Should I look for a W520 or buy something newer?

[helicopter]

Well, a month later, I'm reporting back. I found a W520 at a good price and decided to try it. It doesn't have the FHD screen as several people recommended. (It has the 1600x900 one.) I needed to get something sooner rather than later and decided to spend less.

I haven't gotten all my software loaded and really started to work on the machine. The keyboard is OK. Certainly the processor is a whirlwind faster than the old T42 I had. However, I absolutely don't like Windows 7 and really wish I had gotten a Mac. (I owned several back in the day, up to the 9600 around 1997.) My latest headache was reinstalling Win 7, attempting to follow the directions on the Lenovo site to the letter. I didn't realize that you have to install the Lenovo drivers BEFORE Windows runs all its updates. Updating Windows first causes all kinds of driver and installation problems, so I had to start over. (Not to mention the fact that the update software itself had to be updated-- a double pain.) Then, once I got the basic Windows 7 with SP1 installed, and the Lenovo drivers installed (using the recommended TVSU package), I found out why the Windows update is so complex (the explanation here http://superuser.com/questions/890038/w ... te-so-slow about updates, superseded updates, and server file trees with long waiting times seemed reasonable.) It took many, many hours, and even then, I decided to not install all 200+ updates in one go. Instead, I installed about 10 at a time by date. Maybe that wasn't necessary, but the system worked at the end. It was a lot of time to spend, though. I created an image of the drive in case I ever need to reinstall it, but am not sure I did it correctly. (I used the freebie Macrium Reflect, being too cheap to buy Acronis.) I didn't clone the drive because I read on this forum that you have to clone to an external drive that will not sit in the Ultrabay-- because you can't have two bootable HDDs in the system at the same time.

I didn't go with Windows 10 because several people on this forum said that the Lenovo Power manager doesn't work with it.

So now I have a few questions about this machine:

1. Before I reinstalled the system software and Lenovo tools, it seemed like the fan ran less often. I see how you can change the power schemes and create/edit new ones, but not how you can set individual components (i.e. the fan frequency). It seemed like the machine was quieter before (i.e. the fan ran less often), but it could be my imagination. Can I do anything about this?

2. I'm hearing some audio artifacts when listening to CDs or streaming audio-- sort of a short crackle occasionally. I'm using the Conexant 20672 SmartAudio driver version 8.32.23.5. I *might* have read somewhere (but where?) that someone else had this problem. Sound familiar?

3. Battery maintenance: To maximize the longevity of the battery, should I keep the it installed when I'm running the machine on AC power? Is the battery inoperative when the AC is plugged in?

As always, thanks in advance for the help. This is a great forum.

[n2ri]

can change battery charge settings in power manager but default dont charge unless under 95%. let that fan run. it spins up when CPU/GPU get used more like now after installing everything etc. the sound issue I think is some MS update driver issue as MS has no clue nor cares what our TPs have installed so mostly wont install correct drivers for many components in Lenovo laptops (WIN 10 is much worse at this and should be avoided like an STD) also careful which antivirus you use as some of the old favs (AVG for 1) have some new issues. I went with Comodo plus their firewall, it even has a virtual desktop for safer browsing while isolating the web from your PC files and unwanted installs etc. I went through the top 15 and there where 2 a bit better than Comodo but only if you pay for their full versions. some others charge annual subscription or had issues of sorts. also I own a T61 and a W500 and done a ghost of my HDD to one in ultrabay just set it as slave till installed. works great and fast under 2 hours for over 300gb transfer to new 1tb HDD. took over 6 hours to backup on USB ext drive so I will be using the ultra bay for that also from now on. I will be upgrading to a W520 next with max features and likely get a backup one as my last laptops since they stopped making anything better after that model, even the W701 is not as loaded and its supposed to be for digital photo/video editing but not as good of display, CPU etc available for some reason. just a couple toys added that use more power for slower poorer rendering and a huge thing to be portable for just a couple inches more display size. I think Lenovo dropped the ball with the W701 over the W520. and later series even more so. in the name of cheaper marketing. seems they no longer cater to us serious about portable workstation road warrior PC users. install TPFC on that beast and see what temps your internal parts are running when fan speeds up. it will keep it quite when low use but cool under fire. oh and you can get a 2tb HDD and 32gb ram in that now if running win7 64bit just need a partition with a 32bit OS for old apps to run on with less memory seen or keep an old winXP TP for those like me.

