Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

[voostro]

After nitpicking it to death I have a few small quibbles with it but overall I am very happy with it and the things I love about it far outweigh the little annoyances.

The few things I'm not 100% satisfied with are:
-The rigidity of the screen casing feels quite poor and has a lot of flex
-The speakers sound crappy but I was expecting this from a laptop
-I wish the FN button was on the other side of the keyboard, it would make 1 handing the most used buttons possible.
-9 cell battery hangs out the back and has a little wiggle

The things I'm happy with are:
-Hinge tension and smoothness feels perfect
-Rigidity of the rest of the case is good and I feel good about the magnesium roll cage protecting its internals
-fingerprint scanner works amazingly well and the only time I need to try more than once is if I put my finger on it crooked but this has only happened twice haha.
-Screen resolution and color is amazing
-USB 3.0 ports are super fast with compatible hardware
-touchpoint is growing on me
-the machine can really keep its cool when stressed out considering whats inside it and how thin it is. I got the CPU to 90C once by stressing both the cpu and gpu to 100% with stress testing programs, under normal use it sits at around 45c and sometimes spikes to 70-80 under intensive gaming.
-throttling makes the battery last a REALLY long time if your not doing anything intensive

I'm running throttlestop instead of using the supplied power management software because it feels kind of clunky to me and if I need more power while on battery throttlestop can open it up. Once I setup throttlestop it was a non issue.

thank you for taking the time to share and type that great user exp. info

rep +1 for you

very useful information

[kuksul08]

This stupid Power Management software doesn't work. I told it to start charging at 50% and stop at 85%. Instead, when I start the computer I can see the Windows battery icon say it's charging until the Power Manager starts up. Then I unplugged it and ran it down to 80% and plugged it back in. It charged right back up to 85%. Argh! I might as well uninstall it, but I still want charge control...

[voostro]

I always do a clean install and only use software/drivers from the maker thats absolutely necessary

I read up here and stay in tune with what causes issues and doesn't etc.
Added to my own user exp. I can whittle em down nicely.

After tweaking win7 next I always end up with 38 processes running, including my AV, with an occasional spike to 44 processes

[voostro]

kuksul08 - love the quote in your sig !

[NUTSH3LL]

This question is kind of a long shot... but has anyone removed/replaced their screen yet? Is it difficult or just like any other laptop? Also, are the FHD screens being used still the AUO B156HW01 V.4?

I ask because I already upgraded my HP 8540w with this AUO screen and figure I can just install the screen in the Lenovo W520 and save some money. Thanks

[rampantdragon]

this is the w520 I am considering ordering tomorrow. I am in canada. I will use it mainly for work. Oracle, Development 3-5 vm's, Lots of video calls etc. I will be upgrading the memory to 16gb on arrival. Possibly Switching to a SDD, if can find good price I used the visaperks for discount.

2 Questions, Any thing I should change. And should I be able to get a better price when I call to order.

Print
Description
ThinkPad W520 - 1 Yr Depot Topseller Warranty
Processor: Intel Core i7-2820QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.30GHz, 8M Cache with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz)
Operating system: Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Operating system language: Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
Display type: 15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED backlight Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 1000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard - US English
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
Camera: 720p HD Camera with Microphone
Storage subsystem: Primary SATA RAID 0
Hard drive: RAID HDD, 500GB, 7200rpm
Optical device: RAID via Bay Adapter
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot, 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
Battery: 9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: 170W Slim AC Adapter - North America, Latin America (2pin)
Bluetooth: Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Language pack: Publication - US English

Accessories and options:
3Yr Priority Onsite + 3Yr ThinkPad Protection
ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (170W) (US/Canada/LA)

[kirayamato26]

this is the w520 I am considering ordering tomorrow. I am in canada. I will use it mainly for work. Oracle, Development 3-5 vm's, Lots of video calls etc. I will be upgrading the memory to 16gb on arrival. Possibly Switching to a SDD, if can find good price I used the visaperks for discount.

2 Questions, Any thing I should change. And should I be able to get a better price when I call to order.

Print
Description
ThinkPad W520 - 1 Yr Depot Topseller Warranty
Processor: Intel Core i7-2820QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.30GHz, 8M Cache with Turbo Boost up to 3.40GHz)
Operating system: Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Operating system language: Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
Display type: 15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED backlight Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro 1000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard - US English
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
Camera: 720p HD Camera with Microphone
Storage subsystem: Primary SATA RAID 0
Hard drive: RAID HDD, 500GB, 7200rpm
Optical device: RAID via Bay Adapter
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot, 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
Battery: 9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: 170W Slim AC Adapter - North America, Latin America (2pin)
Bluetooth: Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Language pack: Publication - US English

Accessories and options:
3Yr Priority Onsite + 3Yr ThinkPad Protection
ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (170W) (US/Canada/LA)

What's the price on that?

[rampantdragon]

sorry bad cut and paste
Free shipping

Price $3,622.00
Savings $1,348.75

Total $2,273.25
Ships within 9 bus. days

[cobrien]

How much was the extra warranty and mini dock?
I got the same system, but with the 2729qm CPU, no intel wifi and the $200 fhd screeen option and it was $1500 after taxes. I didn't call them though I just found an online coupon for 18% off and ordered online.

[kuksul08]

I always do a clean install and only use software/drivers from the maker thats absolutely necessary

I read up here and stay in tune with what causes issues and doesn't etc.
Added to my own user exp. I can whittle em down nicely.

After tweaking win7 next I always end up with 38 processes running, including my AV, with an occasional spike to 44 processes

I did a clean install as well, but ended up re-installing a lot of the Lenovo software. It just doesn't work that well though . I'd rather have Windows do it if it had the same functionality.

...and thanks, I like the quote too