T420 - is this a decent price?

Hey guys, is this a good deal for a T420 with the following configuration:

- i5 2540 @2.6
- 2 Gigs RAM
- 320 Gb HDD
- HD+ screen (1600x900)
- 6 cell battery
- Everything else is standard config. except for an Intel Centrino 1000 N wireless adapter

That all comes down to $899 plus another $75 in taxes. Is it worth it, or should I wait for a better deal?

I'm also going to be adding an 80 Gb Intel 320 Series SSD and 8 Gb of RAM, which going by current prices should be around a total of $240-$250.

 

Doesn't sound like that stellar of a deal to me, especially if it is in America. If you get a good sale or a good rep, I think you can get that configuration for at least like $100 less.

 

You should be able to get a 10% discount. Just google around for coupon codes. Also, isn't the upgrade for ram and HD free right now?

 

When I tried that same configuration without the 10% discount, it was around $1069 and obviously with the discount applied it came down to about $962 and that's not including taxes. Apparently Lenovo's jacked up prices on the HD+ panel ($50). And since there's no deal on the 7200rpm HDD's the 320 Gb is an additional $70.

I might just wait till the next free memory or HDD deal comes up. I'm wondering if there's another sale around the corner.

 

The extra cash paid for the 2540M isn't worth it over the 2520M. Save your money for other features, or to get a better deal.

 

Over 7.5% sales tax? Yikes, my recommendation would to be move to another state to avoid the high taxes . Assuming that's not reasonable, you could look into buying a similar configuration from an online store that does not charge sales tax to your state, or look on eBay for NIB deals on the T420. And make sure that you're using % off coupon codes, they always pop up, right now BESTSELLER is the 10% off code.

 

Wow I had no idea 7.5% was considered high lol.. its 9.5% here. I just assumed it was the norm...

 

You can also upgrade RAM and HD yourself. It'll be much cheaper.

 

7.5% taxes rate is not that much, in our states it's 8+%. I just consider myself lucky to not have to pay the VAT like some European countries. I would get the 2.5ghz i5 to save myself $50 and just use the 5400rpm hdd that come standard.

 

I've paid 993 Euro for my T420 with i5 2410 and only with HD screen. The best thing is, that price includes student discount. Thinkpad is very expensive here in Germany.

 

Yeah, get the lowest i5 possible. they're all the same in real world use.
in max performance my 2520m never goes below 3ghz. same as any of the others would act.
hooray turbo. seperating fools from their money since...it came out.

 

not really, some of the lower end i5's lack some features which are useful if you use drive encryption or virtualisation

 

Yep £1000 (about $1600) in the UK. Tax is 20%. I just returned it - the standard 14"HD screen is terrible, I'm losing display height and gaining width so it's a double whammy.

If it had been cheaper I'd have kept it, but it's just too much money for something I won't be happy with. Might as well spend half the amount (or less) on a consumer laptop,

 

I got mine for £811 (including 20% tax and discounts) with HD+ screen and Core i5 2410. Pre-configured models at retailers are usually expensive compared to going with Lenovo directly. It's only worth buying when Lenovo issues discounts otherwise they would be expensive.

The standard HD screen is not good for productivity work, I have used a 15.6" consumer notebook with this resolution (thats even worse given the size) and it seriously restricts productivity.

 

I think, the standard resolution is ok. Maybe I've gotten used to my macbook white resolution. For higher productivity an external monitor is a must.

 

To clarify:

The i5-2410M has Turbo, which the i3 does not, but it lacks the features you mention. It is the only i5 in current T420 ThinkPads lacking these features.

All i5-25xxM processors offered in the T420 have the AES-NI instructions to speed up encryption/decryption, the additional VT-d (Virtualization for Directed I/O) technology, and TXT (Trusted Execution Technology).

 

I got it directly from Lenovo, and with a 10% discount (we don't get the 20-30% stackable discounts that people in the US do). It was £996 inc VAT.
Things like the upgrade to the Pro version of W7 are a stupid price in the UK compared to US.

I felt I needed to get the standard resolution as I find high-res screens too hard to read at native resolutions (I'm in my 50's), although I gather W7 is better at resizing stuff now.