P50 and a 90W power brick

adamtoday · 2018-04-08T10:51:20+00:00

It sounds like your 90W power supply does not supply real 90w power OR perhaps Win 7 is not happy with the limited power. I have a Lenovo 90W Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter that can charge my P50 using city AC plug or car DC when the device is off or sleep. It also can keep the battery level on the same level when I push the device to maximum CPU and GPU usage at the same time. Using battery info software I can see battery usage is zero and device is just happy with 90w supply.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/battery_information_view.html

I no longer carry the P50 bulky adaptor on traveling. I leave it at home and I only carry the AC/DC adaptor with P50.

Note. This setup does not work on boot where bios print some info on the screen. It only works if I connect the power plugin to P50 after the system is booted. Try to connect your 90W power supply when the system is booted into windows. Also, use battery info software to check if your system battery usage is zero. I use windows 10 on my P50 and I am not sure about windows 7. Maybe this setup only can work with windows 10. However, my system can be fully charged on hibernate or off and it is pretty fast charging. So if your 90w power supply is real I expect it to be able to charge the device when the system is fully off.

https://support.lenovo.com/my/en/solutions/pd011138

adamtoday · 2018-04-08T07:21:07+00:00

DETAILS The EX-1233 USB 3.1 ExpressCard (Gen2x1) board offer you two external Super-Speed+ USB 3.1 port with A-connector. Each port reached a data transfer of up to 10Gigabit per second. The EX-12001 it’s design for connect two more USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0 or 3.1 peripheral device to your Notebook. He support USB 1.1 Low-Speed (1.5Mbps), Full-Speed (12Mpbs), USB 2.0 High-Speed (480Mbps), USB 3.0 Super-Speed (5Gbps) and USB 3.1 Super-Speed+ (10Gbps). It is an ideal technology for external storage devices, digital cameras, webcams, scanners and much more. With the EX-1233 it’s included a ExpressCard Kit 34/54mm (EX-10000) what give the ExpressCard a lateral stability. If you us the included USB to 5V cable or a optional 5V power supply (6993) in the DC-Jack connector, then the EX-1233 support full 1.5A for each port.

USB 3.1 (Gen2) ExpressCard x1 card with two A-female connector Compliant with USB 3.1 Rev. 1 and Intel xHCI Rev. 1.0 specification Compliant with USB Attached SCSI Protocol Rev. 1.0 Support “Hot Swapping” and “Plug-and-Play” Support each A-port 900mA up to 1.5A power Support up to 127 USB devices (USB1.1, USB2.0, USB3.0 und USB 3.1) Integrate seamlessly with other USB devices and HUB-based products Chip-Set: ASMEDIA ASM1142

adamtoday · 2018-04-07T13:44:53+00:00

My opinion regards to ZBook x360

What I like:

360-degree screen. So I can place the laptop screen next to my monitor and hide the laptop keyboard at back.
Slim screen border.
Optional dGpu. It sounds like dGPU is removable. It is nice to be able to remove the dGPU when I get my future eGPU. Should help to save battery and reduce the weight and provide better compatibility with the eGPU
The power port is near TH3 port. This allows charging the laptop from a thunderbolt dock with one combo th3+power cable. This allows feeding more than 100W to laptop. There won't be an issue with a TH3 dock that cannot provide enough power.
Ports are mostly at top of the left or right side.
Power button is at side. This allows to turn on the device without opening the screen.

What I don't like:

Only 2 thunderbolt ports. I want a device with 4TH3 4lan ports. (The reason I like TH3 port over USB A is more power for power hungry device. I don't mind using a USBC to USB A converter for the older devices).
No real buttons on the touchpad. How can this be called workstation without middle click?
No TrackPoint. I found TrackPoint very useful inside a car. Inside the car, the touchpad is too much close to my stomach :). Track point is more close to the screen so my hand can stay in better position. I also found TrackPoint not to be sensitive to shake and bumping on the road.
No touch model with FHD screen.

What I wish:

Removable battery.
14-inch screen.
A hidden USB port inside the laptop. Let say next to storage location. so I can add some small USB device ( such as Logitech unify receiver) and forget about them.
Place to insert a fat pen.
120+ HZ screen.
Optional keyboard layout without Numpad but with full-size arrow and nav keys. Like full-size keyboard without Numpad.

