lenovo thinkpad w540

Any idea when the w540 will be released? There is something now up on the American lenovo website. Just wondering when it will be out and how thick and heavy it will be.

 

Probably October or early November was my prediction long ago. Still holding to it.

 

Thors.Hammer is right, it will be shipping in October (announcement in September).

Here is a picture of the T540p, which will be basically a lower-end version (spec wise) of the W540:
View attachment 101275
The W540 will use the same chassis.

I would guess it will be around the same weight as the W530 and maybe a bit thinner.

 

Hmm, I particularly don't want the numpad. I want the keyboard/trackpoint/trackpad center-aligned, as in T/W530.

 

I am afraid that not an option anymore: All new 15" ThinkPads will come with a Numpad.

If you don´t want a Numpad, your only option is either stay with the older models or buy an T440p instead.

 

Yea, ive stopped buying 15 inchers for that exclusive reason. Almost every manufacturer is now placing numpads on their 15 inchers, the Dell 15R SE being an exception among a handful of others. Try getting a T440p with FHD, or just get a W530, Haswell has very few advantages over Ivy Bridge in the Performance department.

 

Maybe a stupid question but price-wise, will the W540 be comparable to the W530 now?

 

Yeah, i think so. But you can always configure your W series with additional options.

 

I hate the chiclet keyboards, and now it's not even a centered trackpad. Guess my t61p and w520 will be staying with me for some time

 

the new alienwares/some clevos use conventional keyboards, so those are an option (i guess). I personally adopted to chiclet-style.

 

ThinkPad W540 | Mobile Workstation | | Lenovo (US)

YAY

 

does anyone know if W540 is under 0.9 inch? if its the same chassis with the T540 it seems like there's still a CD drive? i'm sure that it can be used as an ultrabay for more battery and storage right?

also, i'm considering between a Dell m3800 or this, both are advertised as thin and light workstations. the dell will definitely be more expensive due to that QHD display. but if it's with in 500 USD more than the W540 i might just go with it.

 

All we know is:
Our most powerful ThinkPad, yet still under 6 lbs! Plow through graphics-intensive applications with lightning-fast processors, advanced graphics, cutting-edge technology, and the rock-solid reliability you'd expect from Lenovo and the industry's fastest and lightest mobile workstation.

THE MOST MOBILE WORKSTATION EVER.
This portable 15.6" workstation is the thinnest and lightest in its class, yet sacrifices nothing in terms of speed, power, and durability. Graphics-intensive, ISV-certified applications with blazing-fast processing and advanced graphics technology, plus ThinkPad's known reliability, mean you can handle any heavy-computational task from anywhere you want to be.

Battery Life
Up to 6 hours with standard 6-cell removable battery
Weight
Starting at 5.45 lbs
Speakers
Stereo with Dolby® Home Theater® v4
Microphone
Dual noise-cancelling HD microphones
Ports
Thunderbolt, 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, VGA, RJ-45, 4-in-1 card reader, express card, smart card, headphone/mic combo

and the photo here:

ThinkPad W540 | Mobile Workstation | | Lenovo (US)

 

well. we know the dell is lighter so lenovo is definitely not considering it int he same class as the M3800

 

Curious that there are significant differences between the T540p and the W540 that make the W540 the *lighter* of the two (the T540p is listed at 5.5 lbs).
ThinkPad T540p | Lenovo | (US)

Less surprising is the difference in battery consumption; the T540p is rated at "up to 7 hours" with a 3-cell battery and the W540 is "up to 6 hours" with a 6-cell battery.

It seems a little odd that the T540p sports 4 USB 3.0 ports, but the W540 splits its 4 USB ports between 2.0 and 3.0. In real use, I doubt it makes much difference to 99% of users, but I would have thought it would be one of those things that would be the same across the line of '540 laptops. Then again, the W540 as currently listed doesn't have any HD video out options and the T540p has no Ethernet port, so I suppose we'll see some changes to these specs in the next week or three as they edit things up for formal announcements. Surely there are a few unmentioned (or mis-identified?) ports on these early previews.

I look forward to the day when VGA simply dies. That is one bulky port to have to keep including on business laptops all for legacy projectors and monitors. I'd rather have a HD-capable port that simply needs an adapter to connect to VGA.

 

Well, Thunderbolt also functions as a digital video output, so it has one.

 

I have my fingers crossed for dual heatsinks. It seems like it is since there are no vents on the side. It could be just one blowing out the back but that doesnt seem to be lenovo's style.

I would be disspointed if the W540 doesnt have USB charging on the go feature. The T540p states that but the W540 doesnt. Probably early gliches.

Thunderbolt would be awsome if it isnt a mistake. Maybe they are making the new docking hub thunderbolt compatible.


