Second Opinion, is this a good price on a new CTO T61?

[XCoalMiner]

I've seen others do this, so now it's my turn.

Have been looking at the T61s, and also reading about the shipping delays, and that production might soon be ramped down on them. And so I configured one with a reasonable discount and turned it into a quote. Here's the configuration and price, what do you think, good deal or no?

It's a 15.4 Wide Screen WSXGA+, integrated graphics, and a 200Gb 7200 rpm HDD. 4Gb memory from Lenovo is almost the same price as buying separately. So I threw it in there. Three years depot repair. I'm thinking buy with an Amex card, and get an extra year of warranty coverage at no add'l cost, link.

1 6465CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM -- $1,481.00
43Y3426 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T9300
42X1587 VBB MSWIN VISTA ULTIMATE
42X1917 SBB MSWVISULT32 US ENGLISH
42X5602 SBB MS XP PROF. US ENG.RCD
42V8287 SBB 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
42X5974 SBB INTEL GMA X3100 GM 965
41W2068 VBB 4GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V8297 SBB UN(TRCKP TOUCHPAD)FINGERRE
42X5227 SBB 200GB HDD,7200RPM,DISKENC
42V8172 SBB DVD REC.8XMAXDUAL LAY UB-S
42X0806 VBB PC CARDSLOT SM CARDSLOT
41W1685 SBB 11ABGWIFI WL LAN USEULAANZ
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42X1484 SBB INTGWIRL WIDEAREA NET UPGR
42V8187 SBB THINKPAD WIRELESS USB ADPT
41W1508 SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
42V8339 SBB LPACK US ENGLISH
41C9170 LENOVO THINKPLUS EXTENDED SERVICE AGREEMENT - 3 YEARS - PICK-UP AND RETURN

[ajkula66]

In my opinion, not a hot deal. I'm fairly certain you can do better.

[mattbiernat]

lenovo will always sell HDs, and other kinds of memory at premium price. it would be cheaper for you to get the cheapest system you can and buy all that you need from www.newegg.com

[Estrogen Kid]

have to agree with the above posters, not a hot deal. I got my T61p for that price.

[basketb]

A few comments:
1. the machine you have configured seems to include all possible options one can get. Yet you chose integrated graphics rather than discrete. Usually people choose integrated because of the battery performance. But that doesn't seem to concern you since you ordered the 6 cell battery rather than the 9 cell. With such a loaded system, I'd go for discrete graphics, maybe even look at the T61p.
2. If you deem integrated graphics is sufficient for you, then the T8100 CPU should also have sufficient power for your needs.
3. I'd get the minimum RAM and smallest HD from Lenovo and upgrade myself (as was suggested by the previous poster). Look around for sales on memory. I've seen 2x2GB for as low as $50 after rebate. Lenovo doesn't even come close to this price.
4. I personally could do without fingerprint reader, bluetooth, WAN, wireless USB (you may have a specific need for them). If you think about future-proofing the system, I'd go with only bluetooth, WIFI abgn, and WAN (if you are on the road a lot).
5. Three year warranty is certainly appropriate to get.

[XCoalMiner]

Thanks for the comments. I am familiar with adding memory and larger HDDs when purchased separately.

There is a discount of $140 that isn't shown in that price, so it's a little less. It seemed to me the T61 prices were going down in the last week or two, and I wanted to see what the final cost of a loaded model would be. and in playing witn configurations, one thing led to another and I clicked generate quote, and now I'm contemplating it.

And also considering the price difference in getting a larger HD and adding more memory later.

[basketb]

Prices (at least for certain configurations) were lower last week than this week. I've been tracking some prices over the last couple of months (see also my post in this thread: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=63428 ). And today (since Tuesday), prices are up compared to last week and the previous weeks.
I wouldn't buy a CTO configuration right now, if you can wait.

[XCoalMiner]

I was planning to wait, although some other posts are advising just the opposite.

There are two things in favor of checking prices/ordering now. If you see a low price, then generate a quote, the quote says it is good for 30 days.

And, Lenovo has the low price match program, discussed here http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=63428. If you order and there is a long shipping delay, say several weeks, the price match period is good for the shipping delay plus 21 days after you receive. So in theory, if you find a lower price anytime over that period you can apply for the difference.