Any news on the W530?

Have you guys heard anything from lenovo relating to the w530?

 

if we do it'll likely be within the next month. ces is in two weeks and last year lenovo announced their lineup a week or two after that. actually i think they made separate announcements for the various lines if i recall correctly; all in a span of two weeks.

 

Which would be fine timing wise if they were going to ship in Q1, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It sounds like the Ivy Bridge machines are late Q2 or early Q3 so I wouldn't count on any detailed announcements at or shortly after CES. Hope I'm wrong, but the timing is different this year.

 

Oh okay. Well you think they will add IPS for the W530?

 

Unknown. I guess it really depends on how much feedback their are taking in from the pro photographer community, and other sectors that actually need a portable high quality screen. The FHD fills the niche pretty well right now.

The biggest area for improvement in the ThinkPad ranks isn't the W520 panel. It's really the 13" or 14" machines. Lenovo has been content to dish out the current crud and it doesn't seem likely they will offer a premium option for the masses.

I am hopeful the X2 will have an option but I wouldn't count on the W530 unless they want to take on HP and Dell. If they do, you'd better be saving your dollars now. It won't be cheap.

 

So there is a possibility that their won't be any big changes for the w530?

 

A lot of people are calling the new lineup 530, 430, x230, etc. Since these are just minor updates wouldn't these be 531, 431, X231, etc, like they did with the small changes from X200 to X201? I imagine all that will change is internal upgrades to the IB platform?

I wish there was a bit more regularity to their numbering scheme.

 

The X201 is an exception. Every other upgrade that generation was #00 to #10.

 

Yeah I wasn't sure how they would approach it. It seems like the xx1 or x1 moniker has been dropped since the introduction of the 3 digit models - x201, x301 and w701 being the exception. It was used before, with the T4x and T6x. I thought it was a good way to differentiate between big n small changes. Anyhow, sorry for the OT. Looking forward to seeing the next gen machines!

 

Honestly, I think it depends more on how well the various panel manufacturers can supply them. Lenovo tries to have at least two sources for every part, and if they can't get suitable batches of panels at a reasonable price point from two different sources -- though the definition of "reasonable" is certainly up for debate here -- they're unlikely to offer it.

 

I'll be getting the W530 regardless, with the highest resolution screen they offer. The T520 I just got was a trial run for me to test out Thinkpads and, I am glad to say I am very happy with it.

Does anybody know what the graphics card will be in the new W series?

 

Really good question. Should Lenovo continue to sell and support Optimus for the sake of battery life or go totally discrete?

 

Well, considering that you HAVE to get an Intel iGPU with an Intel CPU, there's no reason to not continue with Optimus. You get an option to change the setting in BIOS anyways.

 

Why would they do that?

 

The W510 is discrete only. Why did they do that?

 

To go discrete only would not only kill battery life, it would be a huge step backwards. I challenge anyone to argue otherwise, especially considering you have an option to go discrete only in the BIOS.

 

I run nearly exclusively on AC so I don't care about battery life. I really only need a couple of hours of battery life here and there. Considering Optimus on the W520 is broken and doesn't support more than two external monitors, I really don't care for an Optimus implementation in the W530 if that design continues.

However, having said all of that, if the Intel iGPU continues to improve and the difference between it an a discrete implementation is largely a moot argument, then so be it.

If they implement Optimus in the W530, they need to fix the multimon support.

 

They could go back to the hardware switching solution like the T400. It costs more and its less elegant, but it works reliably and the W series is a high end product anyways.

 

There are pictures on the internet of W520 supporting three external monitors.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but, the i7 QM's of that generation do not have an iGPU, and therefore, it is impossible to implement Optimus. They also got rid of the iGPU in the NB in the same generation, so it's discrete or nothing.

 

You are correct. The W510 is also rock solid. Terrible battery life, but rock solid.

 

A simple slide switch next to the power button, or two seperate power switches, say at either side, above the keyboard, would be even better.

Have one switch for on-board graphics, with settings optimized for battery longivity. The other switch could switch on the descrete cards, plus give the option of disabling one if you still need battery life.

How many systems do you see that have a main power button, then a separate button for booting into the Windows Media Center? I have that setup on my Gateway M-6862. It's nothing new.

Now if they would release a 17.3" version, namely a W730, then they could really kick HP and Dell's backsides.

Dell Precisions are having nothing but problems with their displays, and HP Elitebooks are WAY too expensive for the hardware they are using. They are relying on their name to make sales, not the quality of the systems.

Lenovo could OWN the portable workstation market in a major way with a system with these specs:

17.3" 1920 x 1280 minimum resolution display, IPS optional. (I would prefer a 16:10 ratio display, but doubt that could happen)
2760 Intel quadcore or better, maybe even a hexacore?
250GB SSD or better with (2) 1TB Rotating drives for file storage (if the price per terabyte would come down, then an all SSD system would be better)
8GB minimum RAM, 16GB would be better
An option for DUAL ATI M8900 in Crossfire or Quadro 3000 or better in SLI video cards (look at how Alienware does dual GT-560's), so it is possible.
4 or 5 USB3 ports, with at least 2 powered-on full time

If using the ATI M8900, the Intel on-board video needs to be available just like it is with Nvidia cards. Either a physical switch or a bios option that could be selected at boot if needed. If I could have the Dual M8900 setup, add an option to switch between drivers so you could use them as Radeon 6990's for gaming.

Yes I know that this system would cost quite a bit, but just imagine what could be done with it. The ultimate workstation/gaming system that could stomp any system for quite a while.

 

Do we even have any indication or rumour whether lenovo will go with AMD or nvidia for the next round?
I'd think they stay with nvidia (and therefore optimus) but AMD is earlier with the 28nm stuff. On the other hand, if we have to wait til almost Q3 for Ivy Bridge nvidia might be there as well..

