Lenovo Thinkpad W541 review

This Ultrabook-class laptop, priced starting at $1,133 (￡765, AU$1,455), packs plenty of punch to compete with heavyweight workstations, with features including an optional 3K touchscreen display, desktop docking, longer battery life, military specification testing for durability and plenty of ports.With a 15.5-inch high resolution screen, the ThinkPad W550s chicony ac adapter a10 090p3a has many rivals. Namely, it competes against Dell’s $2,234 (￡1,505, AU$2,862) Precision M3800 workstation with a 4K display and Nvidia Quadro K1100M graphics and the more powerful, $2,079 (￡1,400, AU$2,665) Dell Precision M4800 with a 4K touch panel and quad-core Haswell processor alongside an Nvidia Quadro K2100M GPU. Other notable competitors include HP’s $2,999 (￡2,020, AU$3,845) ZBook 15 G2 with a QHD+ resolution display and Quadro K2100M graphics, and MSI’s $2,649 (￡1,785, AU$3,395) WS60 with 4K display along with a quad-core Haswell processor and Quadro K2100M graphics.

Design

The ThinkPad W541 basically uses the same chassis, which means Lenovo did not improve the weaknesses of the ThinkPad W540 in the area of the palm rest, above the ExpressCard slot and at the lower display frame. Quite the contrary: We only have to rest our hands on the palm rest to provoke an audible contact between the outer shell and the internal components. It appears that stabilizing elements are just missing, so we do not get the stiffness that we expect from a ThinkPad.Even though the ThinkPad W550s looks like a plastic brick, don’t be fooled by its construction. The components are protected by a sturdy roll cage, metal skeleton, and reinforced with what Lenovo describes as "satellite-grade" carbon fiber.

With one-third the weight of aluminum, the use of a carbon fiber shell helps keeps the W550s light while being more shock absorbent at the same time, in case you drop the notebook. I can’t attest to the shock absorbent nature of the design as I didn’t perform any drop tests, but the overall build quality is solid with minimal creaks and no flexes.The only obvious change is the touchpad. While the size of the indentation in the palm rest is similar, Lenovo cut off the upper part of the ClickPad and replaced it with three dedicated TrackPoint buttons. The touch sensitive surface is now smaller with around 100 x 56 millimeters.Compared to the more powerful ThinkPad W541 asus rog g751jt netzteil on the market, the compact 15 x 10.2 x 0.92-inch (38.1 x 25.9 x 2.34cm) dimensions of the 5.47-pound (2.48kg) ThinkPad W550s make it easier to travel with.

The compactness of the W550s is even more dramatic when compared to a few of Lenovo’s rivals. The Dell M4800 is about 50% thicker and almost a pound heavier at 6.35 pounds (2.88kg), while HP’s ZBook 15 weighs 6.13 pounds (2.78kg) with a 1.2-inch (3.04cm) thick frame.With the ThinkPad W550s, Lenovo opted for a dual-finish design. The top lid of the laptop has a soft-touch finish. The rubberized material makes the laptop easier to grip, but is a magnet for dirt and fingerprints.

Compared to the 14-inch full HD display on the ThinkPad T450s adl40wlg netzteil that TechRadar reviewed recently, the larger footprint of the W550s gives you more screen real estate and pixels to work with, making it easier to juggle multiple windows and stay productive.We can see the reason for the comparatively low chassis stability when we look at the weight. It seems that the goal was a weight reduction: The Lenovo ThinkPad W541 weighs 2,600 grams (with 99-Wh battery), which is very light for a conventional mobile 15-inch workstation. Toshiba's Tecra W50 weighs 2,710 grams and the very sturdy HP ZBook 15 G2 weighs at least 3 kilograms.Even though the large screen makes video editing and photo touchups an immersive experience, I wish Lenovo had opted for a taller screen. The 16:9 aspect ratio feels a little constraining when working with large Excel spreadsheets and Word documents, and a 16:10 display would certainly feel roomier. The optional docking port on the undercarriage of the laptop allows for more expandability with additional USB ports, HDMI, DVI-D, and DisplayPort.

