Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

Good windows 7 laptop. Great keyboard, the trackpad is always a plus. Feels a little more solid than my x120 but obviously a little bigger as well. Lenovo is probably my first pick for a non-apple laptop and did a great job dual booting to Ubuntu.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I purchased this mobile workstation mainly for editing my photographs and HDV videos. With the Core i7-2720 quad-core processor and 8GB of memory, this system does not disappoint. It easily handles Adobe CS5.5 with memory expandable up to 32GB.

The Nvidia Quadro 1000m with 2GB memory performs really well and does a great job driving the FHD screen. The backlit LED screen itself is one of clearest and sharpest I have seen yet in a notebook.

With USB3/USB2/eSATA/Firewire 400 ports and an Expresscard slot all my external hard drives and expansion needs are covered.

The computer is solidly constructed. The full size keyboard is a pleasure to use. The system comes with a Think Light but I would have preferred a backlit keyboard instead. That is just me; others may have a different view.

The ThinkVantage Toolbox is a terrific little application. I can tell at a glance if everything is operating properly or if something needs my attention.

The external power supply is on the large side but I have no problem packing it into my laptop case. However I find that I am getting great battery life, usually between 4 and 6 hours, depending on what I'm doing, so there are many times I do leave home without it.

I am really enjoying using this computer. Lenovo, I'm impressed!

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

The w520 is a bit heavy (holy power brick Batman) but man its a screamer. WoW and Fallout New Vegas play with high settings fine, and Skyrim runs great. The screen is awesome btw. Overall for taking back and forth to the office it's sweet. Plane trips...maybe not so much but its a beast in every sense of the word. Oh and its build like a brick [*]house.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I run my own business and needed the reliability of a Lenovo. I wanted lots of power without having to pay for it. Having used Lenovo laptops for the past 4 years, this was an easy choice!

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

My requirement to run 3D solid modeling software (SolidWorks) requires that I use a machine with a Quadro level graphics card. Unfortunately, the smallest laptop available with this type of card is a 15.6" - much larger than I really want. Since I am running my major software in the office, connected to a 24" LCD, I don't need the screen size on the laptop.
I moved from a 1st gen. i5 to this 2nd gen. i7. The new processor is very fast and I have noticed a significant increase in speed.
This is my 3rd Lenovo laptop over the last 10 years and they maintain their reputation for building a rock solid platform.
Now if they could just squeeze all this power into an 11" frame so I don't break my arm carrying it when I travel.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

If this is going to cut me off at 1000 characters as before I will take offense and not try again. Here goes... I bought a Lenovo W520 laptop computer with (2) 4GB Samsung memory sticks pre-installed. However, this model laptop requires removal of the keyboard to access (2) of the (4) available slots so I wanted B&H to install (2)more 4GB sticks to fill up the available (4) slots (under warranty). I ordered the computer from B&H website on a Saturday (when B&H is normally closed). The website indicated "out of stock" or "back-ordered" which I thought applied to the "memorey cards" but in fact applied to the "installation". Also, this laptop will accommodate up to 32GB RAM in (4) memory slots (not 16GB as I was told by a B&H salesperson). A live salesperson would have been helpful to me the day I placed my order if B&H had been open for business on Saturday(s). I then ordered (2) additional 4GB cards to install myself. The machine and memory cards arrived promptly and exactly as ordered EXCEPT that only (1) pre-installed 4GB card showed up in the BIOS. I added another 4GB card in the rear but the machine still did not recognize both cards. I hired a factory authorized business to install additional 4GB Samsung cards as needed to fill up all the available slots. They told me that both cards were pre-installed as advertised but a paper tag covered some of the contacts preventing the machine from recognizing it (THROUGH NO FAULT OF B&H). Also, the computer had Microsoft 2010 Office software pre-installed that I already have so I had to uninstall it for my key to work. With very few exceptions as noted here this was a very positive buying experience for me. I expect to purchase other products from B&H myself and I would highly recommend B&H to others (at least for computers).

