W520 battery in a W530?

My a few months ago my W520 blew up 4 days after the 3 year international NBD warranty expired (and lenovo told me they would not help me), so had to buy a W530. The PSU from the 520 works on the 530, as does the dock, but the batteries wont charge. The W530 will quite happily run on the W520 batteries, and it recognises them, but wont charge them.
Why lenovo didnt make it backwardly compatible amazes me.
Anyway, the question is, does anyone know how I can charge my W520 batteries, so them I can use them in the W530? E.g. supply a circit diagram for a charger, or know of another sneaky method to trick the 530 into charging them? The two batteries are copletely unused (I never use the W520 on battery), with perhaps 10 cycles, so are basically new. One is the 9cell 55++, and the other is the 6 cell 55+.
I need additional batteries purely becaue the unit + batteries is heavy to carry (have to walk with it 1h a day), so I leave batteries & spare PSU in the offie, home etc.
Any ideas welcome.

I tried my T410's 55++ battery in my W530 and it wouldn't turn on with the battery alone, when plugged in I got an error. The External Charger use a 90 watt PSU which is the one used by most ot the T-serices (T410, T420, T430, T510, T520, T530, ect.) I am thinking of getting an externatl charger to keep my batteries charged since I have multiple 90 watt PSU's and I'm buying at least 2 additional batteries, which I'm going to get off Amazon as their less that 80 USD versus the Lenovo price aroound 120 USD.

Similar Messages

Does Thinkpad W520 battery work on W530?

Hi all,
One of my friend gave me a 9cell W520 battery. My W530 is on its way to my door this week. I was wondering if I can use this battery on my new W530? Some people from notebookreview.com said that is not possible because the new 'rapidcharge' feature.
Thanks!

No, you cannot use the battery from the W520 because the W530 requires authentication to charge the battery.
This battery will work in both the W520 and the W530:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?...
W520, i7-2820QM, BIOS 1.42, 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 2000M NVIDIA GPU, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD, Crucial M550 mSata 512GB, WD 2TB USB 3.0, eSata Plextor PX-LB950UE BluRay
W520, i7-2760QM, BIOS 1.42 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 1000M NVIDIA GPU, Crucial M500 480GB mSata SSD, Hitachi 500GB HDD, WD 2TB USB 3.0

W520 battery died after 6.5 months. Not a recalled unit

Is there a way to resurrect a dead battery that failed way too soon? Seems it's the chip that has the problem.
I bought a second battery from Amazon to "back up" my original battery sent in the machine at purchase late October 2011. I have a 427637U that has had an mSATA and SSD 256 added to the chassis. Spinning HD in the optical bay. Usual stuff, right? I knew that there was only a chance that it was really new -- as advertised. All seemed to go well with this new battery but about a month ago it seemed to stop charging at 49% and then it actually would not power the computer a little while ago.
I ran the battery recall ID software and it returns a "product not covered" message. I do have Amazon helping me get something back from the seller of the second battery.
I ran the Lenovo Power Manager software "battery reset" routine but no help. The Power Manager says there's a battery error and confirms that it will not power the laptop. The stats are not at zero for voltage, etc., though.
I might have made this happen because once when the laptop was on AC and I took out the battery to swap to the other unit -- I noticed a real hiccup in the notifications area. I wish I could remeber exactly what I saw.
I hope Monday brings word the retailer willl swap it out, but I doubt it. I hope someone here has an idea (I *did* search a bunch of different query strings...)
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Jonathan7007
4276-37U -- W520. Still have an X61t. First laptop in my house was an Osborne! Now that was a cool computer. (...for its time!)
Solved!
Go to Solution.

This was sold as a Lenovo. It had the right labels, tags, etc., although those can be counterfitted. I looke closely at the typography, etc. Further, I looked at the numbers when I first received the battery and those looked OK although I didn't create a screenshot, which in retrospect I wish I had.
I am waiting for a reply from the seller and I will report back what they say. An Amazon rep promised that Amazon would want the seller to give me some kind of compensation. How much clout that has with the seller remains to be seen.
Thanks for replies. I guess no one knows a way to wake up the battery through a software frontal lobotomy on the embedded chip. My intuition says this is the issue. Disclaimer: I am not a registered Pyschic.
jonathan7007
4276-37U -- W520. Still have an X61t. First laptop in my house was an Osborne! Now that was a cool computer. (...for its time!)

How to maximize W520 Battery Lifespan?

I just got a W520 and I plan to run it off of the AC adapter 90% of the time, so I want to make sure that I will not reducing the lifespan of the battery in any way. I read the help section in the battery maintenance window, and it sounds like if I run automatically optimize for battery lifespan, it will recognize my habits in time and change the thresholds. I would rather it run at the thresholds for maximum battery life immediately. What threshold settings would that be? Also I saw something about charge rate in the help section. Is charge rate determined by the thresholds? Would setting the charge thresholds myself be equivalent to the optimize lifespan setting (once it's reached the right values), or is it doing something different? I don't really care what charge level my battery is kept at, I just want it to last as long as possible.

If you really want to make it last longer, charge it about half way and freeze it:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
W520 i7-2720QM | 32 GB RAM 1333 MHz | FHD 1920x1080 | Quadro 1000M | Windows 7 & Ubuntu 14.04
Crucial M500 480GB mSATA + 2 x 1 TB Hitachi Travelstar 7200 rpm | BIOS 1.38

W520 battery not charging

My less-than-a-month old w520 is having battery issues. It started over a week ago. I first noticed it was at 99% and not charging. It slowly dropped to mid-90's before I had to send my laptop in to Lenovo for a motherboard replacement (due to the five beep error). When it returned, the battery was at 83% and still not charging.
I've tried:
* Unplugging, letting it drain a couple percent, and plugging it back in. Still didn't charage.
* Rebooting.
* Changing the "Charge Mode" from "Automatically optimize for battery lifespan" to "Always fully charge". No change. Tried "Custom charge threshold" of 96%. No change.
* I tried running the "Perform Reset" process. I let it run for almost 12 hours, but it never actually finished - the button said something about clicking it to stop the process and I clicked it, since I figured 12 hours should've done the trick and if it hadn't, it wasn't going to (since the process itself said it would only take several hours). The net result is that the battery now says 80%.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

After 17.5 hours, I stopped the battery reset and called Lenovo.
First, the rep had me take the battery out and put it back in, then set the BIOS to default values. I did and the verbiage in the system tray changed to "80% available (plugged in, charging)". (Before, it said "not charging".) With the problem seemingly fixed, the rep recommended I update the power management software and BIOS to prevent it happening again and we hung up.
A half-hour later, the laptop was still at 80%. (For what it's worth, "Current" in the Battery tab of the Power Manager reads "0.01 A".) I updated the power management software to the current one on Lenovo's site. Still says "charging" but isn't.
I am really reluctant to update the BIOS. I don't want to brick my machine - I haven't even had it a month!
I'm going to call Lenovo back tomorrow and see what other options are available; I just thought I would update.

