Where can I go see Thinkpads in person?

I'm thinking about possibly buying a Thinkpad X300 from the Lenovo Outlet, but I'd like to feel a X300/X301 in person first if possible. I don't think I've ever seen a Lenovo on display before, so I'm wondering where I might be able to go to find an X300/X301 in California near the SF Bay Area.

 

Do you have any local BestBuy's, Staples, or Circuit City's?

You may want to check them.

 

I've been in Fry's and Staples, but they don't have any Thinkpads, certainly none of the local stores. Circuit City / BestBuy in the Bay Area might have them, I guess I'd just like to find out which store does before traveling (I guess I should just call them to find out).

BTW, does Lenovo's standard return policy apply to refurbished units also?

Basically I'm look at these two:
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Le...Title=ThinkPad X300 Refurbished with Free Bag
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Le...47L3A7745&caTitle=ThinkPad X300 with Free Bag

I'm wondering what the difference between RAM types would mean in terms of battery life / performance. I assume the second one at least has basic wireless-G capability, even though it lists "-" under "wireless".

What are the pros/cons of ordering refurbished from Lenovo?

 

i dont think ive ever seen thinkpads at the local best buy where i live...

 

Maybe Microcenter?

 

None of the above stores have them here in CT. The only place I've seen ONE (and I mean, just ONE, this display model lol) a few years ago was at Circuit City. It was an R50. Since then, they said they no longer carry Thinkpads in thier stores.

 

Your best bet would be if a friend or family acquaintance has a Thinkpad - no stores that I know of carry Thinkpads, they only have Ideapads.

 

bestbuy, staples, etc dont carry thinkpads.

try finding some computer shops in the area and you'll likely find some thinkpads.

as someone mentioned above, microcenter is a great computer store that carries thinkpads. i searched online and they have two stores in Cali, one is in Santa Clara, about an hour away from San Fran.

call and ask if they have the X300 though if you decide to go.

 

there should be a reseller option on the site where you search for one within your area

 

They list Staples, Wal-mart, and Frys. None of these have Thinkpads (at least the ones that I've tried).

 

You're in the Bay Area???
A few home depot will have some T61 or R61 on shelf. Now if you live close to an Micro-center, I'm 100% sure you can see some thinkpads there.

What part of the Bay? The Micro-center in Santa Clara has a bunch of thinkpads when I was there last time.

 

I live somewhat near the bay area, but not actually in it, which is why I don't know a lot about what stores carry them (I may be moving to Santa Clara soon, but anyway).

Thanks for the suggestions about home depot and micro-center. That's the kind of info I was looking for

 

Home depot?! really?

 

Really, Home Depot! But I thought they were online only. I've never seen one in a store.

 

Yeah, I really do not think Home Depot has Thinkpads... maybe the poster meant Office Depot?

 

I've seen them in Office Depots also, specifically the Oakland (Fruitvale Station) and San Leandro locations. They had R61is at the end of the year and T61s (I think... they were T-somethings, too pricey for me so I didn't pay much attention) earlier last year.

 

The wife and I were at the Fry's store in Campbell this weekend (just outside of San Jose at the junction of Rte. 17 and Hamilton Blvd.) and they had an X301 on display. Wow! It was very small, very light (even though the battery was not part of the display) and very expensive! It almost seemed too light, it was that small. (Even though it was certainly more sturdy than the HP tx2z that we played with.)

Good luck with your search...Bill

 

Crap...
I really meant Office Depot. It's a typo guys, sorry for that.

 

Heh

Stanford University Bookstore had X300's on display soon after they came out --- I don't know if they have the X301 now, but that would be one good place to check.

This link might help if you do end up buying from lenovo outlet

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=57171

 

actually yeah, i've been wondering this too. I certainly haven't seen any in any of the brick and mortar stores I've been to.

my dad has a t42p from work which I can compare to, but that's about it. any idea how the t500 (if at all) compares in terms of physical appearance, mouse button clickyness/size, screen thickness and so on?

if there's just too big of a difference, another option is comparing it with a t60 i've used at work but i haven't really paid attention to it.. and i no longer work there so it wouldn't be an ideal comparison, but better than nothing.

any comments from anyone that have used either of these and the t500?

 

Blah... home depot? the home improvement store? otherwise known as the walmart of home improvement? hahahhaha j/king. I would also look into fry's man. You cant go wrong there. Also look up a place called "Central Computers" I know for sure they have one lying around.

 

Yes, I agree with Thecla. Check out some college book stores. Thats where I saw and played with a T61 14" and a Z61 15.4". It really helped me to make my decision.

 

College bookstores tend to be your best bet to see ThinkPads in person. Unfortunately, only a handful stock them, and they often run a few months behind the curve on models.

In my opinion, the T4x was an absolutly superb design (I used a 14.1" T40 for 5 years). The newer models (T400/T500) are similar, but not truly equivalent from an aesthetic or fit/finish perspective (however, they are much cheaper for what you get). A T60P would probably be a better comparison, but a T61 would be better still.

The TrackPoint, keyboard, and mouse buttons should be comparable on the T4x, T6x, and Tx00. A very similar 7 row keyboard is employed by all of them (The Tx00 is now using the T61 keyboard). However, the T4x doesn't have "Windows keys", and the T6x and T500?, don't have stripes on the mouse buttons, or grey function keys. Also, note that IBM/Lenovo uses 3 different keyboard suppliers (ALPS, Chicony, NMB), and each one has a slightly different feel (all are great though).

 

Nevertheless, Home Depot does have them on their website.

 

Well unfortunately anything under T400/T500/X300/etc. isn't something I'm interested in because of the poor screen quality of the older models. My current laptop is a Sony SZ, and the screen is amazing. Hopefully the X300 won't be too much worse (this is one reason I want to see it in person).

 

yeh do what jonlumpkin said, go to a college store. theres plenty of colleges around and many carry thinkpads.

 

I know for sure that Circuit City and Best Buy, at least on the East Coast, don't carry Thinkpads because I was told that they no longer have contracts with Lenovo. Actually, Best Buy never had a contract with Lenovo. Circuit City allowed the contract to expire.

 

I saw one Thinkpad at Circuit City by chance. It was a used 14.1" R61 in a glass case that most people who came into the store wouldn't even know existed. This was just a fluke but gave me another chance to play with this machine hands on....

 

Hang around a college library? Like Stanford or the student center. You can see a bunch of them there, although it might be weird to try to get a close up look.

 

That's basically how I got to see one of the HP Compaq business models before I bought one a few years back: I happened to see someone with a new model setting it up at a coffee shop and asked to take a look at it.

It shouldn't be necessary at Stanford though: the bookstore lists 1 X300 and 14 X301's as being in stock:

https://www.stanford.edu/group/bookstore/SUprices/lenovo.html

 

BTW, how often does the Lenovo outlet usually restock? The cheap X300's with 6-cell batteries seem to be pretty much sold out now.

 

A quick answer to the origional question:
I'm only about 15 minutes away from the CDW store/warehouse so I just go there and they normally have 5-15 models on display. Its a fun store also because you can see the HP business machines which are far better then their consumer counterparts.

 

Microcenter carries about 4 to 5 models...check them out