 

17.6'' IPS with 64GB upgradable RAM and dual CPU capability (32 threads with 2 8-core CPUs), dual Quadro 5010M

Wait, I think that's W600

 

That would be an unbelievable machine.

 

Just saw your sig on the "Help bring back 16x10" link, what's funny is that I am using T60p with Eizo L768 as the second display that both are 4:3. I don't think I will ever get used to 16x10, not to mention 16x9. LOL!

I am pretty much screwed. Unless the 17.6'' on W600 is a 4:3 IPS.

 

I wish they will make W730 with ATI card (3 digital outputs with a dock)...

 

Is it there a way for lenovo to hear our ideas, want and need? Petition maybe?

 

That's because both of your display have very low pixel counts. Increase pixel counts to 2.5mp or more than you can not have squarish display because people will likely to divide windows side-side on their 16:9 display and thus end up with two 8:9 windows in one 16:9 monitor.

get what I mean?

 

You can post on their forums, but don't call it a petition, call it a request or suggestion. Petitions aren't allowed on their forums, mine for the TOLUD fix was renamed by a mod.

 

Yeeeeessss (i have to lengthen the message to at least 10 characters) or else it won't post. lol)

 

Except the Alienware uses consumer cards, while workstations use professional ones. While consumer SLI has developed quite a bit, it's still not stable enough for professional use IMO.

Too bad they don't have something like Dell Ideastorm (which is for Dell to get feedback from consumers).

 

wouldn't the official Lenovo forum be considered feedback? I am sure many Lenovo employees read these forum to see what consumers think.

 

While forums are great for information exchange, I think a dedicated place that each user can submit an idea to be considered is a much better system. There are dedicated reps from Dell that acknowledge and review ideas and if feasible will try to implement them and give feedback on whether or not they will be implemented. I have been a member on Ideastorm for a while and have submitted several ideas. One of my ideas was implemented and Dell sent me a gift to acknowledge my idea. I would love if Lenovo had something like this and would gladly contribute even if I didn't get anything (I didn't expect Dell to send me anything but the fact that they did makes me feel appreciated).

 

What ideas you share with dell?

Have there been a case, where somebody pitch an idea on that forum and lenovo listened?

 

They implemented a fix for eGPUs in the latest line of laptops, after enough people added to my request thread.

 

The lenovo forums do cause action when there's enough people complaining about a problem. They do have employees and very helpful non-employees listening there. It's not a place to pitch your ideas though. Everyone has their ideas and they can't pay attention to all of them. I'm sure they have market research and the sort to find out what their consumer wants, but it wouldn't be done via a forum - it's too uncontrolled and disorganized for consumer research purposes. Take a look at the lenovo forums, everybody has their soapbox on there in the general sub section. It's still a great resource and community though.

 

No response from the lenovo forum yet.

 

is this your post? IPS for the W530. - Lenovo Community

you're going to need a better approach and give it more time.   plus, the W530 design has already been set in stone.   you'd be better off pitching for the W540 or whatever comes next.

for any pitched idea to even remotely be considered, one must list out what they want and how it would be beneficial over what's already being offered.   saying "i believe it time for this serise to have a IPS option" (despite the misspelling and grammar mistakes) doesn't define what IPS is, what the current problem is with the wide-gamut FHD display (if any), and how IPS would be beneficial to the W-series user base, including how the additional cost for both business and individual users might outweigh the current options (if at all).

take this seriously otherwise no one else will.

food for thought.

on a side note, posting at 5:29PM on a friday night after everyone has gone home for the weekend isn't likely going to get an immediate response.   fine-tune your approach and give it time before complaining that no one's responding.

 

Yeah, like the W600 I wrote a few posts before, that would be a good start.

 

I just got a ThinkPad W520 and love it so far, good job Lenovo, keep at it! Mine was under $1400 from Lenovo ThinkPad W520 4276-37U Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-2720QM 2.20GHz, 8GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6 Full HD, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

Now, I'm already thinking about another W520 or even better, a W530 especially if it retains battery and dock compatibility with the W520 -- I hope so.

The area I would like to improve is I/O speed. I learned about RAID options only after getting that W520 deal without RAID capability.

I/O speed is an area where dramatic improvement is possible, I have read about people putting two SSDs in their W520 laptop and achieving 900 MB/s disk I/O speed. Excellent. By comparison, the mechanical 7200RPM drive in my W520 delivers about 90 MB/s -- a factor of 10 increase is possible! I like how the W520 supports SATA-III and I am about to put a single SSD in my W520 to get to 500 MB/s. I aready added an mSATA (mini) SSD and see 200 MB/s at least for that small 64GB drive.

Is eSATA-III possible? eSATA and USB 3.0 were of interest to me and I'm making good use of those fast interfaces.

So, keep up the good work, Lenovo, I hope to get a W530 from you soon and recommend ThinkPads to many other people. Thank You for allowing for 3 disk drives and several display monitors in the W520 design, please keep that up with the W530 and beyond. And, decent Linux and OS X compatibility was an attraction too -- very good.

 

Hopefully it's not as ty as the W520 series.

Better to release the systems late and fix all the problems then let customers beta test a system.

 

Not gonna happen, first adopters are always beta testers

 

Sure enough, I see fast I/O speed after installing a SATA-III SSD in my W520. Now let's see the W530 beat this performance, perhaps by allowing the option of ordering dual SSDs in RAID from the factory.

See, here is a benchmark of my W520 with a single Samsung 830 SSD for read performance up around 547MB/s and write performance of 324MB/s. I'd very much like to get another W520 or W530 with RAID in order to double this throughput.