Waiting for a T520 deal

I've decided on a T520 because I want a 15.6" screen and now all I have to do is wait for a mediocre deal. HP keeps coming out with deals for loaded i7 notebooks under $800. No way I'm going that route so I'm willing to pay more for something more enticing than an i5 with 2GB and a 250GB 5400rpm HDD. I know there is build quality but when there are 50% premiums on the price you're paying the line has to be drawn on what you're willing to pay for a Thinkpad.

My finger is the on the edge of the trigger....I want one so badly right now.

 

Is there a reason why you want/need the "T520"? A T510 is just as good, unless you really want the Sandy Bridge Processor.

I am pretty sure there will be some awesome deals during the summer?

 

Sandy Bridge for improved performance/battery life even though I'm sticking to a 6 cell. Is there even a T510 deal anymore worth grabbing?

 

"Is there a reason why you want/need the "T520"? A T510 is just as good, unless you really want the Sandy Bridge Processor."


A 520, with it's Sandy Bridge, is not like any other processor in terms of speed and power consumption.

Renee

 

Be sure whatever deal you get has the 1600x900 or 1920x1080 screen (NOT the 1366x768), or else a 15.6" screen would actually worse than a 14" or a 13.3" because you not only get a low resolution, you get a low resolution blown to epic 15.6" proportions.

The T420 has a 1600x900 option too.

Don't pull the trigger on either unless you get the updated screen. You can easily upgrade the RAM and the harddrive later yourself, but the screen is the thing to upgrade right away on the order page. $50 to get a decent 1600x900 screen rather than a 1366x768 screen is way worth it, on both the T420 and T520.



EDIT: Also, have you considered the cheaper L520? If you're ona budget it's probably a good choice too. It's got a base price of $649:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/professional-grade/thinkpad/l-series/L520/index.html
MOST IMPORTANT upgrade: 1600x900 screen for $50
Second most important upgrade: i5 processor for $50 (because processors can be expensive to upgrade later, and i5's have a huge advantage over i3's)
This brings you to $749 for an L520 with all the stuff that's important to order right away. Then you can buy a 4GB RAM upgrade kit on newegg for less than the $80 they're charging to upgrade. Depending on what you're using the computer for, you probably won't need to do this right away.
You can also spend an additional $30 right off the bat to get a 320GB Hard Drive if you'd like, or buy your own aftermarket replacement hard drive after you fill your current hard drive up,... or just use an external drive to store your stuff.

 

1600x900 & i5......absolutely. L520? I'll check it out but I'm pretty set on the T series.

 

Roger, unless you just have to have one custom built to your specs, check out some of the preconfigured models available from places like costcentral or provantage. Here are some of the pluses of going that route:

Good prices (in my experience much cheaper than Lenovo.com, plus no sales tax).
Ready to ship (assuming they have that model in stock).
Most of the popular options available on different models.
Reasonable prices on warranty upgrades (for Lenovo service, not third party service agreement).

That's what I did. I ordered a 424049U, which was equipped almost exactly as it would have been had I ordered from Lenovo. It was several hundred cheaper, and faster to boot (pun intended). I guess the tradeoff is that you don't get the money back guarantee, but I knew what I wanted, so I didn't want to pay extra for a trial period. I'm not knocking Lenovo.com, just saying there are other alternatives.

 

I understand that. However, I was just wondering because he wants deals on a laptop just released, causing me to think he wants it now.

 

You know CostCentral had some nice T520s. If I factor in the tax savings and 3 yr warranty upgrade, it's a great deal. I'm about to bite.

Any other sites with a good selection? Provantage had like 1 config. Newegg, Amazon had zero. I'll be looking as well, thanks for the lead and all the great advice from all

 

Hmm... CostCentral does seem to have a wide selection of configurations:

Here's the cheapest one on there that has all 3 important things (1600x900 screen, i5 processor, and 4GB of RAM)
Lenovo ThinkPad T520 4240 (424049U) - Laptops / Notebooks
It's even got the discrete graphics card included.


EDIT: also if you order from the Lenovo website, there's a coupon code "ECOUPONS10"
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/lenovo-thinkpad-t520/29328.aspx

 

CostCentral and Provantage are the 2 biggies I found. Also CDW, but their prices are higher, plus they charge sales tax. CostCentral is where I got mine. $1227 (424049U) + $183 (3 yr priority onsite and ThinkPad protection) = $1410. Good customer service. Good deal in my book.

 

Dang it, now I can go with minimum options and afford an i7 which is trumps most any upgrades IMO. I can do RAM on my own, get a small, slower HDD in favor of an SSD upgrade later and live with a 6 cell. Free 3yr warranties from these resellers is definitely weighing on me.