Keyboard

For those who live inside Excel or deal a lot with numbers, there is a dedicated number pad just to the right of the keyboard. This is an advantage over consumer-centric notebooks or those intended for creative professionals, like the 15-inch MacBook Pro adl40wdc with Retina display.The chiclet-style keyboard convinces with a good pressure point, large keys and a stroke that is not too loud. The keys have a spacing of 19 mm and the size is very functional. The arrow keys are also bigger compared to many rivals and can be used very comfortably. Only the gap between both vertical arrow keys could be a bit bigger. The keyboard sits firmly in the chassis and provides a good feedback. The separate numeric keypad makes it easier to enter large rows with numbers, but also results in an asymmetrical position of the touchpad. In the area of the F-keys are additional multimedia and special buttons that enable useful features and do not require the Fn key. The latter is traditionally switched with the Ctrl key for ThinkPads, but this can be changed in the BIOS.

Compared to a desktop keyboard, the keys on the number pad are slightly narrower on the ThinkPad W550s, but not quite as narrow as the keys on the MSI WS60. Because of the inclusion of the number pad, both the keyboard and the trackpad were skewed a little to the left in their placement relative to the screen.Though the overall typing experience is excellent, ergonomics may be hindered depending on how you use the notebook.Lenovo faced a lot of criticism for the integration of the so called 5-Button ClickPad and the manufacturer now revises its decision for the ThinkPad W541 and many other ThinkPad models, at least to a certain extent. Users now once again get separate TrackPoint buttons, which will be good news for fans of the TrackPoint since the handling can now almost keep up with old models and you get a much better feedback from the buttons. It seems that the touchpad itself was reworked as well: The integrated touchpad buttons at the front of the ClickPad now also react in the peripheral areas and therefore provide a much better feedback compared to the previous generation. The touchpad also provides good gliding capabilities and executes inputs reliably.When used as a laptop on my lap, I found that my body was slightly turned towards the left to accommodate for the off-center position of the keyboard. When used on a desk, this was less obvious.

Display

Lenovo still offers the ThinkPad W541 with a Full HD TN display (1920x1080) or a 3K IPS display (2880x1620). Our review unit uses the same 3K IPS panel that we already evaluated in our review of the Lenovo ThinkPad W540. We also suspect that the Full HD panel will be similar to the previously tested model.One of the ThinkPad W550s’s biggest selling points is the optional 3K display. Given that the W550s is marketed to those who work with media and entertainment, manufacturing and design, and 2D and basic 3D CAD design work, the higher resolution screen may be a worthwhile splurge from a standard 1080p panel.

Our current test display reaches a maximum brightness of 360 cd/m2, has a contrast of 632:1 and it manages a brightness distribution of 87%. The viewing angles are very wide and only show minimal color or brightness changes from very extreme angles.Unlike on Apple’s MacBook Pro series, the display both on the touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions of the ThinkPad W550s inspiron 7348 adapter has a matte coating.Under bright office lights and outdoors, the matte coating is useful in reducing reflections and glare. I found that under bright conditions, I didn’t have to turn the brightness up with Lenovo’s matte display as I would have with a Surface Pro 3 or MacBook Pro.

Like on the ThinkPad T450s, the downside with the matte display is that text and images appear grainier than on a glossy display. The W550s’s high resolution panel compensated a little to keep things crisp, but content on the glossy MacBook Pro with Retina display appears sharper to my eyes.Besides the basic figures, we also had a closer look at the results of the integrated X-Rite colorimeter. The available features only cover the basics with the selection of the white point and the gamma value. After the calibration, which takes around 2 minutes, you get at least a before-after comparison. The CalMAN screenshots show that the results of the calibration in combination with the 3K display are actually not bad, despite the meager equipment. Only two individual measurements slightly surpass a DeltaE2000 value of 5, all the other results are clearly below that. Only the RGB balance and the accuracy of the gamma curve could be better. All in all you get a very practical solution despite some small issues, and the result is also sufficient for professional users.

