W510 or W520

I know the obvious difference between W510 & W520 will be chipset. But anybody has idea how much price difference & any other standout features that justify waiting/spending more on W520.

BTW: My latest experience with W510 was not that great because of obvious fan noise & gets little too hot from 2 day prompt me to return. So considering that I am willing to wait little bit if W520 is better overall.

 

I mean, it's possible that the W520 will have switchable graphics and also, the GPUs will be upgraded, but that's about it. The W520 is more of a basic annual refresh than anything else.

 

Seems there's lots of 'issues' with the W510, per threads here and on other forums. Enough so that it might be worth just going to the 520, as hopefully Lenovo has straightened things out a bit.

With high end processors and up to 32G of memory, things could get a bit pricey...

 

Those that really need 32GB will find a way to afford it, after all, you could buy another Thinkpad for the same cost.

 

I find this curious - my W500 runs just about silently. Has there been degradation in sound levels in W series? I do use a SDD, which certainly helps. I was considering going to a W520, but maybe instead should consider a T520 with FHD?...( I love HD screens, and silence)

 

The W510 runs quiet. I'd guess for a W520 it could be a bit better, but not dramatically. It's again a 45W CPU and 35W GPU, isn't it. That should give an indication.

Another thing re the OP's question: the new Thinkpads with dedicated nvidia graphics are optimus crap, so that only works for a minority of OSs.

 

My last T400 was slient even at 70c cpu temp. Now 3 days old W510 cpu temp goes to 60c without running any application.

When I put my hand against vent hot air comes out and you can't keep your hand for longer (in short discomfort). Even you have to put it back when it is on lap for 10 min or less.

Also touch pad is non functional many times and work after move finger multiple time to move cursor.

I might move to T series are new W520 will be expensive or Dell Precision M4500.

 

Strange, my W510 runs around 48-51 degrees celsius when I'm using for normal tasks llike browsing, reading, writing etc. and while it is not dead silent, it still isn's very noisy, though somewhat noisier than my T410.

 

Its running something in the background at full speed. Could be some crashed program or the daily new windows virus... Maybe check the process list before complaining.

 

ah I know what I am talking about after working for so long in IT...

 

see mine was at 59 or 60 without starting any program (just after login). My T400 was great no fan noise even I am running so many programs but bad motherboard cut short life...

 

That is weird, probably a bad assembled heatsink.

I do agree with the T400, mine almost never get over 55 degrees even when I'm maxing the cpu out.

 

yeah good to know that.

I am gonna give one more try to W510 since lenovo is good with return (so far).

Just wish this time I don't get fan noise problem because working on PC for 10-14 hours a day is enough & top of that fan noise... I can't take that...

 

Don't forget to go outside once and a while.

 

... and take an ultraportable with you.

 

I would wait for the W520 if you can, it's supposed to be a lot more efficient. SandyBridge processors will run cooler and thus not cause the fan to run as loudly. That, and there is a high chance of switchable graphics, which means even less heat, and longer battery life.

Also, be sure to choose at least HD+ 1600x900 for the screen (or better: FHD 1920x1080), whether you get the W510 or W520. Don't settle for HD 1366x768 on a workstation as nice as the W series. Avoid the ShipFast options that have HD 1366x768 and don't allow you to change that.

 

Whatever the choice, if you like silence, use an SSD rather than a HDD.

 

I understand SSD is only way to make hard drive slient but does that make fan slient as well..

 

an SSD itself creates less heat, so needs less cooling by fan - so less system noise. an SSD also transfers less heat to other components, so the system in general also needing less cooling. for an already excellent thermal design, an SSD can make a lot of difference to cooling needs: therefore the fan(s) need to come on far less to keep things at a given temperature. along with no HDD noise, no HDD vibration, and much shorter periods of data access and writing (due to so much higher speeds of data transfer), the resulting system is amazing. above all, i just love the silence!

 

According to the tabook the W520 requires the 170W AC adapter, while the W510 only needed the 135W AC adapter. The Sandy Bridge CPU might be slightly more efficient, but I have a hunch that the new NVidia quadro cards do not run cool...

 

The nvidia quadro card is probably upspecced to deal with the fact that Lenovo won't have a W7xx replacement.

 

I'll admit I'm pretty curious about the W520 and once it comes out I'm seriously thinking about taking a long, hard look at it becoming my next notebook. It might be true that I don't exactly need all that power, but it would be nice to upgrade to something brand new... that and I do have a bit of gadget lust going on right now, haha.

What I'd be looking for is specs on the CPU choices and GPUs to come out before I make any final decision... the fact that the T500 I currently have offers the best graphics performance in a ThinkPad outside of the W510(which is only a about a 50% increase; not worth that kind of price) or W700/701 is a major factor for my 'wait and see' stance. While GPU performance isn't at the top of everyone's list, it is on mine when I'm looking for a system to run my games and the couple of pro apps I tinker with.

