X61 availability in US shops?

[Larswa]

I am going on a holiday to California this July. SF, LA and Vegas

I am looking for an X61s, subsidiary an X61, as due to the USD/EUR exchange rates, they are somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the price in Denmark.

Since a Danish replacement keyboard is only about 120 USD, I was thinking of picking one up from a store, if I can find the right model. I would love to configure one off the website, as Lenovo don't seem to offer that possibility to anyone outside of the US, but I don't dare bet that it arrives at a hotel while I am there ... thats too risky.

Now ... what stores are the right ones to go to, and what should I avoid?

I might add that I don't need advice ... I expect computerstore clerks in the US to be the same as in Denmark ... mostly clueless

Can I expect to find any in the stores, this close to launch?

And does anyone know about the support policy of Lenovo? Is the support global?

[Trolle]

I purchased my X60 in the US and I live in CPH. I purchased it through my university in CA as I got the extended warranty. There is global support, I believe you to pay extra though, which I am not sure about. The support in DK has not lived up to my expectations. I have actually called the US when I needed some attention. Have had nothing but positive experiences with support so far, except for my 2 calls to DK.

[tomh009]

A lot of models do have international warranty, though the CTO (configure to order) ones generally do not. Here is where you can check a model before buying it:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

[Larswa]

Tom - thanks for the link.

Trolle - do you have any shop recommendations? It's been 3 years since I have visited US.

[Trolle]

Sorry, I don't have any specific shops because I only looked at the university shop (only student purchases). Where are you going in CA? Then it's a little easier to find a place

Just a word, I ordered the extra warranty and they had to special order it since it doesn't usually come with the machine. That took nearly a month, which seemed excessive to me.

[Larswa]

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and a trip out through the desert to Vegas. Gonna have a blast

I'll google around for some stores, but some advice would be nice. I only remember stores like Best Buy and Egghead (which I believe is now called New Egg or something like that).

[oconnell]

Hi, Lars --

I've checked dozens of retailers in LA, SF and LV -- but no success (yet). I'm posting the question in a separate thread.

[gdavis]

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and a trip out through the desert to Vegas. Gonna have a blast

I'll google around for some stores, but some advice would be nice. I only remember stores like Best Buy and Egghead (which I believe is now called New Egg or something like that).

There is a store called Microcenter which has been stocking the lenovo x60 tablet near my house. They also have a store in Santa Clara (near San Francisco) and one store near LA (in orange country- Tustin). You can find their info at microcenter.com

They probably will stock the x61 and July might be a good timeframe for it. But the model offering may be limited to one specific configuration or so.

[Larswa]

There is a store called Microcenter which has been stocking the lenovo x60 tablet near my house.

Great tip. Thanks!

[Tholek]

Staples has the X61. Don't expect them to demo it for you, though.

Hey, is that THE Roskilde with the festival and concerts?

[proaudioguy]

Staples has the X61. Don't expect them to demo it for you, though.

Hey, is that THE Roskilde with the festival and concerts?

I believe that's the one. I would work one of those just for the free trip over there, but getting paid is good too.

[Larswa]

Staples has the X61. Don't expect them to demo it for you, though.

Hey, is that THE Roskilde with the festival and concerts?

Hehe ... thanks for the tip. Never mind a demo ... I know what I need.


Yup ... thats the festival city.
Once a year this place more thans doubles its population, when it happens. I LOOOOVE that festival. The atmosphere is always great, even if you are kneee-deep in mud. I especially like the way they manage to stay ahead of what is mainstream, and attract a lot of "new" music. I usually come home and have discovered a couple of bands I never heard of before. And the crowd is great too.
I've been living here for 3 years now, and having that festival in my backyard is a big plus. No more waking up hungover in a muddy wet tent, or going a week without a bath.

Come over ... bring a Thinkpad or too and I'll have a festival ticket for ya ... we'll go party.