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

It's no surprise that with an I-7 processor and 8 GB memory this notebook flashes results in front of your eyes. Don't blink or you'll miss the process!
Great for Photoshop, video editing and my demanding Excel+Visual Basic spreadsheets.
I like the unusual textured pad and the Express card slot.
On top, it comes with a 3 years International warranty!

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

Best laptop I've used and I've used 100's. The screen quality (1920x1080) is excellent, power consumption is low, heat generation is low, CPU fan location is sane (side in, side out - rather than bottom in side out on a lot of other laptops).

I get from 4.5 - 6.5 hours of use off a single charge.

The screen is amazingly bright and vibrant.

The only real issue I've had is the dumb white-listing issue with wifi cards. When I put a newer Bigfoot Killer 1103 N wifi card in the BIOS wouldn't let me boot and inidicated it was an "1802" unauthorized wifi card. Supposedly it has to do with the F.C.C. . Whatever it is, it's dumb. Work around was to apply a hack to the BIOS or use a USB wifi card. The hack is nothing I'd recomend to most users as it can turn your laptop into a brick. If you're planning on upgrading the internal wifi card you really need to verify it is accepted before you buy it. USB wifi cards aren't a concern.

**Minus 1 star for BIOS wifi white-listing nausia.

I replaced the primary boot drive with an OCZ Vertex 3 and was able to get a drive caddy off eb (BH doesn't want me to spell that out lol?) for ~$30 which I put the HDD in. All documents get stored on the HDD and all apps are installed on the SSD. This machine has SATA III(6G) so it can really get the full benefit of SSD.

Biometrics work perfectly, Power management works perfectly, Removing the keyboard to get access to top RAM compartment and mini-pcie wifi is SUPER easy (compared to a lot of other laptop designs).

Two Left side USB is 3.0, back right corner is USB 2.0.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I purchased this machine as my primary development machine for .NET, Android, and web development. I spent about a month reading reviews and specs before deciding on this model. B&H has the best deals and wonderful customer service.

I received a laptop with a defective microphone. I called the B&H service hotline and they quickly helped me arrange a RMA to return the laptop. They even allowed me structure my return so that I would get the replacement with expedited shipping. the service was top notch. I had the replacement within two business days.

The replacement laptop has been great. I also ordered the Trancend 2x4GB ram upgrade. It was super easy to upgrade the ram to 16GB. The build quality and ease of service on these laptops is outstanding.

I would suggest running the Lenovo update utility to get all of the latest updates. My laptop had the older BIOS that limited the max CPU speed. Once I updated everything worked as expected. Typically the manufacturer's maintenance utilities are terrible, but the Lenovo ones seem to be really good and stay out of the way.

I would highly recommend this machine to anyone wishing to do software development.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I love this machine, one of the best laptops i have ever owned! (and i have owned a lot of them)

This thing is a work horse, takes down everything i though at it, and im a heavy user.

I don't normal go for Nvidia Optimus systems because of their incompatibly with Linux but with the it and VT-x i can vitalize any Linux system with near native performance.

I also love the fact i can get up to 32gb of RAM in it, that will come in use later on.

Now i just wish the docking station didn't cost so much. :)

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I only had this computer for a couple of days and had to return it for an exchange as the CD drive seems to have failed but wanted to report my limited impressions and exchange experience.
The computer has a fast processor and 2gb of graphics memory, great display at a good price compared to others in this category. One does have to get used to the track pad as it has a granular surface and for me, is too close to the edge. Everything else seems to be normal in operation.
The return process at B&H was easy and fast and I have no doubt that if any further difficulties should arise with the replacement they will be handled in the same manner.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I use this machine as a desktop replacement so the machine is usually docked, just like the Thinkpad it replaced. It's a good performer and I would not hesitate to put it in the carry case and take it anywhere.

