Feedback requested: Lenovo Thinkpad T520

[gsaldivar]

I'm about to purchase a T520 and would like some feedback if possible. Please feel free to suggest other laptops I should be considering, changes in configuration, etc.

I will be using this primarily for business. Lots of travel, so it must be rugged and reliable, and capable of docking to a full size home setup. I'm not too concerned about the weight, as I currently carry a 15" Dell Inspiron e1505 and need more power.

Work requires me to encrypt certain files so I need to take advantage of any hardware acceleration possible. Will I get better performance using Windows 7 or some HD native encryption instead, or is Truecrypt software comparable? (I will have the encrypted files on a separate secure drive/partition, not the SSD)

Also, I plan to use virtualization extensively, the old Intel Core Duo CPU in my current laptop is limiting me because it is not 64-bit capable, it does not support the new Intel virtualization (VT) extensions, nor does it support AES (AES-NI) acceleration. I need all of these to be included in the new laptop.

Also I would like the ability to play the very occasional WoW game, so I would like to know how this GPU compares to the ATI x1400 that is in my current laptop.

Thanks!

- Lenovo Thinkpad T520
- Windows 7 Professional 64
- CPU undecided, i5/i7...?
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB SSD
- 500GB HD
- 15.6” FHD (1920 X 1080) LED
- Nvidia Quadro FX 880M

 

[hans007]

i can't speak about that particularly laptop since well i dont think its out yet.

i have a W510 for work though (its a slightly heaveir units, and i've got the 1600x900 screen though a coworker has a 1920x1080 one and its pretty great) and I think its a great laptop (maybe not for the money , but i didnt pay for it). We used have dells and well these lenovo units just seem much better built.

my w510 has the fx880m which is a pretty nice card, it can actually run a few games, and i know it comes with 2 display port outs too...

i'd figure its a much better unit then an e1505 or whatever dell equivalent is out there now. i have the dock on mine too and the dock is great, has 2 dvi / display port out etc.

you might want to consider a W520 though, if you are a crazy power user as they have 4 dimm slots so you could get say 16gb ram pretty cheaply in those.

also as far as i know you cant get 2 hard drives in a T or W series without getting some 3rd party sata caddy thing to replace the optical drive.

 

[corkyg]

I have the T510 - been using it for almost a year. This is my 7th lappie since 1994, and far and away the best. It was preceded by a T60 which also ran flawlessly for two years. Your options look good. I highly recommend to get the Ultrabay III that goes with it -then you can put a large data drive there and use a SSD as boot drive.

I carry the optical drive in a padded bag in my travel case. Use it rarely. At home it is netted with two desktops for data syncing.

I have used the T510 in AZ, CA, FL, Chile, Colombia, and points in between. It has never failed me.

 

[ultimatebob]

Is the damn thing finally available yet? I've been waiting for a decent name brand Sandy Bridge powered laptop for awhile now.

 

[gsaldivar]

you might want to consider a W520

The W520 sounds perfect! Do you know if it will be available soon?

Unfortunately, none of the processors that I can see available for the W510 support AES-NI. There are some horror stories on the Intel forums, people that have just purchased new high-end laptops and are now discovering that they will not get accelerated encryption...

http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/showthread.php?t=80017

 

[Emulex]

how about all the carpware they load to give you thinkvantage!

 

[hans007]

The W520 sounds perfect! Do you know if it will be available soon?

Unfortunately, none of the processors that I can see available for the W510 support AES-NI. There are some horror stories on the Intel forums, people that have just purchased new high-end laptops and are now discovering that they will not get accelerated encryption...

http://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/showthread.php?t=80017

yeah aes-ni is only on 32nm chips. the W510s only support it on the i5 ones probably which are the low end ones with only dual ram slots.

so basically you want to wait for a W520 with sandy bridge and get a quad core one with i'd assume 4 ram slots like the W510 . i'd assume the W520 will be out whenever the T520 is or around the same time.

 

[corkyg]

how about all the carpware they load to give you thinkvantage!

It is controllable and optional in many cases. For the most part, also quite useful.

 

[gsaldivar]

Does anyone have any thoughts on encryption? Should I upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for Bitlocker, or is Truecrypt comparable in speed? Some hard drives have native encryption, should I get one of those instead? I'm interested mainly in security but also speed.

Also should I expect that the Nvidia Quadro FX 880M to perform miserably in WoW because its intended for business graphics instead of entertainment?

I hope the refresh is coming soon, the Lenovo Outlet just started a 35% off sale today which suggests that they are trying to clear out some of the old inventory.

 

[WackyDan]

Order it with an FDE drive... Set a password on the drive and you have ZERO CPU impact to the system as the drive handles the encryption. As long as you set a decent password, they can't even pull the platters and get any data.

However, an FDE drive will not give you the ability to control encryption of other media, so that is where software encryption shines.

 

[gsaldivar]

Order it with an FDE drive... Set a password on the drive and you have ZERO CPU impact to the system as the drive handles the encryption. As long as you set a decent password, they can't even pull the platters and get any data.

However, an FDE drive will not give you the ability to control encryption of other media, so that is where software encryption shines.

It would shift the work from the cpu to the drive, but that may not necessarily yield an overall increase in speed. It would depend on how fast the drive's embedded cpu can perform the encryption work. If I understand correctly, there might potentially be a speed decrease if the drive's cpu is slower than a Sandy Bridge cpu with AES-NI.