Thinkpads Forum

hello.

do you know why there is no possibility to configure your notebook on the german website of lenovo?
it is really bad if you want to specify the components. - i do not really know which notebook store to
chose to order my modell.

it would also help if i could give them a product code so i can trust that i get the configuration i want.

thanks, john

Hi John,
unfortunately, Lenovo has different policy here in EU from US and Canada. If you tell of which ThinkPad series you´d like to purchase, I could send you a PM with some suggestions. There are many ThinkPad stores in Germany, but only few of them have "normal" prices (for the fact that we are in Germany) and good offerings. I keep an eye on all of them Also, if you are a student or a researcher here, you may get additional discounts, so that would be also a factor.

Marin

Send a PM to andyP, he works in a Lenovo business in Germany.
I'm sure he can give you great advice!

johnjohndoe wrote:do you know why there is no possibility to configure your notebook on the german website of lenovo?

They just haven't implemented it. To buy a German model, you have to find the notebook you want to buy on Lenovo's German Internet site. You can then use a price search engine such as Geizhals to find the best deal on that computer. On that site, part numbers are listed, so you can get the exact part number.

hey! thank you for answering that fast.

i am still not sure how to compare the current offers. geilzhals lists lot of modells with their corresponding product codes.
example: Lenovo IBM ThinkPad T400, Core 2 Duo T9550 2.66GHz, 2048MB, 160GB, DVD+/-RW, 14.1" (NM5F4GE)
what is NM5F4GE and how can i find this code in the us-store of lenovo? with my config i only get the part number which is 2764cto for a t400.

please help. john

You really can't find a specific model at the Lenovo US store. There are three options that I am aware of. One, call Lenovo and ask. Two, look the model up in the tabook. Three, google it and hope a retailer has a decent description.
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitute/psref/

I'm not sure that i completely understand your plans. From your posts it seems that you want to configure a ThinkPad in the U.S. online store and then buy a corresponding model in Germany. If i misunderstand, please advise.

Up until now, on the German market, every ThinkPad has two different numbers. The first one is the part number, such as NM5F4GE, that you have seen on Geizhals. To simplify things, i will call these part numbers "A-numbers" in this post. As far as i understand, this is used mainly for marketing purposes, i.e. you order the notebook by these part numbers. I don't think that this number is used after you have bought the notebook.

The second number actually has three different names in Lenovo's usage. On the German site that shows the notebook offering, the number is called model name. On Lenovo's Internet support site, it's called product number. And in Lenovo's U.S. online shop, it's called part number. To avoid confusion, i will call it the "B-number" during the rest of this post. This number is a 7-charcter string. One example is 2764CTO, as you mention in your post. These numbers consists of two fields, the first four characters denote the machine type, the last three characters denote model number. This number adheres to the notebook during its entire life. For instance, you use it when you look for driver updates on Lenovo's Internet site.

Earlier, i suggested that you look up the notebook you want to have on Lenovo's German Internet site. For every notebook, they list the A-number (part number) and the B-number (model name) there. With the A-number (part number), you can find it on Geizhals – if a dealer there offers it. That would be the easiest way to go, i think.

To configure a notebook on Lenovo's U.S. Internet site and then try to find it on Geizhals could be difficult. When you configure a notebook on Lenovo's U.S. site, you get a B-number (or part number, as they call it there). That B-number, or part number, always ends with the letters CTO, which stand for "configured to order". For trying to find such a notebook on Geizhals, the only usable part of the B-number are the four leftmost characters, which stand for the machine type.

To find a notebook by machine type on Geizhals, you would have to click the single models in the list, one by one. For every model, you then get a list of dealers offering that model. Some dealers include the B-number in the description of the notebook. The four leftmost characters of the B-number are the machine type, so this way you could find the machine type you have decided to buy. But this only leads to a match in machine types, it might still be configured differently from what you want to buy. This method of finding the notebook you want would probably be very tedious. You could also google for the notebook you want to buy by entering its machine type and "geizhals". And, as Harryc wrote, tabook might be of help.

he TTY

thank you so much for your detailed answer.
you got me right: i want to check whether it will be cheaper to buy the thinkpad in germany.
i consider this because some of the models do not come with an international warranty (and it is much easier to configure what you want in the us-store).

thank you also for the 'Lenovo Thinkpad Notebooks / Personal System Reference' - i did not know this one.

to sum it up: so, as i supposed, it is quite difficult to compare models and prizes.

johnjohndoe wrote:he TTY

to sum it up: so, as i supposed, it is quite difficult to compare models and prizes.

Are they really giving prizes now?

self.lol()

okay: prices

As an alternative to the official Lenovo shop, consider http://www.notebooksandmore.net, I bought my T400 there, they have (limited) configurability and quite a wide range of Lenovo laptops on offer. Good luck

RealBlackStuff wrote:Send a PM to andyP, he works in a Lenovo business in Germany.
I'm sure he can give you great advice!

Am I getting volunteered for somthing here?
I'm happy to help, if I can.

hi again.
to be more concrete: i configured the following thinkpads in the u.s. store.





can i get this configuration with a reasonable price/warranty in germany also?
can you help me a little, andyP?

all modell numbers on the website of notebooksandmore.net are different to the given once in the tabook.pdf
is there a separate specification overview for germany? i could not find one.

thanks, john

I'm on the case. What with carinval and some other celebrations, it may take me a day or two to get my brain back in gear