November 14, 2012

Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Review & Speces

The Lenovo W Series is a range of laptops aimed at the workstation market, with the Lenovo ThinkPad W700 (£3053 inc. VAT) being the Lenovo ThinkPad W700 battery second model in the range. This machine is a hulking 4.3kg desktop replacement that has been designed with the professional photographer in mind.
Lenovo Thinkpad W700
Lenovo is offering hardware options which Apple isn't close to touching with their new W700. With the Lenovo W700, you can configure systems with quad-core processors, up to 8GB of memory, multiple hard drives in RAID, and Nvidia's latest lineup of mobile QuadroFX graphics processors, none of which are available on the PowerMac lineup today. Not only does the W700 offer what Apple can't, it also offers configuration options which are unique to the rest of the Lenovo ThinkPad W520i AC adapter PC space as well.

Lenovo Thinkpad W700 is a 17-inch laptop designed for photographers. It’s a big monster due to the large display. The unit's 17in screen has a Full HD native resolution of 1920x1200 and is one of the W700's highlights. Not only are images displayed clearly and with great contrast, it has an effective colour calibration system that uses a series of small sensors above the digitiser and HueyPro software. The performance is perfect when running large graphic softwares like PhotoShop, Auto CAD, etc. So it could be the best laptop for photographer. With a workstation’s power (and price) in an understated package, this laptop is built for road-ready digital graphics artists.

The first of these is an embedded version of Pantone's Huey, which Lenovo says adjusts the color quality settings up to 60 percent more accurately than doing the job without it. It works with an on-screen utility and a tiny hardware Lenovo ThinkPad T410i battery calibrator built into an area beside the trackpad buttons; you click a button and close the lid, and the calibrator does all the work. When finished, you can view the before-and-after settings. The changes produced by the calibrator were noticeable and, to my eye, correct.

Even an R50p keyboard still found in editorial use, which is already now an over 4 year old pro-device, but as the "low-priced" plastic edition, shows itself even after years of intensive use considerably more user-friendly and with a more pleasant type feel than the current keyboard of the W700 test sample at hand. Fortunately, they stayed loyal to the accustomed quality of trackpoint and touchpad. Both let themselves be employed perfectly and make even an unproblematic use of the notebook without an external mouse possible.

This machine manages to fit in an Intel 2.53GHz Core 2 Quad processor without signs of growing hot to the touch. Overall, we found the performance of the ThinkPad W700 to be excellent. The Windows Experience Index (WEI) gives the user an Lenovo ThinkPad W520 charger indication of how well his machine will run under Windows Vista. A typical machine will score 3.0, while the W700 ranks in at 5.9 – the highest score we've ever seen using WEI.

Although it is convenient to have a built-in digitiser with you when travelling, its very small size of 128(L)x80(W)mm greatly reduces its usefulness and makes it difficult to draw with; this isn't helped by the pen being too small. In spite of this, we found that our pen strokes were recognised with relatively good accuracy once we customised the settings and became used to it.

The Quado FX 3700M’s large 1GB frame buffer may make you think that it’s made for gaming, but many content creation apps actually need the large frame buffer more than games. While it’s not intended as a gaming part, it does OK but it won’t outpace the Gateway P-7811 FX gaming notebook and its GeForce 9800N GTS part. We also fired up Crysis and tried to push it at very high at 1920x1200 and the results weren’t pretty. It ran but we wouldn’t play the game that way. It’s better suited for playing Crysis at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 instead. The W700 is more than enough to play Lenovo ThinkPad W701 charger Unreal Tournament 3 and is capable of 48 fps at 1920x1200 resolution. So while it’s capable of gaming, it probably doesn’t make sense to buy the W700 if that’s your only purpose. The Gateway P-7811 FX is a better fit and far cheaper.

A prominent role is assigned to the graphic card in the package of the Thinkpad W700. Lenovo offers two variations for the notebook. Either the Nvidia Quadro FX 2700M or the, in our test sample integrated, Quadro FX 3700M. This, optimized and certified for CAD applications, graphic card, in regards to its architecture is equivalent to the Geforce 9800M GTX but offers 128 Shader units
The architecture is also closely related to the current Geforce GTX 280M, which is also based on the G92 core but is manufactured in the 55 nanometer process (FX 3700 – 65 nm).

