T400 price drop?

I have been configuring and reconfiguring the SL400 and T400 all day debating which one I should get. A few hours ago my configuration of the T400, which ran about $1300 earlier today, only went for ~1100.. not sure if something changed but they have me sold.

Price: $1082 via cpp

Processor: P8400 (2.26 GHz)
OS: Windows Vista Home Basic (already have ultimate at home)
Screen: 14.1 WXGA+ w/LED, CAMERA
RAM: 3GBPC3-8500 1067MHZ
HDD: 80GB (upgrade later)
Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
Wireless: WiFi Link 5100
Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB Hybrid
Battery: 6-cell
Warranty: 3year basic

 

WOW yea, ***

not for the t500 though ....****!

 

That is such a sweet 14" machine. I love it.

I'd buy it right now if it had a ATI 4800 series GPU.

 

actually the t500 integrated does get a chop too


ive got half a mind to cancel my t500 and get this the t400

 

Yea, I saw this, too. Wonder if this is a sale or perm?

 

Sounds like a sale? I dunno, I just saw that the current sale ends the 18th (which is today for me). Guessing it'll drop for me once it's the 19th here.

 

Well, I didn't want a take a chance. I went ahead and ordered! Yay!

Est. ship date is 9/1. That'd be nice, but I ain't holding my breath.

 

I ordered my T400 on August 5th (release date), and my estimated ship date is September 25th. You're one lucky son of a gun if that's your real ship date >_<

 

That is a pretty incredible deal. I have been debating what to get and when to get it, but pricing a T400 just now was enough to make me impulsively pull the trigger just in case it is a mistake. I did a pretty complete configuration and it came out to be about the same price as the current starting cost for the T61. Now I am really glad I waited for the T400.

 

That's a great deal. I just replaced my order and the order ship date changed from 8/26 to 9/2, but I saved about $300. Woohoo.

 

Exactly 2 Weeks after its release, the t400 price drops...Fishy.

I bet they did this so everyone will replace their order and then Lenovo can be like 'well, you canceled and reordered 2 weeks later so now the computer will be exactly on time...muawhaha'

 

ThinkPad T400 14.1" widescreen with integrated graphics
From: $1,130.00*
Sale price: $847.50*

ThinkPad T400 14.1" widescreen with discrete graphics
From: $1,230.00*
Sale price: $922.50*

Jump on it right now!

 

Nice, definite price drop. Configured a better laptop than a week ago for like $300 less.

 

any hints as to how long this will last? this is nearly $300 less!

 

this might be done because they want to bring in a newer part on something. im guessing they might want to bring in newer integrated graphics.

 

Whelp, pulled the trigger, couldn't resist this price drop. Upped my specs a bunch too.

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
9/2/2008** $1,785.00
$1,137.92

$1,137.92

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)1
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic12
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)8
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
Note WLAN10
4 cell Li-Ion Battery60
2764: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7

 

I'm going to call and try and get the price adjustment done. You supposedly have 21 days from date of order. Also, I think it's possible that sales just aren't as good as they wanted, so they dropped the price some.

 

Let us know what the reps say about matching the price. I'd prefer not to have to cancel my existing order and place a new order. Thanks.

 

i called to get a price adjustment... the rep told me to get a quote and email it to her, which i did. i got a call back 10 minutes later saying that she would put it in for processing. no need to cancel and then place a new order.

 

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Edit
Ships within 1-2 weeks** $1,824.00
$1,162.78
$1,824.00
$1,162.78

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W1
Genuine Windows Vista Business 6412
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
Note WLAN10
6 cell Li-Ion Battery60
2764: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7

Processor1 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W

Operating system12 Genuine Windows Vista Business 64

Operating system language Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 US English

Display type 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera

System graphics ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB

Total memory8 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard US English

Pointing device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader

Hard drive4 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache Intel Turbo Memory 2GB

Optical device5 DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)

System expansion slots Express Card Slot & 7-1 Media Card Reader

Bluetooth Integrated Bluetooth PAN

Wireless card10 Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)

Wireless WAN Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable

Battery60 6 cell Li-Ion Battery

Power cord Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter

Language pack Language Pack US English

All I can say is I am glad I skipped the 15% discount. Remember, these units are made in China and there is room for lower prices.

