Lenovo-ers! help me defend me decision!

I'm going to college and have been doing research on the most suitable laptop for my next four years. I have previously used the R61(horrible hinge had screen replaced like 234058349125 times),T61, and T510(school was sponsored by lenovo and when interning at cisco,turns out they love lenovo too!) at outside sources but never has our family owned a lenovo. I am at the final stages before buying my laptop and it has come down between the lenovo w520 and the MBP/MPA.

Personally I hate Macbook's keyboard and the os. It's too spread apart for my fingers and the os and everything just ruins everything that I have been use to for the past 7 years. However my dad insists on buying the MBP for college. Why? He isn't tech-savvy however he likes to read those articles posted on yahoo etc about laptops for college students etc. Those articles brainwash adults,who are tech-savvy, thinking it's great when all that is taken into consideration(most of the time) is style and not much about functionality,performance etc. My dad keeps on insisting I hope onto the apple bandwagon when I am a true lenovo fan! Major point that I can't defend the lenovo is that fact that the college I'm going to, Emory University, claims that over 67% of the student body uses macs and the libraries and whole campus are plagued with macs.

NBR Len-Lovoers!(lol get it? haha bad joke) please provide me some good comebacks, responses that I can use to retaliate against Apple! We must win together!

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/601431-why-lenovo.html

The comments are very enlightening and will ensure you that a thinkpad is the way to go. Btw MBPs are extremely overpriced for what have to offer. After all, they do need money to keep all those advertisements going huh?

 

oh and btw i feel you about the island style keyboard. Thinkpad keyboards are less straining(and more natural with the trackpoint) for those that aren't blessed with Yao Ming hands.

 

I switched from a 2009 13-inch MacBook Pro to a T420 recently.

I like it much better. For many of the same reasons listed in that thread.

Buy whatever you want. Your father isn't going to use it.

 

A W520 has several times the graphic capability than a Macbook Pro. It can be fitted with twice the RAM, as well a second hard drive. You can get a faster processor. You can get a better warrantee with the W520, and the first time you drop it, your purchase will make more sense.

 

Firstly, MBP or MBA is not a replacement for the W520, one is just a portable laptop, while the W520 is a full desktop replacement workstation machines. One is like a city car while the latter is the fully specced off road 4WD, if you know you are going to drive into some odd terrains, then obviously the city car is not going to be something that you should use.

Secondly, i am not sure how you use your R61, etc, but sounds like you REALLY uses them hard, if that is the case then you should not consider anything Apple makes. As they will fail miserably if you don't really care for them (they barely run okay even when you pamper them).

 

Well if you hate the keyboard and OS, there are your reasons right there.

 

Thanks for the input. price isn't a big factor since he would rather pay more an MBP than a lenovo. poop. So I was able to convince him that the w520 is superior hardware-wise but now he's saying that mbp's are still better because they come preloaded with software that are beneficial to students
-_-;;
i..don't know how to counter that...

 

What software does it come with? I can't think of anything great for students. It's not like it comes with Office or iWork, the Apple equivalent of Office. iLife is just a photo viewer, film editor and music creator. Fun, but not really productive for most students.

 

Just be like..."Father, with all due respect I could get all those programs for free" raise your voice "stop trying to run my life I'm an adult now andgoing to college". Don't talk to him for a day. After that slowly start talking to him but make sure you don't mention computers. And a week later...shaaazam! Thinkpad by your doorstep. Works everytime xD

 

Buy your own computer. Then you can get whatever you want.

 

I guess I was lucky that I wanted a ThinkPad and my dad wanted me to get a ThinkPad.

Just tell him that you are going to get RSI's or something or break your fingers from a Mac. And that for the price of a MBP, you can get a W520 and a netbook or something.

 

Make your own money. Then you can do whatever you want with it.

If you have used ThinkPads and like them, as well as being familiar with Windows, you may have good reasons to get a ThinkPad for college. Otherwise, I see no reasons against a MacBook.

By the way, the W520 is rather big and heavy, hardly a mobile notebook. Why not a T420?

 

1.Reliable
2.Fingerprint Reader
3.Spill-resistant keyboard
4.Trackoint
5.ThinkVantage Technologies Lenovo - Software - ThinkVantage Technologies

 

First of all, if you don't like apple's OS then don't get one.

I'm a student there and there are many mac users. I feel like they're also targeted more by thieves. Not saying that everyone gets their laptops stolen at Emory (it really is a safe place!), but my friend had his mbp stolen.

I'd imagine a Thinkpads to be less of a target.

Also, I use a thinkpad and it's refreshing to be different when class starts and everyone has a glowing apple on the back of their laptops! (But as mentioned before, W520 is pretty heavy so I don't know if you'll be carrying it to class)

 

Most of America is a safe. Right now crime rates are at historic lows, but you wouldn't know that watching TV or reading the news, where they like to hype every thing in a bid to get more attention.

