Real w520 video reviews?

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lookingatlenovo · #1 Post by **lookingatlenovo** » Tue May 03, 2011 7:06 pm

Hello,

I am currently in the process of looking for a replacement for my Dell XPS M1710. It has been a great machine, but after 4 years it is starting to show its age. As of now I have narrowed it down to two choices, the w520 and an apple macbook pro 17 inch.

It seems that both will have similar performance. With the top of the line options for the MBP and top of the line options for the w520, the Lenovo has somewhat of an advantage processor-wise, but that isn't enough for me to worry about. In order to decide I would like to see some real videos of the w520 in action, but all I can find online are 3 videos: The 15 minute by Lenovo, the 4 minute by Lenovo and the "How an art director uses the thinkpad", also by Lenovo.

Does anyone know where I can view a good video of the machine in use? I am especially keen to see how good the screen is. If it had a glossy screen, I would have already pulled the trigger. Since it doesn't, I am hesitant because I don't really like how matte screens I have seen look dark.

One other thing: What is that between the trackpad and the keyboard on the w520?

Thanks.

Colonel O'Neill · #2 Post by **Colonel O'Neill** » Wed May 04, 2011 1:48 am

What do you mean by "in action"? Performance ratings can be found in a fair number of places, and the chassis is the same as the T510/W510/T520.

There are three choices for screens, HD, HD+ and FHD. The HD is generally a no-go at least because of it's low resolution. The HD+ is better in terms of black level and contrast, but is only 1600x900. The FHD is a full 1080p screen at 95% gamut, but black level is a smidge higher than with the HD+.

Glossy screens are glossy, and matte screens are matte. They don't really have anything to do with the actual brightness of the panel. The FHD panel is listed as 270 nits.

The buttons between the keyboard and the touchpad are the buttons for the TrackPoint pointing device.

lookingatlenovo · #3 Post by **lookingatlenovo** » Wed May 04, 2011 9:58 am

By "a real review of the w520 in action" I meant a video of the w520 being used for whatever, which was not made by Lenovo. A video showing the computer responding to commands and showing the screen clearly. I understand the specs, I am looking for a view of the screen in use....
Where I live there is no chance to go see one in person, so I am buying blind, based only on what I see online.

Thanks for the information about the buttons!

Colonel O'Neill · #4 Post by **Colonel O'Neill** » Wed May 04, 2011 11:47 am

The Lenovo videos have the onscreen image 'shopped on anyway.

Look for the T510, T520 as well as W510 videos; they're exactly the same chassis (at least externally, not sure about internal structure) and source the same display panels. Do bear in mind which panel (HD, HD+, FHD) the reviewer has, and match it with which display you want to get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfKeTRAa328
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmHAN0F8n6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAXyqKoWWiU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkW0JseJkMI (likely an FHD screen)

Also bear in mind that the displays sometimes appear to flicker on camera, but aren't visible at all in reality.

commander · #5 Post by **commander** » Wed May 04, 2011 2:41 pm

Since it doesn't, I am hesitant because I don't really like how matte screens I have seen look dark.

By this I would tell buy Mac. I am always amazed, how anybody can seriously ask these question. mac vs. pc. Since your computer is 10-50% of costs of your software, I would say buy what SW do you have linceced. Also, how on Earth you can tell how the display is based on a youtube VIDEO, which if I put away details like it is impossible to record it, you are looking at on YOUR monitor? Also 17" vs 15"? What do you do on your computer?

this thread is trolling.

hunterman223 · #6 Post by **hunterman223** » Wed May 04, 2011 3:38 pm

Umm, most likely you can tell which panel it is because higher-res = more detail and things on the screen appear smaller.

Trolling? And I'm afraid to say that the first part of that paragraph was so poorly written that I have no idea what you are talking about.

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

lookingatlenovo · #7 Post by **lookingatlenovo** » Wed May 04, 2011 6:11 pm

By this I would tell buy Mac. I am always amazed, how anybody can seriously ask these question. mac vs. pc. Since your computer is 10-50% of costs of your software, I would say buy what SW do you have linceced. Also, how on Earth you can tell how the display is based on a youtube VIDEO, which if I put away details like it is impossible to record it, you are looking at on YOUR monitor? Also 17" vs 15"? What do you do on your computer?

this thread is trolling.

