The Lenovo Think Pad W510 is a bulky, heavy set notebook. it has a 15.6 inch display with LED backlighting. It has a high performance workstation type processor, nVidia Quadro FX880 mobile graphics unit and workstation style features like in built color calibration. Obviously the price of this Think Pad is marked to be $2929.
As it has only a mobile GPU for its huge size, it cannot be used as a gaming powerhouse. The modern games are not effective and they stagger at the 1080 pixel resolution. The DVD playback is not exceptional. DVD upscalling is soft even on using the nVidia control panel. The HD 1080 pixel WMV format videos also looked washed out.The audio output is excellent with the lack of Bass. The stereo imaging is accurate. The sound is not very loud even when the volume Is kept at its maximum level.
Though it is not meant for gamers, it is suitable for graphics professionals. The CAD and content creation applications require both high processor performance and graphics. The laptop does not produce excessive heat or noise when running applications that demand CPU performance. It uses a 9 cell battery that provides 3 hours and 43 minutes power.
W510 supports Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth, built in mobile broadband and gigabit Ethernet connectivity. There are analog VGA and Display ports to handle the analog/digital display outputs.
There are 3 USB ports, display output ports and a mini port for IEEE 1394a on the left side of the notebook. The right side has the optical drive, audio port,5 in 1 flash card slot and ExpressCard slot. It has a USB 3.0 port at the back and 2 USB 2.0 ports at the right. It also has a USB/eSATA combo port.
The display has LED backlights, XRite’s Huey Pro color calibration software and a built in color calibration sensor. The process of color calibration is very simple. You need to launch the application and click on the next button. Now you will have to close the lid until 3 beeps are heard. The color appeared correct in image editing applications. The LCD display has poor vertical viewing angles while the horizontal viewing angles are average.
There is no Blu-ray burner in W510 and therefore you will have to use a system equipped with Blu-ray or connect an external Blu-ray writer through USB when authoring HD discs.
The documentation software is also limited with a 60 day trail version of Microsoft Office and Corel applications such as Corel DVD Movie Factory and WinDVD.
W510 is a sturdy notebook with solid processor performance and good graphics. There are advantages like color calibration and USB 3.0 port. It also has some lacking features and is expensive. It is an excellent choice for customers seeking good overall performance.
