[TriLUG] Experiences with ThinkPad W540/other recent laptop workstations?

[Brian Cottingham]

I bought the W540 a few months ago, and I love it. As you've observed, the
trackpad is kinda terrible, but otherwise it's a great machine.

If you get the Hi DPI 3K display, be warned that Linux is kinda terrible
with Hi DPI and you'll have to do an awful lot of squinting. But it's a
beautiful display.

The build quality seems very good to me - it doesn't feel cheap, and I like
the feel of the keyboard, etc. It's very quiet and cool. Very snappy,
excepting the lame 5400 RPM HDD I got with it (they didn't offer me a high
capacity 7200 RPM drive).

Linux support is pretty good, though you'll need to run one of the more
recent releases for some components to work. I've had an occasional issue
where wireless disconnects and I have to restart networking, but that could
just be a random Debian Sid bug. But sound, suspend, etc. all Just Worked
for me.

Be warned that the special keys (volume, brightness, etc.) don't work out
of the box for Debian, and don't spit out standard X86 keycodes, either.
You have to use a special utility to read and respond to them, and I've had
trouble making that work. A distro like Ubuntu or Mint may work better here.

All 4 RAM slots, HDD, and optical drive screw are easily accessible with
the removal of a single panel on the bottom of the machine. The battery
comes out just as easily as with any other PC laptop I've had.

Aside from the trackpad and Hi DPI issues, my W540 has been a very
experience, and I'm delighted to recommend it.

P.S. - I used a Macbook Pro for a couple years, and the W540's trackpad
isn't very much like it, so don't assume "I like my MBP trackpad, so I'll
like the W540's". Setting aside Linux's usual problems with effective use
of a multitouch trackpad, the W540 trackpad has a solid 1/8" of give when
you press it, which results in a /very/ different feel than the maybe 1/32"
give of the MBP trackpad. I usually use the trackpoint on my W540, so that
doesn't bother me too much.


On Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 6:37 PM, Matthew Frazier <leafstormrush at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello, TriLUG,
>
> I'm planning to purchase a new computer soon. (I really like the
> ThinkPad T61 I bought in March, but it's just too old to do everything I
> need.) This one will be a primary workstation, so I'd like something
> that will last at least four or five years. As such, I'm seriously
> considering the ThinkPad W540.
>
> First off: Yes, I know that the keyboard and TrackPoint are RUINED
> FOREVER. Honestly, I actually like the new style of trackpad - I had a
> Macbook Pro before my T61, which has a similar trackpad, and I was
> perfectly fine with it. So, even if you think the new trackpad is the
> worst thing since 8086 memory segmentation, please put that aside for now.
>
> I'm primarily interested in Linux support. I plan to use either Fedora
> 20 or CentOS 7, so nothing especially fancy. I'm fine with not having
> the best graphics setup, so long as I can plug in a second monitor and
> play Minecraft (not even at the same time).
>
> Another key quality is expandability and ease of repair. I plan to buy
> with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, and upgrade later if my requirements
> exceed the limit. I also like to do my own repairs. So, being able to
> replace the battery, hard drive, memory, and optical drive is important
> to me. (I don't want to be in a situation like my Macbook, where
> replacing the battery requires an appointment and a 30 minute bus ride
> to Crabtree.)
>
> Finally, I highly value build quality and support. Besides the trackpad
> complaints, deteriorating build quality is a common complaint in
> reviews. I suspect the presence of these complaints may be consequences
> of the trackpad being RUINED FOREVER, which as stated earlier, I don't
> care about. I'm just concerned about whether it will last a few years
> without breaking badly. Availability of a 3-year warranty is also a
> requirement.
>
> If you don't think the W540 meets these requirements (FOR REASONS OTHER
> THAN THE TRACKPAD), I would appreciate additional recommendations. I
> like my current ThinkPad, but I try not to be super-partisan about
> computers.
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew Frazier
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