Lenovo ThinkPad W530 Mobile Workstation Review
I wanted to share a thorough review of the new ThinkPad W530 mobile workstation from our friends at CADplace. I’m happy to hear that they are as pleased with the ThinkPad W530 as I am. I’ve copied an excerpt of their review below:
Lenovo’s new mobile workstation – the ThinkPad W530 – epitomizes the best qualities of the ThinkPad brand & brings you the latest workstation technology
At first glance you know that it is a ThinkPad. The look, the feel, everything about this mobile workstation oozes “ThinkPad”. Lenovo remains consistent with their brand’s design. Perhaps more than any other workstation, the ThinkPad carries with it a particular image. Any reader familiar with the ThinkPad will look at the CADplace photos and will know how this notebook will feel in their hands.
I wasn’t the least surprised when I unpacked the matte black notebook. I was please to feel the solid design when I first opened the machine to turn it on.. It starts when you lift the display-back. It has a clean surface and is distinctly missing the “flimsy” feeling that makes one worry how much travel the display will withstand. There is no doubt that this machine will take the abuse that design & engineering professionals will inflict on it.
On the inside, the review unit came with an Intel Core i73520M CPU running at 2.9GHz and an NVIDIA Quadro K1000 GPU. The ThinkStation has a 15.6 inch display. Lenovo supports a display resolution of 1600×900 in models with the Quadro K1000 GPU. The maximum resolution with a Quadro K2000 GPU is 1900×1080. On the CADplace unit, the notebook is running the 64 bit version of Windows 7 Professional, has 4GB of memory (maximum capacity is 32GB), and has 1TB storage capacity.
The ThinkPad connectivity gives you what a workstation needs. A MiniDisplayPort (with audio) output as well as a VGA output. A combined headphone/microphone 3.5mm jack, 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 UDB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 SD card reader, one express card, an Ethernet port, and a smart card reader. Lenovo can provide accessories to give you other interfaces such as a connection to a DVI monitor.
The keyboard is solid and responsive and a back-lit keyboard is available as an option. The touchpad has two sets of buttons and a scroll-button in the middle. In addition there is the touch-button in the middle of the keyboard for customers who prefer it for navigation.