 

The Lenovo ThinkPad W520 will debut on March 29 2011, priced from $1,529.

 

W520 spec list

Model ThinkPad W520
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2920XM (2.50GHz, 8MB L3, 1600MHz FSB, 55W)
Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM (2.30GHz, 8MB L3, 1600MHz FSB, 45W)
Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM (2.20GHz, 6MB L3, 1600MHz FSB, 45W)
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM (2.00GHz, 6MB L3, 1333MHz FSB)3
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M (2.70GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz FSB, 35W)
Intel® Core™ i5-2540M (2.60GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB, 35W)
Intel® Core™ i5-2520M (2.50GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB, 35W)

Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic 32-bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 32-bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 32-bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 32-bit

Hard Disk 160GB (7200RPM SATA)1
250GB (5400RPM SATA)
250GB HDD 7200 RPM FDE1
320GB (5400/7200RPM SATA)
500GB (7200RPM SATA)
80GB Intel® Micro SSD
128GB SSD
160GB SSD

Memory / RAM Choice: Up to 32GB
RAM speed 1333MHz
Memory Type DDR3

Graphics Card NVIDIA® QUADRO® 1000M 2GB VRAM with 96 CUDA CORES NVIDIA® QUADRO® 2000M 2GB VRAM with 192 CUDA CORES

Available Integrated Communication WWAN ,Bluetooth 2.1, WiMAX, WLAN
Supported WLAN Card Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 (Kilmer Peak) 2×2 AGN
Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 (Puma Peak) 3×3 AGN (performance)
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6205 (Taylor Peak) 2×2 AGN (performance)
Supported WWAN Card Gobi™ 3000 Sierra Wireless EV-DO/HSPA WWAN Minicard
Ericsson HSPA + WWAN Minicard (F5521gw)
LeadCore TD-SCDMA WWAN Minicard (LC5730D)
Huawei EV-DO WWAN Minicard (EM660)
WebCam 720p HD
Microphone dual digital microphones

Warranty Parts coverage (1 year, 2 year, 3 year models available), 1 year battery
Dimensions 14.68in x 9.65in x 1.26in -> 1.41in
372.8mm x 245.1mm x 31.8 -> 35.6mm
Weights Starting at 5.95lbs (2.7kg) starting weight with optical driveC Smart Card Reader (optional)

Display HD, HD+, FHD 15.6 inch, 16:9, LED

USB Ports 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 Powered USB 2.0
eSata Port 1 eSATA port/USB2.0 Combo

Other ports and slots 34mm ExpressCard and mm C Smart Card Reader (optional)

 

WTB ATI NOT Nvidia. PST with offers!

 

I mean W520 will little more powerful compare to W510. Also with 170 power supply & graphic card will not make it things more cooler. Also I don't need 32GB ever but 16gb will be max I can imagine for my software development work.

Also sandy bridge had some issues & just wish you don't get one of the faulty ones (now that happens when new series comes out)

At the same time W510 has enough power & price point at this time to buy it. If they don't work well in 21 days return is always an option.

 

"justify waiting/spending more on W520."

The criteria mentioned are not reasons for making a decision.

Renee

 

I'm just waiting for them to confirm the memory type. I have seen it listed as GDDR3, but one can hope it's GDDR5.

 

Specs list in post #24 doesn't list video ports. DVI, DP, VGA, ?? Anyone have any info on this?

 

normal size DisplayPort++ (audio) and old VGA 15 port.

 

W510 for ~1250 (including taxes) for i7-820QM/FHD screen with all the goodies.

sounds good deal or should I wait for 2-3 weeks to get even better deals on W510

 

I've been considering this as well. The fact that this morning the site says "Ships within 19 days" makes the decision to wait a little easier.

The only reason I was considering not waiting is that my currently laptop is in real bad shape and may not make it another few weeks.

 

that 19 days waiting is not real wait time. It is always shorter.

But point is I am getting 57% off right now.. anybody think it will go further down when W520 come out...

 

Well, yesterday it said 8 days - so I'd expect a significant delay. Anyway, I'm with you on the "discount right now" quandary.

 

Unless it's way cheaper, I can not think of a single good reason to pick the W510 vs W520. SB is a great upgrade and the new GPUs are quite good too.

Beware Lenovo 'sales' the W510 was 1200-1300 CDN with quad and 880m last year. I think you are probably getting closer to 15-20% off street value.

 

W510 including everything for $1139 USD (includes tax +SH)

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How/where are you getting this price? The best I could do for this config on the shareholder site with 10% coupon is $1250 (before tax).

 

some what old quote not from recent deals

 

I probably would have jumped on that price, especially given my current laptop situation.

 

not sure how much W520 will be expensive for the similar config... my guess is anywhere from $500 to $700 depending on FHD/Hard drive/RAM & other goodies.