Confused among these. Need help

All,

Need help on deciding between these two specs? T530 vs W530

Everything being the same the only difference between the both are:

1) K1000M 2GB GPU vs NVS 5400 1gb
2) 320 gb vs 500 gb
3) 8GB ram vs 4 GB ram
4) 135W vs 170W adapter



Not sure which one would be good considering the difference to be just $40.

Is the 170W adapter so big to carry around that I chose 530 over it ?

Is this is a good price to buy these at?. I have been checking for deals for over a month and I see only a change of 30-40$ difference. Can I expect more deals in the months to come. I only need it by December end.


Thanks.

 

For $1,251.51, that W530 config is a batter value.

With the 9-cell battery, you may not need to carry the 170W adapter around.

(Don't know what you plan to use the notebook for, but if you're do virtualization, bump up to the i7-3720QM as it supports VT-d.)

 

Thanks Kaso,

I currently do dual-boot of Linux ubuntu and windows on my personal machine. Tried to use the same in my office via virtualization but was not happy with performance and also I hated to always log on to windows to be able to use linux. After windows7 I'm hardly logging into linux. So not sure if I will use virtualization in future . There is another option as below with 3720 + Windows8 Pro + 500GB compared with the previous one of (3610 + Windows8 + 320 GB) for a 60$ more.



Also I'm planning to take 3year support + Accidental damage. What's the difference between on site warranty vs Depot. I see different pricing for different configs. i.e in some config depot is costly and in some its otherwise. What should I prefer here? Also is the priority tech support worth for the 20$ ?


Thanks.

 

I don't want to comment on Windows 8 config option.

With such an investment, it is prudent to purchase extra warranty. If the notebook is your livelihood tool, make sure you get on-site support warranty -- Lenovo will send a technician to your place within the next business day (in most cases) after you report a problem. Depot warranty is no fun: you must send the notebook in, then sit and pray for it to come back in good shape. (When you send it in, it is common advice that you remove all self-upgrade parts.)

 

Thanks for your inputs kaso,

I too not bothered much with window 8 config. I just wanted to tell u the difference between the two configs which lenovo website has and see if a 50$ is worth it for the differences !!!

 

^^^ Oh, that's because I don't take Windows 8 seriously yet. I've been quite happily productive with Windows 7. Aside from Windows 8, I would say the i7-3720QM is a better selection in the $1,309 config.

 

What Virtualization product were you using?

If you use something like VMware Workstation 8 on a good system with a SSD and plenty of RAM, you should get close to native performance for most tasks apart from some GPU dependent 3D processes and things such as some 1080P video playback depending on the bitrate used. For 90% of other tasks it should be very close to native performance as long as you spec the VM right. Remember that if building a system in which you plan to run VMs, RAM is King, it's the most important resource,

 

I was using VirtualBox a free ware but not any more . Considering that I will hardly use Virtual environment for anything productive I think 3610 would suffice (not unless I get a super deal on that particular spec ). Also my budget was around $1200. So if I go for 3720 it will shoot up to 1400$ inclusive of taxes. I don't game much so not able to decide whether to go with the 1250$ W530 spec or the 1200$ T530 spec.

Thanks.

 

Roger on your needs and budget. (Sorry I took you down the Virtualization path. I'm glad you know what you need.) Every dollar counts. $50 or $200 is money for meaningful upgrade, such as RAM and SSD. A $70 64GB SSD can make a huge difference: you can use it for boot/OS/programs in conjunction with the stock HDD for file storage. And $18 can be better spent on an extra 4GB RAM stick to bring the total RAM to 8GB.

At this point, I recommend you consider the T530.

(I'm typing this on a T520 with i5 and integrated graphics. It's been serving me really well. I commute with it a few times a week.)

 

Never mind Kaso. Thanks for all the help. If not for your suggestion I wouldn't have bothered to see the actual difference between 3610 and 3720(would have assumed it to be a bigger number and so a better performer). Knowing things is never a bad thing . Confusion with more info is always better than having no info at all.

 

Kaso,

I was cleaning my house and found my bro's intel SSD lying around idle. Couldn't figure out the exact product name but the SSD has model name as: SSDSA2SH064G1GC 2.5'' 3Gb/s SATA SSD 64G 5V 1A.
Googling for the model shows up this link . But no where I see x25-e or SLC written on the SSD. I would like to know if I can use this SSD with T530/W530. Though its only 64GB it can get me started . I will be happy if it can hold my OS and music(audio only of 20GB)

What would be the setup if I have to use this SSD?

