Z61T and Lenovo Notebooks in General

I am noticing how underrated Lenovo notebooks are. I am very close to buying a z61t, however I have spent all morning calling stores and lenovos resellers to try to see a store product which I can test out hands on.

Do most of you purchase online with out having seen the lenovo notebooks in person? Please anyone let me know what stores have the z61t (bestbuy and officedepot did not).

Thanks!

 

Thinkpads have pretty much always been a buy it without seeing it item, except for way back when they were some of the only laptops (and even then ony a few were in stores, and only dedicated computer stores like CompUSA had them.

If someone were really desparate, I bet if someone on the board lived near them and had the model they were looking for they might meet up with them and take a look over it.

 

Thats unusual, but hopefully the reviews online will make up for it.
Also I'm reading on these forums that some people are waiting a month before they the products are shipped to them. Is this usual? If i just change the ram and hd (debating between 60gb 7200rpm and 80gb 5400rpm) do you think it would be that long of a wait?

Thanks.

 

The waits can be kinda long sometimes, if you want to avoid that call in your order rather than internet it. 1 - the sales rep will be able to tell you if any parts are not in stock, 2 - if it starts to take a while you have a person you can talk to who can try and speed things along (they are on commission).

 

Thanks for the input, last question do they offer educational discounts like Apple does, I'm a college student.

Thanks

 

They do. Call them to find out more since it varies.

 

Even changing the RAM adds 3-4 business days to the shipping.

 

they give a general 5% off to all students. If your school has an agrrement with them, you might get even more off. Right now for a short period they are offering employee prices even for students in schools that have agreements with them.

Find out if your school has any deal with IBM or lenovo.

 

Just called them and they told me with this special "Holiday Sale" thats the absolute minimum and no other educational discounts can be applied to it for now.

 

That sounds like them...I called back about a student discount, but since I had already received 3 items as upgrades (I bought before 10/31) I was not eligible for any additional discount. I got a quote on-line, saved it, and then called and allowed the rep to actually process the order. He was able to check stock and let me know when it would go out...he said 8-10 days (around 11/5) and the computer said 11/20! I emailed him a couple times and ended up getting it in the 8-10 he said. He also gave me a free upgrade to 2 day Express. I think it pays to be nice, but firm, ha!

 

I doubt you will have to wait anywhere near a month. It will probably be more like a couple of weeks at best before it ships. Also, I wouldn't bother with the 60GB 7200rpm drive because the smaller you go the slower it is compared to the larger 5400rpm drives. Unless Lenovo is offering a cheap discount for upgrade on the hard drives then I would go with the minimum and order the hard drive separately from Newegg or another retailer. I put a Hitachi 100GB 7200rpm in my Z61m but a 120GB 5400rpm would be another good option as well.

 

Burninggrave, how much was the upgrade from newegg?

 

I ordered the hard drive from Buy.com.

 

Are you using it externally or as a second internal hd?