The Lenovo ThinkPad E560 is a long-awaited successor to the E550 that we’ve reviewed earlier this year. We were somewhat disappointed with the lack of M.2 SSD slot, so let’s find out if the OEM fixed that.
Removing the service cover
Bottom view - ThinkPad E560, E565. PC Data Center Mobile: Lenovo. About Lenovo + About Lenovo. Our Company News Investor Relations Sustainability Product Compliance Product Security. I wanted to know if this particular spec comes with an M.2 SSD slot or not. Lenovo US live chat says that E590s shipped with no pre-installed SSDs do NOT have an M.2 slot, but Lenovo UK live chat says all E590s come with an M.2 slot regardless of which variant they are. X250 2 M.2 ssd slots? I know the x250 has the option of having 2 (micro ish) drives to support M.2 ssd'd. If I get an x250 2nd hand under warranty etc. Will it be sure to have that or is that a customization that must be specified on lenovo website? Lenovo ThinkPad E560 - 15.6' - Core i7 6500U - 8 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - US overview and full product specs on CNET. Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 - M.2 Card. Lenovo ThinkPad E550: no M.2 slots: $1379.28: Lenovo ThinkPad E560: no M.2 slots: $1090.99: Lenovo ThinkPad E570: 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe (M key) $949.00: Lenovo ThinkPad E575: M.2 SSD slot: Lenovo ThinkPad E580: 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe M.2 slot: $849.99: Lenovo ThinkPad E585: 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe M.2 slot: Lenovo ThinkPad E590 / E595: 1x 2280 M.2 NVMe slot.
Removing the service lid is relatively easy – there are only three screws holding it in place. We were pleasantly surprised to see what’s underneath it – the HDD and RAM slots (in our case 2 x 8GB). Keeping this in mind, we could say that upgrading the notebook doesn’t require a lot of effort and is a fairly easy task. The hard disc is held in place by four screws and in order for it to operate better and more quietly – a couple of softening plates are placed beneath it (as you can see from the photos below).
Removing the main cover
The main cover is located around the aforementioned one and removing it isn’t a big hassle since it is held still by only 1 screw. Sadly, we were very disappointed from what we saw inside, due to the lack of M.2 slot, which is definitely a huge drawback for the model. However, if you want to install an SDD or extra storage space for your data you could always remove the DVD drive and switch it with an extra 2.5-inch HDD.
The main upgradable components in the notebook are:
- HDD: HGST HTS541010A7E630 (1TB, 5400 RPM)
- Wi-Fi: Intel 8260NGW
- Battery: SANYO Energy with 48Wh (4400 mAh) capacity
Expect our full review on ThinkPad E560 in the near future, where you’ll be able to find a lot of information about the construction, display, performance and temperatures of the machine.
Lenovo Thinkpad E560 M.2 Slot Drivers
Specs sheet
Lenovo Thinkpad E560 M.2 Slot 1tb
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6500U (2-core, 2.50 – 3.10 GHz, 4MB cache) |
|---|---|
| RAM | 16GB (2x 8192MB) – DDR3 |
| GPU | AMD Radeon R7 M370 (2GB GDDR5) |
| HDD/SSD | 1TB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Display | 15.6-inch (39.62 cm) – 1920×1080 (Full HD), IPS matte |
| Optical drive | DVD |
| Connectivity | LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Features |
|
| Weight | 2424 g (battery included) |
Lenovo Thinkpad E560 Battery
So, because this machine - which is just shy of 3 years old when it shipped in August 2015 - can't support larger than the smallest 2242 form factor m.2 drives, sadly, and of course it doesn't have NVMe support either so it's got to be a plain old vanilla m.2 2242 SATA III SSD that I'm in the market for.
The current 2.5' bay has the factory Samsung SSD in it (not sure which model it's based on, probably the 840 series) and of course it won't work with Samsung Magician which is utterly ridiculous - I swear I wish there was a hack to that app that lets me make use of that an the RAPID RAM cache since I've got 16GB of RAM in it (can max out at 32GB but that'll take awhile).
So I hope to find a decent performing m.2 2242 SSD that I can put in the m.2 slot obviously and then make that the boot/system drive. Would prefer to find a 480GB or larger if such things exist but if needed then a 250/256GB model would work too, smaller than that is pushing it I suppose as I do have a few VMs that take up maybe 140GB of space which means with a 256GB that leaves plenty of room for the host OS, Windows 7 Pro x64.
Any and all recommendations, suggestions, and tips are welcome, thanks. Just in case people aren't aware this is a size comparison of the m.2 form factors, and the 2242 is my only option: