ThinkPad E560

[Puppy]

First of .60 series http://www.thinkscopes.com/2015/09/ifa- ... kpad-e560/

15.6" FHD IPS display (finally)
Atheros WiFi
AMD Radeon

[Saucey]

Interesting, very cool to see their budget model come with IPS.
I wonder if other 15" ThinkPads will have that option... or we can FrankenPad a T540 with an IPS panel.

[hhhd1]

Seems normal since the price for the screens have dropped.

The FHD IPS 15.6 can be found for around $70, that is single unit retail price.

[pianowizard]

Looks nice. Now that the E series has gotten so good, and in fact looks prettier than the T/W series, shouldn't Lenovo just phase out the T/W series? I much prefer the aesthetics of this E560 over any of the recent T/W/X series. And I am impressed that it still has a VGA port, which suggests it's really designed for professional use. The clickpad has no buttons, but as long as it doesn't "float" like the T series' clickpad, it might still be okay.

[fb1996]

Now that the E series has gotten so good, and in fact looks prettier than the T/W series, shouldn't Lenovo just phase out the T/W series?

Absolutely not. The difference between the E series and T/W/X/P series in terms of build quality, durability and keyboard quality is still quite big...
In addition, the E series only has the OneLink "docking" connector and no DisplayPort.

[brchan]

I have had better experiences with L series laptops than Edge ones. On Edge models, palmrests get shiny very fast, and the casing and lid is pretty flexible (but still better than most consumer laptops).

[rambo47]

Very respectable specs for the budget line. With a starting price in the mid-$500's it's definitely worth a look.

[Puppy]

E560 and E460 are available (at least over here).

[Puppy]

Reviews

E560 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-Thi ... 741.0.html
E460 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-Thi ... 657.0.html

[Jorge M]

Hi all,

I'm actually considering buying the E560 with FHD IPS display, but I wonder if this display will have the infamous ghosting problems that some Lenovo's IPS displays have suffered since 2011 (LG displays, people say). Can anyone here throw any light about this?

[Puppy]

I'm actually considering buying the E560 with FHD IPS display, but I wonder if this display will have the infamous ghosting problems that some Lenovo's IPS displays have suffered since 2011 (LG displays, people say). Can anyone here throw any light about this?

It is currently unknown, you have to wait for first customer reviews. I understand it is frustrating especially for a ThinkPad branded product

[dkasak]

Linux users should avoid the E560, at least until driver support has radically improved. The latest available kernel ( 4.3 ) oopses *constantly* in the Intel graphics kernel module ( i915 ). Also mesa is clearly hitting software rendering paths everywhere, because while I have hardware acceleration, it's *painfully* slow. The wifi card ( also an intel component ) often isn't initialised properly - if I plug in a USB wifi dongle, then both devices appear.

"Slow and unstable" is the current state, unfortunately. These kernel messages are repeated ad-nauseum:

Code: Select all

[   62.542089] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 2161 at drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_runtime_pm.c:551 skl_set_power_well+0x1e0/0x897 [i915]()
[   62.542092] DC6 already programmed to be disabled.
[   62.542094] Modules linked in: joydev r8712u(C) snd_hda_codec_hdmi iTCO_wdt iTCO_vendor_support intel_rapl iosf_mbi x86_pkg_temp_thermal 
intel_powerclamp coretemp kvm_intel uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc kvm videobuf2_memops crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul videobuf2_core 
v4l2_common crc32c_intel videodev aesni_intel media lrw glue_helper ablk_helper cryptd microcode nd_hda_codec_conexant btusb 
snd_hda_codec_generic btrtl btbcm e1000e btintel input_leds efivars psmouse pcspkr serio_raw iwlwifi i2 c_i801 bluetooth cfg80211 snd_hda_intel 
shpchp thinkpad_acpi nvram tpm_crb fjes tpm sch_fq_codel zfs(PO) zunicode(PO) zcommon(PO) znvpair(PO) spl(O) zavl(PO) efivarfs  ipv6 
virtio_pci virtio_scsi virtio_blk virtio_net virtio_console virtio_balloon virtio_ring virtio xts gf128mul aes_x86_64 sha512_generic 
sha256_generic
[   62.542156]  
iscsi_tcp libiscsi_tcp tg3 e1000 fuse overlay xfs nfs lockd grace sunrpc jfs reiserfs ext4 jbd2 ext2 mbcache firewire_core sl811_hcd 
xhci_plat_hcd ohc i_pci ohci_hcd uhci_hcd ehci_pci ehci_hcd sx8 imm parport pata_pcmcia pcmcia hid_generic snd_hda_codec 
snd_hda_core snd_hwdep ptp pps_core snd_pcm snd_timer snd i915 drm_kms_helper drm intel_gtt xhci_pci agpgart fb_sys_fops 
syscopyarea xhci_hcd sysfillrect sysimgblt i2c_algo_bit
[   62.542185] CPU: 1 PID: 2161 Comm: pulseaudio Tainted: P        WC O    4.3.0-sabayon #1
[   62.542187] Hardware name: LENOVO 20EVCTO1WW/20EVCTO1WW, BIOS R00ET32W (1.07 ) 10/14/2015
[   62.542189]  0000000000000000 ffff88021a75b828 ffffffff812d03ec ffff88021a75b870
[   62.542192]  ffff88021a75b860 ffffffff81053378 ffffffffa00ebd5e ffff880237be0000
[   62.542195]  ffffffffa0195f90 000000003000000f ffff880237f05800 ffff88021a75b8c8
[   62.542198] Call Trace:
[   62.542201]  [<ffffffff812d03ec>] dump_stack+0x44/0x55
[   62.542205]  [<ffffffff81053378>] warn_slowpath_common+0x95/0xae
[   62.542220]  [<ffffffffa00ebd5e>] ? skl_set_power_well+0x1e0/0x897 [i915]
[   62.542224]  [<ffffffff810533d4>] warn_slowpath_fmt+0x43/0x4b
[   62.542237]  [<ffffffffa00ebd5e>] skl_set_power_well+0x1e0/0x897 [i915]
[   62.542252]  [<ffffffffa00ec430>] skl_power_well_enable+0xe/0x10 [i915]
[   62.542265]  [<ffffffffa00ec650>] intel_display_power_get+0x99/0xc4 [i915]
[   62.542282]  [<ffffffffa011ab34>] i915_audio_component_get_power+0x19/0x1b [i915]
[   62.542288]  [<ffffffffa01f1ed6>] snd_hdac_display_power+0x92/0xf4 [snd_hda_core]
[   62.542293]  [<ffffffffa0201990>] ? hda_call_codec_resume+0x110/0x110 [snd_hda_codec]
[   62.542295]  [<ffffffffa0905169>] 0xffffffffa0905169
[   62.542301]  [<ffffffffa0206b8e>] azx_link_power+0x1f/0x21 [snd_hda_codec]
[   62.542306]  [<ffffffffa01eeaef>] snd_hdac_link_power+0x2e/0x30 [snd_hda_core]
[   62.542311]  [<ffffffffa02019a2>] hda_codec_runtime_resume+0x12/0x43 [snd_hda_codec]
[   62.542315]  [<ffffffff813dd04e>] __rpm_callback+0x32/0x59
[   62.542319]  [<ffffffff813dd0d1>] rpm_callback+0x5c/0x74
[   62.542324]  [<ffffffffa0201990>] ? hda_call_codec_resume+0x110/0x110 [snd_hda_codec]
[   62.542327]  [<ffffffff813ddcdf>] rpm_resume+0x332/0x3d7
[   62.542330]  [<ffffffff813dddd4>] __pm_runtime_resume+0x50/0x6b
[   62.542334]  [<ffffffffa01ee9a1>] snd_hdac_power_up+0xe/0x10 [snd_hda_core]
[   62.542340]  [<ffffffffa02073e9>] azx_pcm_open+0x176/0x252 [snd_hda_codec]
[   62.542345]  [<ffffffffa01e219e>] snd_pcm_open_substream+0x76/0xdc [snd_pcm]
[   62.542352]  [<ffffffffa01e22b1>] snd_pcm_open+0xad/0x1c5 [snd_pcm]
[   62.542355]  [<ffffffff8106ed30>] ? wake_up_q+0x51/0x51
[   62.542360]  [<ffffffffa01e2465>] snd_pcm_playback_open+0x3b/0x5e [snd_pcm]
[   62.542364]  [<ffffffffa0092462>] snd_open+0x12b/0x137 [snd]
[   62.542368]  [<ffffffff81139f28>] chrdev_open+0x130/0x153
[   62.542371]  [<ffffffff81139df8>] ? cdev_put+0x1e/0x1e
[   62.542374]  [<ffffffff81134a90>] do_dentry_open+0x1af/0x2ae
[   62.542378]  [<ffffffff8113587e>] vfs_open+0x54/0x5b
[   62.542381]  [<ffffffff81141b6d>] path_openat+0xb55/0xe58
[   62.542386]  [<ffffffff8114300d>] do_filp_open+0x48/0x9e
[   62.542390]  [<ffffffff81147e4a>] ? dput+0x26/0x1b8
[   62.542393]  [<ffffffff81137b02>] ? ____fput+0x9/0xb
[   62.542395]  [<ffffffff81068300>] ? task_work_run+0x6a/0x7b
[   62.542398]  [<ffffffff8111d952>] ? kmem_cache_alloc+0x2b/0x13b
[   62.542402]  [<ffffffff81135b8d>] do_sys_open+0x146/0x1d5
[   62.542405]  [<ffffffff81135b8d>] ? do_sys_open+0x146/0x1d5
[   62.542409]  [<ffffffff81135c35>] SyS_open+0x19/0x1b
[   62.542413]  [<ffffffff818b04b6>] entry_SYSCALL_64_fastpath+0x16/0x75
[   62.542416] ---[ end trace 4e0675973f646f3a ]---
[   65.776740] [drm:skl_set_power_well [i915]] *ERROR* CSR firmware not ready (2)
[   78.934536] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-7265D-16.ucode failed with error -2
[   78.934547] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[  137.816117] [drm:i915_hangcheck_elapsed [i915]] *ERROR* Hangcheck timer elapsed... render ring idle
[  138.981767] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-7265D-15.ucode failed with error -2
[  138.981781] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper
[  199.028781] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-7265D-14.ucode failed with error -2
[  199.028794] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Falling back to user helper

[sp00ner]

[...]
"Slow and unstable" is the current state, unfortunately. These kernel messages are repeated ad-nauseum:

Hello all. Thanks a lot dkasak for your warning, I appreciate it.
Did the situation improve or did you find some workarounds since your last post?

[Puppy]

There will be E560p according power management driver change log https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1mku09w.txt

<1.67.12.7> (n1mku09w)
- Added support for ThinkPad E560p (ROW), ThinkPad S5 (PRC).

[TPFanatic]

E series has an optical drive too, that's cool.

[Ibthink]

E560 has, but E560p does not have an ODD. I guess next gen E-Series shouldn´t have one either, considering E560 is an old design (same chassis as E540/E550 still). L560 still has an ODD.