W530 Owner's Thread

This is the place to be to discuss anything and everything W530 related. Deals, specs, upgrades, performance, problems, you name it.

Reviews:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithcombs/archive/2012/07/10/lenovo-thinkpad-w530-mini-review.aspx
http://www.laptopreviews.com/lenovo-thinkpad-w530-review-2012-07

My build:

 

Linking in http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/675282-thinkpad-w530-k1000m-quick-review.html since there is some good information. Maybe a mod will merge threads.

 

More information in http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/675336-display-w530-95-wide-gamut.html

 

Can we get a list going on all the parts that are upgradable?

 

The repair guide is fantastic and shows how to replace pretty much anything. I upgraded the memory to maximum and swapped the hard drive for an SSD. Regarding the latter, it's useful to know that the hard drive that ships with the W530 is 7mm high, not the standard 9.5mm high. This means that if you plan to do hard drive or SSD upgrades, it's a good idea to get 7mm high drives or you will need different rubber rails with which to mount the drive in the computer.

The CPU can also be upgraded (although that will probably kill your warranty) to the super expensive extreme version if you want, and the wireless card can be upgraded to something that supports 802.11ac or the 802.11-2012 unified standard, if/when those are released. The optical drive can be swapped out for a hard drive caddy, and there are 2 different size (and easily removable) batteries to choose from as well as a docking port on the bottom to connect to either a docking station or an extended slice battery.

 

Wow, thanks for all the info. I've heard of some troubles with upgrading the wireless card though... Something about them having to be Lenovo branded, so I wonder if I would be able to install a Bigfoot 1103.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/672968-w530-after-market-shopping-list-suggestions.html was also kind of useful. I'm wondering... I could theoretically keep the current HDD, make a recovery disc, and a few months from now install a new SSD with the recovery discs and transfer all my data onto that, right? SSD prices keep dropping, and I'm not really going to need the speed bump till the Spring/next year.

 

Repair guide? Does that come with the laptop or is that something you found on their website?

2 different sized batteries, your talking about the 6-cell and 9-cell that can be configured when ordering, or something else? I know for some models an Ultrabay battery exists, didn't know if that's what you meant when you say "and", or if you were just stitching sentences together.

 

A search on "thinkpad w530 hardware maintenance manual" should lead to this page. Download the PDF therein.

 

As mentioned, I was talking about the repair guide in .pdf form that I found on Lenovo's website.

And yes, I was talking about the 6-cell and 9-cell battery options, as well as the extra slice battery.

 

this was not true, at least for me. i ordered the 500gb 7200rpm drive with my w530. it is a toshiba

i read the same thing on the lenovo forums, and figured that i would need new rubber rails for my crucial m4 drive, so i bought $3 rails off ebay. today i finally replaced the drives. the rubber rails that came with the laptop were pretty much exactly the same, and were interchangable between both drives. so i'm pretty sure the stock toshiba is 9.5mm. this is depsite the fact that the tabook says it should be 7mm

 

I read and responded to your post on the Lenovo forums, but just to put it here as well, the hard drive that shipped with my W530 was a 7mm Hitachi (500GB 7200RPM). I don't know if they ran out of one or the other (the Hitachi or the Toshiba) or if they just have multiple suppliers for hard drives. It does make it more complicated for ordering SSDs or other aftermarket drives, however.

 

I'm having problems with autodesk inventor 2013

Anyone else using it can check if they have same problems?
I've the nvidia k2000m version

Basically anti-aliasing is broken, so models look all jaggy, circa 5-10 year old graphics

Setting intel hd gpu only in bios then inventor runs in hardware mode and anti-aliasing is fine.

Setting nvidia gpu only in bios then above problem exhibits.

Now I just need to find someone to confirm if it's only me or if the W530 can't run inventor...

 

It looks like Inventor is ISV Certified, so it should be working: ISV-certified drivers for ThinkPad W530

 

I got two 7mm 500GB Hitachi's (one in ultrabay). My ultrabay HDD was supposed to be 320GB. I'm guessing they upgraded me due to supply issues.