Replace W520 keyboard with backlit W530 keyboard?

Is it possible to replace the keyboard on a W520 with an equivalent, backlit W530 keyboard?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

It is not possible to do a direct hardware replacement. The bezel is different and the scan codes for the keyboard (which are supported by the BIOS) are different on the keyboards.
W520, i7-2820QM, BIOS 1.42, 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 2000M NVIDIA GPU, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD, Crucial M550 mSata 512GB, WD 2TB USB 3.0, eSata Plextor PX-LB950UE BluRay
W520, i7-2760QM, BIOS 1.42 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 1000M NVIDIA GPU, Crucial M500 480GB mSata SSD, Hitachi 500GB HDD, WD 2TB USB 3.0

W520 - Battery Life Under 2 Hours!

Hello there!
I've been experiencing the problem where my Nvidia Graphics card does not automatically switch to the Intel Graphics card --- or if it does --- it does not allow me to have the 5 hours + of battery life that I use to have when I was using Windows 7 (right now I am using Windows 8).
I also don't have the Lenovo Power Manager program installed because I can't seem to find it anywhere on the installation pages for my particular laptop with Windows 8. I wonder if this is the problem since its using Windows Power Manager -- even though I have installed the Power Driver multiple times.
Even when I get it so I make sure that no applications are using the Nvidia Graphics card (confirmed by the Nvidia GPU Activity icon), I still get the under 2 hours battery life. I am using the 9v battery -- the larger one.
Any help would be greatly appriciated so I can get the full battery life out of this laptop, as when I had Windows 7 installed. Thank you :-)

Hi brooklotzkar
1. Go to Control Panel (Small icons)> Lenovo - Update and Drivers > Install all critical and recommended updates. Optional - Up to you to decide as you may not be using all the functions. If this options is not available, Download here and install.
2. Go to Control Panel > Power Options > Check Power saver. Power Plan make a big difference on both battery life and performance.
From what I tested on my W520 - Core i7 2720QM
Maximum Battery Life or Power saver: CPU clock speed at 800MHz constantly, but performance decrease. You wouldn't want to multitask too much when on battery.
Maximum Performance or High Performance: CPU clock speed will go up from 3 - 3.2GHz (Depending on how many core / thread the program will utilize)
3. Battery will vary depend on how many / what kind of apps are opened. I have tried using 5+h on 6-cell battery without any problem. (Battery Stretch, only running Microsoft Word and 1 tab of Internet Explorer) It is recommended to run Internet Explorer on battery as it requires less resource, hence battery life will not run out as fast.
http://lifehacker.com/5566020/how-to-maximize-the-battery-life-of-your-windows-laptop
Hope this helps.
Peter
W520 (4284-A99)
Give kudos to reward people for their assistance | Mark the thread solved if the solution works | Direct e-mail regarding technical problems will be ignored
=====================================
Dolby ; IdeaPad Slate Tablet ; Equalizer APO

W530 Replacing W520?

Since the new W530 is coming out, will the older W520 still be out for a while, or is it being discontinued? I'm planning to buy a W520 soon, and do not like the keys on the W530 very much.
The keyboard on the W520 is a lot more professional looking, and is the only laptop I have ever seen that has the desktop style keys. The keyboard on the W530 makes the computer look cheap.
ThinkPad Edge 15 / 0301Intel Core i5 480M / 2.67GHz Turbo Boost | Intel HD Graphics
4GB RAM | 320GB HDD
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Even if the power/heat issues will be solved (doubtfully) http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/W530-fan-noise-intolerable/m-p/898013/highligh..., i'd stick to the w520 until much improved Ivy Bridge machines will be out and tested.
From many angles I consider the w520 a better machine than w530: Besides the above deal breaker (power and noise!), the w520 has eSATA and full-size DP, deeper blacks and thus almost 20% better contrast, traditional KB... all gone from the w530, which in return is marginally faster at the top rung (but 50% worse where it matters - in the low power mode).
Actually I'm now looking for w520s to replace the w530 lot my lab has ordered. Mitch Gusat

W520 not throttling CPU on battery with WLAN active

I've been running some new benchmark tests using PCMARK7 this weekend. Normally my battery performance numbers are around 50% of the AC numbers when the system is connected to the wired LAN. The benchmark program utilizes the NVIDIA eGPU so throttling on the battery is expected. However, I reran the benchmark with the WLAN active and my scores on the battery were on AC, 4488; On Battery, 4370!!! This was repeatable and not a fluke reading. I'm running BIOS 1.37, but I don't recall any changes in the CPU throttling area. Anyone else see this?
W520, i7-2820QM, BIOS 1.42, 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 2000M NVIDIA GPU, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD, Crucial M550 mSata 512GB, WD 2TB USB 3.0, eSata Plextor PX-LB950UE BluRay
W520, i7-2760QM, BIOS 1.42 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 1000M NVIDIA GPU, Crucial M500 480GB mSata SSD, Hitachi 500GB HDD, WD 2TB USB 3.0

