Lenovo Thinkpad W540 Core i7 4th Gen8 Gb Ram 256 Gb Ssd

Lenovo ThinkPad W540 Core i7 4th Gen/8 GB/256 GB SSD

Workstation-level performance, an outstanding keyboard, and a QHD display with an integrated color calibrator are all features of the 15-inch Lenovo ThinkPad W540.

Pros

• Industry-leading keyboard

• Accurate TrackPoint and Touchpad

• Strong performance

• Clear low-light webcam

Cons

• Mediocre viewing angles

• Heavy

Lenovo ThinkPad W540 Price

New Laptop Price – Rs 1,57,296.00 (in Indian rupees)

Refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad W540 Price = Rs 39,459

Specifications

Buy Refurbished Lenovo Laptops

Reviews

While today's thin and light business laptops are more than capable of handling demanding productivity tasks and even processing video, a mobile workstation is your best option if you require the highest level of performance for CAD applications, 3D modeling, or engineering. Lenovo's 15.5-inch ThinkPad W540 isn't intended for frequent travelers because it weighs 5.8 pounds, costs INR 2,08,227 (INR 1,08,565 to start), and has high-end features like an optional 2880 x 1620 display, quick Nvidia Quadro graphics, and enough processing power for the most demanding tasks.

Design

The ThinkPad W540 was designed more for function than form, but it still has Lenovo's signature raven-black ThinkPad styling. It is made of a sturdy glass-fiber reinforced plastic material on the outside and an interior magnesium roll cage to protect it from drops.

The W540 has a thick, hefty profile at 14.8 x 9.8 x 1.1 inches and 5.8 pounds, but the HP ZBook 15 (15 x 10.1 x 1.2 inches, 6.2 pounds) is even heavier, and the Dell Precision M2800 is much thicker (14.92 x 9.86 x 1.31 inches, 5.6 pounds). The weight of the W540 feels well spread, making it simple for me to wear over my shoulder. A good grip point is also provided by the nine-cell extended battery that protrudes from the back. However, my laptop bag gained some weight due to the 1.2-pound power brick.

Display

Click to Expand The ThinkPad W540's 15.5-inch, 2880 x 1620 display produced clear visuals with true colors. The green of Gamora's skin and the yellow of Rocket Racoon's costume seemed vivid when I viewed a Guardians of the Galaxy 1080p clip. I could see huge amounts of steam emerging from the engine in a 4K footage of a train traveling down the rails. Apple's Macbook Pro with Retina display comes standard with an even sharper 2880 x 1880 panel, unlike rivals like the Dell Precision M2800 and HP ZBook 15, which do not offer displays with resolutions higher than 1920 x 1080.

To Enlarge, Click Our color tests reveal that the W540's panel can display 96.6 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is excellent for most laptops but roughly equal to the 97.2 percent average for the desktop replacement category. The screen is especially accurate, scoring a Delta E of 2.8 (0 is perfect), which is significantly higher than the 5.7 category average. Only 72.8 percent of the sRGB gamut could be seen on the Dell Precision M2800's full HD screen, which had an 8.4 Delta E rating.

The W540 also offers an optional X-Rite Pantone color calibrator that enables you to alter the color configuration for photography, video editing, or everyday productivity use by selecting from four different white points and three different tone responses. The Color Calibrator software instructed me to close the lid for a few minutes after selecting the settings so it could use a sensor in the deck to finish the calibration process.

The ThinkPad W540 measures 326 nits on our light meter, which is so bright that I had to lower the brightness in a dark room. Unfortunately, the great brightness was not accompanied by a broad viewing angle; when I turned the laptop more than 45 degrees to the left or right, colors began to wash away.

You could be better suited with the typical 1920 x 1080 display screen unless you are a graphic artist. Even with the Windows 7 operating system's magnification level set to 150 percent, the 2880 x 1620 screen on my evaluation unit made the operating system's icons and letters appear tiny.

Audio

The ThinkPad W540 has a decent audio output that's perfect for viewing movies and well enough for some light music listening, in part because of its Dolby Home Theater v4 software. The sounds and vocals were authentic, though not excessively lush when I played Patrice Rushen's bass-driven "Forget Me Nots" and Judas Priest's guitar-driven "Living After Midnight." The Dolby software lets you modify an equalization or alter sound profiles to fine-tune the output.

On our volume test, the speakers delivered 82 dB of sound, which is pretty loud but less than the 89 dB category average. The Dell Precision Workstation M2800 (89 dB) and HP ZBook 15 (88 dB) are noisier.

Keyboard

The sensitive, tactile keyboards on Lenovo's ThinkPads have long been renowned, but not all of the models have the same amount of vertical travel. The W540's keyboard is the finest of the best, combining a robust 60 grams of actuation force with a deep 2.5 mm of travel for a quick, comfortable typing experience.

A dedicated numeric keypad makes it simple to write calculations and update spreadsheets, and the slightly indented keys make it easy to navigate the keyboard without looking. I was able to type 98 words per minute with just a 1% mistake rate on the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor Test because of the excellent keyboard feel, which is substantially faster than my usual pace of 86 wpm / 1%. Both of the two brightness settings that the keyboard lighting offers were sufficient to see the keys in a pitch-black space.

Touchpad And TrackPoint

Click to Enlarge The W540 offers two methods of navigation, like previous ThinkPads: a buttonless touchpad and the TrackPoint pointing stick. Although not everyone uses a TrackPoint, I believe it to be the most precise method for highlighting text, moving the mouse cursor, and scrolling down web pages. Touch typists don't even need to raise their hands off the home row to travel thanks to the stick's location between the G and H keys.

