M6500. I'd like I quieter system as I work late at home a lot and like to use sound without headphones, only when there's a lot of fan noise (as there is with my desktop!) it makes this difficult. Is there any measured indication of unit sound? Maybe there are some many vairables with components that this is just not done?

Yea I thought as much, but maybe I can get an impression asking current users like yourself

 

After long experience, I don't give a squat about laptop "design" anymore. Function is imperative to me, its impossible to find laptop that has *everything* and I have found that in most cases *design* comes at the expense at least of some *function*, because of laptop constraints. Who cares about blue keys when keys have great tactile feel and long travel?

Its never easy. But, at least it makes it not impossible.

W701 has bigger air vents (about twice as bigger in total area), it exhausts air both to the back and to the sides. M6500 exhausts to the back only - necessitating faster airflow and more noise therefore.

 

I work in a visual field and must admit I like things to look good, though not at the expense of utility, I strive to find a way to make quality beautiful in my own work and take pleasure seeing it in other things.

I like what I hear about the w701 airflow system, makes sense.

It's really tough deciding on a workstation, this is my first laptop and a replacement for my aging desktop, if I get it wrong I won't be able to afford another one for years!

One of the things I like about Lenovo is the way they beat up their system, pour stuff on it, it's definitely made to be durable... Saying that I like the aluminium finish on the M6500 above the plastic W710. The prices are not much difference so maybe, next month when I'm buying and I speak to the salesmen, any extra incentive from them will tip it one way or the other. I'm buying right at the limit of my spending power.

 

Btw if I order a W701 without wacom, is there a slot to instal one later or is the lower keyboard flush and without a depression where the tablet would be?

 

Take note that if you will order one without tablet, it will be also without color calibrator.
You will need to replace the whole palm rest, it's very easy.

Part number for ordinary palm rest (with fingerprint reader only) is 60Y4934
Part number for palm rest with fingerprint reader, color sensor, digitizer and stylus holder is 60Y4938

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-70561

 

Thanks for the info Ingvarr

 

maybe a desktop is more fitting.... what is the chance that you are going to lug the W7xx around work or post-doc study?

 

I hardly carry mine around at all, just take it with me sometimes when I travel.

Desktops are big and noisy. Dont want too many things and wires around - I like to have all this desktop power condensed into small slab

 

Is it possible to turn on/off VT in BIOS in W701? Or VT is turned on by default?

 

Yes, it is possible.

 

Thank you.

 

I'm ordering a W701 on the Sept 9th to replace an old(2001) MSI MS-1029 laptop. I want to put in my own SSD's and max out the memory with something nice.

I'm prepared to wait a few weeks for it. How long was your total wait time?

 

My total wait time was about 4 weeks (including delivery from US to UK).

 

8 loooong weeks... The order was lost by a retailer - they said

 

Interesting, retailer I've bought from actually warned me right at the start that while usual times is 3-4 week, maximum time of 8 weeks is indeed the possibility.
I guess this "order lost" cases are quite common. Downside of built-to-order laptops I guess.

 

The first one I ordered did take 3-4 weeks (that was in June). That was promptly returned due to some issues both with the machine and the support tech I spoke with.
After mulling over a M6500, I ordered a second one at the end of July and that came in within 5-6 business days (or less. I recall being amazed at how fast it was). This one is staying (already has the SSD and 16GB of RAM I bought in June for the first one ).

This is all in US BTW. I noticed on the first one that a lot of time was lost with it in customs. Second time around that was under a day.

 

... and the gamut (white - after a routine built-in calibration) compared with AdobeRGB (gray):

 

Well, it's done! I've ordered my W701. Estimated ship date 9/25/2010.

I got as stripped down a version as I could stand(memory/hard disk/gpu/cpu). I'm going to add more quality memory(Crucial, Mushkin, OCZ) and a couple of Seagate Momentus hybrid drives in RAID 0. I'll also install the 920xm extreme processor MUCH later when it becomes affordable.

All that's left to do now is whine and complain about the expected 4 week wait time! I know that 9/25/2010 ship date is probably bogus.