Finally, a mobile workstation made for professional photographers! The Lenovo ThinkPad W700 is unlike any other workstation—or laptop, for that matter—breaking ground in areas that once seemed out of reach. It's the first and only laptop with an internal color calibrator. Placing a Lenovo ThinkPad W530 charger digitizer on the palm rest is also ingenious, and a secondary display is something that all laptops could use but only Lenovo has accomplished so far. Obviously, at this price, the W700 isn't for everyone. But if time is money in your field, the W700 will save you tons of it.

Posted by: miko at 08:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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November 09, 2012

View Of Lenovo IdeaPad U410 14-Inch Ultrabook

When you're looking for a decent laptop then Lenovo is one of the brands to consider. The Chinese company that once took over IBM's Thinkpad product line is trying to get a foothold in the Lenovo IdeaPad Y430g battery European market. They are bringing relatively big guns to accomplish this, such as this Lenovo Ideapad U410 Ultrabook that's available for £799.

The IdeaPad is still pretty thin, measuring just 21mm at its widest point, but it’s also heavier than many ultrabooks, at 1.85kg, which does stretch the classification slightly. Its build feels solid, albeit not as solid as the unibody MacBooks it emulates. Where the Apple notebooks use a single piece of metal for the entire palm rest and keyboard surround, the U410 uses multiple elements, which makes it appear a little less refined. The lid and base of our sample were blue, but there are red and sober Lenovo IdeaPad V450 AC adapter graphite grey options if your tastes differ.

The $759 base model has a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i3-3217U processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 500GB 5,400-rpm hard drive with a 32GB SSD cache. The top-end model, which costs $899 after an eCoupon, comes with a 1.9-GHz Intel Core i7-3517U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB 5,400-rpm hard drive with a 32GB SSD cache.

One of the advantages of having a Lenovo is that the firm doesn't mess about when it comes to the important parts of building a laptop. The keyboard here is quite excellent, which is something that isn't as common as we would like on laptops. The keystroke is noticeably better than on most other laptops. The touchpad works well also. It's large, has multi-touch and no physical buttons. The IdeaPad has one Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 battery special button on the left side next to the on/off switch. When you are experiencing difficulties with the computer, you press that button and it will take you to a special recovery mode.

The IdeaPad U410 comes with a trial version of Absolute Data Protect, the standard McAfee security center (in this case we’re working with McAfee Emerald 11.0), Adobe Reader X, and OneKey Recovery, which will help you backup your data and restore the system if anything ever goes awry. The fact that the IdeaPad U410 doesn’t come bogged down with a lot of pre-installed software is a big plus, and Lenovo earns extra points for including some programs that are actually worthwhile.

Using Lenovo VeriFace 4.0 face recognition software, you can also log into the U410 with just your mug. After creating a Windows password, we were instructed to look at the webcam. Lenovo IdeaPad U410 WebcamClick to EnlargeFrom there, a funky Lenovo IdeaPad V450 battery blue circular icon spun around our right eye in the VeriFace screen as the camera scanned our face. The software was a bit exacting, forcing us to find just the right lighting and angle for the webcam to scan our face. We prefer Toshiba's more intuitive Face Recognition software.

The U410 provides just enough ports minimize complaints. It has two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI-out, an ethernet port, and a multicard reader (SSD/MMC). Something you won’t find, but may not miss, is an optical drive. (With everything going digital, optical drives tend just to get in the way and add weight.)

Lenovo packages the IdeaPad U410 with a useful set of apps and utilities. Lenovo One Key Recovery is a quick, relatively painless way to back up and recover system files. The Power Management utility, reminiscent of a car's odometer, is fun to look at, but, more important, easy to use as we switched Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 adapter power profiles. Third-party software includes Adobe Reader X, Google Chrome, Oovoo, Microsoft Office Starter and Windows Live. There's also a 60-day free trial of McAfee AntiVirus Plus software and a 90-day free trial of Absolute Data Protect.

Lenovo IdeaPad U410 is a great notebook that comes in at a nice price. And it is very similar to the U310, if you want better graphics than you go for the U410. You are running Windows 7, and the U410 can run Windows 8. It is always important to know that you can get the next operating system. In terms of preloaded applications you get Windows Live Essentials 2011, Veriface 4.0, YouCam 3.0, Microsoft Office 2012, Adobe Reader, and more!

