Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys,
I will be enrolling into college this fall as an engineering major (either ME or EE), and am looking for a laptop that will last me at least 4 years. I've looked around, and have realized that you can't beat the durability of a thinkpad. However, I'm not sure if it's something I should invest in. My budget is $1,000, but I don't really want to spend more than $800 if it's not needed. I'm not a really much of a gamer, so my main uses will be video streaming, video editing, CAD, programming, etc. So far, I've found two lenovo laptops that I'm considering on buying. Could you please check out the following and let me know which would suit me better, or suggest one of your own? I personally like the extra features in the ideapad that appeal to entertainment (nice graphics card, FHD display, backlight keyboard, etc.), but I've read a lot of mixed reviews on the product.

Thinkpad Edge E531 for $839.00:
Intel Core i7-3632QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) -definitely like win7 over win8
15.6W HD Antiglare, Midnight Black - No WWAN
Intel HM77 - Intel HD 4000 Integrated Graphics (WWAN or mSATA capable)
4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600MHz SODIMM Memory - I'll upgrade this to 8GB asap
Keyboard with Number Pad - US English
720p HD Camera with MIC
500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm - I'll consider replacing this with an SSD once I have $$
DVD Recordable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery 62WH - 75+ -battery life is of importance to me
65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 & Bluetooth 4.0 (2x2 BGN & BT4)
Norton AntiVirus 2013 - 15 months
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty

IdeaPad Y580 for $856.80:
Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz)
Windows 8 Standard 64 - English
Intel HD Graphics 4000 in processor, and NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 660M LE Graphics
8GB (2 X 4GB) PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory
15.6" FHD (1920 X 1080) TFT color, VibrantView, LED backlight w/720p HD Camera
One-piece touchpad, multi-touch - no worries about bad touchpad, I'll be using a mouse
1TB, 5400RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Hard Drive
Blu-ray burner, Blu-ray and DVD disk recordable - nice perk, but don't need it if I can save $$
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (Up to 5 Hours Run Time)
Intel® Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
Bluetooth
No WWAN Supported
1 Year Standard Depot Warranty

Thanks in advance!

If you're looking for value, I would suggest hitting the Outlet. You're basically buying a returned notebook, they sell some new stuff there too, at a pretty good discount. The stock and prices can fluctuate fairly widely, but if you can be patient, there can be some good deals there. You should be able to get a nice T530 or W530 if you have the time to wait for a good deal to come along.

If you're not married to getting a Lenovo, I know it's blasphemy here, but the Dell Outlet might be worth a look too. Something like the Latitude E6530 is well built and comes with a three year warranty standard as well. I personally would prefer a ThinkPad, but there's no denying the value offered in the Dell Outlet, particularly when they're offering coupons, which they do do from time to time.

Got it, thanks. And what's the deal with refurbished computers, buy or no buy?

Buy. I bought a refurbed X200 from the outlet. It looked new to me.

wait.

Waswel is coming. Now, so old laptops with be cheaper new laptops will be faster and with more battery life. Example:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/05/leno ... p-haswell/

mnm1 wrote:I will be enrolling into college this fall as an engineering major (either ME or EE), and am looking for a laptop that will last me at least 4 years. I've looked around, and have realized that you can't beat the durability of a thinkpad.

It's unrealistic to expect either of these to last at least 4 years. The premium Thinkpad lines, namely the T, X and W series, are designed to be very durable. (Notice that I chose my words carefully -- they are "designed to be very durable", but some may turn out to be not that durable.) By contrast, the other Thinkpad lines including the Edge use cheaper material, and the IdeaPads are even worse. When you read pseudo-professional reviews, you tend to see overly generalized statements like "Thinkpads are durable" or "Dells are unreliable". But not all Thinkpads are durable, and not all Dells are unreliable.

The Lenovo and Dell Business Outlets are the best places to look for quality laptops at great prices. You've probably heard bad things about the reliability of Dell laptops, but their best Latitudes (currently the E6230, E6330, E6430 and E6530) and all the current Precisions actually match the top Thinkpads in quality, and these particular models include 3-year warranty by default. All the other Latitudes are equivalent to the Edge Thinkpads, however, and they come with only 1 year of warranty unless you pay more to extend it. Note that I wrote "Dell BUSINESS Outlet" (http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/). Most of those Inspirons and XPSs on Dell's regular outlet site are garbage.

To summarize, I recommend you to go to either the Lenovo Outlet and look for an X, T or W model (with only 1-year warranty, which I believe can't be upgraded), or the Dell Business Outlet and look for an E6*** Latitude or any of the Precisions (with a default 3-year warranty). If you can wait for a couple weeks, you should be able to find a 20-to-30% coupon code for the Dell Business Outlet. And if you are serious about ensuring the laptop will last for at least 4 years, then extend the warranty. I've bought from the Dell Business Outlet once and couldn't be happier with the experience. It was an OptiPlex 9010 desktop labeled as "refurbished" but it looked new, and I got it with a 30% coupon code, AND it came with 3 years of warranty.

Oh, one more thing. Never, never, ever even consider having "HD" resolution on a 15.6" laptop, like the Edge you picked. 15.6" 1366x768 is appropriate only for sub-$300 laptops.

Thanks pianowizard! That helped a lot. I've got until first week of august to buy one, so I'll keep an eye out for discounts. Based on the specs I had above (solid ****QM i7 processor, 4gb ram, average HD with 5400rpm, Nvidia graphics card, FHD, etc.), what kind of price should I be shooting for? I don't really have a preference between thinkpad or dells, so whatever is cheaper works.

Also, I'm not sure I quite understood what you said about the HD resolution on 15.6" laptops; are you saying I should make sure I get a 1600x900 or better?

mnm1 wrote:Based on the specs I had above (solid ****QM i7 processor, 4gb ram, average HD with 5400rpm, Nvidia graphics card, FHD, etc.), what kind of price should I be shooting for?

I am unfamiliar with how the CPU or graphics card affects prices because the only specs that I pay attention to are screen size, screen resolution and laptop weight. In general, expect to pay at least $100 more when you opt for FHD instead of HD, but that's definitely worthwhile for 15.6" laptops.

mnm1 wrote:I don't really have a preference between thinkpad or dells, so whatever is cheaper works.

But be sure to limit yourself to the models that I listed above.

mnm1 wrote:Also, I'm not sure I quite understood what you said about the HD resolution on 15.6" laptops; are you saying I should make sure I get a 1600x900 or better?

Correct. On an "HD" screen (which really should be called "Low-Definition"), you can view so little information on the screen that you would have to scroll a lot and wouldn't be able to view multiple windows at once. HD is good only for very light work or for watching videos, or for people with poor vision. On a 15.6" screen, 1920x1080 does make things look a bit small and if you're concerned about that, get 1600x900 instead.

alright, everything sounds great. thanks bunches thinkpad community!

mnm1 wrote:Thanks pianowizard! That helped a lot. I've got until first week of august to buy one, so I'll keep an eye out for discounts.

A new Dell Business Outlet coupon code just came out. This one is semi-rare because it applies to *all* Latitude laptops! It is for a 20% discount and it's valid until the end of the day on June 14th: VB5K2XRTKD2F9M

Take a look right away because the best units are sold out very quickly.

pianowizard wrote:Take a look right away because the best units are sold out very quickly.

Thanks for the heads up. Haha, I actually had a nice one picked out, but someone bought it before my dad got home.