Processor: Intel Core i7-720QM Processor (6M Cache, 1.60GHz)
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
Operating system language: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 US English
Recovery DVD: Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD
Display type: 17" WUXGA RGB-LED-BL
System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 2800M 96-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated)
Base: W701 Base for Planar eSATA, USB3.0
Total memory: 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) 1
Upgrade to a 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) [add $515.00]
Keyboard: Keyboard US English 1
Pointing device: Ultranav + Number Pad + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer w/ Stylus
Storage subsystem: Internal RAID - Not Enabled Primary Hard Drive: 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
Optical device: Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm)
System expansion slots: Express Card(54mm) + Express Card(34mm)
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1
Power cord: Country Pack North America with DT Line cord & 230W AC adapter
Bluetooth: Bluetooth w/ antenna 1
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6 (3x3 AGN)
Language pack: Language Pack US English 230W AC adapter
Accessories and options:
3Yr Basic Warranty Extension
3Yr Battery Warranty
Free shipping

Grand total: $3,498.50

 

Hmm, you've paid over the top.
You should've ordered preconfigured "topseller" 25003BU, that would've save you a grand with better configuration.
For example here, or here

 

Hey! You're right! It's not too late to cancel my order. I certainly wouldn't mind saving a grand. Can I still get the 3-year warranty extension?

 

I've bought mine from Laptop Authority and it came with 3-year warranty, not sure if its the same as "3-year warranty extension"

 

Thanks for trying to save me money! I think I'm just going to enjoy the sensation of losing money. I haven't got time to second guess it. I'm already going to wait 4 weeks as it is.

I'm 3/4 of the way into a computer science degree at a college in Arkansas and I used half of my financial aid to buy this computing slab. I'm also a amateur film maker, musician, and gear head.

I lusted over the VAIO Z and F for a while, I looked at some of the Sager based laptops. Love Mac, but it's not for me. I've rolled this decision out in my head a 100+ times over the past 2 months. I've finally settled on the thinkPad. yeah.

Anyway, I'm liking the Seagate Momentus hybrid drive. Have you seen this thing? It has 4GB of solid state memory as well as large capacity disk drive that it "manages" automagically for you. I wonder how it would do in a RAID 0 setup?

I'm buying a $1000 flash memory camcorder in conjunction with this to make some short films. I know it's a little late to ask this, but does the W701 come with a SD card reader by default? I'm pretty sure that the new camera(Sony CX550V) uses SD/SDHC cards. The Lenovo website listed three options for card expansion:

ExpressCard 54+34
ExpressCard 34+SmartCard
ExpressCard 34+CompactFlash

I don't think any of those refer to SD/SDHC cards. A "SmartCard" is what is in the American Express credit card. SD stands for Secure Disk. So that was confusing. I know I should have probably called them and asked, but I figure you guys know just as well as them. . .

I'll call them just in case.

 

I'm pretty sure a 3.5K beast would have a simple SD reader.


Check this review, Review Lenovo Thinkpad W701 Notebook - Notebookcheck Reviews

I looks like it's on the front side on the right. But perhaps Ingvar would tell you for sure what is that.

 

a multi card reader is standard equipment, but the CF card reader is optional from memory.

 

MS/MMC/SD reader is a standard equpment, my 25003BU has it. It's located under the front palmrest edge to the right, near the lid latch.

CompactFlash slot on the other hand one is big one, so it goes into "card io board" on the left side.
As you've noticed, there are 3 variants of card IO board:

1. ExpressCard 54+34 (yes, two ExpressCard slots, one narrow, and one wide) (P/N 60Y4927)
2. ExpressCard 34+SmartCard (P/N 60Y4929)
3. ExpressCard 34+CompactFlash (P/N 60Y4931)

25003BU has [2] installed. However, you can just buy a proper part number and replace it yourself, if you want another type. Its all documented in Lenovo hardware manual, and I think you just basically need to take palmrest off to get to it. Part will cost you a lot less than 1000USD in any case

You made a good choice with W701, it's great professional no-nonsense but very powerful machine. You will like it

I had mixed feelings about Momentus XT. The idea with flash cache is good, and it helps somewhat, but only to extent. The cache it has works read-only, does not accelerate writes, so it's basically a hardware implementation of ReadyBoost which doesn't require re-populating after reboot.
Also my main gripe with it was that actual hard drive is very noisy.
Personally I think nothing beats combination of true super-fast SSD and ultra-quiet(but capacitous) hard drive, even if you need to do somewhat manual data location distribution in that case.

