PSA: good deals on thinkpads till tomorrow

[GQgeek]

It's YE and on top of significant discounts to list prices, there's a 20% coupon you can apply: USPYEAREND for americans on top of already discounted prices. Canucks get fucked, as usual. An identical configuration for an X201 will cost $400 more. Americans can apply coupon discounts on top of list discounts on site but canucks can't for all coupons, but can for the ones that applies to the T410/510.

I'm having trouble deciding between an ultraportable and a 14". I like the fact that on a 410 i could have an SSD primary HD and a large low power 5400rpm drive in the ultrabay for VM images and other bulk storage. Resolution would be a little better @ 1440x900 instead of 1280x800. Battery life on the x201 is excellent with the 9 cell battery... It's not quite as good on the t410 but with the 410, if you really need to you can add a splice battery to get you 22hrs of light workload. Weight is obviously a no brainer... Advantage to the x201 @ 3.5lbs with a 9cell battery. The 410 is 2lbs heavier. Both are compelling.

I'm actually kinda tempted to try the MBP/MBA too... Wouldn't run OSX, obviously.

FYI: keep the default RAM/Hard drive and buy what you need of newegg. I'm upgrading whatever I end up getting to 8gb and it's 240 from lenovo vs 100 from newegg and 260 for ssd from newegg vs. 380 or something from lenovo.

 

[Kent Wang]

Thanks a bunch. I'm probably going to pull the trigger on this for a laptop for my girlfriend.

I've had the T500 for about a year and like it a lot. I have it plugged into an external monitor, keyboard and mouse 98% of the time. I only move it occasionally. I do feel that it's a bit heavy, but it's usually in a rolling suitcase. If you're taking it to work everyday, then the X would be better.

For 8GB ram, I assume you're running Windows 64-bit. Have you used it before? Any problems, like with drivers?

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Thanks a bunch. I'm probably going to pull the trigger on this for a laptop for my girlfriend. I've had the T500 for about a year and like it a lot. I have it plugged into an external monitor, keyboard and mouse 98% of the time. I only move it occasionally. I do feel that it's a bit heavy, but it's usually in a rolling suitcase. If you're taking it to work everyday, then the X would be better. For 8GB ram, I assume you're running Windows 64-bit. Have you used it before? Any problems, like with drivers?
NP. I run 64-bit windows 7 on all 3 or my computers. No problems at all. Driver issues for 64-bit OSes should be long gone since the new driver model was introduced back in Vista. Oh, and if it matters to you, cisco FINALLY has a 64-bit ipsec vpn client (it's actually not 64-bit but is finally compatible with 64-bit systems). Also, the reason I'm getting 8GB is so that i can run VMware server on it with a bunch of simultaneous VMs. I'll most likely dual-boot windows and linux. Unless you're a big photoshop user or something, I can't think of too many other reasons that you'd need that much, but hey, for $100, it's worth thinking about since once you fill those slots with lower density ram you'll have to throw it out to upgrade.

 

[jakejake]

Link? I'm looking for a 14" too.. which one?

 

[GQgeek]

^^ just go to the lenovo site and click shop... use the coupon at the end of checkout process.

 

[jakejake]

Thanks Geeks.. how's the Edge series? This is for a friend and she doesn't do anything more than surfing and Excel. She's currently using the R series.

 

[GQgeek]

no clue... it's listed under the "professional grade" so i'm not sure that means it gets the same build quality as the T, X, and W series... I'm guesing it doesn't, but that doesn't mean it's bad either. To me, those little black notebooks with the rubberized paint and flat finishes everywhere are a dream. I hate fingerprints and I hate glossy screens. The mainstay T,X,W series are built like tanks. Oh and the keyboard... the series i mentioned have teh classic thinkpad keyboard (pretty much best keyboard on a laptop by large consensus), the edge series has a different one.

