My ThinkPad T520 Review

Message

own6volvos · #1 Post by **own6volvos** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:51 pm

Hey guys!

I know some of you guys might recognize me from around these parts, although now I am working for a new company this time around. Transitioned from NotebookReview.com to StorageReview about a month ago, but haven't lost my passion for reviewing ThinkPads.

Just published my review on the ThinkPad T520 last night here: http://www.storagereview.com/lenovo_thi ... 520_review

Working on the W520 now and once that is finished a X220 and hopefully a T420 or T420s. If you guys have any questions or comments let me know

The W520 is getting the Full Monty in terms of RAID testing. Besides the standard single drives we test in systems, it will be getting RAID0 testing of the following drive pairs:

Crucial/Micron 256GB C300
Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
Seagate Momentus XT 500GB
Intel SSD 510 250GB
Corsair F90 (90GB)
Corsair Performance 3 128GB

#2 Post by **JaneL** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:58 pm

Nice review ( and glad to see you back at TPF)!

Jane

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

#3 Post by **erik** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:18 pm

great article, kevin!

own6volvos · #4 Post by **own6volvos** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:59 pm

Thanks guys! I will be expanding the benchmarks into some games and workstation tests on models that have the capabilities (dedicated graphics is a must!).

Expect to see a first look on the W520 shortly. This thing is an absolute MONSTER! Full review is still probably a week or two away though. I am maybe 15% through the benchmarking process which is pretty lengthy on the way we handle it.

Take each benchmark, run three times, average score. Now run that on each drive configuration we test.

#5 Post by **JaneL** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:52 pm

Also, congrats on the new gig!

Jane

own6volvos · #6 Post by **own6volvos** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:27 am

JaneL wrote:Also, congrats on the new gig!

Jane

Thanks!

The guy behind the current SR was one of the founders of NBR. So a lot of the good old stuff is coming back. Its pretty cool to say the least

Rochefort · #7 Post by **Rochefort** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:30 am

own6volvos wrote: Just published my review on the ThinkPad T520 last night

Hi,
Very interesting review'n can't wait for the W520 one.
You say (and I trust you

) the T520 has a SATA6.0Gbps.........and the Tabook :
SATA disk
Some: Solid State Drive (SSD) / SATA 3.0Gb/s, 2.5" wide, 7mm high
Some: HDD / SATA 3.0Gb/s, 2.5" wide, 7mm or 9.5mm high, Active Protection System
All: removable, upgradable, supports the second disk, Shock Mounted Hard Drive
mSATA SSD :None

own6volvos · #8 Post by **own6volvos** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:14 pm

Hi,
Very interesting review'n can't wait for the W520 one.
You say (and I trust you ) the T520 has a SATA6.0Gbps.........and the Tabook :
SATA disk
Some: Solid State Drive (SSD) / SATA 3.0Gb/s, 2.5" wide, 7mm high
Some: HDD / SATA 3.0Gb/s, 2.5" wide, 7mm or 9.5mm high, Active Protection System
All: removable, upgradable, supports the second disk, Shock Mounted Hard Drive
mSATA SSD :None

The first thoughts on the W520 is up by the way

http://www.storagereview.com/lenovo_thi ... t_thoughts

I think the biggest issue with the mystery around SATA 6.0 on the newer models is Lenovo doesn't currently sell any 6.0 drives. Everything is listed 3.0 since that is what they are shipping with notebooks.

Besides... think I could get RAID0 speeds like this on the W520 without SATA 6.0Gbps

Rochefort · #9 Post by **Rochefort** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:57 am

The first thoughts on the W520 is up by the way

*********************
Nice
What a pity those 16:9 screens !

I think the biggest issue with the mystery around SATA 6.0 on the newer models is Lenovo doesn't currently sell any 6.0 drives. Everything is listed 3.0 since that is what they are shipping with notebooks.
**************************
How strange !!!?

Besides... think I could get RAID0 speeds like this on the W510 without SATA 6.0Gbps

******************

own6volvos · #10 Post by **own6volvos** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:08 pm

LOL I just realized I said W510 there, meant W520 I promise!

Rochefort · #11 Post by **Rochefort** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:11 am

own6volvos wrote:LOL I just realized I said W510 there, meant W520 I promise!

I don't mean the typo but the raid numbers

hman · #12 Post by **hman** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:43 pm

Own6Volvos,

Would you mind checking out my questions on this thread http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=95773
having to do with SSD options for the T520 - many based on your review. I clearly need some guidance.

Thx

Hman

own6volvos · #13 Post by **own6volvos** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:47 pm

Replied.

It really depends on your budget when you look at all of this. The mSATA SSD costs about 200 bucks for 80GB. If you have no intention of using more than one drive in your notebook, if you went the 2.5" SSD route you could get a 120GB Intel X25-M for $230 bucks. Way more options for 2.5" drives, more capacity for less money, and faster interface speeds... but it boils down to how many drives you want to cram in the notebook. Using the mSATA slot means you can use the others for bulk storage instead.

stefi · #14 Post by **stefi** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:45 am

Hi mate,

That's a great and nicely detailed review (and seems to be the only one as well)! I was looking for one these days as I've start checking for an alternative to a MacBook Pro and Lenovo seems to be the best one. I've had a ThinkPad a few years ago and I loved it, but switched to the HP Elitebook 8540w provided from work.

I've checked out the MacBook Pro 2011 series, but the heating issue is quite bad, so I returned it. Do you know how T520 handles the quad core processors? Is it scrambled egg friendly like the Mac?

I am now a bit undecided between an X220 and T520, hope you can help me out with some hints.
Do you know if there is any difference from a processing power point of view (not very interested in graphics, as I do mainly programming and sometimes watch movies ... not a big gamer)? E.g. better motherboard, faster networking, better hard drive etc? To me they look almost the same, except of the screen and the fact that for T520 you can choose the quad core processors and the lack of an optical drive on X220.
The i7 2.7GHz processor should be fast enough for all that I (and most likely everyone who is not a full time gamer) will need to work with in the next few years, so going for the quad core processors doesn't feel to worth the extra bucks.

Cheers,
Julian.