EDIT: Oops. i think i just saw a very thin cooling vent on the left side..........bummer. that thing doesnt look very powerful.

 

Its because of the angle of this picture, which makes it look thinner than it is.

Look at these pictures:
View attachment 101661 View attachment 101662
They are really thick enough to be powerful. The cooling-vent should go-on under this edge.

 

I see. Cool.

It's unfortunate the thickness of laptops these days are dictated by legacy(almost) hardware like DVD drive and HDD. The razer 14 really gave us a glimpse of what we can have without having to worry about those things.

 

The W540 will have a 2880x1800 display option and Thunderbolt port...not sure on the dock though

Lenovo is directly completing with Apple's 15" rMBP here. They want to undercut Apple in this market. The CEO said it ( Lenovo splits Think brand into separate group to better compete with Apple | The Verge), and this video says it: (the S430 was a test-run with Intel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvIU6oMnuEw. 4K workflow is Apple's world thus far.

Thunderbolt on the ThinkPad sounds great, but it begs the question: where are lenovo's Thunderbolt accessories?

Quite honestly, I'd pony up more dough than I should for a Thunderbolt-capable PC and well-thought out accessories (external HDDs, displays, GPU dock )

 

really? that's wonderful, lets just hope they can keep it under 1 inch.

 

Errrrr...........yeh

Big maybe on the screen. I have seen leaked parts lists that specifies a 1080 AHVA/IPS.

As far as competing with apple andbeing under 1inch...........We already know its not under one inch. It has a DVD/HDD and thick cooling. And im sure they want the edge lines to compete with apple not the T/W series. Apple is all about thiness and taking out unnecessary parts . The T/W series will always be burdened with legacy parts because of enterprise needs. It has a VGA port For@#@!! sakes. Although i have had many close calls when i forgot to bring an adapter for the projector

 

Lenovo doesn't have to make a slim <1" 15.6" workstation PC, even Apples decision to do so makes no sense. It's not like one will simply slip this thing into their purse...its a large device and will requires robust features (cooling, CPU/dGPU, storage, etc). I actually hope they don't slim it down too much, because doing so will likely sacrifice the keyboard functionality, heatsink/cooling design (although lenovo can improve in this category), and storage options.

Also, the W540 is not a direct competitor to the rMBP, it's just a viable alternative at this point. We'll see more head-to-head models appear in the future, this is only the beginning.

 

Not directed at the above poster but just in general.

To say the W540 is a competitor for the rMBP is like saying every other 15.6 inch notebook out there is a competitor. I just dont get it. and this is even before we know for sure it has a high res display.

The W540 is not 16:10. It has a DVD + HDD, probably 4 ram slots and a VGA port! It is black and runs windows. oh and it has a numpad and trackpoint...................... and removable battery!

Where does it compete with the rMBP? It's a completely different animal.

PS. I would never be able to use a Mac computer because i hate the OS and nothing i use run on it natively. But i appreciate the engineering behind their products.

 

So far, the W540 is not very appealing.

Pros:

+ finally supports an IPS high resolution "retina" class display
+ finally supports haswell (though the delay is mostly due to Intel clearing out their Ivy Bridge inventories)

Cons:

- battery life is terrible for a haswell notebook
- retina class display will require windows 8.1 to look/function decently. and win 8.1, like win 8.0, is a consumer OS, not a pro OS
- keyboard is inferior to previous generations of thinkpads
- full num pad can be a welcome addition on a 17" notebook, but doesn't really fit on a 15" machine
- trackpoint is now inferior to previous generations of thinkpads
- kept archaic dvd drive... why?
- thunderbolt is useless for 99% of thinkpad owners, is buggy with many peripherals due mainly due to poor windows drivers, and requires a separate expensive/power hungry chip. forget it.

 

I spoke with a Lenovo sales rep, and don't quote me, her information is that the w540 will come with a touchscreen option. We know that the t440 has this option on an IPS 1920x1080 display, so it is hard to speculate what resolution displays other than the 3k will be offered and what will come with the touchscreen option. What I'm most concerned about is what the price will be at release time for the near fully loaded models, i.e. whether Lenovo.com will sell them at list, or at some kind of discount. Does anyone have a long memory and can remember what happens with pricing for new models at the release date????

 

Does anyone know what SSD options might become available for W540?

 

There will be a 512GB option at least

 

Spoke to a Lenovo rep today... W540 will be released on October 29th.

 

I've heard Oct 29th, then Nov 4th and now Jan 2014, Lenovo

 

I chatted with 2 different Lenovo reps and they both told me the W540 will be released in Jan 2014 as well.

 

Wow really? I have to say that Lenovo appear to have the most painfully slow release cycle for it's new business laptops. Lucky Intel have delayed Broadwell otherwise Lenovo might as well skip a generation.