Performance

Lenovo confirmed that our SpecWPC results matched what’s being produced with the Nvidia Quadro K620M processor, even though the test could only identify the integrated Intel graphics. Similarly, 3DMark was not able to properly identify the GPU, a reason that could be attributed to the Quadro K620M’s newness on the market.Comparing the SpecWPC results between the W550s and the W540 asus power adapter charger from last year, I got a score of 1.61 versus 2.99 for the Media and Entertainment test, 1.81 versus 2.52 for the Product Development test, 1.9 versus 2.09 for the Life Sciences test, 0.89 versus 2.66 for the Financial Services test, 1.65 versus 2.89 for the Energy test, and 3.02 versus 4.29 for the General Operations test, respectively.

Even though the benchmarked numbers don’t quite match last year’s ThinkPad W540s with a quad-core processor, the new dual-core Broadwell architecture and Nvidia Quadro K620M graphics hold their ground.Lenovo still offers a large portfolio of processors you can choose from. The spec sheet lists seven different models, starting with the Intel Core i5-4210M all the way up to an Intel Core i7-4940MX. They can be combined with the Nvidia Quadro K1100M or the Nvidia Quadro K2100M as well as numerous storage solutions. Configurations with a quad-core processor support up to 32 GB memory. A detailed list of all the options is available in Lenovo’s PSREF sheet (Product Specifications Reference).

As the MSI WS60 comes with a similar quad-core Intel Haswell Core i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro K2100M graphics as the Lenovo W540, performance numbers between the systems are similar using 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks.The MSI mobile workstation delivered 3DMark scores of 1,670 on Fire Strike, 9,630 on Cloud Gate and 5,987 on Sky Diver compared to the W550s’s scores of 1,426, 5,246 and 4,830 respectively. Both sets of scores beat the Ultrabook 15 p087na battery average scores of 706, 4,160 and 2,437 respectively, showing the discrete GPU at work on the mobile workstations.

Battery Life

Like the ThinkPad T450s, the ThinkPad W550s comes with Lenovo’s Power Bridge battery technology. Power Bridge allows you to maintain your workflow without interruption. You can swap the depleted rear battery for a fresh one. The internal battery will maintain your work state, so you don’t need to shutdown the system.In real-world usage, battery life is admirably good, though nowhere near the numbers that Lenovo quotes. With an internal three-cell battery and a swappable six-cell battery, battery life is closer to 11 hours with Photoshop editing, running multiple Chrome browser tabs and windows, and the occasional viewing of short YouTube clips with Microsoft Word either in use or in the background.

That number is remarkable, given that my colleague Kevin Lee achieved just five hours and 17 minutes last year with the W540 netzteil dell.Running on battery power results in a continuous clock reduction to 800 MHz when we use the Intel Core i7-4910MQ in combination with the Nvidia Quadro K2100M. The Cinebench R11.5 64-bit multi-core test on battery power is on the level of the single-core test on mains power with just 1.75 points, which means you do not even get 25% of the original performance. The situation changes when we use the Intel GPU, where we can once again see a steady fluctuation (roughly every 10 seconds) between 800 and 3,400 MHz. Intel's HD Graphics 4600, however, runs with up to 400 MHz. The multi-core test of Cinebench R11.5 64-bit manages a much better 6.51 points in this scenario. This means you should deactivate the dedicated GPU if you want to use the highest possible CPU performance on battery power.

If you carry a spare battery, you can go even longer without recharging, which is great for road warriors, frequent travelers, or those working in athe field where power outlets aren’t readily available. Batteries that can be hot-swapped - or even just removed - isn’t something that’s found anymore on consumer laptops.

All said, this mobile workstation is met with some tough competition, especially when it comes to price per part. So, the real question is: are you ready to be $3,000 (￡2,020, AU$3,845) poorer for the ThinkPad pedigree?Unless your world revolves heavy video editing or graphics manipulation, sacrificing a little bit of performance to achieve over 10 hours of real-world battery life with workstation-class performance is well worth it if you can do more.