Which Lenovo Laptop?

Hey People,

I am new to Lenovo laptops, but I heard they provide great quality. I don't have the budget an Apple, but I believe that is not needed. Looking for a laptop that will support me at entry level jobs.

Are the Thinkpads the way to go?

1) What is your budget?
My budget is around $700-900. I am flexible, but I am not willing to spend more than $1000 really.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen


3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

I will be buying it in the United States.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

a. Like: I heard Lenovo was a good brand? I have had an Asus gaming laptop before, I liked it.

b. Dislike: Apple (premium price don't have the budget and probably not needed for somebody just entering the job market)

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No. I want a brand spanking new one.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Mostly be using it on a desk, but I will probably have to travel with it as well.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?

I will not be gaming on it, because I have a desktop at home. However it might be cool if it could handle some games. Not expecting it to run Battlefield3 etc.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
As long as possible. I don't want to get a laptop that gets smoking hot!

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
Without or with I don't care. I can check reviews elsewhere.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows 7 or 8?

Screen Specifics

12) Not picky at all. As long as I can read/write documents/powerpoints etc.

13) I don't care glossy or not.

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Would be great if it had a professional look to it because of my work.


15) When are you buying this laptop?
In the next 1-2 weeks.

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
1 or 2 years.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
I'm not a big PC geek so I don't really know. However, I rather play it safe and get a little extra.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?
A dvd or blu-ray burner would be nice, but not NECESSARY.


Thank you for taking your time. Any advice on laptops/brands would be great.

 

14" Lenovo T430s with the Thunderbolt port is quite a versatile unit. Can add a Thunderbolt eGPU to it to do gaming. Only issues are (1) the Thunderbolt enclosures are still at least one month away and (2) price - only the high end i7 model comes with a Thunderbolt port and they are outside your budget.

Expresscard-based eGPUs are also available but have less bandwidth on tap. Still, users are getting great results. In which case can look at 12.5" Lenovo X220/X230 or 14" Lenovo T420/T430 systems as well as others in the thin-and-light link in my sig. eg: a 12.5" HP 2560P being a user i7-quad upgradable powerhouse available for ~$600 on ebay in new/as-new condition with remaining 3yr NBD warranty (note: i7-quad warranty implications).

 

based on your budget I believe a Thinkpad Edge series would suit you fine

 

I would look at the T Series --- Get the best screen possible. The T Series is built rock solid and will give you options for some great battery life. The resale value on these is pretty good too, so if you only want it for 1 - 2 years you could get some of that investment back 2 of my 4 ThinkPads are T Series, one of them is over 4 years old and still works great, had to replace a fan a couple months ago but that's the only problem it has had. The other two I have are an Edge (not my favorite) and a X series which I ordered for something light to travel with.

 

I'd recommend a ThinkPad T430 with the following technical configuration:



The 500GB 7200rpm hard drive is currently a free upgrade. You might choose an i3 CPU, remove the camera, and downgrade the wireless LAN adapter to save some money. For something in the $700-800 range, you may want to consider a consumer-oriented laptop.

 

Thanks for the input. I know Bestbuy is selling some Lenovo laptops, but I should not buy my laptop there correct?

Where would u recommend me buying my laptop.

 

Buy it from Lenovo directly. Best Buy does have Lenovo laptops, but it's rare to see any big box retailer stock Thinkpads in particular.

Yeah, there's no ritual of heading to Best Buy to mash your hands against one before you buy, but it's not necessary. Thinkpads are pretty good machines.

 

Bestbuy might carry some consumer-oriented Lenovo laptops, but most, if not all, electronics retailers do not carry ThinkPad models.

You should go to Lenovo website and configure your ThinkPad online (like I did, before I took the screenshot for you to look at), then click BUY with a credit card number. (Lenovo should offer me a coupon for saying all this!) You should have a laptop in about 10 days.

 

I think I will be going with a Thinkpad? Does it outperform any other laptop out of the way in the 700-999 price range?

Also does anybody know what the major differences are between a 1200 dollar mac laptop vs. Thinkpad?


