Thinkpads Forum

so does the W500 and W520 use the same Battery? and if so why do most W520 come with the same 170watt PS as the W700/701? since the W520 dont use any more power than an equivalent spec W500, even better in many ways than a W701.

The W520 uses the same battery as the T/W 410/510 and 420/520, the W500 battery would work with the T500 and 15.4" T61/p and T60.

The W520 will draw 150W at the wall outlet (measured myself with a Kill-a-Watt) at full load without charging the battery. Add in battery charge and you've maxed out the 170W charger. The W520 and W700 charger plugs are a different diameter and are not interchangeable.

The W520 can use up to 170 watts but it mostly doesn't. I don't know why Lenovo set it up so it will only work with a 170 watt supply because it draws about a 3rd of what a W510 does unless the CPU and GPU are maxed out and a W510 works on a 90 watt adapter. The W510 and W520 use the same battery. I'm not sure about the W500.

my W500 uses same batt and power supply as my T61 CPU 2.1ghz but has way faster CPU 2.8ghz and GPU (though T61 had same optional ones) they do well with the 90watt but the 65watt nearly burns if used. the extended batt looks just like the one in W520 and about same processors is why I ask. the W700/1 is totally dif batt style and it has other options using more power but slower CPU options than the W520. I like being able to swap parts and accessories between my Thinkpads and thought the W520 may still work same way. I think the T4x series use same as the T6x series also. if the W520 only uses a few W7xx items and I dont use those models then that will effect my upgrade decisions greatly.

T4x series don't use the same battery as any of the post-Lenovo acquisition models.

The 17" models (any flavor of W70x) use a unique battery that won't work in the W500 or W510/520. The battery does interchange between the 17" models, however.

About the only thing I can think of that you can swap between the W700/W701 and W520 is the HDD and RAM. CPU won't swap.