Worth of W500?

I've been comparing various laptops and my budget has a limit of about $1200 but I would like something a bit cheaper.

Sometimes, there are Lenovo coupons that can get a T510 to about $1K Canadian or a bit more.

I prefer a newer machine because I'm upgrading my desktop with a SSD eventually so I would like eSATA for my disk connections and I have 1TB drives in enclosures. The W500 only has usb.

Anyway, what is a good price for a used W500? A local seller is asking for $800 (CDN) o.b.o. Is that too much? Is a W500 a good machine? The review at NotebookCheck doesn't seem to indicate that.

Would you buy one of those?

Thanks for any replies!

 

what is the spec and condition of the W500? it is hard to tell you the worth of a machine without all the details.

 

This is the ad, more or less:

The warranty is good until Dec.

T9600(2.8GHz), 4GB RAM, 160GB 7200rpm HD, 15.4in 1920x1200 LCD, 512MB ATI FireGL V5700, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, FPR, Camera, Intel Turbo Memory, 9c Li-Ion,

Comes with a Vista Business license on the bottom, however Windows 7 Ultimate is installed on the machine with a legit license.

The seller claims it's in 'perfect working condition' and 'guaranteed no burnt pixels or scratches on the screen. Nothing wrong with it.'

 

I believe that the specs are worth the price.

 

800 CAD is not too much to for a top spec w500 machine like this.

 

depends, you want raw speed, T510 will save you some buck and give you faster speed (because it support i5 processors). but for everything else, W500 win hands down. to get the best of both world.... get a W510

 

That will cost me at least $300 more, though!

I'm mostly worried about the screen of the W500 now. I have read of some complaints about it including questionable quality and potential eye strain from it.

Please comment.... anyone?

P.S. I can get it for under $800 now.

 

No more to add?

 

I just bought a new W500 a few weeks ago. I do not find the screen to cause any problems in terms of eye strain. In fact, the screen is very nice compared to what I was expecting, given what I'd read about it. The thing feels rock-solid. I can't really comment on performance yet since I'm still getting it set up in my spare time and have not really put any sort of load on it. Compared to my HP DV6000 (consumer-grade), well really there's just no comparison.

 

For $800CAD, it's a great deal, and I don't think you'll have much of a problem with eye strain. While the displays aren't like previous ThinkPads, they do serve their purpose well and can be calibrated to be pretty decent. As far as build quality, even though people might nitpick about how ThinkPad build quality has declined the fact is I hold them to be far better than any consumer-grade notebook you can get.

I'd say the cost does play a bit of a factor in this. At the time I was looking at them, the T410 was around $1700USD configured to my needs, and the T400 I ultimately purchased was around $600... about $300 of upgrades put into it made a notebook that's exactly what I needed.

And as far as Jammun's comment goes my girlfriend has a DV9000, the 17" version of the DV6000. The ThinkPad is miles ahead of it as far as build quality, fit, finish, ease of servicing and durability. I had to completely disassemble that thing to get at the fan to clean it out. In comparison, you can pull the keyboard off most ThinkPads and get at the fan to clean it out.

 

$800 CAD is a steal...

 

I thought I could even switch in a SSD when I get around to it. 'Make it faster and more responsive not to mention lighter. I am not sure how much of an impact it would have on battery life but it might help that, too?

I will have to consider it. I just checked out the laptop this evening and the icons didn't look as small as I thought it was going to be. I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know if it was set up for looking larger or the DPI was increased but I think I could definitely live with it. Also, Windows 7 was installed so I don't know if that makes a difference.

If there's no disc but a license key and I want to use (upgrade to?) a SSD, am I screwed? I should be able to use or create a Windows 7 (I think Ultimate) disc? Please don't tell me I gotta buy one if I needed to re-install?!?

 

To clear up any confusion, my W500 is miles above my HP. They are just not comparable at all. Which is why I got the W500. I expect to do some serious work with the W. The DV is a nice web surfer.

 

I'm comparing to $900 Sony, Dell and Asus laptops, though.

What's the battery life of a 9-cell W500?

Btw, I can get it for under $800 now. Hmmmm.... I'd have to save up all over again if I want a newer laptop later on... :-D

 

On integrated, I was able to get up to 7-8 hours on integrated graphics, with WiFi on and the WSXGA+ CCFL near the dimmest, in Vista Business 64. For whatever reason, power consumption seems a bit higher in Win7 Pro 64, but I can still get 6-7 hours easily.

 

Sounds like good battery life for an older processor (T9600?) even though you're quoting battery life using the Intel mobile GPU?

I was wondering if the cpu runs hot or how warm?

The thing is, I'm debating whether to get this used laptop or a brand new Sony or Asus which would have an i3 or i5 cpu.

The Thinkpad is at a good price though and the seller insists it's in top shape. I saw it and although it was a brief look, everything looked okay. I wish these Thinkpads had a few more features like an eSATA port and was a bit thinner but it's really acceptable for that price (under $700).

A new laptop, I'd spend more on but I believe the cpu would be more powerful and the hardware would be newer. I guess those are the comparisons.

 

I have a W500 with WUXGA, and changed the HDD for third-party SDD (just image the HDD from within Win7, create a rescue CD, replace the HDD with the SSD, and image back). Lenovo are fine with transferring and/or upgrading warranty. Phone them to check. I would recommend that. The W500 is a wonderful machine. A SSD transforms it like no later model cpu or gpu would. What is "faster" if everything already operates silently and almost instantaneously?

 

Also, keep in mind that the W500 has switchable graphics, which means you can switch to integrated for better battery life and leave the discrete GPU off until you need more power. Switchable GPU made me choose the T400 over the T410... I wanted that capability.

I'm not sure about the W500, but my T400 with the P8400 runs extremely cool... integrated graphics settings during normal use runs around 40C. Stressing the CPU doing a lot of video encoding brought it to 56C, max... and I think the hottest I've seen while gaming on the discrete is 68C. I've played Crysis for half an hour with the T400 on my lap and didn't feel any discomfort. The W500 might have more intensive hardware but the larger form factor may help temp-wise.

Personally, less than $800CAD for that W500 is an absolute steal. I know the temptation to go to a notebook with the newer Core i5/i7 is there, but a T9600 is still a pretty relevant performer. That machine should be able to last you a good while.

 

My W500 with the ATI gpu runs fairly cool even with the T9400 CPU, and even cooler with the integrated GPU. Around 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the T61p and nearly 20 to 25 degrees cooler than my T60p, when viewing and editing moderately complex architectural model drawing in AutoCAD.