What Thinkpad should I go with?

I saw a T420 on newegg go for 800 dollars is this something that will suit my needs? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246113

 

^^^ That T420 is good. I think it does not have the HD+ 1600x900 screen, though. If you don't mind the HD 1366x768 screen, which is both smaller in DPI (dots per inch) and lower in quality, then it's a suitable candidate.

 

The Lenovo Barnes and Nobles Gold store currently has a 25% off coupon for select ThinkPad laptops. You just need to create an account before browsing the store (don't have to be a B&N Gold member). The coupon expires on the 13th. There is also a free 500GB 7200RPM upgrade until the 12th.

 

Consider this: $794 with the Barnes & Noble discount.

 

Does anybody here have a T420/30?

I've done some more research and there are mixed reviews. People are complaining about the screen, battery and size. Can somebody give their opinion on this? Are there any other weak points that I should think about?

Any input on the Thinkpads will be greatly appreciated.

 

Size: good. Battery: very good. Screen: HD+ okay, HD bad. Build: great.

The T4X0 is considered the "bread-and-butter" business laptop. Many large firms (KPMG, for example) hand the 14" ThinkPads to their employees. Because of their use of the laptops (mostly Office applications), they don't care about screen quality nor want to pay extra for better screens so that the employees can watch movies.

 

I think I will be going with this setup for my T430.. Opinions? Goods/bads?


Description
ThinkPad T430 - 1 Year Depot Topseller Warranty
Processor: Intel Core i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, 2.50GHz)
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
Operating system language: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English
Display type: 14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
System graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard Backlit - US English
Camera: 720p HD Camera with Microphone
Hard drive: 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Ultrabay: DVD Recordable
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader & Smart Card Reader
Battery: 9 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70++
Power cord: 90W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Integrated mobile broadband: Mobile Broadband upgradable
Language pack: Publication - US English

Accessories and options:
3Yr Base Warranty Extension
ThinkPad Basic Case


I know this laptop isn't made for gaming or movies. However.... could I watch online videos etc without this thing breaking down? Lol sorry I am new to Lenovo

 

^^^ Looking good. You can add another 4GB RAM stick later (very easy) to bring the total RAM to 8GB. If you're not on the road for the whole day with the laptop, a 6-cell battery may make the whole thing lighter, just a thought. It would be very nice if you could get that config for about $800.

No, the thing won't be breaking down when you watch online videos or disk-based encoded movies. The Intel HD 4000 is quite good for that.

This Lenovo video might be helpful.

 

I have had a Thinkpad T420 for the past 11 months, and its been a WONDERFUL laptop. Everything about it is solidly built and pleases me each time I touch it. Previous to this (and some epic fail Dell Latitudes), I had, and still have a Dell XPS M1210 which I bought in 2006. Another thing I like about the lenovo is upgradeability. The other aforementioned vendors have made it easier to upgrade and customize via third-party and/or post-purchase, but Lenovos offer a lot more options in both sectors.

I will say I get about the same battery life with my T420 + 6 cell batt. (~5 hours roughly) with an SSD, whereas my XPS M1210 + 9 cell batt. got me 6-6.5 hours on occasion with the same SSD. I will surmise that my battery life is better on my Lenovo mostly because of the newer component architecture, but I would also give a hand to Lenovo's power-saving software. Battery stretch from Lenovo has saved my butt a couple times over the preceding year.

With all the huff about the screen, I honestly was flabbergasted when my work bought a new Dell E6420 with the 1600x900 screen. It looked as if there was a very small mesh grid over the screen. Then the Lenovo I bought had it as well. I was like W-T-F is this?! after a while, I stopped seeing it. I now have played enough Diablo 3 and web surfing to not care about it anymore.I would certainly like to have a 1600x900 IPS display in my T430, but given that its the smallest thinkpad with a decent discrete graphics card option, i'll take it and RUN!

