Thinkpads Forum

I'm a computer specs noob, and would appreciate your help here!

W510 ($1,664.00 *couldn't find coupons*):

* Processor: Intel Quad Core Processor i7 720QM (1.6GHz 1066MHz 6MBL3)
* Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
* Display Panel: 15.6" HD Anti-Glare Display with LED Backlight and WWAN Antenna
* System Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M Graphics with 1GB DDR3 memory
* Total memory: 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
* UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
* Camera: Camera, 2.0 MP
* Hard Drive: 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
* Optical device: Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm)
* System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Reader
* Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth w/ antenna
* Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3X3 AGN)
* Wireless WWAN accessories: Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable


W500 ($1,664.00 *didn't look for coupons* "special offer"):

* Processor: Intel Core2 Duo processor T9900 (3.06GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
* Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
* Display type: 15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
* System graphics: ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 (512MB VRAM)
* Total memory: 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
* Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
* Camera: Integrated Camera
* Hard drive: 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
* Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 2GB
* Optical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
* Card Reader: 7 in 1 Media Card Reader
* System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & Smart Card Reader
* Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN
* Wireless Card: ThinkPad WiFi (BGN)
* Mobile Broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
* Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery


A few questions:

They both are the same price, so the difference is in specs only.

How's the size of the W510, is it exactly the same as the W500?

The display of the W510 seems to be definitely better. But it is higher density than WSXGA+? Because earlier, I bought W500 WUXGA+ and with the dim backlighting that these screens have, I had to return it because I couldn't see! What about this 15.6" HD display? What's the pixel count on these? From the descriptions, they seem bright and easy to read.

The processor clock speed on the W510 worries me, it's a bit low! Is that reflected in the performance?

Is there anything else I should look into? This is a major purchase and I don't wanna go through the same stress I endured with my earlier W500 purchase sometime ago!

Thanks a lot!

The W510 is different aspect ratio, so it is wider and shorter than the W500.

The HD screen is 1366x768 resolution, much less than the 1680x1050 which is WSXGA+. W510 is also available with HD+ (1600x900) and FHD (1920x1080).

The i7 720QM is a quad-core CPU, which can overclock itself to 2.8GHz when needed. It's a different architecture altogether, and should overall offer very good perfomance.

msafi wrote: .....stress I endured with my earlier W500 purchase sometime ago!

Thanks a lot!

Hail to the Dr.... > he is very knowledgable person with TP....

msafi... yip I would go with W510 ......its has all the latest bells and whistles
and plus , you do want the latest tech not the soon to be "outdated' etc etc

(I dont see why pple always seems to B* about 16:9 screen format , I dont think its a CON .... I love it in fact ! (but than I dont touch type much so screen format dont matter to me more so ...especially if you hooking up your laptop to EXTERNAL DISPLAYS!!)

Hope this helps ...

Hehehe. I didn't mean to sound so dramatic about it. Any advice is appreciated, really!!

I don't know why people hate the 16:9 display so much, either. I don't mind it. But now that I know HD is lower resolution than WSXGA+, it's not as appealing to me anymore...I'd want HD+ (1600x900) if I'm gonna buy W510.

I guess, with that, my only concern with W510 is the low clock speed. So, how do I know which one of the two machines will performance better?

If you look up the CPUs on this page:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Pro ... 436.0.html

You will see that most of their benchmarks tend to favor the 720QM over the T9900...

msafi wrote:I guess, with that, my only concern with W510 is the low clock speed. So, how do I know which one of the two machines will performance better?

A lot will depend on what you're doing. Most general usage apps like Internet or Office aren't very CPU intensive. The better CPU will make little difference there, but any CPU intensive apps that can use more than one core, most CPU intensive apps can in my experience, a quad core will offer a significant increase in processing power. If you want a good screen I'd say go with the FHD option on the W510. It's also available on the T510 with the discrete GPU.