Lenovo Thinkpad Edge

What you guys think of these? I just pulled the trigger on an AMD flavored 15. Before you purists chastise me, I fully realize the Edge is not a 'real' Tpad since it's more for the consumer market and much cheaper than the other lines, but ya know, blow it out your ass. Was actually somewhat difficult choosing which to get. I ended up going for the Phenom Tri-Core (even though each core only clocks in at 1.9ghz) with ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4250. Granted, the Intel Core i3 is slightly faster and around the same price, but, all the Tpad Edges with Intel have integrated Intel graphics, so no way am I going there. I don't care if the Core i5s were priced the same as the Phenoms heh, Intel graphics SUCK. Anyway...like to hear any opinions, experiences, etc. from those who have one. I've always wanted a Thinkpad because I love the sturdy construction, track-nub, and look of the unit. Even though the Edge is a tad flashier than the standard Tpad brick, it still suits me fine! None of that glossy black or red bullshit either. Matte black or bust.

Well, I just cancelled my order. I received confirmation today stating my CC will be charged over $200 what the laptop is priced at on the website, as well as a shipping charge when FREE SHIPPING is plastered all over the website. The e-mail address to the rep I dealt with in Idaho or somewhere was invalid in the confirmation email, could not reach him. Called the call-center and the Indian dude swore up and down that was incorrect and I was being charged 650 not 850, but was unwilling to transfer me to the sales rep or even send me an updated confirmation with the correct price. So I went ahead and told him just cancel the order then, and not 5 minutes later I'm getting voicemails from my sales rep acting all irate that I cancelled heh. A real shame, I really wanted a Thinkpad but just don't feel comfortable after this gaffe. I've been burned in a way similar to this and it was a nightmare getting it worked out. I'm just going to settle for an HP or something, which by the looks of it has better specs and 100 cheaper. Oh well. I really wanted that damn track-nub heh.

That sucks man. I've kinda dreamed of being a Thinkpad owner for over 15 years now ever since I saw my first one in action.

I was pretty damn excited to see they released a consumer oriented model (Edge) that I could actually afford.

I'll just go nubless heh. I should have researched more than I did anyway. I wasn't exactly sold on a phenom tri core that only clocks in at 1.9ghz per core, regardless what the benchmarks say. Also, Linux power management is a big issue for me, so it's going to take a bit of research to get something that won't require 6 days of tinkering the command line to get working right edit: FYI, I do know the Thinkpad Edges' power management doesn't work with Ubuntu, which I'm generally running 90% of the time for home use. If I go on battery power alone, it will drain it in about an hour just idling. All other Thinkpad lines are fully functional out of the box with Linux.

Don't talk about Bulldozer....sour grapes here since I just built an AM3 system (thanks again for the help with btw) under the mistaken impression it will support the Bulldozer. According to the benchmarks I've read, the Core i3 is slightly faster than the Phenom Tri-Core 1.9ghz for the same price. But, all the Core i-X laptops I see come with integrated Intel Series 5 graphics..... AMD comes with ATI graphics. I'm not fan of ATI, but it doesn't look like Nvidia has any offerings in the notebook market now, and I'd definitely choose ATI over Intel GFX. So that's one thing I need to really think about. Better processor but inferior graphics, or slower AMD processor and ATI graphics? Not that I want to game on this, but I may want to play Fallout 3 on it one day. And I'm definitely going to want Compiz effects in Ubuntu enabled, requiring some snappy OpenGL rendering. I'm VERY leery of Intel graphics when it comes to OpenGL. Also, not only that, but I would like to do a bit of video encoding on this thing....but am unsure if the tradeoff getting a lower clocked AMD 3-core is going to be worth it versus a much better Pendium dual core. Man, these decisions were SO much easier building my desktop when I had infinite options. I don't like these contingencies in laptop hardware selections. edit: Oh yeah, do they still even make laptops that don't have those terrible glossy reflective screens? Who on Earth thought that would be a good idea?

I decided to go to the Dell Outlet refurb site.

For $550, I ordered a refurb Dell Vostoro 3500, Core-i5, 3g DDR2, 320 gig HD, and discrete Geforce 310M video (512MB).

Probably going to run just as fast as my x4 Propus 630 desktop.

I don't like having 3 gigs of ram though that's stupid. If I want 4, which I'm sure I will, I'll have a leftover 1g chip.

The same laptop with 4 gigs cost 50 bucks more.