Conclusion
In spite of its fairly-palatable price point of $1,499, the W540 is ultimately a few steps forward, a few steps backward. There’s still plenty to like, from a solid build that’s lighter than expected to a fantastic keyboard and sharp 3K screen. The performance is also perfectly suited for its intended audience; it handled everything we threw at it with relative ease across the spectrum of CPU, GPU, and storage benchmarks. It’s essentially a business-grade gaming PC in many respects, and its focus on power over portability accentuates that philosophy.
However, the W540 unfortunately misses the mark in a few key (and frankly surprising) areas. For starters, the build isn’t what it once was: the combination of glass-fiber reinforced plastic and magnesium alloy still feel strong, but they don’t seem as rigid as previous ThinkPad workstations or especially Dell Precision machines. Then there’s the subject of temperature: the W540 heats up quickly and recklessly, quickly discharging its thermal waste through the left side of the unit, making the palm rest and bottom of the case thoroughly uncomfortable to the touch. Our third and final major complaint is the awful touchpad implementation which we’ve already lambasted twice on both the X240 and T440s before it; the five-point clickpad is just plain inferior in every respect to conventional buttons.
Editor’s Note: Due to the considerable backlash that the touchpad design has provoked, Lenovo has actually begun selling a very minor update to the W540 called the W541, where one of the only changes is the addition of two physical buttons at the top of the touchpad. While this doesn’t eradicate the original complaints, it does provide a workaround where the user can rely on these buttons also while using the touchpad to completely ignore the built-in button design.
Other nitpicks exist, such as the relative lack of ports (such as HDMI and perhaps another USB) and the lackluster battery life, but these are of less relevance. Overall, the W540 is still a solid performer and a decently-designed machine – it’s just not the industry-leading mammoth we were expecting to see when we originally unpacked it. Here’s hoping the W550 sees a return to form and a reversal of some of these more controversial design decisions that held this generation’s entry back from greatness.
More photos:
I’m little surprised this
I’m little surprised this review is coming out today. Lenovo doesn’t even sell this Laptop any longer on their Website. The model has been replaced with the W541 and W550.
I’d really love to see a review of current generation (2015) ThinkPads like the: Yoga 12 (2nd Edition); T450/T450s; X1 Carbon (2015; or even the W550.
Thanks.
There might be newer ones,
There might be newer ones, but we still see it for sale a lot.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025232-REG/lenovo_20bg0014us_w540_i7_4800mq_8gb_256_ssd_windows_7p_windows.html/BI/19995/KBID/13279
The TSX instructions on this
The TSX instructions on this SKU, are they part of the errata? And what of any Xeon options, should someone want to do server/other related build testing with this workstation. Certainly the newest SKUs need to be reviewed.
Damn, does that look
Damn, does that look nice.
Sometimes when I’m not browsing PCPER on my super basic, refurbished Latitude, I daydream about getting a high powered modern Thinkpad and 3D printing a lid for it where the ThinkPad logo is the right side up.
Yeah sorry for the lateness
Yeah sorry for the lateness of this one guys. There were some uncontrollable factors in play that delayed it beyond the usual — but I had already begun working on it so it made sense to finish it up anyway. After all, the revised model (W541) mostly features revised input devices… primarily touchpad, which I mentioned in the article. So it is still relevant regardless. I don't believe we will see a W550 for several months yet to come still.
I’m not sure we’ll see a true
I’m not sure we’ll see a true W550 before the fourth quarter, if not 2016. The last roadmap I saw indicated the W541 available through early next year and no sign of a full W550… The W550s, while a nice machine, isn’t really a replacement for the W540/W541… The W550s is really just a T550 with a low end Quadro and with the same unfortunate 16GB RAM limit of the T series. 🙁
We have these at work and
We have these at work and it’s a solid machine. Packs a LOT of punch for our engineers looking for more processing power that they can take to the office or take home. Looking forward to the W550. However the trackpads on the newer Lenovos SUCKS. Do they even test these things? The X1 Carbon, X240, and W540 all have horrendous track pads. I don’t understand. Or maybe I’m just a bit spoiled using a Macbook Pro as my work machine.
no, you’re right, Lenovo did
no, you’re right, Lenovo did a serious deisgn mistake with the W540 and that era touchpads. They’re reinstating the buttons in a new design with W541 and newer machines.
I always liked using the
I always liked using the little eraser vs the trackpad. Move the mouse, type, hands never leave the keyboard.
My W540 has an i7 4900 MQ.
My W540 has an i7 4900 MQ. I’ve been using it for several months and I like it a lot. Its only down side is the trackpad. Not very user friendly but regardless of this, I prefer to use an external trackball or space mouse, depending on the work.
This computer is spectacular when it comes to rendering, video editing and CAD.
Removing the optical drive and replacing it with a second HDD is an excellent option.
I understand the W541 has minor hardware upgrades, apart from the trackpad, where the two physical buttons have been reintroduced.
The W550 has an ultra low voltage broadwell-gen CPU for better battery life. It has a smaller chassis and cannot be configured with a second HDD.
Never ever spend your money
Never ever spend your money on this crap laptop from Lenovo. I had 4 Lenovo laptop before and I own W530 which I used for daily work involving high end cloud server , virtual multiple on my machine with 4 Dim and 32 GB RAM. I spend around near to 2K to by this new version of laptop since my W530 was already 3 year old and out of depot warranty. The biggest blunder I did in my life was not to open this W540 for 45 Days since I was very busy in my work , But when I opened it initially I said woow that is cool. But when I started operating it mouse pad SUCKS , Yes Big time SUCKS , I am clicking Minimize button of my application and It is closing application , When I Move my mouse it behave quite quirky. On top of this machine is getting overheated to 105 F. When I dialed tech support ,It will take 10 days. Now after spending 2K on this laptop if you get such CRAP Product , You will throw in your garbage , But unfortunately I am not that rich to do it , nor I can return this CRAP. I was getting MAC PRO at same price and I choose this CRAP product. I regret not opening my laptop. I will never buy LENOVO Product from now , this is my last ONE.
Agree with the poster above.
Agree with the poster above. This laptop (W540) is a complete piece of shit. Do not waste your money. Buy an HP, Dell, or Apple. This is one of the most poorly made products I have ever owned.
I had several Lenovo laptops
I had several Lenovo laptops (over time), and have always found them to be reliable. Due to the good experience with Lenovo, I opted to purchase the W540 when the time came. A decision which I cannot fully express how bad that was. If nothing else, good comes from this, don’t waste your money on the W540 even used. It’s not worth it even if you are paid to take it.
Do I understand that this
Do I understand that this laptop only has 8 GB of memory?
I find that surprising, given the other specs and this laptop’s intended performance.