Lenovo's holiday sale musters 25%-off ThinkPads

We're not sure why Lenovo is feeling so particularly jolly this holiday season, but we're certainly not complaining. The company just slashed prices on its ThinkPad R, T and X series laptops, and its ThinkCentre A desktops. All models have received a 25% price cut, except for the R series with a still-lovable 22%. Yeah, you know the person on your list with everything? We bet they don't have seven ThinkPads courtesy of their new favorite nephew.

[Thanks, Joe K.]

[paul-engadget @ Dec 8th 2007 5:05PM]

from my and other's experiences of recent "stinkpads", the halo from the halcyon days when IBM thinkpads were usually bulletproof has worn off. does any manufacturer have good laptops across their range - it seems no matter whether you buy Dell, HP, Toshiba etc that only specific models are actually well designed and robust?!

[zargon @ Dec 8th 2007 5:31PM]

We use the now Lenovo ThinkPad T6x at work, coming from the IBM T4x line up. They are some of the best laptops I have had the pleasure to work with. They are not all cheap plastic like all other brands, they actually have a solid feeling to them. Our rep recently paid us a visit and did the standard Thinkpad demo, having all of us stand on the laptop, which worked perfectly fine after wars, the T61 are really solid laptops.

I can't think of another brand I would prefer to work with, I like Toshiba and HP, but I just don't know if they would cut it in the business world like the Lenovo's do. Plus they are a treat to work with as far as pre-built computers and laptops can be. Upgrading and replacing parts in the desktops could not be much easier or intuitive (unlike the glory days of the Compaq... don't even get me started on Compaq design) to work on. Their laptops are also realtively easy to work "under the hood", unlike the recent Toshiba experience I had or the disaster that is Gateway, around 100 screw to get the motherboard out.

I am also looking forward to the Rolling, NC trip we have coming up from Lenovo this winter... where we will get wined and dined sue to the huge order we recently put in. I am not saying that Lenovo is the best company, but they have done a good job of keeping IBM's rock solid platforms alive. Like I said, I can't think of another company out there that is worth making the switch.

[ToniCipriani @ Dec 8th 2007 5:45PM]

Quality has gone down since the T60 came along, but they're still among the most solidly built laptops you can find that's not a Toughbook. I was moved from a T40 to a T60 at work, and it still withstand my "abuse".

25% off the regular price of Thinkpads are still pretty expensive though. But I'm used to the Visaperks prices.

[Jon @ Dec 8th 2007 6:08PM]

You lost me when you mentioned 'Dell'. Seriously. They are good as consumer and business notebooks, but no where as tough as ThinkPads.

[heyguy @ Dec 8th 2007 5:51PM]

They did not slash prices. Those are the exact same base prices as two weeks ago.

Go to www.lenovo.com/cpp and use 110271 for a better price.

[yodasoft @ Dec 9th 2007 9:33AM]

Are you a Lenovo employee (hence is everyone who uses this a "personal friend" of one?) If not, by using this code you are not following Lenovo's TOS for the EPP/CPP...

:-/

[PaulJ @ Dec 8th 2007 5:54PM]

I recently purchased t61p as my desktop replacement after having 3 years of great experience with t43. Everything is good except vista OS (easy to fix) and crappy screen brightness. It is a huge disappointment for me, especially when I constantly see the difference while running dual monitors with Dell 2007wfp.
Still love my aging t43.

[Ben Schiendelman @ Dec 8th 2007 6:47PM]

I tried to order a base model (nothing that would make the laptop's ship date delay) on 11/28, and was told the next day that instead of an 11/30 ship date, I would have a 12/17 ship date. I cancelled my order and bought a equivalent Sony CR model in a local Sony store (Seattle) - for the same price, in person.

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 8th 2007 7:34PM]

They do not list the estimated ship date on the order confirmation page.

You must click the link that comes with your e-mail confirmation to get the estimated ship date.

The date on your order page is usually just the current date.

I'm assuming this is the issue you ran into. It clearly states on the confirmation page that the estimate is not available right away. And it's Christmas time, what kind of turn around do you really expect? Don't knock them for your inability to read.

