Lenovo's ThinkPad W701ds Supplies Massive Performance and Meets Big-Budget Demands

If Paul Bunyan have been a geotechnical engineer, the Lenovo ThinkPad W701ds could be his Babe. It's barely fitting to call this huge laptop computer a desktop replacement; it really is a workstation option, in a position to consider your most demanding programs wherever. Moreover to ridiculously fast performance, this laptop delivers a built-in Wacom drawing tablet, a color-calibration instrument, and even a 2nd LCD. In the event you crunch real-time knowledge on oil rigs or in case you design and style jet engines whilst flying about the Atlantic, this might be your new Laptop. Anyone wanting one of the fastest, most tricked-out, and most expensive portables about will locate a great sidekick here.

This ISV (independent software vendor)-certified notebook crushes every software it encounters. In tests with professional-level content-creation instruments, which includes 3D Studio Max 2011, Painter eleven, and Avid Media Composer, each of the applications ran smoothly. Demanding games may also deliver down lesser laptops--but whilst avid gamers is probably not this laptop's target market, on this device Battlefield: Lousy Organization 2, Crysis Warhead, and Supreme Commander two all looked wonderful at substantial resolutions and optimum settings.

The ThinkPad W701ds rocked in PCWorld's quantitative benchmarks, earning a WorldBench 6 score of 123 and an general mark of 96 out of a hundred within our total efficiency check, amid the greatest scores however. An Intel Core i7 X920 running at 2GHz powers this laptop, backed up by 8GB of RAM. The laptop computer even has an nVidia Quadro Fx 3800M graphics card packing 1GB of VRAM. To say this program is loaded could be an understatement--it's a full-on arsenal.

But there is often a catch, right? Charges for that ThinkPad W701ds start at $3299; our test configuration, which incorporates virtually each and every upgrade and extra doable, totals greater than $6000. The great factor is, you are going to get what you shell out for--if you need the greatest speed and lots of content-creation extras.

Graphics professionals will soak up the terrific 17-inch, 1920-by-1200-pixel primary screen. It shows off a bold selection of hues, contrast, and brightness. Colours pop regardless of whether you're functioning in a picture editor or you are kicking again and watching a motion picture. Visual artists will appreciate the built-in Pantone HueyPRO hardware and software package calibrator: Commence the method and near the lid, as well as the sensor visually recognizes the display's hues, perfecting their harmony.

The second LCD steals a bit concentrate from your major show. This ten.6-inch, 768-by-1280-pixel extra stashes inside of the case driving the key display; you simply push in to eject and retract the secondary screen. The moment it really is extended, you'll be able to bend it ahead, angling the display toward your deal with. The display screen would perform very best around the left side, because your hands--and the touchpad--favor the still left. Once the added display is tilted, you are able to see it evidently, nonetheless it usually seems a bit washed-out, specially following for the unwavering coloration in the major screen. The further display performs effectively in the event you use it for text and button palettes, so you keep color-sensitive perform on the principal exhibit.

Picture jockeys will also enjoy the input-device extras, especially the 12cm-by-8cm drawing tablet embedded within the wrist rest. It can be just big enough to sketch types and edit images on the go. Wacom's quality common shines right here, since the tablet incorporates 1024 amounts of stress sensitivity and includes a stylus that you can flip over for an eraser stop. When you happen to be completed, the stylus neatly tucks into the laptop's base.

The ThinkPad W701ds provides two more pointers to your combine: the traditional TrackPoint eraserhead as well as a two-button touchpad. Each experience great, as well as the buttons appear exact and responsive. You can swap amongst the input units on the whim, or personalize 1 to activate only specified functions--such as scrolling--while leaving the opposite for basic mousing.

The utilitarian keyboard complements the remainder of the notebook design. The traditional, blocky crucial shapes and restricted mechanisms sense responsive for contact typing, and also the full-size amount pad can speed data entry. Several added buttons handle the volume and start the snooze-inducing ThinkVantage computer software. Committed media buttons aren't missed; I choose their absence over an try to cram them in unnecessarily.

Amongst the laptop's weaker factors, reasonably speaking, would be the speakers, which sit guiding a grille previously mentioned the keyboard. Songs and movies sound alright, as well as the laptop can get loud without warbling distortion. Even so, the speakers favor high tones, thinning out for reduced pitches--the normal originated-on-a-laptop sound. Sadly, which means cellular audio and video producers will have to plug in speakers or headphones for most of their work.

The ThinkPad W701ds includes a bunch of ports and extras that may be valuable in numerous circumstances. The fingerprint scanner unlocks the technique with no password. Two LEDs mounted in the prime of the exhibit can cast light a little above and throughout the keyboard, allowing you to find out papers within a dark space. Expansion slots contain Convey Card, CompactFlash, as well as a five-format SD-card reader. It is loaded with other ports and connections, also, presenting audio-in and -out, one particular USB 3.0 port, four USB two.0 ports, eSATA, FireWire, gigabit ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, plus a modem. The full-size Show Port, DVI, and VGA ports can connect as much as two further shows.

Disk possibilities mostly meet expectations. Two hard-drive bays can accommodate RAID setups; our exam unit integrated two 320GB disks. Regrettably, this method had only a CD/DVD burner, not a Blu-ray reader or burner. Having a laptop computer of this degree, mobile subject material creators may anticipate to read--and author--Blu-ray discs.

Although Lenovo sits inside the middle of our most up-to-date laptop computer dependability survey, the ThinkPad W701ds feels solidly constructed. You will have to lug the huge 8.97-pound method among massive desks, but it can be like carrying a powerful workstation nearly anywhere. The battery lasts for approximately two hrs, ten minutes, an affordable duration for a moveable using this considerably power and speed. Considering this machine's total roster of ports and extras for content creators--including the color calibrator, the Wacom tablet surface area, along with the further LCD--this high-end notebook looks outfitted that can assist you complete any demanding work.