Thinkpads Forum

I hope they deliver a little early as 1-29 seems far away!

20BGCTO1WW ThinkPad W540
Estimated ship date: 1/29/14**


Processor

Intel Core i7-4800MQ Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.70GHz)

Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64

Operating System Language Windows 7 Professional 64 English

Display 15.5 3K IPS eDP 1.2 2880x1620 (16x9) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, Color Sensor

Graphics NVIDIA Quadro K2100M 2GB

Color Sensor With Colour Sensor

Memory 16GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM)

Keyboard ThinkPad New Precision Backlit Keyboard with Number Pad US English

Pointing Device ThinkPad TrackPad with Fingerprint Reader and Color Sensor

Camera 720p HD Camera

Hard Drive 512GB Solid State Drive SATA3

Optical Device DVD Recordable

Battery 9 Cell Li-Ion Cylindrical Battery 99.9Wh

Power Cord Country Pack AG with Line cord & 170W AC adapter

Wireless Intel Single Band Wireless 7260BN with Bluetooth 4.0

Integrated Mobile Broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable

Language Pack Publication - US English

Warranty 1 Year Depot or Carry-in

5WS0A14081 3YR Depot $99.00 $99.00

4X20E50574 ThinkPad 170W AC Adapter (Slim tip) $119.99 $119.99

You have waited patiently for so long. Hopefully another few weeks won't seem like too much longer.

Brad

Brad wrote:You have waited patiently for so long. Hopefully another few weeks won't seem like too much longer.

Brad

Agreed. I will be happy if they just do not delay it. It would be here sooner until I picked the IPS screen with calibration, but that was the reason I wanted it. Photoshop and AutoCad will be it main purpose.

You are up early and I know it is colder where you live! Warmer weather on the way. We will be back in the 80's by the weekend!

Thanks Brad and have a great New Year!

I would love to see photos and first impressions once you obtain it.
That thing is a beast!

Saucey wrote:I would love to see photos and first impressions once you obtain it.
That thing is a beast!

Will do. They have already moved the shipping date closer with me receiving on 1-25-2014 or before. That is a good sign.

I am looking forward to the new screen!

I was able to order mine with dual band AC WLAN instead of single band b/g/n and with single 8GiB stick instead of two 4GiB sticks. And a 15% discount. Estimated arrival date - 23rd of Jan.

Greg Gebhardt wrote:Memory 16GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM)
Hard Drive 512GB Solid State Drive SATA3

I ran the numbers and it turned out it would cost me less to buy ThinkPad with cheapest RAM and storage options available and then upgrade after the fact by buying parts elsewhere to the same or even better specs than what they offer on website. And upgrading ThinkPad is really easy since they have dedicated storage and RAM bays.

MooNWalker wrote:I was able to order mine with dual band AC WLAN instead of single band b/g/n and with single 8GiB stick instead of two 4GiB sticks. And a 15% discount. Estimated arrival date - 23rd of Jan.

Greg Gebhardt wrote:Memory 16GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM)
Hard Drive 512GB Solid State Drive SATA3

I ran the numbers and it turned out it would cost me less to buy ThinkPad with cheapest RAM and storage options available and then upgrade after the fact by buying parts elsewhere to the same or even better specs than what they offer on website. And upgrading ThinkPad is really easy since they have dedicated storage and RAM bays.

I have been down that upgrade path before and you should not have any trouble but I had problems with Crucial RAM and for the extra money, I will let them install all the RAM I will ever need. I am sure you could find a cheaper SSD, too.

They are moving the ship date up everytime I look. It was the 18th but now the 14th. But this is kinda typical from what I have seen in the past.

Did you receive your W540? What are you impressions of it? Mine has shipped, and the scheduled delivery date is 1/29/14. I've been tracking it, and it is on it's way from Anchorage to Louisville right now. I ordered 4 X 8GB DDR3L DIMMs, and a Ultrabay HDD adapter, which I received before the scheduled delivery date.