We like the U410 a lot. It's well-designed, sturdy and has plenty of power. We have some slight concerns about the battery, and you certainly won't see Lenovo's quoted maximum of nine hours, not unless you cast some sort of power saving spell over it anyway. It's also one of the best-connected machines Lenovo IdeaPad V430A adapter we've used of late, with bundles of USB sockets, and the old favourite - Ethernet - to keep our broadband speeds up to their maximums. All in all, we like this machine a lot. But do yourself a favour, get it in red, because it's fabulous!

Posted by: miko at 09:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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November 06, 2012

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530- Review

Our mind can't help but shift to a specific preconception: "relatively expensive business laptop.This under-$700 laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds battery classic get-what-you-pay-for proposition. It performs well, but many business users will prefer the better-looking screens and richer-sounding speakers of higher-end ThinkPad models such as Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530.

The overall build quality of the ThinkPad Edge isn't great, and our test model creaked a lot at the front where the bottom and top pieces of the chassis come together. Furthermore, the side that has the optical drive bends a lot and clicks can be heard when the notebook is picked up from this side; these clicks are the chassis colliding with the Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds AC adapter front bezel of the DVD burner. Basically, it feels like a budget computer system, despite the modern, cutting-edge CPU that it houses.

The ThinkPad E530 is a 15.6” screen small business targeted laptop. The ThinkPad Edge series is very similar in design to the regular ThinkPad line, but certain design touches do separate the two. For starters, you get a red color option for the lid, so you’re not restricted to just the all black finish used on a normal ThinkPad. Another thing you might notice is the fact the "i” in ThinkPad has a red lit dot forming part of the letter, you get this design touch on both the lid and keyboard deck area.

This keyboard is valued by most users as convenient for frequent use. Be it for writing long emails, or surfing the net, most users will be satisfied with the comfort and the speed this keyboard provides for Lenovo ThinkPad W700 AC adapter. If your professional life requires long typing hours, along with the highest levels of comfort, then you might want to consider a keyboard with higher rates. The responsiveness of this keyboard allows for most users to be satisfied with individual key feedback. The keys do require some pressure for efficient typing, without being either too soft or too stiff for manipulation. Most users will find this keyboard supportive for long typing hours as the keys can be pressed down without any difficulty and they respond back quite fast.

The trackpad is positioned conveniently providing ample space for palm-rest. Nevertheless, critical tests have revealed it to be somewhat flimsy. Right clicks and click-and-drag movements failed invariably and this could leave users disappointed. Apart from that, it works fine with Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds AC adapter three-finger flicks and two finger scroll movements.

Lenovo offers several configuration options for the E530. This review unit includes an Intel Core i5 2nd generation processor, 4GB RAM and Intel HD 3000 graphics. The notebook includes 500GB of storage as well as Bluetooth and WiFi. Don’t plan on gaming or running processor intense applications for specialized fields, but office workers will not be left needing more power. Business notebooks aren’t known for audio quality and the E530 doesn’t deviate from this with tinny sounding speakers. Audio is sufficiently loud, but users should look for a good pair of headphones or external speakers.

The laptop, at times, is also reported to bend towards the side which houses the Lenovo ThinkPad W700 adapter optical drive. The clicking sound is often loud which results from the chassis brushing against the optical drive. By and large, the ThinkPad Edge E530 will not give you the impression of a high end laptop despite having a powerful processor.

3D performance was poor, as expected. 3DMark 11 would not run because Intel HD 3000 does not support DirectX 11. 3DMark 06 reached a score of 3,739, which is among the lowest we’ve recently recorded. You can play some old 3D games on this laptop, but demanding new titles are out of the question.

Many mainstream notebooks, such as the aforementioned Qosmio, last just over two hours in this test. Even notebooks such as the Core i3-based, 15.6in Medion Akoya E6228, which has a similar battery rating, last only just over three hours. The last iteration of the Lenovo ThinkPad T420, which is a 14in laptop with a 57 Watt-hour battery, lasted 3hr 30min, so the Edge 530 is better than that notebook, too. Basically, its battery life is impressive for a such a big unit with so much power under the hood.

Still, the Lenovo proved both sturdy and serviceable, and it comes with a strong complement of expansion ports and security options, including a fingerprint reader for keeping Lenovo G550 battery intruders out. All in all, while the ThinkPad Edge E530 offers little to thrill small-business shoppers, it's as safe a buy for them as the company's more costly ThinkPads are for corporate IT departments.

Posted by: miko at 06:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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