I would love to hear from someone who actually receives a W530 about the quality of the screen: compared to the w520, or compared to another Thinkpad that you have.

I would like to hear about it as well.

I know it's not what you asked specifically, but I use a W520 with 1920x1080 display at work all day long. That's a fine display. If the W530 is the same or better, you'd be hard pressed to have an issue with it for office, software development, browsing, etc.

Hi, Wolfman,

I'm still using a T60p, because it has a gorgeous IPS 1600x1200, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. I think the T60p is about the same footprint and weight as the W520. Do you find yours cumbersome?

StevenD,
No, the W520 itself is fine and it doesn't feel heavy for the size if that makes sense. However, the power adapter is a different story. The 170 watt adapter weighs around 1.2-1.4 pounds. That coupled with it's shape and size makes it a hassle to deal with. For example, my previous Lenovo bag had a compartment for the power adapter, etc and in the center of that was a "divider" made of material. The weight of the power adapter in there has basically ripped that divider so now all the stuff in that compartment is jumbled together. And the power adapter consumes most of the space. It's noticeably lighter on the shoulder without the power adapter.

So everyone seems to have a different opinion on the power adapter, but that's my only complaint with the machine. Good luck!

Steve

I was all set to go for the W530..then the MacBook Pro announced today.
I've been loyal to Thinkpad for over a decade, but this was the last straw. 2880x1800 IPS display, in a 15", 16x10 form factor? 500GB flash disk? Yeah, its not as upgradeable, but NOTHING comes close to that display. Nothing.

Lenovo just lost me. Unless the PC industry wises up, and STOPS GOING BACKWARDS in display technology, I'm done with them. There are no more excuses for this low res, TV style 1080p crap.

Oh, and that new Win 8 tablet? with 1366x768 display? sorry..just lost me there too.

Hi, Proteus,
OMG. O. M. G. I just checked out that display on the new MacBook Pro. OMG.

Okay, I agree: I've got to reconsider whether to buy a Lenovo at all. I've got a MacBook Pro that I use for iPhone App programming, but I use my T60p for everything else: I run a million Windows programs and I love the keyboard and the trackpoint, and of course I'm very fast with it. I've got a friend who's been bugging me to do everything on the Mac, using Parallels for Windows programs, but it sounds like a horrible kludge to me, and I've tried Parallels and it's not as seamless as we'd like it to be.

But how can I jump to a new laptop with an inferior screen, and an inferior keyboard, when the new MacBook Pro has that screen? Maybe the better thing to do is keep using my T60p while I cogitate on finally going all Mac.

Thanks for the heads up on that Apple notebook release.

/SD