It's slow for releases in the US let alone over here in Europe where we're stuck with the last generation for months after they're finally released elsewhere. What's up with them?

x240...nope
x240 with FHD....no chance
W540 coming soon by 2016

Might be time to get a Dell m4800?

 

After many years of buying Thinkpads, I've decided to call it quits.

The straw for me was trying out a Thinkpad with the new trackpad -- it is just terrible. While Lenovo is busy copying Apple's notebooks, it's clear that Lenovo clearly doesn't have the talent Apple does nor the dedication to quality. The new trackpad is wobbly, doesn't always register a right click, has a huge travel to make most clicks, is not well calibrated for single/double finger touch, is overall squishy and to top it off, the click sound it makes is unrefined and intrusive.

The TrackPoint works well because it functions in conjunction with real buttons, not fake trackpad buttons. IMO, the TrackPoint might as well not be on the machine any longer as Lenovo has ruined it by taking away the real buttons and the physical relationship of the buttons to the TrackPoint.

Maybe I could get used to the Chiclet keyboard... but the new keyboard layout is also terrible. The "Windows 8" function keys add that little bit of extra hurt to the overall package.

I guess in a way that Lenovo deciding to be a mid-tier maker of mediocre MacBook clones is a good, natural thing. Design and quality were IBM core competencies. They are not Lenovo core competencies. So Lenovo milks the ThinkPad brand for a while longer and people who wanted a real ThinkPad look elsewhere. Such is life.

 

I am not sure what is taking them so long. They are already shipping notebooks with the lame trackpad. They purposefully chose some non-standard screen resolution, maybe because there was a surplus on these screens and they could get them for cheap. I thought for ages there must be a typo and the screen is 2880x1800, not 2880x1620. But no, it really is 1620 vertical. So if one uses 200% resolution scaling in Windows 8.1, one only gets 810 vertical pixels.

Overall, the more I learn about the W540, the more I see it as just a sad amalgam of bad design choices.

 

I feel the same way about the new trackpad as you.... perhaps not as negative, but it's true IMO that it's really not in keeping with the build quality we've come to expect with the Thinkpad brand. I've described the T431s trackpad as "a little rectangle of cheapness" in the middle of an otherwise solid-feeling machine.

I think we have enough evidence now that Lenovo has more or less turned its back on what made a Thinkpad a Thinkpad. One could argue that the market itself has changed and Lenovo is simply reflecting that, but I'm not convinced that chasing consumer sentiment is a wise strategy because that consumer sentiment is a fickle thing that can be interpreted many ways and can turn on a dime. One could argue that chasing the market almost killed Dell and led to the demise of Compaq, two companies that once burned bright then flamed out.

Meanwhile, Apple is sticking to its guns turning out beautifully-engineered machines at premium prices and is has seen its PC sales decline for the last 4+ quarters. Go figure.

Still, for those unimpressed with the new generation of Thinkpads, what are the alternatives? IMO there really aren't many. Macbooks do not offer the upgradeability and flexibility. There are some promising Dell and HP 15" workstations, but they're heavy, IMO overpriced (base $2500 price for a dual-core 1080p Z-book 15 with Quadro K610??) and I'm still not convinced either manufacturer can make a computer that does not start to fall apart after a year

The screen resolution is a bit odd, but I'd be more interested in the 1080p screen anyway since for most of my work is done on an external monitor. Crummy trackpad and the numpad aside, the W540 looks to be one of the more attractive new models from Lenovo IMO. For anyone looking for a real workstation machine it manages to pack as much in to its frame as the Z-book 15 or M4800 yet come in about a pound lighter and significantly thinner. Granted, it is currently vaporware.

 

2880x1620 is 16:9 = 1920x1080 * 150%.

 

I agree the new touchpad on the thinkpads is SO BAD.

I have a W530 and I LOVE the touchpad. I have seen some of the X230's and the touchpad is some wobbly piece of trash. It feels like pressing down on some half broken computer part. I could probably use the touchpad to launch random crap up in the air as its almost a catapult design.

Id never think that a touchpad would prevent me from buying a laptop but there is no way i can pay that kind of money especially when then W530 has an incredible touch pad. Probably better then any computer i have ever used.

One other thing i noticed is the W540 has a VGA+Thunderbolt... so no more display port?

What?

Can thunderbolt be used with HDMI via adapter?

and carry audio?

THanks

 

Thunderbolt is essentially miniDisplayPort with PCI-E bus exposed on it. Security nightmare, if you ask me, but you can still use it as DisplayPort if you're not concerned with possibility of a DMA attack. Or when all vendors make use of IOMMU and VT-d to protect physical address space from "misbehaving" devices.