The TrackPoint buttons of the W540 are integrated into the touchpad's top surface. Despite the fact that I prefer the previous versions' distinct buttons since they need less force, the integrated buttons were precise and sensitive, recording clicks even on the pad's edges.

Additionally, the 3.9 x 2.75-inch touchpad provided precise desktop navigation without even a trace of the jumpiness or stickiness I experience on so many buttonless pads. Additionally, it responded well to multitouch movements including pinching to zoom, rotating with two fingers, and swiping left and right with three fingers.

Ports And Webcam

The ThinkPad W540 is a workstation-class laptop, therefore it has more ports than a standard notebook. Two USB 3.0 and two 2.0 ports, a Kensington lock slot, a DVD drive, and other features are located on the right side. The power port and Ethernet port are located on the back side, while the Thunderbolt port, which can also be used as a mini DisplayPort out, two additional USB ports, a VGA connector, a card reader, an Express Card slot, and other ports are located on the left side.

Click to Expand Even in an extremely dark environment, the HD camera captured clear, detailed photographs of my face. With Lenovo's conference settings software, you can customize the camera as well as enable the dual-array microphones to muffle keyboard sounds while you're in a conversation so you can check your email covertly.

Heat

Throughout our tests, the ThinkPad W540 kept a nice temperature. The touchpad was a cool 88 degrees, the bottom was a cold 87 degrees, and the keyboard reached a respectable 94 degrees after 15 minutes of streaming video. Over 95 degrees Fahrenheit is uncomfortable for us.

Performance

Click to Expand The ThinkPad W540 in my test configuration, with its 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ CPU, 8 GB of RAM, Nvidia Quadro K2100 graphics card, and 250 GB SSD, performed well on all tasks, including crunching large spreadsheets and copying sizable batches of files.

The W540 scored a solid 12,652 on Geekbench 3, a synthetic benchmark that gauges overall performance, better than the 11,582 average for desktop replacements in this category and almost on pace with the HP ZBook 15 (12,797), which we tested using the same Core i7-4800MQ CPU. The Dell Precision M2800 with its 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7-4810MQ CPU managed 13,480, whereas the Apple MacBook Pro 2013 with a 2.3 GHz Core i7 earned a significantly higher 13,652.

For an additional INR 20,340 or INR 64,540, respectively, ThinkPad buyers who desire more processing power can upgrade to a Core i7-4900MQ or Core i7-4930MX processor.

Graphics Performance

Click to Expand I was able to view a 4K movie on the W540 without experiencing any latency because of its Nvidia Quadro K2100 graphics card, which provides it ample power for CAD and 3D modeling programs. The ThinkPad W540 scored a respectable 31,569 in the simulated 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme test, outperforming the HP ZBook 15 (30,117) with Nvidia Quadro K610M graphics but falling short of the Dell Precision M2800 and its AMD FirePro M4170 graphics card (59,874).

Despite not being designed for gaming, the W540 had enough power to run World of Warcraft at default settings in 1080p at 141 frames per second. When we amplified the special effects, that rate fell to 47 frames per second. These results are much faster than the Dell Precision M2800's 103/44 fps and the 42/23 fps of the HP ZBook 15.

Battery Life

The ThinkPad W540 and its nine-cell battery lasted a very respectable 6 hours and 51 minutes, well above the 4:11 desktop replacement category average and roughly comparable to the Dell Precision M2800. This is especially impressive given its potent components and high-resolution display. However, the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display managed 8 hours, and 57 minutes, while the HP ZBook 15 (7:46) lasted almost an hour longer.

Configuration Options

The price of the ThinkPad W540 in the configuration we reviewed is INR 2,08,227. The 2800 x 1620 monitor, an Intel Core i7-4800MQ processor, 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia Quadro K2100M graphics card, and a 250GB SSD are all included in that price.

A 1920 x 1080 display, Windows 8.1, an Intel Core i7-4700MQ processor, 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia Quadro K1100M GPU card, and a 500GB hard drive are included in the INR 1,08,565.70 base configuration. Users can choose between Core i7 CPUs, hard drives or SSDs, 8 or 16GB of RAM, Windows 7 or 8, and Nvidia Quadro K2100M or K1100M graphics when configuring the system.

Software

Click to Expand The ThinkPad W540 may be set up to run Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, but our test machine had the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Professional installed, which offered several practical tools. If all of the devices are connected to the same network and have the appropriate software installed, Lenovo QuickCast enables wireless file transmission between them. You can remotely control your laptop using a phone and Lenovo QuickControl. It is simple to connect to displays that are compatible with Intel Wireless Display using Lenovo QuickDisplay.

The ThinkVantage utilities from Lenovo include Password Vault for logging in and out, Updates and Drivers for keeping your laptop up to date, and Internet Connections for creating a wireless hotspot on your computer. Because you can configure the device to turn on, boot, and log into Windows with a single finger swipe, I appreciate the Fingerprint Reader software. You can play or write to DVDs using CyberLink PowerDVD 10, Power2Go, and PowerProducer software.

Verdict

Click to Expand Depending on the CPU, graphics card, and SSD they select, demanding customers who work in engineering, science, or other fields requiring a ton of raw processing power can obtain comparable performance levels from workstations made by Dell, HP, or Lenovo. The ThinkPad W540, on the other hand, stands out from this expensive throng because of its robust construction, industry-leading keyboard, brilliant screen, and exceptional low-light camera.

The MacBook Pro 15-inch will be preferred by graphic designers, video editors, and other likely Mac gurus due to its gorgeous Retina display, long battery life, and quick SSD. The Lenovo ThinkPad W540, on the other hand, ought to be at the top of your shopping list if you're looking for top-notch Windows workstation performance and even better usability.