I posted this procedure over a month ago in response to the "stuck CPU" on battery issue. 1.5GHz on battery is not normal. You should be able to achieve maximum clock frequency when MAXTURBO (not really TurboBoost) is set in the system settings for the battery section of the power profile. I regularly monitor 2.3 GHz on my system when the application(s) require it to do so (SpeedStep) when on battery. TurboBoost shows 3.4 GHz when on AC.
CMOS reset procedure:
There used to be a procedure with older ThinkPad systems to reset the CMOS which was to both remove the battery AND to then depress the power on button 10 times (5 sec intervals between). I did both on my W520 (battery was out for 5 min), replaced the battery and plugged the system back into the AC. Viola, TurboBoost restored on AC, SpeedStep works now on Battery, HDD spin down now works on AC as well.BIOS level is 1.26
Others have reported sucess with this procedure. I've no Idea why it should be needed on a new system, but apparently something is not setup correctly.
W520, i7-2820QM, BIOS 1.42, 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 2000M NVIDIA GPU, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD, Crucial M550 mSata 512GB, WD 2TB USB 3.0, eSata Plextor PX-LB950UE BluRay
W520, i7-2760QM, BIOS 1.42 1920x1080 FHD, 32 GB RAM, 1000M NVIDIA GPU, Crucial M500 480GB mSata SSD, Hitachi 500GB HDD, WD 2TB USB 3.0

