What's the difference between these machines?

Hi...

I have been debating a new machine courtesy an unexpected but welcome situation. I have been looking at the T410 and the X201.

On the Lenovo (India) site, I have identified two X201 units. Both fall within my price range. Here is the link to a comparison between two machines.

I can't find anything that is different between these two machines. Can you? I am asking because on the site there is a price difference of approx. US$ 133 (in Indian Rupees, it is about INR 6000). What accounts for this difference?

It could be I am missing something very simple and elementary.

Thanks

 

The only difference is the i5-450M processor in the cheaper configuration, versus the i5-520M in the more expensive configuration. The only difference between the two is clock speed, so go with the cheaper one - the negligible performance difference is not worth $133.

 

The processors are diffferent... The lesser priced machine hs the core i5 450M while the other one has core i5 520M.

beware of the 332395Q model - I had to chase a retailer for almost 3 months trying to get my money back! Ensure you collect the laptop when you're paying.

 

Why? Why did you have to chase the retailer? Thanks for the heads-up on that.

 

That sounds more like a retailer issue than an issue with that model of the X201.

 

Thanks. I knew I was missing something very obvious!

Yes, the cheaper one will be the way to go then. Leaves more cash in hand to upgrade the RAM by another 2GB, among other things.

 

Lucky sob, I hope some day someone will give me a present for a birthday with up to date loaded latest TP model
If not, I will have to give myself such present then.
It would be nice if You could post pictures and some video of it when you receive and compare them face to face with R400.
I will definitely get either slim 14" ThinkPad when my R400 expires or 12" TP, whichever will suit my needs and wallet

Edit: to stay on topic, Id order the one with higher CPU, just to have peace of mind, you wont be able to upgrade CPU in the future. You can save up later and get new Intel SSD and/or more RAM.

 

It still seems weird to me that Lenovo India has two nearly identical machines like those. I mean, since you can't CTO, I'd at least expect they would have preconfigured models a little bit spaced apart in terms of specs... Beats me!

 

Yeah...exactly....I really do miss the ability to CTO.

 

@lines of flight - read through my thread here... http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/505898-x201-way.html

The retailer collected 100% of the money as advance and commited to a delivery period of 4 weeks. 3 weeks later, he tells me that there's no stock available (of the 3323-95Q). I ask for a refund - they sit on it for two weeks without any information and then after repeated calls, they say that the i5-450 M model is availble. I repeatedly tell them to cancel my order - it takes me another 5-6 weeks to get my money back. Noticed that you're from Bangalore - the retailer was a bangalore based company - Frontier Business Systems ( www.frontier.in). Avoid these guys like plague - absolutely pathetic customer service.

Ensure your retailer has the stock, and collect your laptop against the cash payment. I had about Rs. 80,000 hanging in the balance for almost 2.5 months, It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

@MidnightSun - Exactly. I'm just cautioning OP that the high end models have very limited stock in India and the retaliers usually leave you on high ground. It's the cheaper (lesser speced) ones that they have in stock...
No issues with the TP as such - It's the best I've ever owned

 

@v_310...right. Thanks. Yeah that really sucks. My deal with the reseller I work with is that I pay him a token deposit of INR 500 and the rest when he delivers. He is quite good - at least as of now.

Cheers!

 

That should work I guess...you're going for the i5-450M system, it should be readily available. In fact, they were ready to offer me a corei3 equipped T410 - It was not what I wanted.

All the best, you're going to love it when it comes

 

@v_310...Yeah I saw that link. You moved from a larger screen to the X201...yes? How did it feel?

Also, your machine is from the US correct? Any hassles in the warranty etc?

Truly, it's really a pain to buy Thinkpads in India. I am thinking of emailing their MD and telling him so!

Cheers!

 

if you think buying a Thinkpad is bad, try purchasing a Merc or BMW or any car that is imported into India....