 

I've read about this wireless card issue as well. Supposedly (I read this in another forum), a Lenovo Rep said that Lenovo certifies each card to work properly in the region it is being shipped. My guess is that some of the knock-off cards sold on Ebay that are illegally labeled Intel cards probably don't meet government regulations for every country. It would not be a happy day if Big Brother knocked at your door and took your laptop away, and charged you a fine, because you installed a wireless card not meant for your country or region.

 

If anyone's still awake, NewEgg is supposed to be offering the Samsung 830 128 GB SSD for $89 (with free shipping) starting at 3:00 am today. Get on it before it sells out!

 

Has anyone found if you can download the graphics drivers for the K1000M or K2000M from nvidia directly yet? Has anyone actually done it and installed them that way?
Thanks!

 

has anyone been able to get this to work?

When I run the WiDi app, I get "unable to start Intel My Wifi Technology".

I've tried iinstalling the latest Intel Proset drivers (15.1.1) and Widi app (3.1.29) from their website w/o luck

I have a Centrino 6205 if that matters...

p.s., Finally got it working.

Had to uninstall the proset driver (after downloading the latest of course) and widi, then reinstalled both.
So painful for a "consumer" technology

 

And in 2012! Sigh...

 

#firstworldproblems

 

Just got my W530 today

This is my config N1K2EIX:
Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.3Ghz
RAM 4GB
HD 500GB, 7200rpm
Monitor HD+ (1600x900)
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
NVIDIA Quadro K1000
Battery 9-cell
Backlight keyboard

I'm waiting for a Crucial M4 SLIM 256GB to replace the internal hard drive, and also for 16GB of RAM by Corsair (Vengeance series, 1600Mhz).

This is my first laptop (I have a desktop pc and an MSI Wind U100) and my first Thinkpad of course. The system looks really professional and very well build quality.

Now I'm just doing updates and getting to know it. I'm waiting the last hardware to update the SSD and RAM. Ill try to make a clean Windows 7 install..

 

Welcome to the club. Be sure to create the Rescue and Recovery disk set. This allows you to have the factory image on DVD in case you ever need it in the future. You can create the disk set using the Control Panel application or by going to drive Q:.

 

Thank you very much! I'll do it now

 

That corsair RAM is this, right? Please post any problems when you get it, because I'm looking at getting that RAM once i get my W530 later this month.

 

Yes, is that one. Which test I have to do after installing to be sure that the RAM is working ok? Memtest?

I hope the RAM and the SSD will be delivered before Saturday, cause next week I'll be in Pompei to do some field measurement, and I want to try this new hardware now

Anyways, anyone have some advice for a good sleeve bag that fit perfectly the W530 with 9-cell battery?

 

I honestly have no clue . I'm a no0b at this stuff as i've never had a laptop of my own.

 

^^^ I'm kinda a jaded noob, but to be perfectly honest, I never "memtest" my RAM sticks. Not in the computers that I buy. Not in the computers that people buy for me. Not in the computers that I build. Not in the computers that I build for people. So far, so good.

Enjoy your notebook.

 

I put Corsair Vengeance RAM (32GB total) in my W530 and it works perfectly well. It's really amazing seeing up to 5GB RAM used during software installs and knowing that's a small pittance compared to how much is available.

 

Speaking of RAM on the W530, can someone tell me what are the latency timings on the RAM that's shipping in the unit?

Obviously, it's DDR3-1600. But are the timings 10-10-10 or 11-11-11?

Thanks!

 

Since the keyboard has no Pause key, what do you do for programs that require that key? I've seen a suggestion to try Fn + P, but nobody has confirmed that it works. No way to press the Pause key is a deal-breaker for me.

Also, can you remap that wacky Prt Scr key to be the Menu key so it behaves like other Windows keyboards? I press Menu hundreds of times each day...

