Why would I even consider a thinkpad?

On many threads I see people recommend them and I go to look and they look very pricey for what you get compared to HP, Dell, Sager, Gateway and all other makers.

I am new to notebooks so I am trying to find out why are they so highly recommended when the value seems to be a large gap between the rest? Someone please educate me on this. THanks

 

You need to look for coupons online and shop lenovo when they have sales where you can combine the coupon with them. There are also employee discounts and discounts for college students if you qualify...

 

You can’t really compare a business-class notebook with a consumer-class notebook. If you want a cheaper Lenovo product, look at the IdeaPads instead of the ThinkPads.

 

I think the biggest things are build quality (sturdy materials, metal rollcages) and great keyboards. They are known to last years and stand up to a lot of abuse. I know they are relatively expensive, but they are business class laptops. If you compare them to the business lines of dell and whatnot, they are pretty comparable in price.

Lenovo does have some consumer lines that are cheaper and probably more comparable to what you are seeing from the other companies.

 

if you want a boring looking laptop, thinkpads are pretty much your only choice.

 

The deal I got on my T61 was about $400 cheaper than any other laptop with-T9300/XP Pro/wsxga +/7200rpm hd--regardless of it being consumer or business class.

 

For a business laptop, they are probably one of the best deal/value out there. A fully loaded thinkpad vs. something from Dell (e6400, etc...) would cost about $300 - $400 cheaper. This is assuming you use CPP or EPP. Compared to a consumer class notebook, yes, they are more expensive.

 

That being said you can get the R or SL series (which lack some of the strength of the roll cages or roll covers) if you just want a better built laptop. But if you've never cared about the keyboard, don't really see other laptops as poorly build, then just go with whatever is in line with the specs you need. That being said, as others have mentioned, sometimes the thinkpad will be the same price or cheaper with the great discounts that pop up from time to time.

 

I agree with the above. I did a few months worth of research on laptops (and lurked here A LOT) until I finally ordered my T400 earlier today. Nowhere else can I get the specs I got for the price I got. Sure, it's not the most beautifully designed laptop out there, but I'm not paying for style, I'm paying for performance.

(I still get a kick out of the fact that a lot of times, it costs $100 or more just to get a different color! For example, getting a black macbook instead of a white one)

 

Dont want to sound stupid but what makes it a buisness notebook more so than any other notebook?

Heres my example, why would I want to pay 1000.00 for a thinkpad when I can get sayyyy a Dell or HP for the same price except it has a dedicated graphics card? Or the Asus which has a better warranty?

I am not trying to be a smart arse I just want to make a good decision on this and they come so highly recommended I want to investigate the hype.

For me, I will use it for school, internet browsing and maybe simple games like WOW or starcraft 2 from time to time. I would like A dedicated graphics card so should I look else where?

 

In general, consumer-class notebooks will look like crap after six months and a little abuse—and they tend to have more problems when subjected to heavy use. Business-class notebooks tend to fare far better in both cases.

 

I would recommend thinkpads to you because if you want it to last long it can stand up to common wear and tear over time. You wouldn't want to spill water on a consumer laptop by accident, but thinkpads can take it and survive at much higher rates than consumer laptops.

 

All you need to do it use the CPP and other discounts, and Thinkpads are cheaper than comparable HPs and Dell.

The build quality is better...and I like HPs

Performance for dollars, Thinkpads rule. They are no longer premium priced.

 

T400 is the best thing out there right now when you look at performance, dollars and quality.

 

T400 will fit the bill nicely. Dedicated graphics, and can handle those games. And it's cheap (relative.)

 

If you want a powerful video card, look at W500. Basic configuration w/ Vista Basic starts at $1074+tax on CPP.

 

Consumer = feels like crap, types horribly, has a horrible mouse pad and keys.
Business = simple, solid build, comfortable keyboard that is usually a lot more enjoyable to type on (I am not a fan of HP's business keyboards), and in this case you can get great specs too...

Now consumer laptops might have more "multimedia" focus. Also you aren't going to get the best screen unless you go with the LED options of the T and W series (is the W LED option available?).