Another W530 Review

Lenovo Thinkpad W530 Review
by Djembe
One of the longest and most enduring brands in computers is Thinkpad. Originally developed by IBM in the USA, Thinkpad notebook computers are now manufactured by the Chinese company Lenovo. The W series debuted in 2009 as the highest-end Thinkpads offered. They came with the same patented Thinkpad technologies, such as an internal rollcage and shock-mounted hard drives. However, they also offered competitive workstation-class graphics cards with drivers optimized for professional graphics work.
The W530 is the latest in that line, and it looks almost identical to its predecessor, the W520, with three differences. Two of these differences are ports: thefull-size DisplayPort of the W520 was replaced with a mini DisplayPort in the W530 and eSATA was eliminated. The third change is the most noticeable and it has caused some consternation among Thinkpad traditionalists: the traditional Thinkpad keyboard has been replaced by a chiclet-style keyboard with one fewer row. Does the new keyboard live up to its predecessor? And is the notebook as a whole a worthwhile addition to the Thinkpad lineup? Read on to find out.
Specs
My W530 came with the following specifications:
Intel Core i7-3720QM processor
Nvidia K2000M graphics
15.6” 1920x1080 screen
500GB 7200RPM hard drive
4GB memory
Bluetooth 4.0
Intel Ultimate 6300 wireless card
DVD burner
9-cell battery
Since Lenovo (like virtually every other configurable computer company) vastly overcharges for memory upgrades, I upgraded the memory and storage myself. Lenovo provides an excellent installation guide for how to do this, which includes instructions for how to replace even the most difficult of items. Upgrading to a system-maximum 32GB RAM and a 256GB Samsung 830 series SSD was a simple operation.
Design and Build Quality
Lenovo advertises that Thinkpads are designed to withstand use by the military. While they are not marketed as rugged notebooks, Thinkpads are expected to be well-built, high quality systems. In general, the W530 does not disappoint in this. The chassis is very rigid and does a very good job of protecting the internal components. I was only able to make the screen image distort when pushing very hard on the back of the lid, and even then, I could only make the image distort when I pressed close to the upper corners. The hinges are solid and easily hold the notebook lid open at any angle. Vigorous shaking will cause the screen angle to shift, but it never appears to be the slightest bit wobbly or unsteady. There is minimal flex anywhere in the chassis. The W530 is a very well built machine. The only potential detraction from perfection is that there does seem to be a small amount of wiggle room around the 9-cell battery (which protrudes approximately an inch out the back of the system), but I had no difficulty at all in holding the system up only by the battery and rocking it back and forth. No disconnections occurred and nothing gave any hint of coming apart or breaking. As a result, I can confidently say that the small amount of wiggle around the battery does nothing to mar the stellar build quality of the W530.
As to design, Thinkpads have looked basically the same for the last 10 years or longer, so you know what to expect. At 1.4 inches think, the system is almost twice as thick as many Ultrabooks, but still thinner than some gaming systems with similar performance. You won’t find aluminum highlights or lighted logos on the W530, but the matte black W530 has an understated look that is appropriate in most environments.
Screen
The screen on a notebook is an important aspect, since it’s what you’ll be looking at for the majority of the time you’re using the system (except when you’ve got it attached to an external display). Lenovo offers three screen options for the W530, and I chose the high-resolution 1920x1080 matte display option. The higher-end screen also has increased brightness over Lenovo’s other screen options, up to 270 nits. The screen is model number B156HW01 v4 from AU Optronics, which was also used in the last two generations of W-series Thinkpads: the W510 and W520. So why did they use the same screen? As the saying goes, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. The screen is bright enough that I only use it on full brightness if I’m using it outside. For the record, it is sunlight-readable at maximum brightness, although it has a tendency to look a little washed out in bright sunlight. In all other circumstances, the screen looks very good. It also has good viewing angles, maintaining color integrity (no color inversion) even at extreme horizontal angles. Vertical angles are not as forgiving, but the screen definitely has a much larger “sweet spot” than most, it is evenly lit (less than 10% difference between brightest spot and dimmest spot, according to Notebook Check), and its 95% Adobe RGB color gamut means colors are rich and vibrant.
Keyboard, Touchpad, and Trackpoint
The keyboard is new for this year’s Thinkpads, and even though it loses a row of function keys, it retains the comfort and ease of typing found on previous Thinkpad keyboards. The keys have adequate travel and typing is an effortless experience. I find myself making significantly less typing mistakes due to accidental keypresses or overlaps while using the W530 than with most other computers that I’ve used. And it comes with an additional bonus: the new keyboard, unlike the previous one, is backlit. The backlighting is customizable in three steps: low backlight, high backlight, and Thinklight, a small light built into the lid that shines down on the keyboard area. Personally, I find the Thinklight somewhat distracting, since it highlights my hands much more effectively than it highlights the keys underneath them. However, the keyboard backlighting is done very well and allows for easy key identification in any lighting conditions.
The touchpad is textured, and easily accommodates multitouch gestures. However, I prefer smooth touchpads and the one on the W530 does not seem as responsive as some of the Asus touchpads I’ve used. For most gaming or other situations where precise control is needed, I would elect for an external mouse. However, in its favor, the W530 has dedicated touchpad buttons – two sets, no less! Another of my personal preferences is that I abhore clickpads. As an example, I find using Macbook Pros to be annoying due to the fact that you need to press down on the whole clickpad in order to register an action. The twin sets of left and right click buttons on the W530 are easy to press and responsive.
Additionally, since this is a Thinkpad, it contains a little round nub between the G and H keys that allows for alternate cursor control. It’s called a trackpoint, and is one of the IBM-patented features that is found in a number of business notebooks today. I very rarely use this while websurfing or working with productivity applications, but I found it to be significantly more useful than the touchpad while playing Portal 2 and I ended up using the trackpoint throughout the game.
Connections
The W530 has a full selection of ports. On the right side of the notebook, you can find the DVD tray, Ethernet, the combined headphone/microphone port, a card reader, and an ExpressCard slot. The left side holds 3 USB ports, two of which are the latest USB 3.0 spec. Also on the left side are VGA, mini DisplayPort, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), a hardware wireless switch, and the exhaust vent. The vent makes a very effective hand warmer, if you are doing anything resource-intensive. On the back, in addition to the battery, there is the power plug and a yellow USB 2.0 port that can remain powered even when the system is turned off in order to easily charge cell phones, tablets, or other USB-powered peripherals.
Performance
Three years ago, the first time I tested a system with a quad-core processor, I was disappointed because there was no noticeable performance increase. Intel has done some improvements with their quads since then and the i7-3720 performs admirably. Its default clock speed is 2.6 Ghz, however it happily will use Turbo Boost to overclock up to 3.6 Ghz as the cooling allows. Under maximum load with all cores via Prime 95, the CPU still maintains an overclock to 3 Ghz. I must mention, though, that this is all when the system is plugged in. In order to preserve battery life, Lenovo has limited the CPU to slightly under half its default clock speed while on battery power. This means that even with a high CPU load, the processor will not go faster than 1.2 Ghz while on battery. To benchmark the processor, I used Geekbench, an OS-agnostic CPU performance benchmark tool. The i7-3720QM scored 10870 plugged in and only 4100 when unplugged, so the difference in CPU capacity is clear. But even with this difference, I have found that this limitation actually has comparatively little effect on my usage while on battery. Games, for instance, run perfectly well on battery power. For those who need more processing power unplugged, you can remove this limitation with a program called Throttle Stop. Of course, it goes without saying that running heavy CPU-intensive programs will drastically reduce the battery life.