I am not sure where to begin with this. I am not really asking a mac vs. pc question, if you would bother to read my post. You are correct that one cannot tell by looking at a youtube video how well the screen will look, at least as well as when one is sitting in front of the screen. However, it is as good as I am going to get, and if I had a high-quality video to look at, that would probably be enough for me.

As far as the software, I can run bootcamp on the apple, so that is not the issue. Yes, I love the apple screen, but the performance edge goes to the Lenovo. Yes it is 15" vs. 17", but the apple is fairly light. All of this only matters to me, of course. It really does come down to whether I can live with the matte screen or not, hence my request for a video.

I am a research scientist. I use a dedicated desktop supermachine to do multi-physics finite element analysis and CFD. When I have to travel, I need a machine that can not only show the results of these calculations, but can actually reproduce them if the client/colleague so desires (and has the time to wait

).

I have never been accused of being a troll before, but I guess there is a first time for everything

.

lookingatlenovo · #8 Post by **lookingatlenovo** » Wed May 04, 2011 6:27 pm

Look for the T510, T520 as well as W510 videos; they're exactly the same chassis (at least externally, not sure about internal structure) and source the same display panels. Do bear in mind which panel (HD, HD+, FHD) the reviewer has, and match it with which display you want to get.

Thanks for that info!

lookingatlenovo · #9 Post by **lookingatlenovo** » Wed May 04, 2011 9:52 pm

Colonel O'Neill,

Thanks to your input I placed an order today! I can't wait for this baby to show up. Ship data 5/13/11. I went with all options full on except the HD. I kept the 320 GB because I think the price/capacity of the SSDs are going to drop fast/increase over the next year or so, thus I will just get a larger one cheaper later.

Thanks again!

Colonel O'Neill · #10 Post by **Colonel O'Neill** » Thu May 05, 2011 1:10 am

Happy to help!

@commander:
Matte and glossy don't have much correlation if any to brightness. There are also plenty of user reviews for the various 15.6" panels.

commander · #11 Post by **commander** » Sun May 08, 2011 4:35 pm

yeah, I overreacted a bit, sorry for that. I got mad, because of all other threads, where people are unable to do any basic research or provide us relevant information, based on what we can help them. But I also still think that this thread is a nonsence.

Colonel O'Neill - Did I say something about the brightness? Glossy screen has NO advantage to the matte. The only reason why they are manufactured is, that they are cheaper to manufacture. Since the OP told us nothing about his usage of the computer, but told us that he is preferring the glossy screen over mate for no reason, I assumed that he is a "consumer" user and he would be more happy with the macbook.

I think I developed a wrong view of this forum. I thought it is a forum mainly for pro's, using a pro machines. Because of that, I am using pro's measurements. If we change the view to consumer market, then OK, glossy screen is the best, and more brightness is better, also as aluminum unibody, island keyboards and subwoofers.

Peace.

hunterman223 · #12 Post by **hunterman223** » Sun May 08, 2011 5:04 pm

@OP, congrats on the W520 and be sure to let everyone know what you think!

@commander, if you prefer MacBooks, more power to ya. This is a forum for ThinkPads in general, not just for pros. Just a place for people to share their findings and help each other out, and other ThinkPad related stuff.

If you wished to recommend that the OP purchase a MacBook instead, it would be better if you provided reasons.(as you did in your second post) I also do not understand how "this thread is trolling", but your opinion...

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Colonel O'Neill · #13 Post by **Colonel O'Neill** » Sun May 08, 2011 10:37 pm

@commander
Lol I couldn't figure out exactly why you quoted that part of OP's post, so I took a random stab at it (way lacking in sleep recently), so my apologies if I came off as offensive; I just wanted to reiterate the same point you bring up.

This forum as far as I can figure is a mixture of pro's, prosumers, and consumers curious about these boxy laptops called ThinkPads.

I think glossy screens are also indirectly cheaper as they create a false sense of quality and hence consumer laptops can get away with cheaper ones. Most recent matte business LCDs have been subpar, and hence one can see why an erroneous connection may be drawn. I also have a nice facepalm when people go "you should use aluminum bodies because they are better" for ThinkPads. Island keyboards (Lenovo does it acceptably) make me want to grip and twist the laptop until it's motherboard dies a horrible death.