 

May I ask which Thinkpad you have equipped?

 

My mom pitted me in the same situation as the OP: I wanted a business laptop (eventually picked the Thinkpad), and she wanted me to look at a MBP. I gave her the following reasons why the MBP is a stupid choice for me:

-OSX, in my mind, is a useless OS. My high school has iMac labs and Macbook carts and used them for awhile (I was stuck in the iMac lab for a semester because I didn't want study hall with a bunch of morons). While it looks pretty (like the hardware), it's not useful for me since it doesn't have the applications I need for an engineering major.

-----As an addition to the above, if you've used Windows your whole life, you're better off sticking with it. No reason to further mess up a recent college student's life by forcing them to learn a new OS environment.

-Apple hardware is overpriced, as far as computers go. I went online and pulled up two windows, apple.com and lenovo.com and priced them both at $2200 to show her what I could get for $2200 in a Thinkpad. She's not a computer-savvy person, but she does understand the differences between the different i-series processors, amount of RAM, and hard drive space.

-AppleCare warranty does not cover accidents. All it is a a two-year extension on the basic defect warranty.

-Finally, I told her it was my money and I'd spend it on the laptop I wanted.

 

If the parents want to force you to get a specific brand of computers, i would usually ask them to get two (one of each) and this way they will leave you alone with the purchase decision.

 

The problem isn't the MBP, it is your lack of backbone. Just tell your father no on the MBP, simple as that. I'd consider yourself lucky your parents actually buy you a laptop.

By the way, lead_org is that your dog in the avatar? Thing is pimp. If not, still pimp.

 

not my dog, it is someone else's dog.... i would never consider getting a Husky.... love them but just too much for me to handle.

 

Tell him youll be running linux with all the software mac has and more and its 100% free!

 

ahhh thanks for the replies

 

THIS. There's not really much point in going whole-hog for what the W520 can provide for a school situation. It's plain just not needed. It's just mindless spec fetish behavior. What you need is decent portability with tremendous battery life. It's hard to beat a T420 with a 9-cell for that.

 

....unless it's an X220 with a 9-cell!

 

I bought mine because I wanted to both play modern games and run engineering applications without buying an Alienware or other flashy, odd-looking laptop. I don't consider my reasoning to be "mindless spec fetish behavior." And the W520 is only 6lbs, which isn't a lot of weight, even with books (my last laptop, a Toshiba Satellite, was also 6lbs and I carried that thing to school every day without problems).

Can't argue about battery life. While the W520 can get nearly 8 hours, I'm sure it can be beat by the T420, and easily defeated by the X220.

 

It would be a great idea to buy a T520 for the 95% gamut FHD screen (played Dead Space 2 on ultra on my W520, results were astonishing when comparing the colors between the W520 and a Sony Bravia HDTV), great battery life, up to 3 external displays with a dock, and excellent pricing with Mastercard Marketplace discounts. A MBP might seem nice but they have the infamous "Apple Tax" and the buggy OS X ( read it or here, about a OS update that cause your Macs to kernel panic), I wouldn't want my data on it.

 

Not to mention that Apple Time Capsules are flawed. and that OSX needs some serious updating that Apple continues to ignore. Having a closed OS environment is all fine and all (/sarcasm), but they should at least watch after it if they want to do that.

 

*cough*games*cough*

 

It's no contest, W520>>T420.

 

Forgot to mention W520>>>>>>>>>>>MBP 15"

 

Regarding power both are the same.

Regarding durability, the w520 wins hands down.

Regarding software, there is more designed for students and professionals on windows, specially if you are doing anything math intensive.

Regarding service, to have someone tend your pc at your dorm is one great thing, voiding you the trip to an apple store. So thinkpad wins again.

 

Yes, this is true too.

 

School situation and parents money, in the face of an MBP as the alternative. Let's get real here.

The W520 is likely overkill, both on price, performance and daily weight lugging around. Besides, even the integrated graphics are going to be more than suitable for effective gaming.

 

Alright, that's where the T520 comes in. Comes with either the Intel GPU or Intel/NVS 4200M Optimus. Not as powerful a card as the Quadro 1000M, but still allows for better gaming than the Intel GPU.

I think that the MBP is way overkill, money-wise. Yet, despite that, I was surprised to see so many student carrying around MBP boxes when I went to Clemson orientation. I believe the reason college students buy them is because they equate higher price to quality, which is a falsehood. Most don't even look at other notebooks either, since they can be too lazy to research (I have a few friends who did just that). Probably thanks to Apple's (admittedly amazing) marketing team.

 

not lazy. Its something called steve jobs, and how he made a failure of a company into something that inspire desire on people, something other are companies trying to do. It doesnt matter if the product is overflowing in quality (thinkpads) they dont have the allure, and in the case of the thinkpads they shouldnt have. Thats why lenovo created the edge line and the X1. Thats why hp relaunched the envy line, and so forth.

