Non-Express wait times appear to be dropping.

[Army Chief]

For those who are paying attention to current wait times, I thought I might share my experience ...

I ordered a 2007 76U via the Government Employees purchase plan on the 11th of this month. Immediately after placing the order, I watched the shipping estimate migrate from 24 to 25 to 26 April on the system. That still seemed like a very reasonable wait, but this morning I received an update notification that the unit was actually shipped on 12 April.

Keeping in mind that the 76U is not an Express model, this was obviously a pleasant surprise. It would appear that one of two things is happening here: either (a) Lenovo must be catching up on the backlog, or (b) certain non-Express models may actually be in stock when "Express" variants are still waiting in the queue.

At this point, I'm assuming the latter, which means that those who are willing to dig through the TABOOK may glean some benefit from selecting something other than one of the a highly-promoted, preconfigured Express machines. (It may also be that government sales machines are pulled from a different inventory pool, but I really can't speak to this.)

Chief

[Stefan Bruckel]

This TABOOK, where is it? Do you have a link? I heard about it before... evidently a site or document that lists all available ThinkPad configurations... would be nice to see. Thanks.

[Army Chief]

No problem. Check the forum FAQ page here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1689

Chief

[BudC]

I ordered a 76U on the 3rd and it was shipped on the 12th. It left Korea this morning.

I'm glad I got exactly what I wanted. IMHO, the 2007-76U is about as good as it gets.

[darrenf]

The last three T60 models that I ordered all shipped within 2 days of the order being placed. All were 2007 models and none are listed on the website. The rep told me that the 2623 models (because of the cheaper pricepoint) have been very popular and they are several weeks back on those. I find this odd as I would expect Lenovo to produce the models that are in the highest demand before switching to another model. The rep could have been wrong.

What wait times are people seeing on the 2623 models?

-darren

[Mtrack]

I ordered two 2623 models.

One for myself 2623D8U (T60p), ordered 3/29/06 and received 4/4/06 when it wasn't available on the website (now it is) and one for my business partner 2623D7U (T60) on Monday, 4/3/06 and received it on Friday, 4/10/06.

I was told for both (at the time of the order) that each would take approx. 3-4 weeks but was very impressed how quickly they were each sent out.

FYI- Both models are currently discounted (approx. $200-$250 off from the original retail price) on the website from the time I ordered them and I called Lenovo today and they credited me the difference.

[Army Chief]

... I find this odd as I would expect Lenovo to produce the models that are in the highest demand before switching to another model.

I do see your point, however, it might be useful to consider that it would make no sense for IBM/Lenovo to concentrate only upon turning out batches of relatively low-spec, sub-$2k machines at the expense of being able to fill orders for certain flagship models at the top of their line. Not only would this potentially cheapen the T60's "brand" power, but it would definitely upset a lot of customers who are willing to pay a premium for the most capable versions -- and who aren't necessarily willing to wait 4-6 weeks to get them.

There can be no doubt that consumer demand is going to be THE driving force in any rational production plan, but IBM/Lenovo has to strike a balance here since the T60 is very much their "halo" model. I'm sure that the lion's share of production is going toward the lower-tier and Express variants, but the evidence would seem to suggest that there is also a modest on-hand inventory for some of the "behind the scenes" (not listed online) upscale models like the 76U.

In my case, the 76U offered the best of all worlds. Overall specs on par with any T60p, but with the 15" SXGA+ Flexview panel that I've come to favor since the first days of the A31. Some users may prefer 1600 x 1200 resolution, or require the T60p's greater video memory capacity, but 1400 x 1050 and 128mb is more than adequate for my purposes.

Chief

[JaneL]

There's a Sticky for shipping times. Use it.