i7-4900mq nVidia Quadro K2100m graphics chipset. 32gb PC3-14900/ram 1tb Samsung 860 EVO SSD 500gb Samsung 860 EVO SSD in ODB 480gb MyDigital SuperBoot 2, M.2 NGFF SSD drive as a storage device for my computer image, and a few other things. 3k IPS display. T450 "FrankenPad" trackpad transplant. Pantone color adjustment. Excellent backlit keyboard. PCI Express with USB 3.0x2 ports. I now have FOUR USB 3.0 ports, and two, USB 2.0 ports! Win7Pro
Ok, This is the BEST ThinkPad, I've ever owned. It's extremely fast, takes a BEATING, VERY upgradeable. Also, I own 30 ThinkPads, from an R400, to the W540 (I actually own TWO W540 ThinkPads), so I've dealt with a lot of Lenovo's products.
I can't find a single thing to complain about. It's even a pretty decent gamer.
After using the computer for over a year, the W540 has to be the worst workstation for a working pro.
Awful track pad, NOT PRECISE, unlike what the reviewer mentions. No indicator light for ANY part. Often I have to go from plug to plus in a library, McD or Starbucks, as there is no light on the PSU (unlike my other system Dell that has a visible 'ON' light on the plug.... No HD activity light, so when streaming, hung up or in a loop, there is no warning. See my other concerns. Just a shill review, a disservice to the readers.
Guys if you want to buy this workstation you need to know that most of the software won't be adapted for your resolution.
For example, Photoshop only now published beta version for this resolution. Software from NVIDIA IS NOT (!) adapted for this resolution. But there is inside NVIDIA Quadro Graphic adapter.
I'm so disappointed, guys. Whatever, this machine goes really fast. If adaptation doesnt play any role for you, you can purchase this.
just got one, stupid keyboard design, left side almost have no space for palm rest, home-end key on bottom line while pageup/down key near bottom, very hard to type, 4 out 10 missed type key. just psck up to return, very disappointed.
One of the key selling concepts of the thinkpads was being able to upgrade parts with off the shelf hardware to extend service life. Another selling point was reuse of other thinkpad peripherals such as docking stations and power supplies. The 540 now requires custom sized drives which can only be bought at a premium from Lenovo. Also the docks and power modules have been customized (again!), meaning you can't leverage older ones. Add the weight of the w540, the weight and size of the power brick, the poor battery life, and frequent batter replacements with Lenovo's, this model is not very attractive.
I have to decide between a W530 with K2000, FHD screen, and 128M SSD and W540 with K1100, FHD screen and 500M 7200 HDD. Price is virtually identical, and don't want to spend more. Keyboard and trackpad are not issues for the person I am helping to buy who needs it for design work. I doubt the extra storage space will be important. Graphic performance would seem to be very, very close. CPU performance W540 has the edge. The major issue possibly favoring W530 (along with SSD) would seem to me to be the screen quality - from what I see from reviews on this site, contrast was significantly better on the W530. But I will not be able to compare the screens myself. Can anybody help here? Thanks!
Just seen the screen connectors fail on my W500 2 months out of warranty and the battery was pathetic within 9 months of ownership but not faulty per se.
Looking at replacements, it seems everyone is offering just about the same spec. From my perspective as a 3d artist, educator, web designer... who wants a lame TN panel at 1920 res, semi gloss surface and a 1080 instead of 1280 aspect ratio? It is assumed everyone just watches 16:9 media and doesn't edit an A4 document frequently and the screen on my W500 was further awful for colour accuracy in professional graphics work with a cold blue glint and lousy viewing angles. Lenovo seems to be getting very disappointing in genuinely supporting professional users.
My last Fujitsu Celsius mobile lasted near 6 years so I am going back to them and have been happy these products are finally available in Australia by special order. Apart from the higher res IPS screen of the Lenovo, Fujitsu are charging $AUD700 less for the same machine and there's room to pull out the optical drive and add a second battery. Bye Lenovo until you sort yourselves out.
In reply to using the "laptop" feature. Unfortunately, I do not live in a bubble, and even though I hate it when having to do so, if I travel for several hours in a TRAIN, a plane (at least there is a table, unless sitting near the bulkhead), long bus trips, etc, I'm stuck with vibration and using the computer as best as I can on my lap (if I can with the computer on top of the carrying case).
- Track pad? Useless.
Sure wish I was in that bubble and management would give me a secretary to do all this work, so I could sip champagne in first class.
I did a Cinebench R15 benchmark on my Thinkpad W540 i7-4900mq with Quadro K2100M graphics, and got the following scores: OpenGL: 69.19fps, CPU Multi: 668cb, CPU Single Core: 150cb. See screenshot below. Needless to say, I'm very happy with the performance on mine!
Almost unbelievable listening to all the reviewers whining about keyboard and numpad.
There is several post mentioning "real professional work" and keeping computer in your lap at the same time. That is just crazy.
I own mobile workstations since Dell invented the concept, and as a mechanical engineer I always preferred to have a numpad. That was usually possible only on 17 inch models and always ment that keyboad and numpad are offset to the left. Isn't that so on plain keyboards as well? Who is complaining?
Regarding touchpad, it is strange to use it at the beginning but after a little get used to time and visit to really extensive settings I have to say it's not bad at all. As a CAD user I use it only for general work and surfing. For "real proffesional work" I use a mouse. And I don't keep a computer in my lap. ;). The indicator lights are an issue, but not unforgivable. Setup with F key row being dedicated for special keys works really well.
It is just different than a classic Thinkpad. Regarding build quality, I guess we will see in a few months or a year.
Until that, this is a REALLY GOOD MOBILE WORKSTATION.
I agree that Think-pad died somewhere after T400 W500, T420 was and is OK and usable, but nowhere near thinkpads of the "olden days"
I own T400 and if you slap SSD in it its more reliable than most current thinkpads.
those who want to buy Dell M4800 as I did... I must warn that only M4700 should be considered instead. below are the links to serious problems with high end M4800.
you will enter infinite loop of customer support VS parts swap, all in-vain. just like I did once with shoddy W510 "bridge to decline of the legend of thinkpad"
(screen issue,stays blank when you close lid and needs reboot) http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/742205-dell-precision-m4800-screen-stays-black-after-closing-opening-lid-windows7-x64-4.html
All these negative comments really make we wonder if most of these commenters even have seen a W540 IRL at all. I am a previous T61p owner, and now own a W540, and believe it or not - I love it! It's light, fast (CPU throttling was fixed by first uninstalling (important!) the NVIDIA driver, reboot, set gfx switching mode in BIOS to advanced, and reinstalling with the latest NVIDIA driver from NVIDIA's website - boom - no more throttling when using the NVIDIA graphics. In Maximum Performance mode it runs at 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz continuously all day - and remaing surprisingly cool and quiet. I have seen some users comment that the lower left side of the machine becomes warm but I have not noticed this. And anyway it's considerably cooler than the T61p ever was.
Also, my DPC Latency Checker values are much better than the reviewer's - perhaps this is caused by him running Windows 8? Thesyscon's site clearly says that DPC Latency Checker won't show correct values in Windows 8. In Windows 7 Pro I typically get values from ~120 microseconds to ~490 microseconds.
On another note, the finishing of my unit shows no signs of irregularities like the review mentions. There are also no issues of notchy or sticky keys on mine - everything seems fine. Regarding the trackpad, the issue the reviewer reported on the lower corners not being actice is a driver setting in the Synaptics control panel - there is a setting for filtering of clicks and movements around the edge of the trackpad - disable this and it's fine. Also, the (AFAIK) same trackpad got a good review on the T440p review on this same site.
Note to gamers: I have the K2100M model, and all I can say is that it runs Assassins Creed III excellently in 2880x1620 resolution in High settings. And in Ultra mode I estimate I get about 15-20 fps in 2880x1620 resolution, so still playable. Will double check the exact framerates next time I play the game.
For LIDAR point clouds the K2100 also gives excellent performance. Also AutoCAD works excellently. Editing photos in Lightroom is a pleasure on the 3K display.
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