Just got my Lenovo E-mail yesterday... looks like my W520 has just left Shanghai. Hopefully its stay in Louisville will be a brief one... if so there's a good chance it will get here before Lenovo's 4/19 estimate.

Mine sat in Louisville for 3 days waiting for the import scan. It left Louisville today and already went through Alburquerque and is now in Ontario, CA. It now has to leave Ontario and make the jaunt over to San Bernadino so they can put it on the truck and swing by my place. It's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

Not sure if it was luck (though I seem to get my share with regard to computers) or the extra $25 for 2-day UPS shipping.

My W520 is here!!

I popped it open and stuffed in my 80 GB mSATA card and went on a tour inside with my Wiha screwdrivers. This thing is easy to work on and it's QUIET. My T61p is quiet as well. The W520 feels a bit more solid that the T61p.

I'm going to shelve the 4GB Elpida ram stick and the 500GB Hitachi HDD that shipped with the unit and pick up some different parts...

I'm leaning towards this HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136835 and since my processor will work with this ram speed, I'm thinking of picking up 16 GB of this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136835.

Gotta go finish making my factory restore disks so I can shelve those as well. This baby is getting an OEM Windows 7 Pro install and a big giant dose of Arch Linux to go along with it. All of the Lenovo branded software has me literally seeing red. After it gets 16 GB of ram and a bigger HDD, I'll toss that OEM Win7 on the mSATA card and see how fast she goes without the Lenovo stuff on board.

yee-haw!

Louisville is where the customs scan takes place. What really happens is that the U.S. government opens up all of the Chinese Lenovo computers and removes the Chinese spy chips and patches all of the Chinese backdoors in the factory Win7 install. Then the U.S. government installs their own spy chips and backdoors in the operating system. That's why it takes 3 days to "customs scan" in Louisville.

Just Kidding... LOL. Had you going there for a minute, eh? I'm the only one awake in the house and the cat doesn't feel like letting me tease her. Sorry...

Well, my W520 just showed up and it's a mix of joy and pain for me...

Loaded some software onto it this afternoon and as expected this machine is a total beast.

However, looks like it has had a rough ride over from China... the lower right screen bezel is splitting away and will not snap back together. Well I guess this is why I got the 3 year warranty... wonder if it will be better to send it right back or try to get it fixed locally. Any advice?

I've used the Lenovo warranty on my T61p a few times and it was the deciding factor in me buying a W520. The warranty service has always been absolutely AWESOME. I'd just let them know what is up, they will ship out a really nice padded carton for you to pack your machine into with a pre-paid shipping label. You drop it off at someplace like Office Depot that has a UPS desk and wait like 2-3 days and it'll be back and fixed. It has ~always~ worked like this for me in the past and I'm never let down by Lenovo. Use the warranty.

I usually just yank the HDD before I ship it and they fix it using their own HDD. That way my data stays mine.

BTW, that major league SUCKS that your new computer arrived like that. I'm very sorry that it happened to you. Cool pix tho.

Canadian here. Ordered a new W520 on the launch date...ship time is estimated to be abysmal.

Order date and time: 29/03/11 10:49 AM
Estimated ship date: 02/05/11

Config is i7-2820QM, FHD/2000M, 1x4GB stick, 1x320GB@7200RPM, 6300AGN.

You lucky Americans

Not sure if it's an option, but I'd return it and ask them to build me a new one.

Well, either because I complained here, or because Lenovo's order system is confused, I got action. My W520 shipped today! \o/

Ordered 4/9/2011 :

0A68269 SBB 2NDGICI7-2620M IHDGR200
45M3090 VBB GENUWIN7PROFES.64
0A68625 SBB GW7P64 E
0A68535 SBB 15.6FHD (1900 X 1080) LED
0A68893 SBB NVQ1000M GR
75Y0829 VBB 6GB PC3-10600 SODIMM
45M4839 SBB KEYBOARDUS ENGLISH
0A68527 VBB NO FINGERPRINT READER
0A68558 SBB 720P HD CAM INT MICR
0A69620 SBB I RAID-NOT EN
0A68552 SBB 320GB HDD7200RPM
0A68547 SBB DVD RC8XMXDLLRULTEHATA
0A68529 VBB ECS+4IN1CR
45M4816 SBB 9CELLLI-ION BATTERY
0A68904 SBB CPNAMLC+ 170W AC AD
75Y1724 SBB THINKPADB/G/N
44C7950 SBB INT WRLSSWDAREANTWRK UPGR
0A68564 SBB LANG PCK US E

Originally projected a ship date of 4/21/2011
Now it has no ship date and reads: "If no ship date is given above, there may be an issue with your order. If you would like more information on the status, please call 866-426-0013"

I called and they said the ship date is still 4/21/2011. Should I scale back my expectation that it will ship this week?

You get free band-aids and placebos. It all balances out.

I ordered pretty much the same machine, but with the HD+ display on the 4/10, estimated ship 4/20. I've got the same notice now, and of my 2 calls in, the call center has no information except "It COULD ship out this week.. or next.. you'll get a notice when it ships". Major bummer.

Apparently there is a part constraint, but nobody knows what it is (I got this from an actual helpful person when I called the sales line)

My ship date has changed from April 21st to May 16th. I probably should start looking into alternatives.

What's nuts, is that if I *CANCEL* my order, and place a new order, it will also ship May 16th, *AND* it will be cheaper by about 10% (or I can upgrade to the FHD screen for the same price)

<sigh>

*ARE* there any alternatives that are shipping? I've locked myself into a 4-DIMM solution, though now I'm not sure it's worth it. Since I need to use this for 3+ years, potentially, I want to be able to max out the RAM as you can never have enough it seems...

