Lenovo Thinkpad/Ideapad Suggestions

[tjlee2]

Hello, I am looking into a new laptop within the price range of 600-800 that is durable and quiet. I am hoping to get some advice or opinions regarding the Thinkpad/Ideapad series of laptops. I have two that I have considered so far:

Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 - 40512XU ~ From the Lenovo website

lenovo IdeaPad Y510-5132U Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 ~ From Newegg

Thank you in advance.

 

[xSauronx]

Id prefer a thinkpad but...what are you doing with the laptop and why are you leaning towards lenovo?

 

[tjlee2]

The laptop will be mainly used for work (may include MATLAB, MPLAB type software) and movie viewing. I was thinking about Lenovo because I wanted something durable. My previous laptop wasn't very durable, overheated easily, and produced a fair amount of noise.

Thanks.

 

[WackyDan]

The IdeaPads are nice, but if you want durable and cool, then you should go THinkPad.

 

[tjlee2]

Thank you.

May I ask for an opinion on the followings:

http://www.buy.com/prod/lenovo...loc/101/209027224.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834146462

I don't know the price range for the specific models at the moment, but these two caught my attention. I think once I figure out a model to go by, it would be fairly simple to find a reasonable deal.

Thank you for your help.

 

[DarkRogue]

If you want to figure out which model suits your needs best, try going to the Lenovo site and going through their product guide.
What screen size you want largely impacts what model you can get. IMO I have a 15" T60 and that is about as large as I can think of feasibly carrying around for "portable" work. My friend has a 17" Dell and that thing is just a behemoth, he doesn't want to even pick it up unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

[tjlee2]

The size I am looking for is 15" or smaller. Probably just 15" though because the smaller ones are way out of my price range.

My main problem here is I do not have a good grasp of the price range of Thinkpads, as in what would be considered as reasonable price. I was wondering if the above instances may be considered a good deal.

Thank you.

 

[DarkRogue]

Well, the Thinkpads I'm familiar with normally range in the ~$2k mark.
I believe that's usually with a discrete video card though.
Are you opposed to buying used, or is new a must? Used can get you a fairly good laptop for much cheaper, although warranty length is hit or miss depending on the age of the model. For a comparison, when I bought my T42 15" laptop a few years ago, it cost close to $1800. When that finally died, I got a comparable T60 15" used for $600.If you don't mind used, I'm sure you can pick up a nice T60/61 for around $800 or so.

If you want to go the new route though, that limits your choices somewhat. Is an IPS/Flexview LCD panel important to you?
Also, with a 15", I believe tablets are out, so if you want/need tablet functionality, you'd need to scale down a bit or splurge for the behemoth with a built-in Wacom.

The two you linked have differing screen sizes, 14.1" and 15.4" as well as being from different product lines.
Lenovo Thinkpads

See which series suits your needs best and look around for models based on what you find.
There are some slight differences in build quality as well. Unfortunately, I do not have experience with all of them, but I do recall that the "R" series is not as durable as the "T" series since the "R" was more consumer oriented and the "T" was more business oriented. Of course now they've decided to make like 6 different product lines, so who knows.

Edit:
I freaking hate this board's linking system. Takes like 5 tries to ever get a link to display properly. Good riddance whenever we finally switch to vB - a proper forum software.

 

[tjlee2]

The most important factors are just durability and price for me. IPS/Flexview LCD is not a priority, and I don't know what tablet functionality is so I don't believe it will be needed.

I am looking at the T60, as well as the currently more well-known T400. It seems that there are certain ones that are hovering around the $800 range and is new. Would that be worth the price?

Thank you.

Edit: Should I post the URL where i saw those prices? I haven't really made many purchases outside of Newegg, so I am not sure if those websites are reliable. Most importantly getting the product to the consumer in a timely manner.

 

[DarkRogue]

Yeah, posting the URLs may help.

As far as whether anything is "worth" $800 or not, it really depends on the model and its hardware. The "T" series is my favorite, so I would naturally gravitate towards that.
The SL series looks really cheap though, I'm not sure why. On a quick search, it seems the SL, like the R, does not have a rollcage which the T series has, so it probably isn't as durable, but then again the old T4x Thinkpads from IBM didn't have them either and many people were just fine without it. If it is a T series for around $800 though, it might be worth it, as a decent config from Lenovo runs around $1k. Whatever the case, if the hardware is the same, it should perform the same. It seems to me you have a slight preference for the 14.1" laptops though, as well as them being usually cheaper.