 

That 400 is looking interesting. The more I read about laptops the less I want it to game on. I really dont want the heat and battery dying in 1-2 hours but I do want to be able to play movies.


So I go look at the 400 and its still very expensive unless I'm doing something wrong. Lets compare.

T400
2.26ghz
14.1 screen
ATI Tadeon 3470 with 256
I upgraded to 3 gig ram (need with vista right?) STandard with just 1???
Upgraded from 80 GB HD to 250, 80 GB is nothing
Upgraded to DVD recordable, want to be able to make dvds, thats standard
4 cell battery

No blue tooth, no finger print thing (yes I want that) no cam(could care less)

Price is 1151.25 with upgrades


Compare that to this

Sager NP2096
15.4 screen
2.4ghz
4gig ram
320 HD 7200 RPM
DVD BLU RAY
9 cell bat
Finger print reader
Blue tooth
G force 9600 GT with 512 RAM

1,199.00


Or

Dell

2.4 ghz
15.4 inch screen
3 gig ram
X3100 Intergrated card
blue ray player
finger print reader
320 gig hard drive 5,400 rpm

Only 799.00!

 

The laptops you compared...are sort of all over the place. First of all the battery life on the t400 is excellent because it employs switchable graphics (which means it can switch to the low-power intel graphics when not in gaming use).

Also the Sager is not montevina is it? It would not employ switchable graphics, etc. Now the bluray might be of interest to you...but I dont care about that. Those prices aren't really that far off though since you can't compare them exactly. You just have to weigh what you want. But the t400 is definitely newer tech. The dell doesn't even have discrete graphics so I don't even know why it is in this comparison. Regardless the thinkpad will be built better.

Also we're not saying you have to get a thinkpad if you have certain priorities that are affected by price. You just need to economize yourself. A sager might be better for you if you have a strong emphasis on gaming and multimedia but don't want the price to be quite as much.

 

Yeah I know your not saying I have to buy one, but I'm just very interested about them and trying to see what you get with the money u pay for. I am pretty new to notebooks but not cpus.

How long does the battery last? I hear ya on construction but is it that much of a differece? I dont know, Ive never dropped them before?

Wouldnt any notebook with out high end graphics card and cpu consume much less power? I remember reading about a HP 14'' notebook that the battery lasted 7 hours but it was only 700 dollars.

Please dont think Im knocking what you guys own, to each his own. Just trying to understand why these are so highly recommended before I make a decision.

Asus is another one that comes to mind, I really like the 1 year cover anything even if u drop it warranty and they seem much cheaper when comparing hardware to hardware.


And what the heck is montevina?

 

Check this out

 

My two cents

I choose thinkpad because
a. trackpoint - so much better than any touchpad (my own opinion) other manufacturers have tried to make something similar, but they have failed.
b. the keyboard - thinkpads have long been credited with the best keyboard(feel wise)
c. duribility - thinkpads have a good reputation and one that has held true in my experience. the current t series thinkpads have the rollcage design which makes those laptops both strong and light.


As for the price, there may be a bit of a price premium to owning a thinkpad. However if you search the internet for coupons and discounts and watch for deals and sales that lenovo is offering you can often get one at the same price or lower than others.

If you think you are interested in the thinkpad, but are wanting to save some money it is often less expensive to go with the minimum RAM and purchase your own to add later, which is not very difficult to do. You can do the same with the hard drive, but it can be a little more tricky.

 

DDR3 isn't actually cheaper...or it wasn't when I ordered my x200. So you might want to get it from lenovo. But just price it out yourself.

And, yes, the build quality is a very big difference. But you just have to weigh if that matters to you. We don't plan to drop our laptops, but it is great to have a solid machine in case you do anything (thinkpads have roll cages also).

And yes a laptop without discrete graphics will have good battery life when compared to a laptop with discrete graphics. This is why I mentioned the switchable graphics. I was also pointing out that the dell was not comparable because you said you wanted discrete graphics...