[ajkula66]

3. Battery maintenance: To maximize the longevity of the battery, should I keep the it installed when I'm running the machine on AC power? Is the battery inoperative when the AC is plugged in?

Most definitely. ThinkPads are not designed to be used without a battery on permanent basis, especially not the workstation-class ones which are likely to throttle when pushed if the battery is not installed.

Personally, my machines are set (in Power Manager) to start charging at 85% and stop at 95% to prolong the battery lifespan, but you can play with the numbers as long as you don't allow the battery to be constantly getting charged to 100%.

Batteries are consumables, and should be treated as such. Figure out what settings work for you, apply them and forget about them from that point on.

Enjoy that W520.

[MisterB]

If the fan is running all the time, start the task manger and click on the performance tab and see how much the CPU cores are being used. When I have my W520 under light load, the Power Manager reads between 18 and 40 watts and the CPU use is around 7% to 10%. There might be some background process that is using up the CPU. Windows update can do this when it is checking for updates.

I rarely hear the fan in my W520. The power manager throttling works so well that it rarely turns on. That is one of the more amazing things about it. Under a heave load it can use up to 150 watts but under normal operating conditions it uses much less and has a really good battery life.

[n2ri]

when my W500 CPU is at over 90% the fan runs over 4,000 RPM til cooling starts and the TPFC slows it down in stages. at about 2,500RPM you begin to hear the fan so at 4,000RPM it sounds like a DVD player while playing a movie which is likely 30k RPM IDK for sure but it is whineing pretty good. these fan blades are dif than most PC fans as blades are just flat curved like a centrifugal pump instead of right or left pitched directional blades. it must be for quieter running at high speed as its not for more flow. and they just take air from sides and fling it out around perimeter. sound is not an issue unless in library or sleeping area. so I prefer faster fan to BBQ laptop that 93c temp limit switch is near boiling point of water and can burn if touched or melt plastic and parts of PC. I got enough such issues with my 3D printer and dont need more safety issues. so if you cant be Safe & sound I choose at least Safe rather than sorry.

[SkiBunny]

Well, a month later, I'm reporting back. I found a W520 at a good price and decided to try it. It doesn't have the FHD screen as several people recommended. (It has the 1600x900 one.) I needed to get something sooner rather than later and decided to spend less.

I had a W520 with the 1600x900 screen. I was soon in despair and hating that W520 on account of that screen (bad colour and hard on my eyes). I quickly replaced that W520 with the one in my sig, which has the FHD and it's a world of improvement. So if you're also bothered by extended use of the panel, don't despair, you can replace it (the panel, not the whole machine).

To maximize the longevity of the battery, should I keep the it installed when I'm running the machine on AC power? Is the battery inoperative when the AC is plugged in?

If you have or get an SSD for it, you'll want to keep the battery installed to help protect the SSD from data corruption or maybe even bricking in the event of a sudden loss of power. As no current consumer SSD (except Intel 3500-3700 models) has full power loss protection.

For 20 years now (half my lifetime) I've always set my thinkpad to maintain the battery in the 46-54% range. Only because I thought that li-on batteries last longest if they're kept stored at half charge, as that evenly wears the cells or something. But nowadays it might be better to keep it more charged (though never maintained up near 100%). Unsure as I'm not technical anymore, and a lot changes in technology over time.

[jcvjcvjcvjcv]

Yes, battery inactive when not charging and AC connected.

Lithium batteries tend to be happy when;
*time stops
*it's cold, almost freezing
*they are about ~40% charged
*they are not used

All kidding aside; a battery that's used between 50% charge and 40% charge will last about ten+ times more cycles (as in; full cycle equivalent) than a battery that's used between 100 and 0.

Then there are some more variables, like rate of discharge; the lower the better for lifespan.

All in all; just look at reviews with the 6 cell battery, imagine that as what you're gonna get, and be happy with the additional capacity the 9 cell battery gives you... while it lasts.

[hatman]

So 40-50 percent or 85-95 percent.

Which?

[ajkula66]

So 40-50 percent or 85-95 percent.

Which?

you can play with the numbers as long as you don't allow the battery to be constantly getting charged to 100%.

Batteries are consumables, and should be treated as such. Figure out what settings work for you, apply them and forget about them from that point on.

[jcvjcvjcvjcv]

So 40-50 percent or 85-95 percent.

Which?

The first, preferably.