IBM
Off lease Lenovo W520 - i7, 8GB, 160GB SSD - $437
- Last Updated:
- Mar 22nd, 2015 10:11 am
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- b3lb3l
- Sr. Member
- Apr 29, 2008
- 591 posts
- 165 upvotes
- Toronto
- Guest13384726
- Deal Addict
- Sep 9, 2010
- 4863 posts
- 3538 upvotes
- Burnaby
I bought a dp-hdmi adapter for the laptop port (to use an hdmi cable) at amazon. On a second thought I think it's better (more room at the ports and less strain on the laptop port) to use a dp-dp cable and a dp-hdmi adapter for the monitor (I still have to buy them, but I found some at dx.)
I found my laptop's screen a bit blueish and too bright/too dim. I adjusted the settings for the Intel HD3000 manually for the three colors (gamma and contrast, no brightness) to my taste to get less saturated colors, good contrast and reduce the blue hue. I adjusted the brightness on the power profiles. You might want to adjust as well how the laptop switches gpus depending on task/program being used (it can be distracting). I just let it on discrete gpu all the time on AC power when I want to use a program that uses the nvidia gpu. On battery, I let it switch gpus but changes (brightness, colors, font sharpness, etc.) can be a bit distracting.
- b3lb3l
- Sr. Member
- Apr 29, 2008
- 591 posts
- 165 upvotes
- Toronto
Okay, I'm really confused now. Is the port a DV or DP? Some have been saying DPI but that looks too big for the machine. I don't want to get the wrong thing. Can you post a link if you find something suitable?
I also turned down the brightness... OMG, it was burning my eyeballs.
I also turned down the brightness... OMG, it was burning my eyeballs.
aviador wrote: ↑I bought a dp-hdmi adapter for the laptop port (to use an hdmi cable) at amazon. On a second thought I think it's better (more room at the ports and less strain on the laptop port) to use a dp-dp cable and a dp-hdmi adapter for the monitor (I still have to buy them, but I found some at dx.)
I found my laptop's screen a bit blueish and too bright/too dim. I adjusted the settings for the Intel HD3000 manually for the three colors (gamma and contrast, no brightness) to my taste to get less saturated colors, good contrast and reduce the blue hue. I adjusted the brightness on the power profiles. You might want to adjust as well how the laptop switches gpus depending on task/program being used (it can be distracting). I just let it on discrete gpu all the time on AC power when I want to use a program that uses the nvidia gpu. On battery, I let it switch gpus but changes (brightness, colors, font sharpness, etc.) can be a bit distracting.
- Scycotic
- Deal Addict
- Oct 31, 2012
- 4547 posts
- 1045 upvotes
- London
The port is a full-sized DisplayPort. Not to be confused with mini-DVI (common on older Mac machines) or miniDisplayPort (newer ThinkPads/other laptops and modern Macs).
- Guest13384726
- Deal Addict
- Sep 9, 2010
- 4863 posts
- 3538 upvotes
- Burnaby
The laptop video output port is (full size) Displayport.
Use [ DP(male)-to-HDMI(female) adapter #1 #2] + [ your usual HDMI cable ] to use monitor's HDMI input port.
or you can buy a DP(male) to HDMI(male) cable #3
or use a standard DP cable and get an adapter for the monitor side, in this case DP (female) to HDMI (male) adapter #4.
Please someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
LOL at the brightness.
Some places to buy are dealextreme, amazon or ebay. It takes long to receive them though since most of the time they are shipped using regular mail from China or Hong-Kong.
- b3lb3l
- Sr. Member
- Apr 29, 2008
- 591 posts
- 165 upvotes
- Toronto
Thanks so much to you both.
- albundy99999999
- Deal Addict
- Jun 19, 2006
- 3401 posts
- 715 upvotes
- Toronto
To those who remove the DVD drive and replace it with Ultra-Bay with SSD drive on your W520, do you get 7mm or 9mm SSD drive? Tried googling, but still isn't sure.
I got this Caddy:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-2nd-Hard-Dri ... 3ce2706e2e
It indicated "Working with SATA 2.5" inch 9.5mm / 12.7mm Serial ATA Hard drive and SSD (Solid State Drive) as well.".
Does that mean it works only with 9 mm SSD drive?
I got this Caddy:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-2nd-Hard-Dri ... 3ce2706e2e
It indicated "Working with SATA 2.5" inch 9.5mm / 12.7mm Serial ATA Hard drive and SSD (Solid State Drive) as well.".
Does that mean it works only with 9 mm SSD drive?
- Scycotic
- Deal Addict
- Oct 31, 2012
- 4547 posts
- 1045 upvotes
- London
Almost all devices that work with 9.5mm drives work just fine with 7mm drives as well, this is also the case with your caddy. The only ones that have difficulties are those that are friction fit and don't use screws at all.albundy99999999 wrote: ↑To those who remove the DVD drive and replace it with Ultra-Bay with SSD drive on your W520, do you get 7mm or 9mm SSD drive? Tried googling, but still isn't sure.
I got this Caddy:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/New-2nd-Hard-Dri ... 3ce2706e2e
It indicated "Working with SATA 2.5" inch 9.5mm / 12.7mm Serial ATA Hard drive and SSD (Solid State Drive) as well.".
Does that mean it works only with 9 mm SSD drive?
- andyhejob
- Sr. Member
- Oct 29, 2007
- 802 posts
- 147 upvotes
How about the speed, does it directly use SATA interface or USB conversion?
- Scycotic
- Deal Addict
- Oct 31, 2012
- 4547 posts
- 1045 upvotes
- London
- wlee
- Deal Guru
- Mar 8, 2003
- 11234 posts
- 3800 upvotes
- Richmond Hill
- tkboyz
- Sr. Member
- Aug 26, 2006
- 778 posts
- 527 upvotes
- Montreal Area
My w520 just died,,, anyone wants to buy the powersupply brick for 60$ in montreal?
- adot111
- Sr. Member
- Aug 20, 2006
- 935 posts
- 184 upvotes
- bluespecv
- Sr. Member
- Sep 19, 2004
- 757 posts
- 322 upvotes
This is back in stock by the way..
- lousiezxm
- Jr. Member
- Dec 1, 2013
- 104 posts
- 27 upvotes
- b3lb3l
- Sr. Member
- Apr 29, 2008
- 591 posts
- 165 upvotes
- Toronto
So I thought I got a great deal with this computer, but my battery just died. It's weird because I was getting about 5 hours with the battery. When I first got it the cycle count was 110, condition was good. But it suddenly just stopped working. It says it is fully charged but in Power Manager it states "The battery has failed due to normal wear and tear. The battery cannot be charged. Replace the battery". Could this be some kind of fixable glitch?
- b3lb3l
- Sr. Member
- Apr 29, 2008
- 591 posts
- 165 upvotes
- Toronto
I've discovered that this has happened after an automatic update to Lenovo battery monitor software. I think it has affected the chip in the battery so I don't think it is reversible. Beware auto updates if all is working well on your computer.