should i download any drivers for my t500?

i got my t500 two weeks ago and was wondering if there are drivers and updates i should download?
i have the swtichable 3d card - can i switch between the two with a softwere?
how do i do it?
where should i download the drivers from?
thanks for the help!!

 

I just got a T400, the Lenovo support website is pretty good at providing drivers:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s...wnloadsDriversLandingPage.vm&sitestyle=lenovo

 

I'm from the school if it ain't broke don't fix it school of hard knocks.

 

If everything's working then don't bother updating unless there's a driver or software which adds functionality that you don't currently have. No need to update just for the sake of updating-- it won't make a difference.

You can avail your switchable graphics function by right clicking on the green battery icon on the left of the taskbar and selecting the Energy saving option under Switchable graphics. I'm assuming you have the Lenovo Power manager installed. Otherwise you can enable the function from the BIOS and leave it on permanently.

After being a member of this forum I definitely share this philosophy.

 

I was like that too years ago. I wouldn't even install Windows updates.

After 10 years in programming my view has changed. Do you risk breaking stuff? Absolutely. But by and large the benefits generally outweigh the risks.

 

Although I agree with ZaZ on drivers, the only one I think of updating is the video driver. This is only when I need to squeeze more power out or there are stability issues with the driver. Usually updating drivers is more trouble then its worth, as the benefit is minor if there is one.

 

Why update if everything is working fine? I only update if the changelog indicates performance upgrades, the addition of some useful new feature(s), or if it fixes some bug that I've always been having.

 

It has been very rare in my experience that an update, be it Windows or System update, fixes anything. It's much more common that something breaks after updating, my opinion of course.

 

Try the Thinkvantage "System Update".
Start > Programs > System Update

I originally uninstalled all the Thinkvantage stuff, but reinstalled System Update to see how it worked.
I guess it works pretty good. I installed a bunch of Lenovo updates and nothing broke. Although some system settings got changed/activated which I had to change back. I can't remember which ones. I think some Services were restarted that I had disabled, and some Msconfig items were added back to the start-up.
There were also a bunch of Windows updates showing which I had already installed. I would ignore the Windows updates if you are doing them yourself.