The fan on this machine can get quite loud if you turn on turbo speeds in the bios. If fact, it can get so loud it interferes with the concentration. I sacrificed some thru-put for quiet.

I dual-boot Linux and Windows 7. It runs Linux in an excellent manner and this is my main operating system. Windows 7 may come in useful some days .... for some software ... but I seldom find reason to use windows anymore. I've been running Linux for over a decade now.

Note that some Linux distros complain that the W520 chipset is not recognized by DRM. As I could not care less about DRM, this does not affect me at all.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I bought the W520 for business and scientific computing. I needed a powerful laptop for modeling that was still reasonably portable. The W520 is just a little larger and heavier than the T400 that it's replacing but has a better screen (full HD), USB3.0 and is much faster. The battery life has been about 6.5 hours without heroic efforts. So far, I'm totally satisfied.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

Excellent value for the money. Built like a tank. Long battery.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

This is one well constructed laptop. Having had Sony's in the past, I was amazed at the build of this unit: rock solid.
The monitor is great. Calibrated with colorMunki and photo's realy pop. Monitor to printed photo is very accurate.
Have upgraded to 16 GB Ram and this machine plays and manipulates 1080p HD video from my Canon7D flawlessly. Never could do this with the Sony's.
Not getting the 10 hrs per charge on battery, only about 3.5 but this is still a big improvement.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

This is the fifth laptop I have bought for personal use, and it is definitely the best so far. It gets used mostly editing RAW photos with Lightroom, and is easily up to the task. I'm sure it would be up to the task of mutitrack recording or video editing as well.

The screen is easily the best I have ever seen on a laptop, although my wife's Lenovo T520 has the 1600x900 screen (also available on this model for a little less $) and it is also very good, I have calibrated both screens and the difference between the two screens is most apparent in reds and oranges - they are more muted on the 1600x900 screen. Battery life is also excellent for a laptop this powerful.

It is possible to install an mSATA SSD in this machine, which would increase the performance considerably (it's already quite good).

The only negative is the size. It's not huge, but it's no lightweight either. It is a typical size for a 15.6" laptop - larger than a macbook but not by a lot (mostly just thicker). The power adaptor is huge, literally about the size (and weight) of a standard brick.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I bought this laptop to replace my Thinkpad T-60 which is going on six years old. I prefer using the trackpoint mouse instead of a touchpad and this is about the only brand that still uses trackpoints. Thinkpad's are real workhorses and this one is no exception. The display is much brighter and clearer than my T-60 and it's very fast. B & H has the best prices and the fastest delivery.

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I'm an experienced software developer (+15ys). I bought a Lenovo because I know what they are; and this one didn't disappoint. It was this one or something on the Mac side.

Besides the obvious performance coming from the high-end components, and even though I tend to like better generic tools over vendor-specific tools; I also really liked the software included in the thinkpad.

I was about to give it 4 stars just because the machine came with a BIOS+software bug that made the i7-2720 run almost at half of its speed. I realized about the problem after googling a bit and I learned from lenovo forums that the solution was updating to the latest BIOS firmware and the latest thinkpad power manager.
I consider this being pretty serious problem. Even though it's solved now, some people may not even notice the failure if they don't have an experienced eye; and they would have wasted half the performance this machine could give.
I was surprised that Lenovo shipped the model with this bug.

The power supply is also a surprise. It is a huge big brick. You can probably use it for self-defense against thieves. :-)

The Full HD display is awesome. I'm in love with it. I sometimes connect a Dell 2709w just behind it and I have to say the display in the thinkpad has awesome colors too.

Ubuntu 11.10 installed seamlessly on it. Everything worked. No need to tweak anything.(except disabling the NVIDIA's Optimus mode; which I didn't even try).

I still have to try games on it.