Marketing is a powerful tool.

I too would be a X220 owner if it wasnt for the lack of availability, and the fact that I would have to import it (2 weeks for delivery), and the need was dire. Thus I went to a store 5 min from where I live and left out with a mbp.

 

Eh, I had to wait a mere nine days (was quoted ten) and it felt like forever, especially since by then my Toshiba was dead. Can't blame you for buying what was available

 

This is not correct; W520 has a much more powerful GPU than a MacBook Pro.

 

The W520 may be overkill, but it's a more powerful machine for less money than the MBP. How could that not be a win/win?

 

The warranty factor may help being a ThinkPad can have on-site and accidental coverage while Macs don't have this option.

 

I hear that, they are majestic looking. That was my first breed, I had to run him every day for miles and miles just to keep him chilled out. I've only met one low level energy husky in my life. Now I have a couple pits that are much lower energy... thankfully. Only takes about 1.5 miles daily to keep them quite chilled.




On topic, you may want to consider the size of the laptop you are choosing. You may already be pretty set on the w520, but some things to consider. If you are going to be taking it into lecture halls or carrying it around campus. Lecture halls for the most part have tiny desks and are fairly compact as far as space. If your dorms are on campus (didn't see that in OP) it isn't as big a deal hauling a bigger laptop around. But toss in a couple ridiculous college text books and the load gets fairly weighty.

I remember walking around campus with my 15 inch dell and a couple textbooks and it was like 25 pounds lol. Kinda wish I just had a x220 back then with an external monitor in my dorm. Although I do see the difference is only 3 pounds between the 220 and 520, but size and weight in your backpack does make a difference. Does also depend on the campus. My freshmen year my classes were just crazy spread out so I couldn't hit up my dorm in between to drop off stuff. I ended up having to haul more stuff than in the following years. Of course that is until you figure out your teachers, then you can stop taking your books... or not even go at all. Ha, some classes you can get by just following the online syllabus (granted no surprise quizzes, etc).

 

Good advise, though I think that mostly depends on what a person was use to carrying before. Back when I was in the IB program, my bookbag would regularly reach 20-25lbs (and all textbooks were required -.-) and this went on for all four years I was in it. One of my reasons for getting the W520 was because I'd rather tolerate the extra weight/size of one, powerful computer than to worry about two separate computers on campus.

@OP: If your computing needs are light, the X220 would be a great laptop to take to college. If you need more power later on though, just build a desktop

 

Or wake up and realize just about anything is going to be more than enough power for school.

 

Power isnt even a factor. Only real factor with the X220 is screen size. I think it would be GREAT for college...not too big, not too small...but some people just want bigger even though they have to carry it around all over. In terms of power, the X220 is just as good if not slightly better then any other laptop with similar specs. Only thing you arent going to get is discrete video, but the HD3000 isnt to shabby for integrated.

If it were me in this situation...college, thinkpad or mbp....X220 would actually be my first choice, along with a dock to use as a desktop with bigger screen and all in the dorm. Best of both worlds (small portable machine for running around campus going to classes and comfortable desktop at 'home')

 

I second the recommendation for a dock. That's one of the great features of Thinkpads, their ability to use a dock. This way all you have to do is set it down. No cables to connect to the laptop every time. That way you can leave a power adapter in the bag and only pull it out when you're away from the dock.

The dock will let you connect to local USB devices, printers, wired ethernet network, an external eSATA hard drive and up to two desktop monitors or TVs. Very handy if you want to use the laptop to watch videos or play games on a TV. Just leave everything wired up to the dock. This also makes of less wear and tear on the connectors in the laptop itself.

 

Definitely depends on the person and the size of the campus. I was a golf caddy during high school so I was pretty used to carrying 30+ lbs around for miles. But I would've loved to have my x220 over my 15 inch to carry around campus. A backpack can only carry so much. A couple thick text books with a computer can make for some uncomfortable walks.

You wouldn't need two computers if you just had a monitor in the dorm. The x220 will handle pretty much all computing tasks you need for college. Most degrees require MS office... that's really it. To each their own, but to me for walking around I'd rather have the smaller footprint/lighter weight... it is a capable machine. I don't know what all the engineering degrees require as far as software, but pretty much every other degree doesn't require much power at all. Frankly the x220 would be overkill for most degrees lol.

Agreed. To me that is ideal. Course my campus was pretty spread and my dorms were pretty far from classes. I guess if everything is pretty close it wouldn't matter, but I'd still choose the x220. If the OP is looking to play games while in class, well that is a different case entirely.



If you want some truly sage advice. Tell your parents to just give you the money they were going to spend on college and start your own business . Then visit your friends at college for weeks at a time to party ha.