Thinkpad T510 Ram Slots
Ratings Breakdown (1-10)
Our review sample of the ThinkPad T510 had a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-520M processor. There are three 'stock' models currently listed at Lenovo's web site, but our review configuration was slightly. Lenovo ThinkPad T530 Intel Core i5-3320M Processor(2.60GHz 3MB) 239246u Lenovo ThinkPad T530 Intel Core i5-3210M (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz) 23592cu Lenovo ThinkPad. Model Lenovo ThinkPad T510 - 15.6' - Core i5 560M - 2 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD Lenovo ThinkPad T510 - 15.6' - Core i5 560M - 2 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD 4349GDU.
Thinkpad T510 Drivers
- Software & Support
- 8
- Upgrade Capabilities
- 8
- Usability
- 8
- Design
- 9
- Performance
- 9
- Features
- 9
- Price/Value Rating
- 9
- Total Score:
- 8.57
- Rating 1 to 10, top score 10
Thinkpad T510 Pdf
Overview
Pros
- Great build quality
- Excellent HD+ display
- Over 8 hours of battery life
Cons
- Minor NVIDIA Optimus glitches
- Touchpad sensitivity problems
Quick Take
The Lenovo ThinkPad T510 offers the perfect blend of business looks, great build quality, excellent performance, and 8+ hours of battery life in a 15.6-inch notebook.
The ThinkPad T510 is the 15.6″ notebook from Lenovo that competes head-to-head with the HP EliteBook 8540p and the Dell Latitude E6510. The T510 offers optional NVIDIA NVS 3100M dedicated graphics, a full line-up of display options, and Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. In this review, we see how the ThinkPad T510 performs in our test lab and if you should add it to your Christmas shopping list.
Our Lenovo ThinkPad T510 Specifications:
- 15.6-inch HD+ LED-backlit Display (1600×900)
- NVIDIA NVS 3100M dedicated graphics with 512MB DDR3
- Windows 7 Professional (64bit)
- Intel Core i5-560M (2.66GHz, 3MB cache)
- 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB + 2GB)
- 320GB Seagate 7200.4 HDD (7200rpm)
- Intel 6200 802.11AGN, Bluetooth
- 94Wh 9-cell, 90W 20V AC adapter
- ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3
- Dimensions: 14.68″ x 9.65″ x 1.41″
- Weight: 6.22 pounds
- Retail Price: $2,038.99 ($1,508.99 on sale) with docking station
Build and Design
The ThinkPad T510 has a “get down to business” appearance that has served the ThinkPad-series of notebooks very well. The outside finish is matte black, with a slight rubbery texture to increase grip when carrying it around. The design includes many flat surfaces with sharp and precise corners, but still manages to stay comfortable to use for hours on end. The screen hinges are stainless steel, and unlike the models two generations ago, are equal in size on both sides. Inside, the all-black appearance continues with a textured plastic palmrest, keyboard surround, and screen bezel. There are few, if any, glossy surfaces on the ThinkPad T510 which is great if you worry about glare from overhead lighting or sun while outdoors.
Build quality is very good on the Lenovo ThinkPad T510. Out of the box, this model has a stronger feel to it than most of the smaller ThinkPad models and is fairly hefty. Our model weighed in at over 6 pounds and is built like a tank. The newer palmrest and keyboard design is solid as a rock with a strong support structure underneath the plastic. Even with a strong grip or a lot of downward force, we saw minimal flex around the palmrest and keyboard. Following with its “overbuilt” (in a good way) trend, the screen hinges are strong enough that it required two hands to open the notebook and even to tilt back the screen once the lid was opened. When fully open, the screen did not have loose wobble or other problems staying firmly positioned.
The bottom of the notebook has two access panels for the system memory and hard drive. Users looking to upgrade either of those will only need to take out a couple of screws to gain access. Only one of the memory slots is located beneath the notebook though, making upgrades easy if you are only adding to the memory configuration. If you are replacing both sticks you will need to open up the notebook to get at the other slot.
Ports and Features
Almost every inch of the perimeter of the Lenovo ThinkPad T510 is filled with some form of connection or feature. The T510 includes three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB combo port, FireWire 400, VGA and DisplayPort-out, Ethernet, a modem jack, and a headset port. Expansion slots include an ExpressCard/34 slot and a SDHC-card reader.
