Lenovo ThinkPad T520 im Test

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Our verdict

The 15.6-inch Lenovo ThinkPad T520 is a business workhorse that offers solid performance and graphics, great battery life, and a great keyboard.

To the

Fast boot time

Great keyboard

High definition display

Extra long battery life

Against

No USB 3.0

Small touch pad

Bulky design

In the business notebook category, Lenovo continues to be the company to beat and seems to be extending its dominance with the ThinkPad T520. Thanks to the Core i5 processor and Nvidia graphics, this 15-inch system can be had for $1,299 handle almost any task. A sturdy chassis, an excellent keyboard, and an integrated fingerprint reader further sweeten the pot, but is that enough to keep the T520 at the forefront of the business world? Regardless, it's one of the

best laptops

you can buy

draft

Click to enlarge As with other ThinkPads, the T520 is as shabby as it gets

ThinkPad

logo. In a nod to the ThinkPad aesthetic, the deck features the traditional all-black interior, with the keyboard nestled between two speakers. Also on board are the telltale blue Enter key and bright red TrackPoint nestled between the G and H. A raised bezel above the function keys houses mute, volume, mic mute, ThinkVantage Toolbox, and power buttons.

A black latch along the notebook's right front lip reveals the lid, which is held in place by two rock-solid metal hinges. A magnesium-alloy internal frame, supported externally by strong ABS plastic, means this notebook can withstand some stress and strain won't bend. However, the extended battery felt a bit loose.

Click to enlarge Although 15-inch systems aren't meant to be carried around extensively, the 6.2-pound T520 is 14.7 x 9.7 x 1.3-1.4 inches compared to other devices that we had recently reviewed, rather clunky with this size indicator. For example the

HP envy 15

weighs 5.8 pounds and measures 14.9 x 9.6 x 1.1 inches while the 5-pound

Samsung Series 7 Chronos

has a 0.9 inch profile.

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keyboard and touchpad

Click to enlargeThe T520's classic spill-resistant keyboard features large keys with firm, springy feedback. Similar to other ThinkPads, the T520's keyboard features oversized ESC and Delete keys. We scored 55 words per minute with a 1 percent Error rate on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test, higher than our usual error rate of 50 wpm/1 percent.

Lenovo's comfortable, textured TrackPoint pointing stick continues to be the gold standard, delivering accurate navigation. There's also a 2.8" x 1.6" touchpad for users who are used to using the pointing stick. It felt enjoyed rubbing our fingers across the textured surface. However, the limited surface area made activating some multi-touch gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom, difficult.

Click to enlarge Both sets of discrete mouse buttons offered strong feedback, as did the center trackpoint scroll button.

heat

After streaming a full-screen video on Hulu for 15 minutes, the touchpad, the distance between the G and H keys, and the bottom of the notebook measured 82, 85, and 88 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The center of the bottom of the notebook measures 98 degrees, which is 3 Degrees above what we find comfortable, but then this isn't a device that sees much time on your lap.

Connections and webcam

Click to enlargeAn ExpressCard/34 reader, a 4-in-1 card reader, a headphone/microphone combo, gigabit ethernet, and a drawer DVD burner sit on the right side of the T520. Sit on the left side two USB 2.0 ports, a USB/eSATA port, DisplayPort, VGA, Firewire 400 and a wireless switch. There is a single USB 2.0 port on the right rear corner of the notebook. At this point we would like that the notebook is also delivered with USB 3.0.

The 720p camera delivered crisp, clear images even in low light. During our Skype call, our caller reported a clear image with clear detail. However, the color seemed slightly washed out. Audio came through loud and clear. We had a few issues with the lag on our side, but mostly saw a clear picture with vivid colors and loud audio.

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display and audio

Click to enlarge The T520's 15.6-inch matte display delivered sharp and vivid images thanks to its 1600 x 900p resolution. Watching the 1080p YouTube trailer of The Hunger Games, we marveled at the display's glowing red Katniss dress and her piercing blue eyes. However, at 155 lux, the T520 is not quite as bright as the Series 7 Chronos (167 lux).

Despite the two wide speaker grilles on either side of the keyboard, the T520 doesn't offer the best sound. At full volume, the notebook barely filled a small space, even after fine-tuning the Smart Audio control panel. Still, Robin Thicke's soulful tenor on "Love After War" was well balanced, as are the strings, piano and crunchy snare drums.

perfomance

The Lenovo ThinkPad T520 is equipped with a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5-2540M processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard disk with 7,200 rpm and switchable graphics (Intel HD Graphics 3000, Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU with 1 GB VRAM). The machine took pretty much everything we threw at it, including playing videos, running productivity tasks and some light gaming.