Makes me suspect they have no idea when my system will ship. They told me earlier in the week it would ship on schedule and then the day after if it's suppose to ship they push the ship date way out. I imagine the do that to keep people from cancelling their orders. Once the ship date has passed, it becomes a little hard to say it will ship on time.

With what happened in Japan, I understand the parts constraints, what I don't like is being kept in the dark about what is going on. IIRC, when I ordered a Dell a few years ago, I could track the status of my order with full details (when it moved through, kitting, build, testing, etc...). Oh well, if thread isn't a place to vent, I apologize.

Well, you aren't the first to use this thread that way

Back a page, my system had been scheduled for Apr 8, then on the 7th it was bumped out a week to the 14th. Then it shipped on the 8th after all. So, maybe bumping the ship date is Lenovo's way of telling you they built it? Dunno.

OTOH, if you're not in too much of a hurry, canceling and reordering would put you back at the end of the line and might help ensure you get a B3 stepping on the chipset.

I noticed yesterday that the ship date for my order had been updated to 4/28/2011, so I called to confirm that it would ship this week. They said it was no longer waiting for parts, in production, and scheduled to ship this week. This morning I check and the ship date is now 5/11/2011. My worse buying experience ever, bar none.

I'd cancel my order and buy the new Tecra R850-ST8500, but unfortunately they only offer it with HD (that's too big of a step down from my current 1920x1200).

Well, I **FINALLY** got a shipping notice for my *THIRD* Lenovo order since March.

I had a theory that RAID orders were not in short supply, so I canceled my W520 non-raid, and ordered a W520 with RAID and lo-and-behold, it went from a 4/24 order to a 4/29 shipment! (Original estimate 5/10)

My other canceled W520, is still showing a 4/29 shipment date though yes, I canceled that one.

Was split between a W701ds and W520, ended up going with the W520:

Projected Ship Date: 05/19/11
0A68542 SBB ICI7-2820QM IHD GR200
45M3090 VBB GENUWIN7PROFES.64
0A68625 SBB GW7P64 E
0A68535 SBB 15.6FHD (1900 X 1080) LED
0A68894 SBB NVQ2000M GR
45M4571 VBB 4GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM
45M4839 SBB KEYBOARDUS ENGLISH
0A68526 VBB FINGERPRINT READER
0A68558 SBB 720P HD CAM INT MICR
0A69620 SBB I RAID-NOT EN
0A68553 SBB 500GB HDD7200RPM
0A68547 SBB DVD RC8XMXDLLRULTEHATA
0A68529 VBB ECS+4IN1CR
45M4816 SBB 9CELLLI-ION BATTERY
0A68904 SBB CPNAMLC+ 170W AC AD
0A68261 SBB BLUETOOTH 3.0
75Y1724 SBB THINKPADB/G/N
44C7950 SBB INT WRLSSWDAREANTWRK UPGR
0A68564 SBB LANG PCK US E
0A68537 SBB FINGRPRNT READER
41C9339 4YR ONSITE + 4YR TPP

I'll end up bumping up the memory to at least 16GB sometime later. That said, where are the 32GB kits(since there was a "special order" option for 32GB)?

Well even though this is technically the shipping thread for new W520s, since mine just took another trip through the post I thought I'd update everyone here.

I took MikeM's advice and sent it back to Lenovo on Thursday April 21st, just got it back yesterday (Monday May 2). Maybe it took a bit longer to fix because the repair depot didn't have W520 parts in stock just yet, or perhaps because of Easter holiday... who knows.

Anyway the repairs were successful and my machine looks none the worse for wear, so aside from missing a week's worth of bragging rights over my pals for being on the bleeding edge I am pretty happy

I ordered on May 8, 2011. The shipment date was showing June 1, 2011. To my surprise, it's now showing that it left the fulfillment center on May 12, 2011 and got shipped!

How many days did it take to arrive? What part of north America are you in and if you don't mind sharing, what specs?

It took 10 days. Reached here on May 17, 2011. I am in the eastern part. I live in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Just pulled the trigger on a 4276-23U. Shipping from the vendor via UPS to NZ takes 3-4 business days, plus another couple of days to clear customs.

First new thinkpad since my T40P in 2003.

I've had mine for a week now, but figured I'd add to the pot

9 days passed from Order Date to Received Date. The box was in pristine condition, having come all the way from Shanghai!

W520 arrived today, safe and sound.


Now to install Linux and get this puppy configured

I'm still waiting, looks like it sat with UPS in Ontario for two days (not including the holiday)!! One more reason I will never use UPS if I have the choice.

finally clicked the 'order' button...

Order date: 05/26/11
Est. Ship Date: 06/09/11

my beast info
Intel Core i7-2820QM Processor (2.30GHz, 8MB L3)1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 6412
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD recordable multiburner5
9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++60
Bluetooth 3.0
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 625010
Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC8355 – Gobi 3000 (TM))65
4270 : 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7

Will bump it later with additional 2x4 GB RAM as the present 2 DIMM will be used up.
And will get a SSD later as well, not in hurry for it.

It totaled up to 1,949.26 USD

It showed up Friday:) FHD screen is the way to go for anyone on the fence! Took me a little bit to figure out how to turn on the bluetooth (Fn+F5) and the trackpad multi touch is a waste of time ( They should just pay apple to use their patent ), other then that this is a sweet system. Tomorrow I slap in some better hard drives and a clean OS, wish me luck:)

For western Canada it took 17 days from order to delivery, not bad and it would have been sooner but UPS in Canada has a history of suck...