The W530 comes with an Nvidia Quadro K2000M and uses Nvidia’s Optimus graphics switching to go between the dedicated graphics and the integrated Intel 4000 graphics, according to program need. In my experience, Optimus seems to switch graphics adapters in a logical manner according to program need, but in the case that it chooses the wrong graphics adapter for the program you need, you can set up program-specific preferences to use either integrated or dedicated graphics as desired. The K2000M is based on Nvidia’s Kepler architecture and 28nm process technology. As a professional GPU, it is aimed more at content creation than content consumption. Still, the K2000M is a capable midrange graphics card, able to play all the latest games at medium-high settings. The K2000M has comparable performance to the Fermi-based 560M and is a little bit less powerful than the Kepler-based 650M. Portal 2 can be played at fluid framerates at native resolution and maximum settings. Starcraft 2 is playable on native resolution at maximum settings, but some more demanding sections are not fluid (30+ FPS), so I lowered to high settings and everything runs smoothly. Civilization 5 runs smoothly at medium-high settings, and Dragon Age: Origins works well at near maximum settings, all on native resolution. The system scores right around 2000 points in 3DMark 11, varying from 1970 to 2053.
The Samsung 830 SSD contributes a lot toward making the system feel fast. The system boots in approximately 32 seconds from pressing the power button to everything loaded in the Windows desktop and shuts down in 14 seconds. On battery power, these numbers rise slightly with 45 seconds to start and 17 seconds to shut down. The SSD also allows for higher scores in PCMark 7. And speaking of PCMark 7, I experienced a curious thing when running the benchmark multiple times on two different W530 units. The first W530 provided a very respectable top score of 4910 in the benchmark, which is roughly the same as scores by the new Retina Macbook Pro. However, the second W530 on which I ran the benchmark netted a score of 6765, which is, as of the date of this review, the highest score among systems with the Intel Core i7 3720QM processor.
Audio
The W530 comes with Dolby Home Theater v4, which allows music and video to sound quite good. There are three presets as well as a graphic equalizer that comes with the software. While bass is lacking compared to any dedicated speakers, this is a common situation in notebooks and bass in the W530 is better than most. Overall, the W530 has very acceptable audio at reasonable volume.
Heat and Noise
The fan on the W530 is always on by default, and its 2700RPM minimum rotation speed is loud enough to be noticeable in a quiet room. Under maximum load, the fan can ramp up to 4200RPM, which makes it louder but never really unpleasant. Still, in order to reduce the fan noise when the system did not need it, I installed Thinkpad Fan Control, which allowed me to set my own temperature points and fan speed levels. As a result, the notebook is completely quiet as long as the processor is under 55 degrees Celsius. Further, the fan is very effective and able to quickly cool the processor and video card without significantly heating up the rest of the chassis. Under maximum load (Prime 95 + Furmark), the keyboard only felt slightly warm, and the only really hot area on the notebook was immediately above the exhaust vent. Under normal use, the notebook remains cool and as comfortable to use on my lap as it is on a table.
Battery Life
My W530 came with a 9-cell battery rated for 94 Watt-hours. While playing games such as Starcraft 2, the battery lasts approximately 2 hours. Playing DVDs at full brightness with the K2000M resulted in approximately 4 hours of battery life. Web surfing at half brightness results in 7-8 hours battery life, depending on surfing habits. And very light web surfing, note taking, and word processing at half brightness results in 9 hours of battery life. That number can be extended all the way up to 11 hours at minimum brightness. Basically, the W530 can last an entire business day unplugged as long as it was not needed for anything very resource-intensive.
Customer Service, Support, Repair and Replacement
Typically, a review would not include a section on support. However, something happened to my initial W530 unit and I can provide a perspective on Lenovo’s support experience. The problem that developed was a failure of the Intel 4000 integrated graphics. All other systems and components, including the quad-core processing cores on the i7-3720QM, worked fine. However, running only on the Nvidia graphics caused the battery life to be affected (6 hours maximum, compared to 11 hours maximum running on Intel graphics), and so I called Lenovo. The service tech to whom I spoke remoted into my computer and looked at the recent Windows updates I had downloaded. He suggested that I restore to an earlier point prior to the Windows updates, and if that did not work, to call back and Lenovo would fix it. Needless to say, it did not work and I called back. The service rep sent a box for the computer to be sent to the EasyServ repair depot.
I sent the box out the following day with my computer, and did not see my system again for over a month. The online status listings for my system changed from “being repaired” to “waiting for customer information” at least 4 times during that period. Since I was frequently checking the status in hope that my computer would be repaired and sent back to me quickly, I called Lenovo whenever I saw that the status was “waiting for customer information.” As a result, I was able to follow along with the story of how my computer’s repair was progressing. It went something like this: First, the techs re-imaged my hard drive (I sent the machine back with all the original parts, keeping my upgrades until I got it back). That did not fix the issue (which I could have told them, since I tried using different drives myself before calling Lenovo) and led to the first “hold for customer information.” At no point during any of these holds did they actually need any information from me, but it seems to be the universal code they chose to use for “waiting for [whatever].” First, they were waiting to escalate it to a higher level tech. Then, I was told I needed a new motherboard and they were waiting on the new board. Then, I was told that the new motherboard did not work and they were referring the system to a design team. Then, the design team discovered that they shipped and installed the wrong new motherboard and it needed a different one. Then, I was told that the different new motherboard was backordered and it would take longer to arrive.
During the first four weeks that they had my system, I called Lenovo maybe six or seven times, and they did not call me once. The situation was rather frustrating. However, after approximately four weeks, one of the service reps gave me the phone number of a specific employee, who informed me that since my repair had taken so long, Lenovo was going to replace my computer. He said a member of Lenovo’s Executive Replacement Team would call me to set up the replacement. A week later, I was able to talk to the Executive Replacement Team member, who confirmed the specifications of my unit and said the replacement computer would arrive in 2-3 weeks. Two days later, I got my original computer back from the depot. Thankfully, I was then able to use the original system until the new one arrived. Now, I am typing this review on the new system and everything works well.
Lenovo’s customer service staff were unexceptionally friendly and helpful. I spoke to a number of them, and each and every one was courteous and willing to help. Lenovo’s replacement staff were also easy to talk to, responsive, and effective. The EZServ repair techs, however, appear to leave something to be desired. I bought a 3 year warranty , including Thinkpad Protection and on-site service. If anything goes wrong again with my Thinkpad, I am going to insist on the on-site service option.
Value & Recommendation
The Lenovo Thinkpad W530 is a well-built notebook with very good performance, thermal design, and battery life. Very few computers manage all of these together, and the down side of the W530 is price: it is more expensive than other systems with similar performance. Still, I believe the extra price is justified by what the computer delivers: a solid system with no compromises.
You should buy one too if:
You want a system that will last a number of years
You need a combination of excellent performance and excellent battery life
Consider something else if:
You’re on a strict budget and want the most performance for the money
You want a computer with a style that will turn heads
Thinkpad W530, i7-3720QM, 1920x1080 screen, 32GB RAM, dual SSDs (Samsung 830, Crucial M4 mSATA), Quadro K2000M, 9-cell battery, DVD burner, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, Intel 6300 wireless card