They really wanted to close out the T61's before. Now they are providing mainstream pricing on the new T400's.

Its likely that prices will drop further too. It all depends on how quickly one wants one.

The question Im having is on PC Card vs 7-1 media reader. Does Express Card replace the PC Card?

Also do both the 6 and 9 cell batteries stick out and does it pay to get regular warranty service instead of depot service for $30 or so extra. Would 9 cell make unit stick out too much and be too heavy to carry? I usually never have problems with computers when I buy them unless someone tampers with it and the like.

Like at airlines and hotels and online computer pricing, prices that people pay will vary. First orders on any product is the highest price as we saw for the T400. T61's were being pushed for deep discounts while T400's were at high prices which kept getting reduced.

 

Anyone know of a store in NYC that has Lenovo so I can see the T400 in person before I buy the one over the internet? The ones in stores would only be top sellers which have higher prices and worse specs anyways. But at least I would be able to see the computer.

 

I think J&R will have them, but I don't believe they're in stock yet.

 

I wonder if the rep meant August 25th instead of September 25th? Sept 25th doesn't seem to jive with anyone elses estimated date from various threads around here.
And it would be pretty crappy for them to know that they are not shipping until the 25th, and yet tell people ordering now that its Sept 1st!

 

I see they finally got real with their pricing.

 

I checked the website, the T61 is in stock and T400 is not in stock yet on the website. Provantage which uses other distribution channels shows that those distributors have T400 in stock.

The prices look good on the T400 and the issue for me is solely the weight which is why I need to see it in person. I don't know if its too big to carry around every day.

 

Has anyone tried to call the sales rep and get a price matching done without canceling the order?

 

Well size wise just look at almost any other 14.1" laptop. It's going to be pretty close to that. Find another laptop with comparable weight and pick it up. Should give you a good idea.

I'm coming from a 9lbs. eMachines m6805 so I think this is going to give my shoulder a break lol.

 

See post #19 in this thread.

 

Thanks. I just did the same and knocked about $575.00 off my order.

 

I emailed a Canadian rep - he says that he'll credit the price match to my card once the order ships. About $600 CAD

 

I just spoke with a Canadian rep and got the same response - that my card would be credited once the order ships.

 

Lenovo seems to have the best mass production going price wise with coupon codes/or CPP pricing, and feature set. So it seems like the winner all around for 14.1" format.

A question I have is Wimax, the Intel Wireless 5350 will have Wimax, 5300 doesn't. Can I just replace an internal card to add Wimax later on?

If I plan to upgrade to wimax if it is upgradable to such, which Wireless option should I order with it?

 

Eeek!

I don't know what to do. I just called the sales reps, and they told me my laptop is shipping this week!

With this price drop I could have afforded a better (6MB cache) processor. Should I quickly cancel my order, or is the T8600 a good enough CPU? I usually don't spare a dime on the CPU because that is one of the only components that cannot be upgraded. But the $300 premium at the time looked like a lot.

I'll be running Linux on it and mostly developing software. Should I cancel my order and re-order with a T9600 processor?

Any sound advice that will calm me down is appreciated.

P.S. I ordered a T400

 

I guess that would depend on how urgently you need the laptop.

I was able to save 400 dollars with the price drop and cpp discount (I wasn't using a cpp discount before), so I canceled my order without hesitation.

 

I'm in the same situation as you eeejay... I need it soon, so I'm staying with the P8600. What I am doing though, is price matching it with a CPP discount (doesn't matter if you didn't use it before). All you have to do is create a price quote for a T400 within 21 days (maybe 30?), and call in with the number of the new price, and they'll adjust your order.

I decided that the P8600 would be fine performance wise, would give a bit more battery life, and that the processor CAN be upgraded in the future if you really wanted to.