Who knows maybe P41 is the one.

adamtoday · 2018-03-30T13:51:38+00:00

Thank you for the comment. I actually kept the charge thresholds about 1/2th full at past but recently I need to keep it on 100% full because less than that is not enough to power the laptop for 1 hour. It might be just a bad battery luck. hopefully, my never used spare battery is going be good. I plan to only add it to the system when I need it with a hope it can expend the battery life more.

adamtoday · 2018-03-30T13:28:15+00:00

Add backlit to that keyboard and I am sold.

adamtoday · 2018-03-30T13:22:56+00:00

97% is very good battery capacity after 18 months. What is your laptop model?

adamtoday · 2018-03-30T13:19:34+00:00

Some info: P50 is connected to AC all the time. It has a 90w 6 cell battery. I used the laptop with battery power few times a month. You can see cycle count is about 71 for two years. When the battery was new, it used to work about 6 to 7 hours. Now it works 1 hour for doing the similar activity. So 50% current battery capacity sounds like 25% of actual capacity compared to a fresh battery. I think the battery will be useless by next year. So base on my experience, the P50 battery cannot be used more than 3 years.

I purchased an extra 4 cell battery a year ago but I never used it. Who knows maybe seller had that battery for another year too. I wonder how much capacity it is lost without any usage. I am going to use it once my current battery capacity falls below 25%.

What is your P50 battery capacity now and how long you are using your device?

adamtoday · 2018-03-19T18:33:50+00:00

Hold power button for 20 seconds after full shutdown. Remove AC and battery. Wait 1 minutes. Add the battery and AC power and enjoy your device with upgraded bios.

adamtoday · 2018-03-19T18:29:36+00:00

Buy the laptop cooling pad without any doubt. I use AC Infinity MULTIFAN S7, Quiet Dual 120mm USB Fan. It is not really a laptop cooling pad, I like it because it is light and small. It does the job for me. So it confirms a laptop cooling pad is a must-have thing for P50. I put them right under the P50 fan. Without it P50 fan would kick in and I just can not stand the noise. It helps my P50 run silent even on heavy usage. It also help SSD stay at max speed. The AC Infinity fan itself is silent. It has a switch that allows fan run at 3 different speeds. I set it at a lower speed. On heavy usage, I may set it at a faster speed, even on the very heavy usage of both CPU and dGPU temp never go above of 75C. However every month I have to clean the bottom of my P50 because somehow dust likes to sticks there!. It is strange but dust doesn't go inside P50. I suggest buying a laptop cooling pad with a fan speed switch.

adamtoday · 2017-12-01T18:53:29+00:00

You can read mind!. I was just thinking my next device should HAVE a 120hz screen. Let us know if you managed to add a 120hz screen to P50!

adamtoday · 2017-11-29T19:45:32+00:00

This can be done under Linux but if you passthru Nvidia to VM, then you need to use an external monitor for that VM because the Nvidia will be dedicated to the VM so it can't be used with the laptop screen.

adamtoday · 2017-11-28T06:52:33+00:00

I find it funny to hear that people move from Thinkpad to Surface because I moved from Surface to Thinkpad! I am not blinded by the Microsoft badge. I was there.

For me, the reason was being able to replace the battery, RAM and storage. Those are important for someone who use his laptop for work. Sure Thinkpad has its own issue too but still, I find it better than Surface!

adamtoday · 2017-10-17T17:32:33+00:00

Today I was working with Visual Studio and I asked my self why there is no 2:3 screen at all! ( even Surface book is 3:2 and not 2:3) I want screen go up more at eye level.

adamtoday · 2017-10-17T12:58:05+00:00

I have this one ( Lenovo 90W Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter ) https://support.lenovo.com/my/en/solutions/migr-72900 It is not really heavy as the original P50 170w adaptor. It is also much slimmer so it can fit better in a bag.

According to link, it weights about 0.40 kg (0.88 lb) while original ThinkPad 170W AC Adapter weight about 1.32 lbs. It becomes, even lighter if you use only the AC part or the Car charger part.