[Ben Schiendelman @ Dec 8th 2007 7:39PM]

Don't assume. I ordered, waited for the confirmation email, saw an 11/30 date on my order status page (the one sent in the email), and then the next day it changed to 12/17. I gave it 36 hours total to see any progress before I canceled - they never even tried to charge my credit card for the system (I even called my credit union to check).

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 8th 2007 8:02PM]

Fair enough.

I ordered 1 today and the order confirmation page said the estimated ship date was today, but when you follow the link to the order status page in the confirmation e-mail it said I gotta wait till December 27th.

[Ben Schiendelman @ Dec 8th 2007 8:05PM]

Hey, at least they're being honest with you. :)

Note that I ordered on 11/28 - the silly 'estimated ship date' did say 11/28, but the order status page said 11/30. The 'estimated ship date' looks pretty misleading too, don't you think?

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 8th 2007 11:07PM]

Ya know, it really is lame that they can't give you an estimated ship date while you're actually placing the order.

But for what I consider a higher tier laptop (Sony, Apple, IBM vs Hp, Dell, Gateway) the price was more than enough to compensate.

I paid $1700 for my low end T41 when I got it, so being able to get one after discounts for $1100 is pretty bad ass.

As a couple other's chimed in, they're the best laptops I've ever used.

[wickedpheonix @ Dec 8th 2007 6:47PM]

sweet... getting rid of the old stock before the new Penryn models come in eh? :D

[James Rainey @ Dec 8th 2007 7:25PM]

I've had a Thinkpad 380xd, 600, 600ex, T20, T23, T43p, T60 and now a T61p.

The T61p is hands down the best laptop I've ever owned. It took awhile to get used to wide-screen but now I love it. It's like owning a Honda. Solid as a rock, fantastic keyboards and very rigid frames.

Lenovo hasn't chagned anything, except brought prices down and moved their HQ to Raleigh, NC. My T61p is almose dead silent unless I'm running a game that requires tons of CPU/Graphics, and then it's barely a whisper.

If you've ever been on the fence about ThinkPads, nows the time to try one. You won't be dissapointed.

Cheers

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 8th 2007 7:34PM]

Use this coupon for an additional 13% off.


USPTSERIESDEC



It expires on 12/9/2007.

I just bought my dad a T61 since he's had nothing but trouble with his last 2 compaq's that lasted barely 2 years. Meanwhile my T41 is 4 years old and kicking strong :) I hope it lives up to the previous standards.

[Russ @ Dec 8th 2007 7:46PM]

Still the best workhorses you can buy. I purchase about 50 or so per year and I've yet to see anything come close. I don't really use them for support often, but when I need replacement parts I enjoy the fact that I get the part overnighted to me without all the hassle of going through 3 levels of tech support. (e.g. Dell) Their software installer is great for reloaded machines.

I have to agree with an earlier post: My biggest complaint about my new T61 (and all the other T's I've bought is the screen. Not bad, but not great. Mediocre brightness.

[gyffes @ Dec 8th 2007 10:23PM]

My office has seen 3 new ThinkPads go down in the past WEEK. Suddenly, my MacEvangelism is being listened to with more than mere wry amusement.

We've had trouble with Lenovo/IBM proprietary drivers conflicting with Microsot's [sic] and immense difficulties with wireless when changing locations. Not to mention the daily "won't boot up after being stuck into base-station" traumas.

Also, IBMs used to be the best machines to load Linux onto; that's no longer the case. See above re: proprietary drivers.

Add to all this the immense amount of extraneous crap IBM loads on top of the already bloated and unstable XP (to say nothing of Vista) and you've got a fullblown recipe for computing disaster.

Our head IT guy was going to replace his dying MacBookPro with either an x61 or whatever tiny (10-12") MacBookPro Apple announces in January. He'd been leaning towards the IBM largely because it was available NOW (or, as noted above, eventually.. but still sooner than Apple's still-unknown offering); after this past slate of IBM bricks, however, he is comfortable waiting.