Have you tried looking at the Lenovo Outlet on their site? They usually have a lot of heavily discounted laptops there, both new and used.
You may also find a bunch of coupons to use as well, I normally see upwards of 25% worth of stackable coupons for Lenovo with some searching.

 

[tjlee2]

Thanks. I am currently looking at the one I posted above from Buy.com. It is a bit higher than I like, but it is a pretty good sale at the moment, and is pretty decent specs.

Another one I am looking at is:

http://www.techforless.com/cgi...090127020701#over_spec

This is Open Box, but it also looks nice.

I think I am just going to choose between the two.

Again, thank you very much for your help.

 

[DarkRogue]

I wouldn't go for the techforless one, not only because it's open box, but also because of its CPU.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but MATLAB is mathematical software, right? To do computation-heavy work, you'd want a faster CPU. If you're not going to game with it, strictly office work, then discrete graphics is not needed, integrated graphics should work well enough.

Of those that remain, I'd probably look at the Buy.com one, as the P8400 is a fairly recent CPU and is faster and uses less power.

In my opinion, if you're OK with the Lenovo outlet, here's a pretty good T400 from there under the "New" category.
http://stores.channeladvisor.c...00%20with%20Free%20Bag
I think it has pretty much everything you need/want for mathematical computing, and all for under $800. If coupon codes can work with the outlet store, you can knock it down some more.

If you don't want that, I'll see what else I can dig up, but I think that one would suit your needs perfectly.
It's 14.1", fast CPU, good RAM, fast HD, and even has a DVD burner.

Edit:
The only "problem" I can see is the resolution - WXGA is 1280x800. I'm not sure if this would be a problem for you or not.

 

[IlllI]

i thought they stopped selling ones IPS panels a couple years back? are they still selling certain models with them?

 

[DarkRogue]

The last version shipping with IPS panels were the T60/T60p's with the standard 4:3 form factor (1400x1050) and only in 15" size.
The T61's started going widescreen only and so, no IPS. I heard that the X-series tablets all had IPS screens, but I can't personally confirm or deny that, as I never had one. I went from a 15" T42 with an IPS to a 15" T60 with an IPS.

Also, to the OP:
If that Outlet one doesn't satisfy your needs, or someone snaps it up before you see it, I believe there is a promotion running right now (Ends tomorrow - 1/29, so act quickly) but you can stack upwards of 40% worth of discounts on a brand new T400 configured how you like. I haven't had a chance to test it out as I need to go all the way over to the checkout process to enter the codes, but other people are having success with it.

Edit:
I forgot about the Boe-Hydis IPS screen which was UXGA resolution. Higher than SXGA+ (1400x1050) but I don't remember offhand what it was exactly. I think 1600x1200, since it was also 4:3 but I could be mistaken.

 

[tjlee2]

That one looks fantastic. Thank you for your help.

Quick Questions: I don't usually search for promotional codes, so I don't understand where I may obtain one. The laptop in question is already a fairly tempting price though.

The resolution probably won't be too big of a problem. Considering the size of the laptop, I wouldn't be expecting too much anyways.

Thanks again.

 

[DarkRogue]

I'm not sure if these work for the outlet, but you can give it a shot.

Current 5% coupon advertised on the lenovo site is USPTHINKSAVINGS
There's also I believe a 25% discount during the 2-day sale which ends in about 15 hours from now. Code is USP48HOURSALE

You should grab it quick though, as outlet products are first come first serve.
If you for some reason miss out on it, a comparable build using the coupons is a bit more expensive from the Thinkpad customizer - even with the current 20% discount on top of the 25% 48-hour sale code, it comes to around $930.

Good luck!

 

[tjlee2]

The two promotional codes cannot be used for that outlet. The code is too long apparently. Is there another outlet that the code may be applicable for? Thanks.

 

[DarkRogue]

I'm not aware of any other coupons that can be used outside of some possible cash back offers from various web sites, but I'm not sure if they apply to the outlet either.
The outlet is already heavily discounted, so I'm not surprised the codes don't work.
I would still say that's your best bet though, if you act quickly. Otherwise, you can use those codes and try to customize a new T400 yourself, and see if the price is any good.

 

[tjlee2]

Yeah, I made that purchase. Thank you for your time. it was very helpful.

 

[DarkRogue]

Glad I could help!

Have fun with your new laptop.