I hope it helps you decide :-)

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

I did a lot of research prior to buying the W520. Though I primarily needed a laptop for work and travel, I frankly was sick of needing to replace my laptops every other year due to it becoming outdated, needing more storage, RAM, etc. Additionally, I am sick of having to do graphics intensive things on my desktop, then transferring the results over to my Laptop.

The W520 allows me to:
Eliminate my Desktop
Not have to deal with needing a new PC every year or two

I ran a photo edit test on the W520 against my superpower Acer desktop w/pukka graphics card and the W520 simply kicked it's ask. 2 sec. vs. 10. Crazy.

The screen is incredible, the keyboard is perfect, as is the size/weight and battery life.

THERE IS NO BETTER LAPTOP OUT THERE!

Oh, also runs Battlefield 3!!!!

Comments about Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U 15.6" Notebook Computer:

First of all, the reasons I why got this laptop:

1. a lot cheaper than a similar configuration from Apple, and still 1 Gigabytes of graphics card stronger

2. with the remaining money I could get an Epson scanner for my negatives

The call was hard to make, because I am still using an Apple laptop and fully enjoy the hardware & software, which needed an upgrade, nevertheless.

I own another 13 inch 2006 MacBook. It is both old and lacks a bigger screen and has no dedicated graphics card, which means I cannot even install Premiere.

My needs involve email, Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom. I also watch movies, listen to music and make presentations from the laptop. I wanted to edit my own film in Premiere.

Then I got this Lenovo w520. It took a while before liking the way it looked, Windows included. But then I really liked it.

Main reasons were:

1. Big antiglossy full HD screen. This is really one of the best features on this item.

2. Big and fast hard drive.

3. In the end I started even to enjoy Windows 7 new look that I never came across on my own. I did have a Win computer before for a long time, so it was refreshing to see the updates, although some looked like Mac rip-offs.

The first thing that pointed to some problems was the fact that the Lenovo diagnostics program did not work. It simply crashed when I tried opening it. Same happened when I just pushed the tiny blue button on the top left side of the keyboard. Later on I found out this happened because at that time I did not have Internet, but it still was not a good thing to happen.

Back when I switched to Mac from Win I used to really really hate the way computers just froze or crashed. That thing was back it seemed.

I do not live in the US, so I took it home to Europe. On my way back it sat in my CompuRover AW Lowepro photo gear backpack. It had its own padded compartment.

Because I carried the laptop on my back, and the whole bag was pretty heavy, but not excessively, when I opened the laptop at home there was a white cloud on my full HD screen in the place where my shoulder used to be during the trip.

So much for the great Lenovo monitor protection, that I really thought was real.

Now, whenever a black screen came up during Bios, in an image that I edited, or during a film, there was also this white cloud.

If one would look closer, it would be easy to also see inside the white thing some sort of gridlock pattern from the monitor protection.

Then, when I tried to use it for its full power by opening a 90 Gb file with a film I made last year using Premiere, the thing just crashed.

The error message from the 2 Gb Nvidia dedicated graphics card was 'error 08'. Go search 'Nvidia error code 08' on Google and observe how this is an old issue with these cards that to this day has no solution provided from the manufacturer.

To make this short, I could open the film with the integrated card only, which was a surprise (and it also worked well), but this is not why I paid the money for 2 Gb of video card.

Now the laptop is in the Lenovo service in my country. I will have to pay for the replacement of the screen, because the warranty does not cover damage made by the user.

Also, afterwards, I will sell this and get the cheapest Mac. I know at least that one works and it also looks better.

Pro:

- nice Full HD screen
- good price for the configuration
- it looks better than most Win laptops I've seen
- it does not heat up at all, and compared to Mac which does it's great from this point of view

Contra:

- screen is not so well protected as they say, so if you buy, take care of it just like with any other similar equipment
- bad graphics card (look for 'Nvidia error code 08' on Google)
- without the graphics card not worth the price, not worth taking, as this is supposed to be a workstation, not just a regular laptop.