And Proaudio ... the ticket is about DKK 1.475 which translates into around USD 265. You'll get it for free if you decide to work on the festival. 3 shifts of 8 hours each. Anything from cleaning toilets, to escorting Axl Rose around ... Both [censored] jobs I would guess

You guys should really wait until the dollar is up against the European currencies. It'll cost you an arm and a leg to go there now. The flipside is I can pick up a cheap laptop in the US and holidaying there is El Cheapo at the moment, when you come from Europe.

[RasmusP]

Yup ... thats the festival city.
Once a year this place more thans doubles its population, when it happens. I LOOOOVE that festival. The atmosphere is always great, even if you are kneee-deep in mud. I especially like the way they manage to stay ahead of what is mainstream, and attract a lot of "new" music. I usually come home and have discovered a couple of bands I never heard of before. And the crowd is great too.
I've been living here for 3 years now, and having that festival in my backyard is a big plus. No more waking up hungover in a muddy wet tent, or going a week without a bath.

It is a great festival. I do not like the top bands this year, though, but last year was a blast. The cool thing is that there is actually less violence and crime in the week of the festival!
Since there are no more tickets I probably will not be going this year.

You guys should really wait until the dollar is up against the European currencies.

Well, it will probably not be happening anytime soon. The dollar is going down, down down.


Lars,
How much was a ticket to the US? Me and my girlfriend might want to go there.

Also, some useful info on US Thinkpads and warranty:
Check the whether or not the type has support in Denmark on this Lenovo page. The expensive pre-build systems mostly have IWS.

Cheers,
Rasmus

[Larswa]

Hi Rasmus,

Yeah .. agree with you on this years main names ... but I bet you feel the same way as I do ... there is always some new names playings what you wanna check out. Right? Or beers that need drinking ...



I am going two times. First is holiday with GF and my daughter ... its pretty pricy as I was a little late in getting planetickets, and July is the holiday season. I ended up paying DKK 22.000 for 3 returntickets. And that was after calling God and everybody for a cheap setup. I guess that flying into SF and home from LA made it even more pricy. Hotels and a large eco-hostile SUV didnt make it any cheaper but WTH ... its a holiday

I am going to Seattle this october for a conference, and last night a quick quote told me that a return ticket was only 4.600 including taxes ... thats cheap! And a direct SAS flight was only 5.300 or something like that. So booking well in advance pays off.

So youre inviting GF to go because of a cheap laptop?
I don't think there are many cheap summer tickets left, so maybe plan for an autumn Florida trip? I was there 2 years ago in October ... that was grand!

Nah seriously ... now is the time to go .. with the currency rates the way they are ...

Thanks for the link. What does IWS mean? Warranty something I guess??

[tomh009]

IWS is International Warranty Service.

[Larswa]

Thanks Tom.

A side question ... I can see that you are living in Canada. Do you benefit from a weak USD or are the Canadian $slaved to the American?

[proaudioguy]

Actually. I'm a Front of House Sound engineer. If I worked it I would likely be working 20 Hour days and flying the PA and mixing bands.

Kind of like this one where I was crew chief for 3 stages.
http://picasaweb.google.com/HBrillJr/Ul ... 3lCZv4vIHI
http://picasaweb.google.com/HBrillJr/Ul ... I3gZV2H-6g

Staples has the X61. Don't expect them to demo it for you, though.

Hey, is that THE Roskilde with the festival and concerts?

Hehe ... thanks for the tip. Never mind a demo ... I know what I need.


Yup ... thats the festival city.
Once a year this place more thans doubles its population, when it happens. I LOOOOVE that festival. The atmosphere is always great, even if you are kneee-deep in mud. I especially like the way they manage to stay ahead of what is mainstream, and attract a lot of "new" music. I usually come home and have discovered a couple of bands I never heard of before. And the crowd is great too.
I've been living here for 3 years now, and having that festival in my backyard is a big plus. No more waking up hungover in a muddy wet tent, or going a week without a bath.