These are not the kinds of questions you ask about good keyboards. Whoever greenlit this keyboard needs to find a new occupation.

 

I'll receive my samsung 830 tomorrow. So I'm wondering what's the best way to install windows 7: 1) A truly clean/fresh install with a Win 7 disc or 2) installing with the created Lenovo Recovery discs? Is there any difference? Alignment issue?

 

I recommend option 1.

 

I'd also recommend doing a fresh install, especially since you're replacing the drive. I find that it's just easier to grab a (legal) Windows ISO and key, copy your SWTOOLS folder (drivers and such), install onto new SSD, and install drivers from the folder. Out of the pre-installed stuff, I'd recommend you keep Power Manager and the fingerprint software; both are excellent and I still use them (I've gone through two SSDs as main drives so far).

By the way, (for OP) I will have my W530 online sometime today (or tonight). Would it be alright to have a link on first post so that it'd be easy for people to find once the W530 owners' thread grows to the size of the W520 thread? Just curious.

 

Me too I normally don't do memtests hahah

I'll use the Lenovo hardware diagnosis to check it quickly!

Go for a clean/fresh install. I found this guide, is very well explained so you don't miss a point: http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...uide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

 

In Windows, can remap any key to any key with MapKeyboard - Freeware keyboard remapper

Fn+B/P/S/K shortcuts are official and in http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t530_t530i_w530_ug_en.pdf

 

And will 10-10-10 actually run at 10-10-10?

@privatejarhead: are you going to keep that W530? Is your W520 going to be for sale?

So no shortcut for the menu key?

 

Shift+F10 is the usual alternative.

 

Yeah, sure, I'm game. Mine is supposed to arrive by the end of the day today, so I'll probably be writing up my own review once I tinker with it a bit.

 

i will be doing some videos of replacing hdd and memory if you wouldn't mind linking them too once i'm all done

 

I have had my w530 less than a week and i am very underwhelmed ... the number 8 key doesn't work unless mashed on it and they are sending me a replacement keyboard...

What i was going to ask is that the computer doesn't want to wake up from shut down/ hibernate... It turns the power light on and the other 2 on , but then nothing happens... the solution is to hold the power button down, but that is not going to work with me... pay this much and that should not be the case.
Is there a fix to this, or is my best bet to switch out to a new replacement or see for a refund and get a sager?

 

Why don't you just send it to Lenovo for repairs?

Anyway, here's my W530 review, if anyone's interested.

 

what do you mean, send it to them for repairs? would that not be the same as me doing it?

 

Well, if all else fails, they can just give you a replacement W530. I'm thinking that you just got a fault keyboard, and the whole laptop works as intended (except for the keyboard).

 

is the whole not turning on a normal issue? Is there a way for me to disble all the actions of opening the screen after it was sleep/hibernate/ off?
Btw your review was nice

 

Whoa whoa whoa, hold up...there's two different power bricks? One for the K1000M and one for the K2000M? SWEET! I've been cringing whenever I think of the monstrous 170W that would come with my laptop, but I'm getting the K1000M, so I'll get a lighter power brick?

 

Yes, you'll get the smaller 135W brick. Oddly enough, Lenovo states on their website that the smaller one is actually heavier. However, lugging around the 170W isn't that bad; I do it all the time .

 

just had a thought, it says when I configure the machine on their website, that it's got the 170W PSU. Is this inaccurate? It's in my shopping cart as the 170W.

 

I just did exactly that.
Took most of the weekend because I ran into the Win7 Installer USB flash drive bug again. If you have an optical drive, you won't have that problem.

I also compressed my Windows drive...I figure it'll get filled up w/ MS crap that uses the windows system folder as a dumping ground, so I might as well make it compressed crap

p.s., shanman: you have a bad keyboard. Get them to swap it out...

 

Well, my configuration had an i5 dual-core and K1000M. They might give you a 170W if the quad-cores consume too much power for the 135W.