DIMM photos:

1
http://bob-ayers.smugmug.com/Other/Leno ... 026-XL.jpg

2
http://bob-ayers.smugmug.com/Other/Leno ... 024-XL.jpg

3
http://bob-ayers.smugmug.com/Other/Leno ... 036-XL.jpg
PCB attach solder joints:
4
http://bob-ayers.smugmug.com/Other/Leno ... 029-XL.jpg

Nice photos!!!
May I ask what camera you have for future shopping reference?
Lenses and all that jazz can apply too.

Saucey wrote:Nice photos!!!
May I ask what camera you have for future shopping reference?
Lenses and all that jazz can apply too.

Thanks! These photos were taken with a Nikon D300, and a 200mm f/4 AF-D micro

Takeda wrote:Thanks! These photos were taken with a Nikon D300, and a 200mm f/4 AF-D micro

Thanks!

Mine arrived already but have not had a lot of time to play as work is crazy. This next week, I have set a day aside to get everything installed and ready to go.

Just few minutes and love the keyboard and screen. It might be a beast but it is thin!

Sorry for not returning here but after two new W540 units, both defective, I can hardly think of buying another Thinkpad. I can not believe this as I have been using Thinkpads for over 20 years. Both of mine had boot up and shut down problems and the key boards sucked. Some key always felt and sounded like they were scraping each other while the keys around the red button would stick! There was a hollow sound and the keyboard sounded like nothing was supporting it. New layout for the keyboard was horrible and no indicator lights for anything.

WTF Lenovo! I do not even know other brands to start looking for something decent. For now it will be back to a W530, to me the last decent Thinkpad.

If you buy one make sure you do not let the return day get by.

WOW, now that is nuts.
Perhaps they were too good to be true, or parts were not readily available.
Once they were, production was rushed and thus the units were not properly built or QC has just fell...

In that case you should just say "We're very sorry, but you've got to wait some more".

Since I already wasted much of my own time to search for a good competitor for the W540 (even though I don't need either atm since my W520 is still perfectly fine); look at the Dell M4800.

Just go with W520 Will never regret!

I would do the W530 for sure

Greg Gebhardt wrote:Sorry for not returning here but after two new W540 units, both defective, I can hardly think of buying another Thinkpad. I can not believe this as I have been using Thinkpads for over 20 years. Both of mine had boot up and shut down problems and the key boards sucked. Some key always felt and sounded like they were scraping each other while the keys around the red button would stick! There was a hollow sound and the keyboard sounded like nothing was supporting it. New layout for the keyboard was horrible and no indicator lights for anything.

WTF Lenovo! I do not even know other brands to start looking for something decent. For now it will be back to a W530, to me the last decent Thinkpad.

If you buy one make sure you do not let the return day get by.

WOW that stinks! I have a W520 from work and I really like that machine. My company took a look at the *40 series as replacements for the *20's rolling off lease (not the W520's we bought those so I will hold on as long as i can) and they decided not to get them. They are issuing HP's instead. Way to go Lenovo.

That's why I bought a W530, I had waited until the W540's came out and after looking at them decided that a W530 was a better option. The one I got was a GAV not a CTO or Top Seller. This was the first one that I purchased that wasn't a Top Seller. I really like this W530 and so far no problems. I discovered yesterday that it has an Intel Ultimate-N 6300 and a Smart Card reader, I found this out when I installed the wireless drivers and then noticed that System Update wanted to install Smart Card drivers. The thing about the W540 was no Thinklight and the offset keyboard because of the numeric keypad, I often use my Thinkpads on my lap and couldn't see being off center for typing. Also, I didn't care for the change with no dedicated buttons for the trackpoint.

W530 still crappy keyboard layout. Only thing that W530 brings over W520 is reduced power draw under full load, 3 external screens working and DP 1.2

You get that at the cost of:
-No eSata
-Mini DP (always adapter needed)
-Crappy keyboard layout
-Not compatible with older batteries.