 

[jakejake]

Thanks... I used to own the T and X series. I loved them. I prefer Macbooks though

 

[Kent Wang]

GQ: I don't know about you but the "FHD" display available on the T510 (not 410) with 1920x1080 resolution and 95% gamut is pretty compelling, even for general purpose use. My girlfriend does a lot of Photoshop work so that is particularly important for her. Might even get the W510 which has the Pantone calibrator.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

GQ: I don't know about you but the "FHD" display available on the T510 (not 410) with 1920x1080 resolution and 95% gamut is pretty compelling, even for general purpose use. My girlfriend does a lot of Photoshop work so that is particularly important for her. Might even get the W510 which has the Pantone calibrator.
t510 is getting really large to be carrying around all the time. It really depends on usage... I already have powerful desktops with large monitors at work and at home. This is really for me screwing around on the go, so places where there's wifi, and some tasks that i have to walk around with the laptop, for which a tablet would be ideal, but not sure i want to carry extra weight for a task I perform a few times a year (tablets require extra glass and add ~1lbs to weight). Most of the time i'll be staring at a console. hmm... definitely leaning back to x series. I really don't think i want to go bigger than my current 12" laptop (which is heavy and has **** battery life).. It's nice to use on the couch, in bed, or wherever, without it being a big heavy weight, and it means i can get a smaller/lighter briefcase. On the SSD front, just remembered the new intel drives are coming out in jan or feb with a die shrink, so in the near future we'll be seeing 600GB SSDs and 300GB SSDs for the same price as 128GB drives now. Just be careful to distinguish between 1.8 and 2.5" drives if you buy off newegg (x series requires 1.8")

 

[indesertum]

the x series has integrated graphics tho. i know it means less heat and ultimately system damage, but is it enough at least for hd video and at least civ4 or photoshop?:

also

IIRC amazon offers 5% cashback on purchases from lenovo

nvm it was a limited time promo

 

[Kent Wang]

I have integrated graphics on my T500 which is probably the same as on the X. It is definitely good enough for Photoshop and HD video. Not sure about games, but probably can handle Civ4 -- you're not playing Civ5 yet?

 

[indesertum]

i didnt bother after all the bad reviews

 

[GQgeek]

What bad reviews? Only negative thing i've read about it are poor vertical viewing angles (but horizontal are ok) and lousy contrast, which imo shouldn't be present on a machine in that class, but I guess no laptop is perfect. FWIW, my boss has an x200 which has a similar screen, and i never even noticed until i read the reviews. Then again, I'm not expecting to use lightroom or photoshop or do critical viewing of HD movies on my 12" ultraportable... I will either be in windows doing windowsy stuff or in a linux console, and neither of those things really matter for those uses. I will admit that I was briefly considering a MBA because of the beauty of the 13.3" screen and slightly higher resolution, but then i saw the reviewer walk by it and there was a reflection of everyone in the room in the glass. The thing is basically a mirror. And the battery life on the MBA would be terrible for the type of work I do.

It's really the T410s (slim version) that isn't what it should be because of where they placed the battery and the issue with ultrabay batteries. Its battery life is decent, but you can't get the 10+ hours you can with other thinkpads, which was a disappointment.

And you're right, you can't get the X serieswith switchable graphics in , so no, it's not going to be a gaming powerhouse. I doubt any civ game would be a problem though... The T series you can get switchable graphics for, but they're of the business kind, not high-end 3d for gaming. Wait for the new notebooks based on intel's sandy bridge architecture (releasing in feb) and you can get passable integrated graphics for older games (more than double 3d performance of today's integrated video solution). Power numbers will be a little better too.

The T and X series were really never meant to be gaming laptops. If that's what you want, look at something from asus or dell (which has the XPS and alienware lines). Both will be quite a bit heavier/hotter though, and you won't get the same battery life.

 

[NH_Clark]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

The T and X series were really never meant to be gaming laptops. If that's what you want, look at something from asus or dell (which has the XPS and alienware lines). Both will be quite a bit heavier/hotter though, and you won't get the same battery life.

+1

If you're gaming you'd probably need to also invest in a laptop cooler