Also curious to know how it fares when compared to the Samsung 830's, 840's, Corsair models which seem to appear quite often in the SSD discussions !!!

Thanks.

 

That Intel SSD was available in 2009. It was quite good then. But I'd rather buy today's technologies. For SSDs, my recommendation would come from my good experience with Crucial M4, Samsung 830 (maybe hard to find now) and Samsung 840.

I know it's a bit difficult when you have a budget, but let's talk about how you might want to "arrange" your storage.

(1) You could stick with the stock HDD.

(2) You could put a 64GB 2.5" SSD in the main bay as boot/OS/programs drive and move the stock HDD to the UltraBay, with the help of an UltraBay caddy adapter, so that the HDD can be used for file storage.

(3) You could put a 64GB mSATA SSD in the PCIe slot under the keyboard, as boot/OS/programs drive and retain the stock HDD in the main bay for file storage, as well as the optical drive.

Approach (1) is easiest and does not cost anything more. Approach (2) is quite good, but you'd lose the optical drive while having to pay extra -- actually not much, around $10 with free shipping -- for an UltraBay caddy. Approach (3) is also good and allows you to keep the optical drive, but you'd have to remove/reinstall the keyboard -- not difficult, but perhaps intimidating to certain users.

I would recommend approach (2) together with a "SSD kit," like this one or this one. Such a kit contains a SSD, a SATA-USB adapter cable, and transfer software on CD that allows you to clone the Windows 7 system image from the stock HDD to the new SSD.

You may want to take a look at the well-illustrated T/W530 Hardware Maintenance Manual (PDF).

 

Thanks Kaso,

Spot on with your responses. I would certainly prefer to buy the latest one's in the market. Sadly enough, laptop purchase now doesn't allow me an SSD . Just thinking if I can use this for the time being.

 

You could. Get this and we have a variation on approach (2). By the way, that upgrade kit can be reused later, when you can afford a new SSD.

 

Ya, was thinking the same . Kaso, have a fundamental doubt . What are the advantages of the more powerful K1000 graphics card over the native NVS in T530. I understand it supports gaming, high quality video better over T530's NVS. I would like it know if it would improve overall performance of the system in any way..like multi-tasking. I intend to use the system for Programming with memory intensive compilers running in parallel with again memory intensive Coding tools along with listening music . I currently use HP elitebook 8530p which is 3 year old , pretty good config back then but bothers me quite often .

Thanks.

 

If your main activity is "Programming with memory intensive compilers running in parallel with again memory intensive Coding tools," you can safely live by the service of the Intel HD 4000 integrated GPU. I wish Lenovo would offer the T530 option of i7 QM without the NVS, which is not that much more powerful than the HD 4000. (By the way, do you really need i7 QM? Just wondering.)

No, the K1000 does not improve the overall system, especially multi-tasking. In fact, with Optimus, the K1000 is not always in service. In most cases, the system uses HD 4000. When graphics-intensive programs are run, Optimus switches over to the NVIDIA.

My T520 has HD 3000 integrated graphics, and I've been quite pleased. One advantage: the system runs cool and quiet.

 

Kaso,
I dont know if I would need it but just didn't want to be laid back on Dual core and repent later

 

Well, focus on the CPU and pay less attention on the GPU. (At least, you need no stinking GPU to enjoy music on your notebook. )

 

Kaso,

Do I really need the upgrade kit. I mean can I not install the SSD as secondary hard disk within the laptop (using caddy etc) and clone the disk by some free software and then use it as my primary disk.

Thanks.

 

What exactly is "some free software" are you talking about?

 

Some software like GParted, clonezilla etc. I'm not sure if this is possible as I have never owned a SSD before !!!

 

Please consider a "SSD kit," given the fact that you're going to invest over $1000 in a serious notebook.

The price difference between "SSD" and "SSD with transfer kit" is only about $10.

 

I would buy the transfer kit if i buy a new SSD but as I said earlier I plan to use my old SSD for a few months and see how things work out. So was thinking if I can avoid the 20$ transfer kit for the moment !!!

Final spec here ...

Also

Thanks.