I used 1600Mhz Corsair Vengeance RAM. You can either get it in matched sets or in single modules.
The default system RAM is made by Samsung and also runs at 1600Mhz.
Thinkpad W530, i7-3720QM, 1920x1080 screen, 32GB RAM, dual SSDs (Samsung 830, Crucial M4 mSATA), Quadro K2000M, 9-cell battery, DVD burner, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, Intel 6300 wireless card

ThinkPad W530 Review

Just wanted to give a heads up about a review of the W530 that's written by a user who owns the W520, so it's heavy on comparisons which is kind of helpful if you're familiar with that machine. I'll quote the whole review below sans all the images to prevent bandwidth warnings! Also truncated and removed some sections to get under the 20,000 character count limit Full review with images is here: http://www.laptopreviews.com/lenovo-thinkpad-w530-review-2012-07
Just like last calendar year, Lenovo is ahead of Dell and HP in releasing a workstation equipped with the latest and greatest Intel Core processors and nVidia Kepler professional graphics. Starting at $1,299 on Lenovo.com (which is the same starting price as the W520 when it was introduced), the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 can be configured with processors ranging from the Intel Core i5-3320M to i7-3610QM to the top-end i7-3290XM, supports up to 32GB RAM and 270 nit 95% color gamut FHD display for demanding business customers. The W530 is like the W520 in many ways as a professional workstation laptop.
The Thinkpad W530 under review comes with the following specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7-3520M (2.9GHz, TurboBoost to 3.6GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
Graphics: nVidia Quadro K1000M
Memory: 8GB RAM DDR3-1600MHz
Display: 15.6” 1600 x 900 resolution, matte finish
OS: Windows 7 Professional
Storage: 500GB 7200RPM
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion, 57Whr
Wireless: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
Ports: Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, mini-DisplayPort, powered USB 2.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 (x2), combination headphone/microphone jack, ExpressCard slot (34mm), SDHC reader, 1394
Weight: 5.95lbs (2.7kg)
Keyboard
Let’s just start off with the most obvious change. The new keyboard is the most radical change in the ThinkPad line since…forever, really. Up until now, the ThinkPad series has had the same keyboard style since introduction, with minor changes here and there. Replacing the traditional 7-row ThinkPad keyboard is the island-style 6-row keyboard, found on the whole range of ThinkPad's, from the 12” X230 all the way up to this 15.6” workstation. Even with the changes, the surface of each key has stayed the same during the transition (1.5cm by 1.5cm for the alphanumeric keys) as well as the spacing between each key (roughly 0.4cm). Other keys, such as Caps Lock, Enter, Shift, Backspace, etc., have stayed the same size as well, though the Caps Lock key no longer has an indicator light. Notable differences include shape changes in the Esc key, Delete key, moving the power button from top-center to top-right, and the lack of a dedicated Menu key. However, the most important changes in key layout are as follows:
The layout of the “special keys” (Delete, Home, End, PgUp and PgDn) has been dramatically rearranged on the new keyboard
The dedicated Forward/Back buttons are now gone. These buttons used to be located to the right/left of the Up Arrow key and are now replaced with the PgUp/PgDn keys
The Print Screen button is now located where the Menu button should be.
The Scroll Lock and Pause buttons have disappeared, though they have been relegated to near-oblivion in today’s world
And just for change’s sake (as far as I know), Lenovo decided to paint the Enter key black instead of the traditional ThinkPad blue and the Windows key is bigger on the W530 than the W520 (1.5cm squared vs. 1cm squared).
To those coming from an older ThinkPad, the newer keyboards are either something to love or something to hate. The older keyboard in previous generations were renowned for their quality and keyboard feel (certainly, they were one of the best laptop keyboard on the market) and is so popular that it has an almost religious following among ThinkPad users. On the flip side, the newer keyboard has a lot to prove to the ThinkPad community. While the common-used alphanumeric keys have the same area and spacing as the old keyboard and the typing quality on it is above average (compared to other island-style keyboards), Lenovo’s choice to move and kill off some special function keys fly in the face of what most ThinkPad users would want. I love using the Forward/Back buttons while browsing the internet and using Windows Explorer, for example, but with the current and likely future ThinkPad's killing those buttons off, I will miss being able to navigate with just my right pinkie. The choice to move the Print Screen button to the bottom of the keyboard just baffles me, period. It would have been nice if Lenovo had kept the 7-row layout while designing the new keyboard and if the keys had stayed in pretty much the same positions during the change (for example, “special keys” staying in the top-right, bringing back the Forward/Back buttons), I wouldn’t make too much fuss over the new style even though I personally prefer traditional keyboards. At least the Fn button stays in the bottom-left corner, an odd quirk that’s been featured on ThinkPad's for as long as I can remember.
Build and Design
Just like the W520 before it, the newer W530 is a tough machine, built well and meant to last. The outside casing of the laptop is made using ABS plastic, while the inside contains an internal rollcage to protect internal electronics in case of a drop or other accident. It also makes the laptop all but impossible to flex (there’s maybe a millimeter or two of flex when twisting the display). There is a keyboard draining system that will protect the laptop in the event of a small liquid spill onto the keyboard as well. Sturdy, metal hinges attach the display to the body of the W530, and they are firm enough to hold any angle they are set up despite any typical vibrations or other movements, and if the W520 is any indicator, they will stay firm for years to come.
As I’ve mentioned in my Thinkpad W520 review, Lenovo’s business laptops are certainly capable of withstanding a few drops onto the floor. Even with repeated drops, having the power brick fall onto the palm rest from several feet above, and traveling with the notebook unprotected in a backpack for just over a year, I’m sure that the W530 will be able to survive prolonged abuse for years to come.
One thing to note about the W530 (and workstation laptops in general) is the power brick. The version with the K1000M GPU comes with the 135W power adaptor and it’s just slightly smaller and lighter than an actual brick of the clay variety, coming in at 6in by 2.5in by 1.4in and 1.83lbs. Those considering buying a W530 with the K2000M will receive the 170W power adaptor (like my W520), which measures 6.5in by 3in by 1.4in and actually weighs less (1.7lbs) oddly enough.
Display
While the review unit came with a 900p, 220 nit HD+ display, the W530 is also available with a 768p 220 nit display (which I recommend against; 768p needs to stay in netbooks and bargain-bin laptops, not workstations) and a 1080p, 95% color gamut, 270 nit FHD display. Depending on the configuration options, either the 768p is the default and the 900p is a $50 upgrade, or the 900p is the default; the 1080p display is a $250 option, though after owning a W520 with said display, I highly recommend it if it’s in the budget. Both the W520 and W530 use the same model displays.
With the 1080p display to the left and 900p display to the right, the 50 nit difference shows. Compared to the HD+ display, the FHD appears to be noticeably brighter (though in photos, it shows as being more white-washed, though this is due to the camera and not the displays). Colors on the 95% gamut FHD are also more saturated than the HD+ display, though the HD+ display still has colors that pop out well. Black reproduction on either display is good, with both being very dark. Being TN panels, viewing angles on either is just average, though better than on glossy display found in most consumer laptops. Tilt either screen back far enough (they go just past 180 degrees) and colors turn into shades of black or extremely darker versions.
Sound
This is where the W530 makes the W520 look shameful. Owners of the W520 workstation laptop would either have to use an external speaker set, headphones, or have to perform modifications in order to have a laptop that sounds half-way decent. The W520 speakers were low volume (even when at 100%), had no depth, and would sound tinny when playing near 100% and/or playing high-pitch noises.