I sort of touched on it earlier, but I cannot stand Dell's included software crap. Dell's Quickset works correctly when it wants to, not usually when you want it to. However, my experience with Lenovo software add-ins has been phenomenal. I really enjoyed saving some cash with buying my T420 without an OS, and then using my Microsoft Technet account for that need. Installing the drivers and other software from Lenovo worked REALLY well with the downloadable auto-installer application. It scans your system and allows you to pick and choose what drivers and Lenovo software to install. No need to go hunt down this graphics driver or that free-fall sensor.

Honestly I've written a bit more than was necessary here for a quick response to your question - but this has been my experience with Lenovo versus (primarily) Dell.

Sidenote - I really wanted to get the 9 cell batt. for my T420, but im glad i didnt, given that I bought the T430 last week.

 

Thanks for your opinion. Are there more people that can vouch for Lenovo and its quality?

Any other T420/430 user out here with some thoughts?

 

Only concering quality and support issue being on a different system. See the travesty at Crack in X220 casing + poor support.

So it may be a good idea to confirm the depot (or NBD business warranty option) covers you for similar problems just in case they appear down the track in your T420/T430. A way in which customers could get Lenovo to lift their game.

 

Honestly, you're going to cite one case as a concern for quality control and service issues? I think there was one other case in there too, but do you know how many X220 Lenovo probably sold? I don't either, but I bet it's a heck of a lot more than two. Lenovo doesn't cover physical damage and neither do most other manufacturers. Back in the day when ThinkPads cost $2k, they fixed it no matter the cause, but when the manufacturers get squeezed, something's got to give. I think if you'll venture into other manufacturer's forums you'll find similar issues with them.

 

Unlike Zaz's comment, *multiple* users were affected with some very good advice on how to deal with such issues before they affect your business. Eg: Thinkpad protection plan. Or other competiting systems, like my 2560P, have no such quality or support issues. The OP would be looking at a comparable 14" 8460P/8470P. Here's the link again as the last one was unusually being redirected to Lenovo sales with both Firefox and IE.

Code:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Crack-in-X220-casing-poor-support/td-p/670587

Can try for yourself: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Crack-in-X220-casing-poor-support/td-p/670587 .

 

these cracks only affect a very small number of machines.

If you really follow the thread, which i did (since i helped AndrewPh resolved his cracked palmrest issue), you would know that the OP had a crack in the magnesium chassis, which the other customers did not, some got a tiny fracture on the palmrest, other got a cracked keyboard bezel, etc.

Furthermore, if you track the pictures posted, you would see that there is no consistent damage patterns. Most of the problems are different, there very little direct correlation between each of the cases mentioned.

The only casing problem that is consistent on the X220, is that the dimple on the top of the screen edge can leave a permanent impression on the palmrest.

The X220 is very a reliable machine, and i am currently in the process of getting the X230 (i already got one for my cousin).

 

Honestly, given that a notebook is designed to be moved around, thrown in a satchel/backpack, and is not stationary on a workdesk (usually), Thinkpad protection is a worthy investment.

Since my Dell XPS M1210, I have always bought such a warranty or addition to the vendor's warranty. I like peace of mind, and I enjoy knowing that is something god-awful happens to my notebook, its generally going to be covered by my ADH service contract.

 

Jona90, I am new to Lenovo and am currently trying to pull the trigger on a T430s. I believe the Barnes & Noble 25% discount expires tomorrow. I am trying to get myself over the hump before then.

Based on Rescuecom's current ratings, Lenovo is off the charts reliable.

Computer Reliability Report 2012|Rescuecom Computer Reliability Report

 

lead_org pretty much summed up the X220 "issue".

But just for additional clarification, there *have* been ThinkPads with legitimate design flaws. The T400s/T410s is an example: the original palmrest design does indeed have a design defect that causes it to develop stress fractures in specific locations.

We know this because Lenovo:

1) Has provided documentation to their field techs confirming the issue and the affected models and instructing them to replace the failed part under warranty despite the issue being described as cosmetic.

2) Has issued two replacement FRUs (75Y5573 and 75Y5577) which do not have the defect.