Front: Screen release
Rear: one USB 2.0, modem, DC-power input,
Left: DisplayPort, VGA, two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA/USB combo, FireWire-400, wireless on/off
Right: ExpressCard/34, SDHC-card reader, optical drive, Ethernet, Kensington lock slot
If you are one of the ever-increasing segments of consumers that use their notebook for a desktop-replacement at home and mobile platform on the road, the latest ThinkPad Mini Dock might be for you. Our T510 review unit included the Mini Dock Plus Series-3 docking station that is loaded with ports and even supports up to three monitors connected simultaneously. In total the docking station adds six more USB ports, Ethernet, two DVI-outs, two DisplayPort-outs, one VGA-out, eSATA, and additional headphone and microphone jacks. If you have a ton of devices that need to be connected at your home or office, a docking station is one of the best options.
ThinkPad T510 Impressions
The T510 has a classic ThinkPad look and feel. The front bezel uses a single sliding lid latch, while on the right side you'll find a 5-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard 34 slot, headphone / mic combo jack, optical drive, Ethernet jack and a Kensington Lock slot. The back of the notebook has a modem jack, battery bay, power connector, ventilation slot and a yellow-colored, always-on USB port that stays powered even when the machine is in standby or hibernation mode.
On the left side of the machine is another large cooling fan ventilation slot, DisplayPort connector, VGA port, two additional USB ports, eSATA port, 1394 FireWire port and a Wi-Fi radio switch.
Finally, the bottom of the Thinkpad T510 features a single battery latch and a separate lock and latch for the optical drive. There's a docking port connector and additional ventilation slots. We were happy to find individual panels providing easy access to the expansion bays, but not so thrilled about Lenovo including just a single memory slot on the bottom of the machine. This will force you to remove the keyboard if you need access to the second slot. Our test system came with 2GB of system memory, using both slots with 1GB modules which is obviously not a friendly configuration for upgrading afterwards.
Lenovo designed the T510 with a spill-resistant keyboard, so in the event that you spill liquid on your keyboard it should simply filter through the keys and drain out of these two slots. There are videos of this on YouTube if you want to see it in action.
Unlike the recently reviewed ThinkPad Edge, the T510 features a matte black outer lid that is much more repellant to fingerprint smudges. There are two LED status indicators on the lid – one for battery and the other for sleep mode. With the lid open, we find a 2MP webcam centered above the 15.6' display. To the right of the webcam is a ThinkLight keyboard light that can be turned on and off via a function key on the keyboard, while just below the display are two built-in microphones. The screen bezel is black plastic and seems to fit the display better than the one we found on the Edge.
The keyboard on the T510 follows the standard concave design, rather than using island-style keys, and its layout is also pretty standard except for a few additional system-specific buttons like the blue ThinkVantage button. Other additions include LED status lights on the Caps Lock, Mute and Mic Mute buttons.
I don't particularly like the placement of the Fn and Ctrl keys on the bottom left of the keyboard. I prefer a system with the Ctrl key in the far left position and the Fn key just to the right of it -- opposite to what Lenovo has done on the T510. Fortunately the manufacturer included an option to switch the behavior of these two keys in the system BIOS. While not a perfect fix, it is certainly nice to have this alternative and please all kinds of users.
Keyboard real estate is plentiful and all of the commonly used keys are full size, a luxury that smaller ultraportables and especially netbooks simply can't provide.
True to the ThinkPad name, the T510 features a TrackPoint pointing device between the G, H and B keys. Lenovo includes an extra set of mouse click buttons directly below the Spacebar for use with the TrackPoint, so you don't have to reach way down under the TouchPad to access them. Between these two buttons is a center button that can be used to scroll through documents or web pages, and can also activate a magnifying glass to enlarge items on the screen.
Thinkpad T510 Ram Upgrade
The T510's multi-gesture touchpad is narrower than the one found on the Edge by almost an inch. I found this to be more adequate for use considering that Edge's wider touchpad forced me to consciously take my left hand off the palm rest to avoid interfering with the mouse pointer when using my right finger to move it.
Our evaluation machine also carried a fingerprint reader and a spot for a color sensor, although the hardware for the latter doesn't appear to be installed.