Come over ... bring a Thinkpad or too and I'll have a festival ticket for ya ... we'll go party.

And Proaudio ... the ticket is about DKK 1.475 which translates into around USD 265. You'll get it for free if you decide to work on the festival. 3 shifts of 8 hours each. Anything from cleaning toilets, to escorting Axl Rose around ... Both [censored] jobs I would guess

You guys should really wait until the dollar is up against the European currencies. It'll cost you an arm and a leg to go there now. The flipside is I can pick up a cheap laptop in the US and holidaying there is El Cheapo at the moment, when you come from Europe.

[Larswa]

Actually. I'm a Front of House Sound engineer. If I worked it I would likely be working 20 Hour days and flying the PA and mixing bands.

Yeah, I can believe that. Nie pics! Is that you very laid back in the black polo?

[RasmusP]

Hi Rasmus,

Yeah .. agree with you on this years main names ... but I bet you feel the same way as I do ... there is always some new names playings what you wanna check out. Right? Or beers that need drinking ...

Sure. It is always nice. But with the increased ticket price, the lack of big names, and various other variables I decided not to go. There are no more tickets anyway.

I am going to Seattle this october for a conference, and last night a quick quote told me that a return ticket was only 4.600 including taxes ... thats cheap! And a direct SAS flight was only 5.300 or something like that. So booking well in advance pays off.

With Politiken Plus you can get pretty good deals on Swiss tickets. Swiss has got really poor food (who does not?) but really great service! Last time I missed my flight (due to train shutdown in JFK) and they got me a new ticket for a flight an hour later.

So youre inviting GF to go because of a cheap laptop?

We wanted to go but the money has not really been there. . .
I have lots of family to bring them into Denmark Nice supply to the SU.

Nah seriously ... now is the time to go .. with the currency rates the way they are ...

The dollar will keep that way. It has only grown weaker ever since I was there the first time in 2002 (as an exchange student). Back then it was 7-7,50 to 1. Now it is 5-5,50 to 1

[/quote]

[tomh009]

Thanks Tom.

A side question ... I can see that you are living in Canada. Do you benefit from a weak USD or are the Canadian $slaved to the American?

C$ has been going way up relative to US$ ... almost 0.95 now, up from 0.90 a year ago, and 0.80 two years ago. Lenovo (and many others) have been adjusting prices so in C$ ThinkPad prices are much nicer than they used to be.

However, some other things have not adjusted -- like cars. So if I want to buy a new Audi, I will pay 30% more (after currency conversion) in Canada than in the US, for exactly the same model. The only difference is the speedometer (miles vs km).

[Larswa]

However, some other things have not adjusted -- like cars. So if I want to buy a new Audi, I will pay 30% more (after currency conversion) in Canada than in the US, for exactly the same model. The only difference is the speedometer (miles vs km).

Thats tough. I bet that makes for a lot of business at the used dealer shops then

[Larswa]

[quote="RasmusP"]

With Politiken Plus you can get pretty good deals on Swiss tickets. Swiss has got really poor food (who does not?) but really great service! Last time I missed my flight (due to train shutdown in JFK) and they got me a new ticket for a flight an hour later.
[quote]

Thanks for the tip ... I'll check it out for my next trip. For my July trip, FDM had a good discount with Virgin out of Heathrow. But I have heard often that Swiss air has really good service, so its in the book

But I digress ....

Any more suggestions for shops I should hit, once I get to SF and LA?? Anyone?

[proaudioguy]

Actually. I'm a Front of House Sound engineer. If I worked it I would likely be working 20 Hour days and flying the PA and mixing bands.

Yeah, I can believe that. Nie pics! Is that you very laid back in the black polo?

YES! But that was after a very long day and also BEFORE load out, which we managed to fit in a a 53ft trailor and a 30ft box truck. Can you say STACK IT? This was ONLY PA. Other companies did the lighting and video.