 

I've been looking around the internet for a proper backpack to lug this monster around in. I know that the dimensions are 41x31cm (16.1x12.2in).

There are many bags that 'fit most 17" laptops' but clearly the W701 is not most lapotops. Have you guys found a quality bag that will fit the W701 comfortably.

I'm looking at the Naneu K4F. Which, I'm sure will do the trick... at a price of $220 !
Besides the price, this bag will work perfectly for me since it can also carry my camcorder, sound recorder, tripod, and countless wires and accessories. However, I was also looking at their MT-17 messenger bag. It would be great to have a smaller bag that I can just throw the notebook and the power supply in. Unfortunately the interior dimensions of that bag are too small to carry the W701.

Do you guys know of any messenger bag that can carry the W701 comfortably and securely?

 

I am using Port Designs Aspen 18.4 Inch Laptop Backpack
I have originally bought it for 18.4 Toshiba (and trust me, it was insanely hard to find decent backpack for 18.4" laptop)

W701 fits in it just fine. Obviously with extra space left in the top (due to 18.4 16:9 being a lot wider). It does not compromise stability, because laptop still sits snugly horizontally.

 

I just realized that since I'm in the US, I might actually get mine at the regularly scheduled time.

My ship date moved from 9/25 to 9/23! Yay!

 

Another thing occurred to me. Since the W701 doesn't come with a Windows 7 64 disk, what happens when I want to add a new solid state drive to be the system drive? How will I get Windows 7 installed on the new drive?

I know I can make an image of the drive, but won't there be errors when I try to apply that image to a different drive? I wish I had thought about that before I ordered the 5400 rpm drive.

 

Well, you can
a) install a clean fresh Windows 7 to SSD. You can get installation ISO images from this thread
b) clone an existing system drive to SSD. There will be no errors as long as you use decent disk copy software (most of them properly resize and preserve drive letters nowadays).

 

Excellent! That's exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks!

My order got shipped today, btw! It says it just left SHANGHAI. I hope it makes it through customs!

 

I got my W701 yesterday! It only took 13 days from the time I ordered it.

I really love it. It's heavy, and I can barely fit it in my backpack, but it's fast, clean, and the screen looks GOOD!

The bottle neck for me is the 5400 rpm drive. I'm going to buy a SSD as soon as possible and use the original drive for data storage.

 

Congrats
BTW you clearly didn't have much experience with Sagers or Alienwares if you think W701 is heavy

 

W701 weight is okay.... the lightest 17 inch laptop would be a Macbook Pro, but it is not in the same league as these workstation 17 inch machine.

 

Could someone please tell me how much the w701 17-inch model weights exactly? I cannot seem to find this listed anywhere on the net.

Also, are there any complications with running games on the laptop? I ask since the w701 uses the business-class Nvidia Quadro graphics card which I'm concerned will not have the same compatibility options as a consumer graphics card. Is this accurate?

Thanks in advance!

 

the weight is almost exact 4kg
there are no compat issues with quadro, the drivers are the same, quadros are just faster on CAD-specific features

 

One of the first things I did when I got mine on Thursday was load up Left 4 Dead. I cranked the resolution all the way up to 1920X1200 and it ran really smooth! I didn't have a FPS meter on, but there was no visible lag. However, maxing out Antistropic filtering and anti-aliasing made the game mostly unplayable. I found the perfect balance at a slightly lower resolution and with medium anti-aliasing and anistropic filtering. But, it was far beyond any settings I have ever played the game at, even on a desktop.

What I'm trying to say is that it looks fantastic, and responds perfectly with this video card. 10x better than an Xbox or PS3! And, with the deluxe WUXGA RGB screen the reds look SO red. They just pop out of the screen! My classmates at university were blown away.

The weight of the entire, unopened box is 6kg. So you can expect to carry around that minus the weight of the box and packing materials. I'm not very strong, and the weight doesn't really bother me. And, I have to walk 1/4 mile from the parking lot to my office everyday.