In contrast, the W530 actually sounds amazing. In my review of the Thinkpad W520, I contrasted the W520 to a Dell XPS 15 with JBL speakers, concluding that the only way to get good sound from a W520 was to use a different sound solution from the internal speakers. However, I feel that the W530 can compete with media center laptops in terms of audio performance, a major plus over the previous generation Lenovo workstation. This is in thanks to different audio drivers (the W520 uses the Conexant 20672 SmartAudio HD drivers, and the W530 uses Realtek High Definition Audio) and Lenovo’s inclusion of Dolby Home Theater v4 software, which I went into detail about in the Ideapad U310 review. In a nutshell, this software includes a few factory-shipped sound profiles and settings appropriate for different usage scenarios, which allow a user to enhance voice quality (in the Movie profile) or to enjoy rich sound when listening to music (in the Music profile and various settings). While the W520 was tinny and lacked bass, the W530 can reproduce sounds from any pitch found in music and gives great bass for a laptop lacking a subwoofer.
Software
Unlike the previous W520, Lenovo’s ThinkPad W530 comes with a bit of bloatware out of the box. Of course, there is the typical trial AV software, Intel WiDi, and Microsoft Office Starter 2010, though this is to be expected in pretty much any laptop bought today. Also included is a trial of Nitro Pro 7, a PDF editing suite, and Corel DVD MovieFactory (Lenovo Edition). Lenovo also includes a cloud storage solution called “Lenovo Cloud Storage by SugarSync”. Skype is also included on the W530 and with the integrated camera, the video coming from the W530 user looks clear and colorful.
Lenovo also includes some excellent software as well. My personal favorite is the Lenovo Power Manager 6, which is like the default Windows power manager on steroids. A user can change system settings (CPU deep sleep, display brightness, ODD power, etc.), idle timers (when to stop the HDD, dimmed display brightness, standby and hibernation), advanced settings (allow/disallow hybrid sleep and wake timers, power management for PCIe, USB, CPU, and system cooling), events and alarms. By default, it comes with six power profiles (Power Source Optimized, Max. Performance, Max. Battery Life, Video Playback, Energy Saver (which actually drains more power than Max. Battery Life, oddly), and Timers off (for when a user wants to use the W530 in a presentation).
The best I can describe Lenovo SimpleTap as being is a Metro-like interface on top of Windows 7; either launching it from the Start menu or the blue ThinkVantage button on the keyboard will activate it, resulting in the traditional Windows desktop being replaced with a Metro-style tile system and a toolbar on the top-right corner. The user can always exit out of this interface by either pressing the Escape key or clicking on the SimpleTap background. The included Thinkpad-branded fingerprint software is also excellent, allowing for a simpler and more secure way to log into Windows; I use it exclusively on my personal W520, though there is a setting to allow a user to log in with a password en lieu of a fingerprint. Last but not least is the ThinkVantage Tools suite, which includes the above ThinkPad applications, plus: Password Vault, Update and Drivers, Airbag Protection (an active protection system for the HDD), Factory Recovery Disks, Messages from Lenovo, Enhanced Backup and Restore, Internet Connections System Health and Diagnostics, and Web Conferencing.
In the case of a fresh Windows install, a user can always download the Thinkpad-branded software from Lenovo’s website. If anything, I recommend keeping the Power Manager software.
Battery Life
Not using Power Manager’s Battery Stretch, the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 was able to last six hours and 46 minutes while having the display brightness set to 5 out of 15 and only using the Intel GPU (Optimus disabled). The 6-cell battery was also able to last five hours and 25 minutes under those same conditions, but also included a 45 minute YouTube video. Using the same settings, but running solely on the K1000M, the W520 manages a battery life of three hours and 52 minutes.
Out of curiosity, I tried installing my W520’s 9-cell battery into the W530, and while it fitted correctly, there were some issues. If a user tries booting with the older battery, the W530 will stop booting and display the following message:
The battery installed is not supported by this system and will not charge. Please replace the battery with the correct Lenovo battery for this system. Press the ESC key to continue.
What that means is that even if the W530 is plugged into its charger, the laptop will still not recharge the battery. This is because the older batteries lack an authentication chip inside of them (found in OEM batteries in the -30 series of Thinkpads). A user can still use an older battery with the system, but will have to find some other means to charge up other than the W530.
User Upgradability
If you know how to use a screwdriver, you can upgrade the W530 yourself with aftermarket parts. Lenovo, in a way, even encourages this by publishing their service manuals online. To access RAM slots 3 and 4 and to access the hard drive bay, all that’s needed is to remove the only two doors on the underside of the laptop, three screws total. This ThinkPad ships with a Hitachi Z7K500 500GB 7200RPM hard drive and no RAM in the last two slots (out of a total of four slots, allowing 32GB of RAM maximum).
To gain access to the rest of the components, there are two additional screws located on the bottom that must be undone. One is located right next to the RAM module door (towards the front edge of the laptop) and the other is located within the RAM module area itself. When these are gone, all one needs to do to remove the keyboard is to slide it towards the display, lift from the bottom edge near the trackpad, and carefully move towards the trackpad. First thing I noticed was that the size, shape, and connector is the same for both the W530’s keyboard and W520’s keyboard, so it might be possible to put an traditional ThinkPad keyboard into this Ivy Bridge system. However, there are additional keys on the W520’s keyboard that are not found on the W530 (Screen Lock, Forward/Back keys, etc.) and the BIOS probably would not know how to handle those extra keys. Anyway, Lenovo ships out this particular system with two sticks of generic Samsung memory (4GB each), an Intel 6205 WiFi card, and a slot for either a WWAN card or mSATA SSD (only one can be installed at a time). If an end user must have both, they could install the mSATA SSD and use an ExpressCard 3G cellular data card externally.
Conclusion
Like its predecessor, the W530 is a functional workstation laptop that’s first out of the gate with an array of Ivy Bridge processors to choose from. It can pack up to an Extreme Edition i7-3920XM, nVidia Quadro K2000 GPU, 32GB of RAM, 1080p display, and up to three system drives -- mSATA SSD, primary HDD bay, and another drive if you replace the optical bay with an Ultrabay HDD caddy. While not equipped with the more expensive options, our review unit is certainly a great workstation that will serve a professional well in any CUDA-based work (CAD, video or photo editing, graphics design, etc.). The most noticeable change between the W520 and W530 is the keyboard, and for a lot of potential buyers it will be a love it or hate it situation. For those buying into the ThinkPad line for the first time, it may not bother you too much. Those who are long-time ThinkPad users (such as myself) will probably be disappointed in the direction Lenovo has gone with the new design, but ignoring the odd arrangement of non-alphanumeric keys the new ThinkPad keyboard is actually a joy to type on. The curved keys fit well around the fingers, just like the old keyboard, and since the spacing between keys are the same it shouldn’t feel too different for those upgrading to a newer ThinkPad.
If history is any indicator, the ThinkPad W530 should not only be the first Ivy Bridge mobile workstation, but will also be the lightest of the bunch as well (the W520 was 5.95lbs, Dell’s Precision M4600 was around 6lbs, and HP’s Elitebook 8650w started at 6.5lbs). My only objective complaint about the W530 (ignoring the keyboard) is that Lenovo did not introduce an option for users to purchase one with a FirePro professional GPU (Quadro’s competition), found in workstations offered by Dell and HP. For those that do not need CUDA, it would have been a great, cost-effective solution while still staying with the legendary ThinkPad line.
Pros
Business-quality durability
Multiple storage drive options
Over 6.5 hours of battery life
IBM warranty support
Vastly improved sound quality (compared to the W520)
Cons
No Forward/Back keys, other missing keys
Cannot use previous-generation Lenovo OEM batteries

