Ratings Breakdown (1-10)
Lenovo's T-series ThinkPads are designed to offer a marriage of performance, portability and durability. The T510 is the largest in the series, and with a 15.6in. Screen it's borderline portable. Instructions for removing and installing the DIMM slot cover and DIMM in the Thinkpad T510, W510, T510i systems. 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, amodem jack, and a headset port. Expansion slots include an ExpressCard/34 slot and a SDHC-card reader. I want to upgrade the ram in my Lenovo W510 type 4391. According to Lenovo's spec. The max ram is 16 GB but according to someone on Lenovo's forum that it is possible to go up to 32GB with i7 820QM which is what I have. Here where someone said they got no problem with 32GB. I used CPU-Z and confirmed that my laptop have 4 memory slots.
- 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
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,
Lenovo T510 Manual
Left: DisplayPort, VGA, two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA/USB combo, FireWire-400, wireless on/off
Lenovo T510 I5 Ram Upgrade
Right: ExpressCard/34, SDHC-card reader, optical drive, Ethernet, Kensington lock slot
Lenovo T510 Ram Slots Reset
- Total Score:
- 8.57
- Rating 1 to 10, top score 10
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,
Lenovo T510 Manual
Left: DisplayPort, VGA, two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA/USB combo, FireWire-400, wireless on/off
Lenovo T510 I5 Ram Upgrade
Right: ExpressCard/34, SDHC-card reader, optical drive, Ethernet, Kensington lock slot
Lenovo T510 Ram Slots Reset
Lenovo T510 Bios
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.
