Choosing a Lenovo W530

Hi all,

I am considering to buy a customized Lenovo W530. What is your opinion? I know it will be a big investment so before committing I want to see if I get my money's worth.

* Does the W530 stand up to hard slogging around as advertised?
* I will need to type a lot, is the keyboard good for lots of typing
* How is the warranty service?
* What is your general opinion of it?

Thanks a lot,

Regards,

Joseph

 

Provide some details on what you plan to use the the new notebook for, whether it would be a desktop replacement, whether you would travel/commute with it.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I will be using it at home and taking it to work every day. I will be using in labs to gather data, run electrical simulations which consume a lot of the CPU, write notes basically work in an academic environment and in the field as needs be. After 8 years of work my current laptop has problems with the hinges, What I liked most about the W530 is the tough finish and computing power. I am looking for a machine that with good care can serve me for the next 6-7 years.

Also another question, I may have read incorrectly, does the Quadro graphics card work only on the external displays or does it work also on the laptop screen? I have understood that the laptop screen is driven the graphics driver of the CPU and any external display display are driven by the Quadro. Is that true?


Regards,

Joseph

 

The T530 is a less expensive alternative if you need the computing power (up to i7 QM) but not necessarily the high-end discrete graphics support. Just another idea.

* The W530, like its ThinkPad T530, T430 and X230 siblings, is a robust notebook and can withstand continuous heavy usage.

* The "Precision" keyboard is great to type on -- the new layout has been passionately debated, but it is a separate issue. If you need to type a lot, ThinkPad keyboards have been the best.

* You can buy two-year or three-year on-site support warranty -- Lenovo will send a technician to your place to fix problems you report.

* Overall, the W530 is a awesome notebook. It is on the heavy side, especially with the 9-cell battery, so you may want to invest in a good backpack. Also, the FHD 1920x1080 screen and the Intel 6205/6300 WiFi card are highly recommended. Finally, you should do RAM and SSD upgrades yourself (i.e. avoid upgrading them as Lenovo configuration options).

This review may be helpful. Good luck!

 

I'm using an Edge E520 which has the same keyboard. It feels good while it is a little bit noisy compared to traditional keyboard. If you are new to Thinkpad, the keyboard won't be a problem.

 

The keyboard is excellent and like mentioned already, if your new to the Thinkpad keyboard the new layout won't really be an issue because you were never used to the old one. Thinkpads are known for having some of if not the best laptop keyboards.

The FHD screen is a good upgrade and so is the K2000M over the K1000M if you need some graphics processing power, it's not a top end GPU when you compare it to desktop alternatives but it's fairly good for a laptop unit and I believe it will drive 3 or 4 external monitors. If you want to do 3D it can only be done via the display port on the docking station.

It has strong solid metal hinges for the screen and like most thinkpads, a spill resistant keyboard and internal roll-cage so yes, it's very tough for a notebook. Thinkpads are designed for business first more than they are the home consumers but work just as well for home use, it just means they will live up to the extra demands a corporate notebook deals with.

I have had my W530 for a few weeks now, after replacing a Sony VAIO S15 due to the orange-gate issue and I couldn't be happier, it cost me more but it has the performance and solid build that I like to have in a laptop and I expect it to last me at least the next 3-4 yrs.

Do buy the extra on-site warranty, it's normally not that much extra and worth it if you are planning on keeping the unit for a long time. Like Kaso said, buy the least amount of ram or hdd upgrades from lenovo, they are easy to do yourself for a fraction of the price they charge.