IBM/Lenovo be skating on reputation. As the mutual fund industry often tells us, "past performance is no guarantee of future results." Holds true for this/these companies, as well.

[Joey Geraci @ Dec 9th 2007 3:37AM]

Two things to note:

1. XP is so much more stable than any flavor of OS X. Vista has many problems, but you must be joking by labeling XP as "bloated and unstable". Woe be to your company if your IT guy is listening to what you have to say for more than 5 seconds.

2. Macbook Pro's are certainly pretty, any you might have your own opinions about the OS, but you can't say for a second that they are as physically stable as any IBM. That aluminum is sure shiny, but it dents and breaks a lot quicker than the hard plastic and steel that Thinkpads are made of.

In conclusion, your an utter dumbass, and your IT person should be fired for even giving you the time of day.

[zargon @ Dec 9th 2007 8:58AM]

It sucks that you have had a rash of problems, but I think it is a isolated incident. From our experience and what I have read, the Lenovo machines are as problem free as they can be. We order about 50 or so laptops a year, we had one that didn't work out of the box, but that is it. Two that I can think of this past year that have hardware issues. This is compared to another company I worked at that exclusively used Dell, and we had a 33% failure rate on their new machines with in the first year, which I think it utterly pathetic and glad Lenovo's are that way.

I have never had issues with their drivers, but then again, we aren't loading linux. I also can't comment too much of their base XP or Vista install, but the demo PCs we have brought in do have a lot of stuff loaded on the screen for Vista. We, like most bigger IT shops, put our own image on the PCs. The OS pre-loaded on the systems never see the light of day. I am personally in charge of creating the images, which has been a treat with WDS and Microsoft Deployment (just switched off of BDD). It is a nice software package for being free and Microsoft software and defiantly better than its predecessor, RIS.

I defiantly was worried about IBM selling the thinkcenter lineup to Lenovo, but I must say I have been very impressed and feel they have kept the standard of the name up, they are no skating on coat tails and in fact are innovating themselves.

[Brian @ Dec 8th 2007 11:45PM]

FYI, my ThinkPad T61 shipped the day after I ordered it (one and a half weeks ago).

Damn fine notebook at a damn fine price.

[Ray @ Dec 9th 2007 2:43AM]

I own a X61S and it been solid. Th best one I owned yet. The little thing goes along with me everywhere...hardly off and its smooth as butter. The dual cores really help.

[zzz @ Dec 9th 2007 7:13AM]

There's nothing really to get chuffed about. When one sale ends Lenovo instantly replaces it with another so the prices are always in the same range. It's nothing more than Christmas advertising bullshit.

[Tim Marshall @ Dec 9th 2007 10:50PM]

I had many problems with my Toshiba Tecra M9 which shipped with Vista Business (1gb memory). However since i put in another 2gb (its now 3gb) it runs AMAZINGLY SWEET! I cant understand manufactures shipping Vista on 1gb memory and 2gb is still pretty low. Whats more memory upgrades are horrendus!

I paid NZ$100 for 2gb, toshiba wanted me to pay $150 for 1gb... go figure

[Nothing more or less @ Dec 11th 2007 6:04PM]

Dell ? Robust ? You mean rusty and low quality ? Going back to Lenovo, their laptops are of good quality, and a lot of protective technology, so far I haven't got any problem with my Lenovo, so I haven't tried out their customer service yet, I hope when I do need the customer service, things won't turn out as bad as you guys say here.

[mongoosecage @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:50PM]

man... I wish I had one of those 15.4 inch wide display ,Nvidia Quadro, 2.33 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB ram machines. Only if i could afford it.
Don't you think that Lenevo is trying to use the Thinkpad line to square up against the MacBooks? Like the T series would be the MacBook Pros and the R series would be the MacBooks? I don't know just wondering. It would be pretty awesome to have a 17 inch light PC laptop. I like the MacBooks but I just hate Macs. The MacBook Pro soars with 2.6 Ghz and is really fast man... but just it isnt a robust PC which is simply black and beautiful.