 

You don't need to cancel your order. The rep I spoke to earlier told me they would do a price match if I just configured another system with the exact same build as my current order, save it as a price quote and email her the quote number. After I did, she called me back to confirm that my newly configured system matched my original order part-for-part and that I can get the discounted price. She asked me to email her again when my original order ships and my credit card gets charged, after which she would process a refund for the difference in amount.

So you pay the original amount when your system ships, but get a refund for the difference after.

 

I must have been snoozing.
Where is this CPP discount, and how could I get it?

Thanks for all the tips, I didn't realize you could upgrade a CPU very easily.

 

google lenovo cpp code or something similar and enter the number onto the page www.lenovo.com/cpp

I guess its possible to do a price match even if you didn't use the cpp code. Though I don't know how it works if you want to make changes to your order.

Just as a warning, when I tried to make a change to my order (change from a 6 cell battery to a 4 cell, since i didn't want it to stick out the back) I was told they would have to put a hold on my order to make the changes and that it could/would delay my shipment by a day or two. Seems ridiculous for something as simple as a battery swap, but thats what the sales rep said nonetheless. So who knows how things would be delayed with a CPU swap. Good luck with that.

 

Will there be any price drops/discounts on the T500?

Are there any good reviews of this notebook?

(particularly concerned with screen quality, considering Lenovo's reputation in this area)

P.S. Although this thread is about the T400, I thought that opening another thread would be pointless since both notebooks are practically the same...

 

It wouldn't be incredibly easy... but I've definitely seem it done before on these forums (on a t60 or similar). I would only recommend this years down the road if you really needed/wanted to.

 

In my opinion, the difference in CPU's will be difficult to discern outside of benchmarks or very specific tight computational code that fits within the L2 cache.

I'd stay with the P8600 unless you know for a fact that a few % clock increase will make a significant difference. I'd imagine in software development, CPU is not your bottleneck -- disk I/O would be the biggest bottleneck during compiles and regression testing. Not a SW developer so I likely don't know what I'm talking about.

On the other hand, if you're going to be with the machine for a long time, get what you really want. A week or two likely won't make a difference down the road. For what it's worth, I canceled a 8/6 order in lieu of an 8/12 order due to access to significantly better pricing. My estimated ship date per the rep I spoke with today remains at 8/27 and she said my system is on the production line.

 

come on T500!!!

drop baby drop.

 

I actually canceled my T400 order (ordered 8/5) and reordered. I didn't want to chance them messing up the order by changing it. Besides, the estimated ship date is only a week later. Since I was changing the config (with prices this low, I didn't need to skimp as much), it would have added another week if I had changed my original order instead of getting a new one anyway, so I figured it would be less confusing for them to just cancel and reorder.

For saving $200, and upgrading a few things on my low end config, waiting an extra week is worth it. Best of luck to everyone else trying to cash in.

 

I think you are right about all that, I just needed someone to calm me from my hysteria, with my current T2500 processor, if I see %100 utilization an either core I know that something is broken, I barely ever fully utilize my CPU.

And thanks y'all for the pricing tips, I just shaved a whole load of money off my order, I can't believe I am paying less than $1000 (pre-tax) for a brand new high-end laptop.

I'm not much of a forum user, but I am sooooo glad I read the threads here.

 

You don't need to replace the order....just get the price match done....and the ship date stays the same

by the way....you can ask for it first but it will not be done....you have to confirm that you want it done on the day the order ships out

 

you can only do the price match thing once (as told by a lenovo representitive), so im thinking i might wait and see if prices drop further and then do the price match. Do you guys reckon prices will drop more? ive never used the lenovo sight before, so im not familiar with how they drop prices etc

 

I dun think you can get any more better deals than this....if you do....it will not be significant at all.

 

Just save it as a price quote right now and you can always do it again later if you end up getting a price quote. Apparently if you change the price now it takes a few days to process and can delay the shipping (what a sales rep told me) but if you do it after it ships, they will refund it to you on your credit card

 

Its likely we'll be able to pick up an X200 next month at the same price as a T400 today. If DVD didn't matter one bit and size and weight were second to performance as criteria, which one will be a better machine?

 

I have the same question. Anyone knows how long this price drop period will last?