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W530 enroute.

W530/W540/W541/W550 Series
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thinkpadgeek91
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Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

W530 enroute.

#1 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Sat Apr 09, 2016 2:53 pm

I just picked up an off lease W530 for $500. It's got the Core i7 3720QM, 8GB DDR3, 180GB SSD, and the Quatro K1000M with 2GB DDR3. Anything I can watch out for on on this machine? This is going to be a at home desktop replacement while my T420 goes on the road with me.

Thanks
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

jdhurst
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Re: W530 enroute.

#2 Post by jdhurst » Sat Apr 09, 2016 3:38 pm

If new enough, upgrade it to Windows 10 Pro. The hard drive is too small for me, but may be OK for you.

brchan
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Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Re: W530 enroute.

#3 Post by brchan » Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:01 pm

T530/W530 machines often develop creaking/binding hinges over time. If your model does, then you can follow my guide here:http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=120736

If you also have the FHD disply, then you will want to calibrate it, otherwise you will have very oversaturated colors.

Other than that, these are pretty trouble free and reliable machines.
Current Thinkpads: W530 (functional classic keyboard mod), X301, T61, T60, T43, A31p, T23, 600X, 770
Other: mk5 Toughbook cf-19, mk1 Toughbook cf-53

thinkpadgeek91
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Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

Re: W530 enroute.

#4 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Sat Apr 09, 2016 4:06 pm

I just ordered a 256GB SSD for it. It has 1920x1080 FHD screen in it.
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

JohnD.
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Location: Plymouth Meeting, PA

Re: W530 enroute.

#5 Post by JohnD. » Sat Apr 09, 2016 7:28 pm

Thinkpadgeek91,

What manf. and model of SSD did you buy? I have a W530 and I was looking to upgrade the drive.

Thank you,
John
Too many machines!

thinkpadgeek91
Freshman Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

Re: W530 enroute.

#6 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Sun Apr 10, 2016 9:49 am

JohnD. wrote:Thinkpadgeek91,

What manf. and model of SSD did you buy? I have a W530 and I was looking to upgrade the drive.

Thank you,
John
I picked up a MSATA Samsung 850 Evo. I'm going to put the 180GB 2.5 SSD in it in my T420 then put the 1TB drive with the MSATA in the W530 since it's going to live on a desk with an external monitor.
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

thinkpadgeek91
Freshman Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

Re: W530 enroute.

#7 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Sun Apr 10, 2016 9:52 am

I just bought two 8GB SODIMMs for the other two slots. This is going to be the most RAM I've ever ran in a machine.
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

thinkpadgeek91
Freshman Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:00 pm
Location: Fortuna, CA

Re: W530 enroute.

#8 Post by thinkpadgeek91 » Fri Apr 15, 2016 8:18 pm

W530 arrived. Been used to the T420. This thing feels HUGE!!!! Quite a nice machine for $500.
Thinkpad X220 2.5Ghz Core i5 2520M
Thinkpad X61s 1.6Ghz Core2Duo L7500

Pokrzept
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Location: Lodz, Poland

Re: W530 enroute.

#9 Post by Pokrzept » Sat Apr 16, 2016 5:55 am

Congratulations. 16:9 15.6" laptops are huge indeed. I do use my Dell M4800 from time to time and it is ridiculously wide - that's why you have this feeling. What is funny 15.6" 16:9 display is 19.43 cm high while 12.1" 4:3 display is only 1 cm lower (18.44). But when you compare overall size of such a two units, bigger brother is almost twice as big as his lesser twin. Some conspiracy oriented mind could smell a vicious plan in here - screens are so vertically small that it would be better to learn Chinese writing and type top-to-bottom instead of left to right. We shall also invent new type of computer mouse with a scroll roller placed horizontally :banana: Long live 15" 4:3 UXGA !!!
P70 / W530 / W700 and 30 more :roll:

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