Advice on whether to buy thinkpad through Lenovo outlet

I have read a lot of conflicting opinions on whether to purchase a thinkpad through Lenovo outlet....looking to have some more insight on the topic. Thank you in advance.

 

What exactly are you concerned about? Getting the best deal or the quality of Outlet offerings per se?

Every single ThinkPad that I've bought from the Outlet looked and smelled brand new. Obviously, YMMV.

 

No, lol I welcome the best deal aspect. I have read feedback of people saying they did not get the unit with the specs that was advertised, some had orders cancelled on them and some said it was very slow to ship. So my concern deals with the overall experience.

 

Personally, I've never had issues with shipping or cancellations. Once I got a machine with a different set of specs than advertised, but was OK with it since it actually came with a higher-resolution screen than what it was supposed to have.

YMMV...and then some.

 

I bought my X200 in the outlet. It looked new to me and was at the time, considerably less than a new one.

 

I'd generally recommend Lenovo Outlet. Got some good deals over there, but not everyone went smoothly:

W701, refurb: only 4 GB RAM instead of 8, took 2 weeks of phone calls back and forth to receive the missing memory. I also had to repaste the CPU for it was overheating quickly. Still have the machine and it runs like a kitten.

T420, refurb: screen failed after one week, depot replaced it quickly, no problems ever since.

Thinkpad Tablet (1), refurb: ROM couldn't be updated to lasted version -> returned for full refund

Thinkcentre M90z, M92p Tiny: both refurbs and great machines which never made any trouble.

One last anecdote: I once returned a new W701 to Lenovo. I used it for a few days and had to eat the restocking fee. I saw it eventually popping up in Outlet (same serial # and specs), but they sold it as new, not as refurb...

 

I don't recall seeing the serial number for my X200 until it got to my house.

 

I made a screen shot and still have my original invoice. At that time (2011) the machine's serial # was part of the Outlet part #. Furthermore, Outlet listed a "Manufacturing Part Number", which was identical to the full machine type and serial #.

 

If you don't like the machine, you can always return it. That's a good thing about buying from Lenovo.

 

I just bought a refurbished Thinkpad T440s and received it last week. It is in perfect condition. I can see a fingerprint on the touchscreen, so it looks like someone tried it out and didn't like it (probably the button-less trackpoint). Got it for $624, so not too shabby. i5-4300 with 4gb ram and 500gb HD. I added another 4gb ram to make 8gb; and installed a 256gb Crucial M3 SSD I had lying around.

It is helpful to be aware of what you can upgrade yourself.