 

Strangely, it is quite easy actually to buy at least a Merc in India since the Merc manufacturing facility was set up. You can buy it off the shelf or customize it in which case your delivery will take some time. The cars are expensive though...very expensive.

Edit: I believe BMW has a production facility in India too - about 3000 units of the 3 and the 5 series are being manufactured there.

 

@lead_org- Mercs and BMW's are pretty common these days. We're easily getting Rolls - Royce, Bentley's and Ferraris out here. The price is a different story tho...

@lines of flight -

1) I went from a 10' EEE PC to a 17' HP to the 12' x201. I feel that this is the sweet spot between battery life, comfortable usage and weight. No complaints here - I'm very happy!

2) I'm not too worried about the warranty - the laptop was manufactured in May 2010 and comes with a standard 1 yr carry in warranty. I took a risk with the warranty - If I had a defective motherboard or a display, I'd have to somehow send it back to the US. Once the warranty expires, I'm planning to buy warranty from Lenovo India (costs around 8000 for 3 yr carry in).

As such, the thinkpads are pretty serviceable and unless there's damage to the motherboard or the display, I'm pretty confident I can handle anything else.

I've already added the extra RAM and replaced the hard disk with a clean Windows 7 install - the next upgrades will be the addition of the WWAN card and an SSD.

 

Can't I buy a machine in the US (or for that matter anywhere where Thinkpads are sold) with the IWS and use it outside the US? Also, I did not know that I could just go an buy the 3 yr warranty in India.

My current machine (which I bought in India) has the 3-yrs IWS on-site warranty and I have been told that the X201 that is listed on the Lenovo site and to which I linked above carries a 3-yr onsite warranty also.

 

yup - That would be the best option. If you have someone coming down from the US, ask them to CTO and add in a 3 yr IWS. not sure about the cost
you can get the warranty here...

ThinkPad T61 laptops, Thinkpad adapters, Thinkpad batteries, Lenovo batteries, Lenovo adapters

You are correct - it has 3 yr carry in warranty. I don't think it's international tho.

 

Cant he just go to Lenovo IWS page and check out warranty availability world wide?
I mean, if machine per default comes with one year IWS then why would it loose IWS status if its being upgraded to 3 year warranty during CTO/when warranty runs out?

 

default warranties are never IWS - they are always customer carry in. If you need onsite or IWS warranty, you will have to shell out extra $$$

 

Im not sure what we are talking about here, I thought that IWS stands for International Warranty Service. And I have seen most of machines come with IWS.
Is there a difference when you upgrade warranty? Its not IWS by default and one has to pay additional fees to make it such? In India only or is it Lenovo policy world wide?
Little bit confusing

 

IWS follows the type no. of the thinkpad machine, you can't upgrade its coverage as such.

Lenovo Support & downloads - International warranty service (IWS)

 

Well...in my case, when I bought the R400, it came with a 3-yr IWS. I did not have to go and buy the extra IWS warranty as you mention.

 

upgrading your warranty won't affect the IWS coverage, as it follows the first four digits of your type no. You can't expand the coverage or shrink the IWS coverage.

 

I think there is some misunderstanding - perhaps he thought that IWS=ADP?
Or perhaps in India they have models with very limited list of countries where can be serviced?

 

I don't know if you are referring to me, but I know - and this has been verified by me and the Lenovo Warranty folks - that the IWS is the standard IWS that Lenovo offers on its ThinkPads globally.

And, in India - AFAIK- most ThinkPads come with the 3-yr IWS.

 

No no, I was talking about V_130.
IWS is what lead_org said - international warranty service that allows you to get service in many countries world wide and you cant extend list of countries included into IWS by buying warranty upgrade. You can only extend your warranty or if you wish, change the way your machine is serviced (carry in, mail in, on site etc) and whether your machine will be serviced for free in case of user fault (Accidental damage protection?).
Correct me if Im wrong?
Im learning myself

 

that is pretty much it, in a nut shell.