I think no one "normally" working will use touch specific elements of Win8! Metro is one part of Win8, but i think normal desktop mode will be preferred by 99 % of the users.
With the new upcoming Microsoft Surface, touch might work well, but i just don't see myself touching my laptop's screen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------W520 4276CTO i7-2860QM Quadro2000M 1920x1080 16GB RAM - 160 GB Intel 320 SSD

W530 vs. MacBook Pro (non-Retina) purchase conundrum...

Hi,
for 3D modeling (Alias Autostudio 2013) and 3D rendering (Next Limit Maxwell Render 2.7.1) and Photography (Photoshop CS6, etc.) I looked at the newish Lenovo W530 compared to three other contenders. I configured them all with the same processor and standard HDD to compare. For colour calibration, I have a professional EyeOne solution so the W530's option is not needed. I am using external Monitors when not on the road. All prices were found in the companies' online stores.
My reasoning so far - only the Dell and HP feature an IPS/H-IPS display panel. The Dell is bulky. The HP too costly in comparison. The MacBook Pro has all parts glued in. The W530 has a bad keyboard and is bulky. I liked the fact that (as explained in another thread) it is very easy and affordable to put a Samsung 830 SSD in the W530 and that some parts can be serviced/upgraded with reasonable effort a couple of years down the road).
Looking at the price/performance of all four, I suddenly find the non-Retina MBP a serious option for a Windows machine with the added benefit of slimness. What is the consensus in this forum?
Thanks for any input!
Apple MacBook Pro (non-Regina version because of Windows 7 and 8 lacking support with pixel scaling)
i7-3720QM quad-core 2,6 GHz 6 MB L3 cache
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750 GB SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM
1680 x 1050 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1 GB GDDR5
2,6kg
2.379,00 €
Dell Precision M4700
i7-3720QM quad-core 2,6 GHz 6 MB L3 cache
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750 GB SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM
1920 x 1080 AMD FirePro M4000 Mobility Pro 1 GB GDDR5
2,8kg
2.482,00 €
Lenovo ThinkPad W530
i7-3720QM quad-core 2,6 GHz 6 MB L3 cache
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500 GB SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM
1920 x 1080 NVIDIA Quadro K2000M 2 GB GDDR3
2,7kg
2.151,42 €
HP Elitebook 8560w
i7-3720QM quad-core 2,5 GHz 8 MB L3 cache
8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750 GB SATA 3 GB/s 7200 RPM
1920 x 1080 NVIDIA Quadro 2000M 2 GB GDDR3
3,1kg
2.840,53 €

I think I can give some good input here, on the W530 at least.
Firstly, I'm using a W520 for exactly your purposes--3D modeling (Solidworks, Autodesk products, etc.), engineering simulation/analysis, and extensive photography and photo editing, and it is GREAT. Of course, all other brands of laptops with similar system specs should perform about as well, but the size/weight of the Lenovo is unmatched by any of the other laptop PCs I have used. I use a Dell M4600 at work, and it's a decent laptop, but it feels very heavy and bulky compared to my W520. Performance-wise, the two are spec'd identically, and performance is nearly identical, except my W520 gets noticeably better battery life for some reason.
I can't vouch for the IPS displays of the Dell or HP, but I will definitely caution you of this: pay attention to the color gamut! This matters so much and it's one of those numbers that most consumers never bother to care about because they don't know what it means. The larger the color gamut of a display, the more colors it's capable of displaying.
Even the Macbook Retina display only has an sRGB color gamut. That means it's only capable of displaying the colors within the sRGB color space and that's it. Sure, the IPS screen has nice contrast and good viewing angles, but you're missing out on a lot of colors that the Lenovo FHD display gives you, assuming it's calibrated properly.
Now, keep in mind, ALL digital SLR cameras are capable of recording color well beyond the sRGB color space. Looking at photos on a calibrated sRGB display vs. a calibrated AdobeRGB display makes an enormous difference.
Have a look at this graphic I made for you: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0h7vad4x8gi81j6/kbB13_927X#f:gamuts.png The top plot shows you the AdobeRGB color space (wireframe) vs. the Lenovo FHD calibrated display color gamut. You can see that the Lenovo color gamut comes very very close to filling out the entirety of the AdobeRGB color space.
The image below that is the sRGB color space (solid) vs. AdobeRGB (wireframe). See how many fewer color values that represents? That's what you're getting with the vast majority of laptop displays. In fact, most typical laptop displays are only capable of 60-70% of sRGB. That's, frankly, terrible.
Now, beyond that, I will admit the MBP is very slim, and sleek. But, you can't upgrade anything in it, and the keyboard sucks compared to the W530. My girlfriend has a W530 and, much as I hate to admit it, the keyboard is nowhere near as bad as we all feared compared to my W520. In typing feel, it is just as good, the key caps are actually a little bit larger (so more finger space), and the new layout is really only going to bother you if you're very accustomed to a clustered del/home/end/pgup/pgdown group. I still prefer my W520 keyboard, but the W530 keyboard is very nice.
If you do go for the Lenovo, definitely don't waste your money on the built-in color sensor. It's horrible. Your external calibrator will give you much better results. I don't know which EyeOne device you're using, but make sure it's capable of working with wide-gamut displays. If it's not, I'd recommend either a Spyder3 or Spyder4 sensor. You can get the cheapest versions of these for ~70 dollars and then use dispCalGUI (freeware) to get VERY good profiling results.
Josh

Thinkpad W510 and W530 accessories compatibility

Hello all,
From a previous post, I found that accessories such as the power adapter and docking station will not work between the Lenovo Thinkpad W510 and W540 models. Instead, are they compatible between a W510 and W530 and if not, how about a W510 and W520?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

No. W530 and W520 use the same docks and AC adapters; W510 uses different ones. All 3 have the same shape of battery, but the W530 needs one with an additional chip. A W530 battery will work in any of them. Nothing fits a W540. The only difference in the dock on the T510 (vs. T520, T530) is the AC jack is keyed for the 170W adapter.

Battery Options

Anyone use the Slice 2nd battery on their W530 or just use an extra main battery? I'm looking for options for utilizing battery operation.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I'm just using a 9-cell battery. It gives me up to 7-8 hours depending on the workload.
Most of the time this is enough for me. But you could get a second battery and switch to hibernation mode when battery is running really low. Then switch batteries and continue working.
Also this may be something useful you might want to have: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-61244
Jonas
Microsoft MVP: Windows Consumer Expert
Yoga Tablet 2 10 || ThinkPad X1 Carbon (20A7007MPH) || ThinkPad Helix (3698-6EU) || IdeaCentre B540
Twitter: @jonashendrickx

Non Keyed 170W AC Adapter

Can you use a Non Keyed 170W AC Adapter for a W520 on a Keyed W530?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I received a new one on Saturday and it was non-keyed, but I tried it this morming and it workded with the W530. I actually triied it a few times just to make sure that it worked. It is larger than the PSU that came with my W530's which were the new slim versions. However, since I got it so I could leave in one place and not carry the PSU around, its a keeper.
Thanks

W520 battery in a W530?

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