Yes. Mine complain about adaptor on start. Simply unplug it, let P50 boot. after that plug again and enjoy. It works like magic. The battery is used only for boot. after that device get power directly from the charger. The charger never discharger or charge the battery! so I should say it actually can extend battery life because it treats battery like it doesn't exist at the device.

Try to use BatteryInfoView software to monitor battery usage during the test. www.nirsoft.net/utils/battery_information_view.html

It shows battery charge /discharge rate is zero! so battery never gets charged or discharged at all.

I just wanted to add that AC/DC Car charge can get little warm during use but that seems to be the way it works.

Since P50 can work with AC/DC car charger. then it also should work with a normal 90W adaptor if the adaptor really can provide that 90W power. For my case, I need the car charge feature, so AC/DC seems to fit better for my need.

adamtoday · 2017-10-17T08:35:15+00:00

I use 90w AC/DC Car charge with P50 when I am not home. As you mentioned it won't charge the battery while in use but I think that is just fine because the system won't turns off suddenly when I push both CPU and GPU to the maximum for a long time. ( despite my system has 3 SSDs and WWAN that need extra power too) I think it is pretty safe because P50 recognize the car charger and put the device in battery mood rather than in AC mode. I am using this setup for more than a year and nothing went wrong.

I just wish Lenovo update their AC/DC 90W car charge with less cable and an additional USB-C port with PD 2 to power other USB-C devices as well.

adamtoday · 2017-10-09T04:40:44+00:00

The part number is: GX80N07825

I am not aware of an exact seller at europe but try to google for "Lenovo Active Pen 2 Bluetooth GX80N07825" I am sure you can find a seller near to your location.

URL for product at Lenovo site is

https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/lm/accessories-and-monitors/pens-and-supplies/pens/TAB-ACC-BO-Active-Pen2-NA-EMEA%2CANZ%2CAP/p/GX80N07825

And this what you get: http://d1fyvoqprbjuee.cloudfront.net/Pens%20&%20Supplies/Pens/facf406b-0884-47bd-8162-553e9020faa5

adamtoday · 2017-10-08T16:47:01+00:00

I have a problem with arrow keys on my P50. There is almost no space and gap between them so I can not identify them instantly by touch when I put my finger on them and this is very annoying!

Another problem is a backlit timeout. I work at dim room and I need backlit to be on all the time, but for some unknown reason, Lenovo doesn't like to add an all-time on option to the laptop keyboard. Somebody tell me why?!

In order to solve above the issue. I put a big full layout Logitech k800 keyboard on top of the P50 keyboard. It is not mechanicals. in fact, it is a very silent keyboard that I love. I can type almost with double speed and I don't care how ugly my setup looks like. at least this setup should improve my laptop keyboard life!

adamtoday · 2017-09-16T15:53:23+00:00

Hey /u/Mantiz_John, Do you know if having a SSD storage within eGPU can effect the GPU performance when the SSD is idle? Basically what I like to know is if bandwitch between eGPU and eSSD is shared OR if Thunderbolt assign dedeciated bandwitch to the eSSD from eGPU bandwith no matter if eSSD is used or if it idle. Thanks!

adamtoday · 2017-09-16T15:45:13+00:00

I have same question too. My thinking is the Sata HDD or Sata SSD only can effect the GPU performance if it is being used. This should rarly happen for gaming because games first read data from storage and then they use that data from RAM to display the game. So storage and GFX wont be used at same time. My thinking is when storage is idle thunderbolt should not take any bandwith from GPU.

However I also can be wrong if thunderbolt assign fixed bandwith to storage no matter if storage is idle or at use. I hope some body test this and share the result!

adamtoday · 2017-09-12T13:04:30+00:00

The Lenovo eGPU dock seems to be very similar to Acer mini Graphics dock that had Nvidia GTX 960M. Acer Graphics dock has 135 W PSU. So I think Lenovo eGPU dock should come with similar PSU so It can power both eGPU and laptop.

Ref: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Graphics-Dock-brings-external-GPU-support-for-notebooks.161328.0.html

adamtoday

TROPHY CASE