On the PCMark07 benchmark, which measures overall performance, the T520 scored 2,177, slightly below the 2,278 mainstream category average. The HP Envy 15, with its 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-2450M and 6GB of RAM, scored 2,385, while the Samsung Series 7 Chronos 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2675QM CPU and 8GB of RAM delivered 2,447.

The T520's 500GB, 7200rpm hard drive booted the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional in 49 seconds. That's 10 seconds faster than the 0:59 category average. During the LAPTOP file transfer test, the ThinkPad duplicated T520 4.97GB of mixed media files in 3 minutes and 1 second, a transfer rate of 28.1MB/s. That's slightly slower than the mainstream average of 31Mbps.

In the OpenOffice Spreadsheet test, the T520 took 4 minutes and 54 seconds to match 20,000 names to their corresponding addresses, 1:32 seconds ahead of the average of 6:26. The Series 7 Chronos was a close second at 4:56, while the Envy trailed 15 with a time of 6:31.

graphics performance

The Lenovo ThinkPad T520 is equipped with Nvidia's Optimus technology, which allows it to automatically switch between its integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 and its discrete Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU with 1GB VRAM for optimal performance and battery life.

In 3DMark06, which measures graphics performance, the T520 scored 5,627. That's 678 points above the average of 4,949 mainstream categories. During the "World of Warcraft" benchmark, the T520 delivered a frame rate of 38 fps with auto detection at 1600x 900. While that's not the mainstream category average of 58 fps, most notebooks in this category offer lower resolutions. When we maxed out the settings, the T520's frame rate dropped slightly to a still playable 33 fps. That's enough, um beating the class average and the Envy 15 (28 fps).

battery life

Click to enlarge Lenovo sent us a large 9-cell battery with the ThinkPad T520, and it didn't disappoint. In the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous web surfing via WLAN), the business notebook lasted a whopping 9 hours and 4 minutes That's 4 hours and 8 minutes longer than the mainstream category average of 4:56. Those who constantly zip from one meeting to the next will appreciate the endurance of the 9-cell battery; If you do most of your work at your desk get things done, the smaller 6-cell battery will probably suffice.

security and software

Click to enlargeLenovo keeps things pretty loose on the software front, and doesn't provide the T520 with much more than the standard ThinkVantage utilities. We found the powered fingerprint reader to be the most helpful utility. In addition to adding a layer of security, we can You can also turn on the T520 with a simple swipe of your finger.

We particularly liked the Power Manager, which allows us to schedule the notebook to hibernate and check the remaining battery power. Our favorite feature is Instant Resume, which keeps the Wi-Fi active for up to 99 minutes after the notebook turns off is idle, so there is no need to wait for reconnection.

Also included are Rescue and Recovery for backing up important system information, Password Manager and Access Connections for managing wireless connections.

Third-party applications include Skype, Adobe Reader 9, Microsoft Office Starter, Windows Live, a free 30-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2011, and a basic version of Business-in-a-Box, business document template software.

support and guarantee

The Lenovo ThinkPad T520 comes with a one-year limited warranty with depot repair service. See how Lenovo does it in our annual

Technical support showdown

and

Lenovo ThinkPad T520 in review

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configurations

Our $1,299 T520 review unit came with a 2.6GHz Intel Core i5-2540M CPU with 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 7200rpm hard drive, switchable graphics (Intel HD Graphics 3000, Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU with 1GB VRAM) and a 15.6-inch display with 1600 x 900 pixels. The $899 base model has a 2.3GHz Intel Core i3-2350M processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive with 5,400 rpm, an Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU and a 15.6-inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels.

The $1,319 top-of-the-line model includes an Intel Core i5-2520M CPU with 4GB RAM, a 160GB SSD, switchable graphics (Intel HD Graphics 3000, Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU with 1GB VRAM), and a 15.6-inch 1600x 900 display. For an additional $200, buyers can upgrade to a 1920 x 1080 display.

Verdict

Although a little thick and heavy for a 15-inch laptop, the $1,299 Lenovo ThinkPad T520 gives business users everything they need: good performance, durability and security. Of course, you also get the fantastic Lenovo keyboard and the precise pointing stick. Add wide viewing angles for the matte screen and extra-long battery life and you have a solid investment.

Lenovo ThinkPad T520 im Test

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