Lenovo's ever-changing prices

Anyone know the secret to figuring out when Lenovo's prices go up and when they go down? The tend to yo-yo a fair bit and I wonder if it's to do with the current coupons/offers or not. For example, a T400 I configured the end of last week is now $60 more, and base prices of other T400 models have also changed.

 

I feel like they increased pricing because it passed June 26th, the start of the free upgrade period for Windows 7. Other than that, it's a black science.

For example, my X200 increased in price almost $150 in a week.

 

It's partly because the "Dads and Grads" sale ended. The new "Summer Savings" discounts aren't quite as good as they were before. Hopefully a better sale will begin once this one ends July 15th, but Lenovo's probably going to hold off on some discounts until the back-to-school season starts.

 

It's simpler than that. Lenovo, will make a profit when it can.
Renee

 

I feel like I should plot a chart of base prices and see how they correspond to current sales and coupons. Or it could simply be a formula based on weekly sales figures. Either way, the price of my next T400 went up $60 since Saturday I guess we'll never know.

 

Everytime you get a machine configured that you like get a quote. That way if the price goes up you can always fall back on the quote.

That's what I did and paid $696 shipped for a T400 (using week old quote, they're valid for up to 30 days) when it had risen to $756.

 

Thanks for the info about how long the quotes are good for. I'm also watching prices bounce around and trying to decide when to pull the trigger.

A bit off topic, but I'm wondering if any of the available coupons are known to be stackable with the EPP? I haven't had any luck.

 

Quotes are good for 30-days after you place them, if you decided to order using a quote you can call them up or order online using the quote ID.

 

AFAIK coupons are not generally stackable with the EPP (I've never managed it) but sometimes there are EPP-related coupons available (click on the "additional savings" link on the EPP main page). They currently have the summer savings deals with EPP discount but only on select configurations. Earlier last week there was a 5% discount coupon, but prices were also generally slightly higher.

FYI, prices dropped a bit today, back to where they were last Friday. Go figure. I just saved a quote and will probably buy today.

 

before I the dads and grads sale there was a different sale that I managed to save a quote under my university discount.

For 825$ after free 2 day shipping
T400
P8600 2.4 ghz c2d
Vista Basic
2gb 1 dimm RAM
7-1 Card Reader
Intel 5300 Wireless
WXGA+ ccfl
160 gb hard drive
9 cell battery
Switchable Graphics
No bluetooth

 

Good deal... I managed to snag this T400 config for $949:

P8800 C2D
Vista Biz (+ XP recovery discs)
3GB 2-DIMM
WXGA+
Discrete graphics
7K160 drive
Bluetooth
DVD-R
Card reader
6-cell battery
Intel 5300 wifi
Free shipping

Seems like a decent deal... could probably do a bit better if I waited a month or so for the next good sale, but it came in under my $1K spending limit so I decided to go for it. I'll probably also add a 3-year depot warranty. Considering a similarly-equipped T61 cost me about $1400 a couple years back and my mini-dock will still work with the T400, I'm happy

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep my eyes open. Also noticed myself that prices were down today, I've been checking every day for a week. I'm ready to buy, but want to make sure I'm getting the best deal I can.

 

It's also worth playing with configuring the "enhanced" and "elite" T400 models... I configured an "enhanced" T400 with what I wanted, then got the exact same configuration for an "elite" model but with a P8800 processor instead of the P8600 (and got a webcam I didn't need) for only $5 more.

 

Also, it's NOT worth it to do RAM upgrades via Lenovo, instead, snag the 2GB DDR3 1-DIMM option and buy another 2GB DDR3 DIMM for about $30 shipped and install it yourself, you get double the ram for the price of getting 3GB from Lenovo, it's what I did and saved about $45.

 

yeah, you're right... I saved $32 by removing the additional 1GB and will buy a 2GB stick from Crucial for $32 instead. Same price, 1GB more RAM.

 

Yep, that's the same memory I got for $28 shipped from Newegg during a special. It's $26.99 right now but no free shipping but it can't be much for ground.

EDIT: For $29.98 you can get it right now with UPS 3-Day. Gotta love the egg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148192

 

Thanks. This was awesome advice. Just configured an enhanced T500 with one upgrade for $1 less than the standard t550 w/ discrete graphics that I had configured.

Trying to be patient about prices, but it's hard not to pull the trigger on this (planning on upgrading the RAM and HD via Newegg):

ThinkPad T500 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
$994.40

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 with 256MB with Intel Advanced Management Technology
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
2081: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller

 

FYI I bought that same 2GB stick direct from Crucial when it was cheaper than Newegg (still about $35 though). Works great with with my ThinkPad and more importantly didn't bring up any conflicts with the original Hinjx memory (or however you spell that company's name)

 

I got mine when their was a good sale plus a good coupon. My was around $1300 after the coupons and sale I got my T400 for around $800 shipped, with the discrete graphics card option which is what I really wanted to get. Also got 4 gb ram and a 7200 rpm drive and the LED screen with camera. You have to really look for those great sales and look into other websites like, Fatwallet, slickdeals etc...