Lenovo ThinkPad W541 Workstation Review

[Redaktion]

Backward roll! Lenovo's 15-inch workstation was just slightly changed and is now called W541. Besides some small technical developments you also get changed input devices. Lenovo did, however, miss the chance to improve other weaknesses. We had a closer look at the result.


http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-W541-Workstation-Review.137450.0.html

[mikiyaokuno]

I have W530 and very satisfied with it, because it doesn't have a numeric keypad. I don't have many opportunities to input large numbers, so numeric keypad is not useful for me. Actually, it tortures my home position and damages my spine! Bad for long-time use like programming.

I don't like this model at all.

[Andrew]

I use my W520 for pretty much everything, been running Ubuntu since I got it. Upgraded RAM and HDD, been a very good machine. I use B/tooth KBD and mouse when at home, so long term use not an issue. Hope my new 541 lasts as long, and puts up with being used in the field a lot.

[Jim Bongo]

Fail! Its not a real workstation, but a workstation wannabe.

[Ablab]

Fail! Its not a real workstation, but a workstation wannabe.

That's what I'm thinking for most so-called "workstations". Especially with use of GPUs you can see most all of them have weak GPUs (and only Quadro GPU of the lower end).
This is ridiculous, because in other forums it has turned out by user experience, that high end gaming GPUs can easily cope and surpass the so called "workstation GPUs". Even the 860m can mob the floor with most integrated Quadro GPUs already. The so called "special CAD or rendering features" do not seem to pay at all in comparison.

Representants of companies have already claimed they started to buy "gaming notebooks" instead of these "workstation" laptops, because the latter ones didn't pay in performance or money.
It's clearly proven overpriced crap. 2.5K for a "workstation" which is paired with a low budget GPU (mainly the 730m or 840m). They must be kidding. But obviously there are still enough believing the lies.

[Capesteve]

I have just received W541. First impressions:

Was disappointed to see size of power supply and new power connector, so other Lenovo PSU cannot be used in an emergency.

Keyboard layout will take some getting used to, I prefer T530 layout.
Note that the role of "Fn" button is reversed. All Function buttons now only perform traditional F1 - F12  funtion when Fn is pressed and they perform new functions by default (Sound, Screen, Search, etc.)

No laptop light in cover.

[Karel]

Keyboard of W541 is biggest ergonomic screwup I ever seen ..

[Alex VV]

• There is no Pause/Break button (probably you don't even know about it, if you aren't a programmer).
  
• There is no Context Menu button on keyboard (come on why you guys create separate "PrtSc" button or button for starting Windows Explorer?!)
  Impossible to lock touch pad. With my old HP ProBook I had ability double click on the touchpad corner to lock it and work with keyboard. Really, who needs separate key to start browser?! I do this only once and then working in tabs. What is the reason to bring useless features, instead of thinking about real use cases?! Think about keyboard users, who need some mechanism (separate key for instance) to lock touchpad quickly. Or it's better to have a sensors, if both my hands are aside of touchpad - that means I'm using keyboard. 
  
  • On-screen Num Lock singh. Why? Why?!! Why it is not disappears after few seconds? It disappears only when numeric keys are off. Guys tell me the reason to keep NumLock off - I have navigation keys and Home/End/PgUp/PgDown separately. Why should I turn my numeric keyboard off to hide this sign from my screen? Plus, I really use my numeric keyboard for typing numbers!
    
  • W541 max resolution is 2880x1620, have you ever tried to use it with Windows? I have to switch to 1920x1080, but in this case letters becomes blurred and eyes are tiring quickly.
    
    • After each system sound I hear "sh-sh-sh" noise from the right speaker for 4-5 seconds. WTF? Did you guys screened wires properly?!
      
    • When I hold for example down arrow key and text becomes scrolling, I listen wonderful "sh-sh-sh" sound from right speaker again. Come this looks like defect - sort of improper assembly or bad construction.

[Marek Pulka]

I have W540 (I'm not sure if the keyboard layout is different than W541).
In my previous W530 I liked the dedicated media start/pause button. In this model I used SharpKeys utility to redefine "calculator" button into start/pause. (use it - remap keys - restart windows and should work).
By default function keys have other effect than F1-F12. If you lock your Fn key (the Fn button should be lit) by pressing Fn+Esc you be back in good old days.

[fb1996]

If you lock your Fn key (the Fn button should be lit) by pressing Fn+Esc you be back in good old days.

In addition to "Fn lock", there is an UEFI option to change the primary function of the F1-F12 keys ;)

[Hehu]

Very disappointing. Despite all the specs its a horrible laptop. The fan is constantly on, even when it is doing nothing. The keyboard is a complete failure. Graphics not really impressive, sound just average. Did I mention speed, very disappointing for the specs. It is the last time I will consider a Lenovo.

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[hio]

Lenovo w541 for Linux environments useless. CPU always stays around 25% clocking rate, never goes beyond that.
I upgraded memory, hard drive with Zero improvements. Switching to dedicated GPU made the environment even worse.
Linux environment tested was Ubuntu-16.04, and Debian.

Design is absolute garbage, I would not recommend this device to anyone.

I regret buying this laptop. I will no longer ever buy a Lenovo laptop.

[Greg Lovern]

Regarding the performance problem described in this review, where the CPU is throttled to 800MHz especially under battery power, how likely would I be to see this problem running Adobe Lightroom Classic? I don't play computer games.