Thinkpads Forum

The lowest I've seen is around low $500s for the 3310m based i5... do you think thats a good deal? Also, why is the x220 refurb more expensive in outlet? Do the people really miss the keyboard that much?

Yes, there are some people that adamant about it. There were some X230 tablets in the outlet a while back in the mid $400s, which is as low as I've seen it and a heck of a deal if you want a tablet. I did see some X220/X230 last year with the i3 and IPS right around $500, also a heck of a deal. i5 and IPS for $500 ain't too shabby and it doesn't drop down that far very often. I'd say if that's what you want, you should buy.

ZaZ wrote:Yes, there are some people that adamant about it. There were some X230 tablets in the outlet a while back in the mid $400s, which is as low as I've seen it and a heck of a deal if you want a tablet. I did see some X220/X230 last year with the i3 and IPS right around $500, also a heck of a deal. i5 and IPS for $500 ain't too shabby and it doesn't drop down that far very often. I'd say if that's what you want, you should buy.

I'm about to start law school so I'm seriously evaluating purchasing a x230 (as the exams are all done on laptops). In 2009, I purchased a x301 (no ssd/4gig ram bought from fry's floor no less), which works fine but is a bit long in the tooth + battery is flat. I downgraded from 7 to XP this past weekend and it *seems* alot faster but the video playback is choppy. So the debate is whether to keep using the x301+ new batteries until it croaks or just go ahead and plop down some change for a x230+upgrades (i5 3320+ips = $579ish). I do love the original thinkpad keyboards very much and being a mac user I'm really not a fan of the newer island style. Unfortunately for me, I dont know a soul who owns a thinkpad let alone a x2xx series to try out the keyboard size/new chiclet.

In my estimation, they're both very good. Some are upset that Lenovo has changed the layout and they've probably got a legitimate complaint, but from a typing perspective, the new one is as good as the old one. I guess you'll have to decide for yourself on the layout changing.

The new keyboard feels surprisingly good to me, although there are some changes I'm not fond of:

I miss the pause key
I don't care for where the Print Screen key is
I don't really care, but it's missing the right click key (as is my work Latitude E6420)

crazeazn wrote:Unfortunately for me, I dont know a soul who owns a thinkpad let alone a x2xx series to try out the keyboard size/new chiclet.

There's a small chance that Frys has an X2** on display. I saw an X301 at the one of the Frys stores in Houston several years ago.