Thinkpad Discounts?

I am a student in Highschool and am looking for a small, lightweight Laptop for class. originally i was going to get a Dell 700m but the more i look it seems like a poor idea compared to the Thinkpad T43.

The T43 fits my needs perfectly: good battery life, light weight, nice fourm factor, and good support. the only thing holding me back is the price, at $1,900 for a 14.1 SXGA, 9 Cell Battery, 512 RAM, and a 1.86 Proc it hit the pocket hard.

I've skimmed through the forum and found a few post about various discounts ( the VISA[Credit Card?] and Student ones interest me) In fact in the thread "student Discount" some one mentions'

I can only find the web price, I dont think I qualify for the student Discount because I'm still in high school(At least I didn't see anything about the T43)

So my Question is: "What do I have to do to get all these discounts, is there anyway I can get this beast down to $1400 with them?"

 

I am a newbie here too, but this site saved me about $800!!

Use the http://www.ibm.com/businesscenter/amex or
http://www.ibm.com/businesscenter/visa "stores" to order your new thinkpad.

This was the only education link I found:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/education/index.html

Good luck, you won't go wrong with the Thinkpad!

 

I looked into the site's you suggested but was unable to find any notebooks other than the X series. While it had amazing deals on those its not quite what I'm looking for.

Am I completely blind? I can't find any discounts, do they rotate (For instance this week workstations and the X series are on sale where as next week will bring discounts on the R and T series?)

I really have no clue as to what im doing wrong here...

 

First of all, you should buy an Express model. That alone should get the price down to $1600 or so. And for the education page, you need to select the option on the top to show all the models instead of just the ones in the inventory. As far as I know, discounts don't rotate. Buying from the Education site may knock the price down to less than $1500. The only discount that's better is the EPP discount, for IBM employees and their families, friends, etc.

 

Wow, IBM's site isn't intuitive at all! This is byfar the most confusing and akward way to search for a notebook. They dont offer any way to limit the searches to specfic Features such as SXGA or even sift out the 15" from the 14.1"!

I love these thinkpads but I cant for the life of me find one that suites my needs at a price i can afford

Right now i have it narrowed down between a few choices:

Lastly,

I think the 2nd is my best bet, its just about $300 too expensive right now

If I call can i talk to customer support about their discount and education programs?

I really do appriciate the help thus far

 

I think if you really want to save money, you should look everywhere possible to get the EPP discount. I was able to obtain a US EPP login over the internet, by searching through forums for someone who was willing to give it to me, but ironically I wont even end up using it because I was able to get in touch with a friend of mine who works at IBM in Canada, and have decided to purchase from the Canadian website to save myself 15% on customs, and for the warranty issues.

Check your PM jerb.

 

I agree. I'll admit I'm kind of slow but I find the Canadian IBM/thinkpad pages are all over the place... for example, links to discounts or promotions are only found on one particular page and not accessible through the main site... and I can't find any info on education or credit card discounts online.

Anyway, I'd like to get a thinkpad as well but am still trying to find the best price,etc and now that there will apparently be a newer model I guess i will wait and see.

 

Newer model eh? What line is it off of ( is it a T series or X maybe?)

Is there a release date yet? i can wait a month, maybe a little longer

 

Can any one tell me how much the EPP discount is? is it like 10% ?

 

Between 18 to 35%

 

I'd say if you were looking for a T or X series thinkpad model, the new series (Z series) is not really going to suit your needs. There are other 15.4" screen, relatively large and heavy, consumer oriented laptops. If you were looking into a T or X series model, then the Z series doesn't seem like something that would interest you, as it's style and features are very contrary to that of the T and X series. In fact, it's style is quite contrary to that of IBM notebooks in general... The new series seems meant to capture a new market, and if you were already interested before, I don't think it will appeal to you as much.

Just my opinion though

 

a valid point, i just couldnt find any release information on what you call the Z series. right now im on the verge of buying the ThinkPad T43
Model 2686M5U with the extra 9 cell battery and 3 year onsite warrenty, still looking into discounts though

 

Im on the EPP site, (thanks for everyone who helped me thus far) but i really dont see much, a few t30's and one t42 (but for $2500). am i looking in the wrong spot? is there a catagory or link with more options?

nevermind, i was looking at the used stuff

 

Ha, I did the same thing at first.

 

I'm in the market for a new lappie, and I was hoping to get a ThinkPad. Is it worth the price premium? Even with the Amex or Student discounts, it looks like I'm still coughing up an extra $200 over a 700m or V2000.

I'm willing to sacrifice the portability of either of the above two models for IBM's legendary reliability and keyboard but having to give up both of those AND pay another $200 bucks is tough. I'm only even looking at the R50e, just to get myself into IBM's lowest-price P-M based notebook.

Are there any other discount links or coupons I'm missing? Do the R50e models go on sale from time-to-time (should I wait)?

Thanks, I just discovered this site and the reviews are great.

 

Is there a Visa/Amex discount site for Canada?

I'm interested in buying either a T42 or T43 soon, but I don't know anyone who I can bug for EPP pricing.

Thanks
Jeff

 

A quick google search brought up this:
http://caipsgws001.can.ibm.com/store/home?aud=EA1VISASB&target=home

 

I can't find anyone who has an EPP login to share, and I've been looking for the last week or two. I thought they used to be fairly common. If anyone has one they won't use or can share, please PM me. It'll help a college kid get a laptop...I know the chances are slim.

 

haha..thanks jerb... i don't know why i didn't try google.

i don't like how lenovo's site is organized!

 

Its very akward, there are no Links (or their Hidden really well) to alot of the content and offers on their site, mainly i just use google to find what i need of theirs

 

That site got me all excited until I read the Terms and Conditions. Those deals are only available to people with a VISA Business card. Bummer.

 

Crap. Does that mean that everyone that was raving about visa discount in the US had a visa business card?

 

No I believe the US discount is different.

 

wow i can tell you the ThinkPad T42 (REU) is like $30 more than EPP

 

go to visasavings.ca and there will be a consumer VISA website

 

Holy crap! Thanks man.

 

Thanks indeed! That's a very nice site.

 

Are there Canadian discounts for post-secondary students on ibm notbooks?

(I tried google this time first )

jeff

 

Sadly, no. I called Lenovo and asked about student discounts in Canada and was told that they don't do that. Of course, they have their back to school bundles, but those really aren't a great deal compared to the rest of their line-up.

Check if you can get a discount through your school. Mine offers one, but I found a better deal on that Visa site.

 

Hi,
I am a newbie looking for a good enough discount on the ThinkPad T-series. My old computer died on me recently and i desperately need a new laptop for schoolwork. I've heard about the IBM EPP discount and how much money people have saved using it. I'm very interested in the T42 and ThinkPad's legendary durability but obviously the price is a bit too much for me. Is there anyone willing to share their IBM EPP log on info ? Thanks a bunch.

 

Anybody know what the cost would be for this config on EPP:

ThinkPad X32 2884-A2U (express)
UltraBase X3 (the CHEAPEST OPTION - on regular and educational, there were two different UBX3s, one discounted with system purchase, one not)
UltraBay 2000 CD-RW/DVD combo

Because if it's REALLY cheap, I may end up :buyIBM: (well, a new one, anyway - my current laptop, and first ThinkPad, is an X21 2662-66U. I've also sold someone else on IBM, and they now own an R50e 1842-SLU.)