 

You buy a thinkpad because:

1) you like waiting a good three weeks + for a delayed shipping with minimal status (or in the case of canadians, calling to find out shipping status)

2) you like "horrible" support (which wouldn't matter if the laptop lived up to its enterprise level claims)

3) you really dig black with a red strip (seriously applies if you are a Canon L lens user, though the LCD colour gamut may be an issue)

4) you have very discriminate tastes on how you bang on the keyboard (and the moment it flexes, heaven forbid, you're up in arms)

5) you have had very bad experiences with a variety of consumer grade laptops (some of them really do fall apart exactly a year later)

6) trackpoint or bust.

Premium price? Not really. You're paying for features that you can't get anywhere else!
=P

LOL.

 

Continued driver and BIOS updates beyond production end date, ability to plan multi-1000 unit roll-outs of the same model over a 6-12 month period, post-production parts availability. That sort of thing

 

CPP discount shows $972 for the config you mentioned, including the fingerprint reader. The X3100 graphics are integrated; not as good as the ATI.

As for Dell, you get what you pay for....

 

Let me put you why you ever would consider a Thinkpad: Back in 1999 I bought a new Compaq Presario 1885 with 64MB of RAM, AMD K-6 380MHz. IT was a basic laptop at that time, it lasted me less than 2 years.
Then I heard about IBM by an uncle who works at a mexican facility, all of their computers assets were IBM both laptops and desktop, after using a 380XD I think, I became shocked by how well the laptop was build.
Later when my laptop failed I purchased a new IBM Thinkpad A22e with Celeron 800MHz, 128M RAM, Win98. I fell in love with the machine and with the trackpoint.

What happened to the A22e? My dad still uses it with the RAM maxed at 256MB, and a speedy 7200RPM E7K100 60GB Hard Drive. This september the laptop turned 7 years old and is still running like new!!

I of course was very delighted because of durability and warranty options that now having my 4th Thinkpad I would never look elsewhere.

I recommend you also the T400, is a SWEET machine, I'm sure you will like it and for more years to come.

 

If you ever get a chance, grab a thinkpad and carry it around, put it down on the desk, open and close the lid, and try out the keyboard. Then compare that to one of your friends macbooks or a dell xps and tell me which one feels like a real solid notebook that you can trust and depend on. (Panasonic Toughbooks not included in this comparison )

 

I think thread author doesn't need Thinkpad at all.

1. He will be playing games, so better off with 8600-class videocard (not available in reasonably priced thinkpads).
2. It will be a school laptop, most likely swapped in a couple of years after he'd figure out what he really needs. No need for long lasting notebook.
3. Something more lively than a TP would be much more suitable for school.

Personally, I'd recommend something like HP dv5t:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz) edit
Display 15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1280 x 800) edit
Memory FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Graphics card 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT edit
Hard drive 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Mesh) + Microphone + Webcam for HP BrightView Infinity Display edit
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard edit
Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card edit
Modem Port No Modem edit
Primary DVD/CD drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner w/remote control edit
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit

He can get that configuration for 1100 _before_ student discounts, and it would suit his needs much better than any thinkpad, really.

 

Because thinkpads are tanks! Superb durability, superb keyboard, superb warranty. Let's face it, Uni life is very hard on laptops. You want the best protection you can.

 

More lively? Whats that suppose to mean ?

 

Having a laptop with a tacky design like a HP improves the performance by 30%!!

 

Yeah, I've seen to much of that at school. I LOVE the classic look of Lenovo's notebooks.

 

I work on students' laptops all the time for work ...

 

I have a T400 for university and I like it. It works fine, it looks classic/boring, however you want to put it. But I see fingerprints all over my friends' laptops and I feel glad I didnt get them. I saw a pink Toshiba (and I mean pink ALL OVER, including the keyboard) in my lecture, it was like screaming "OMFG I IZ A BIMBO!"

 

I think a thinkpad in the university environment makes it less obvious to steal...simply because the black blends in very well. I'll just be sitting here with my crappy old x200 at my school .