ThinkPad X200 $70 cheaper with 128GB SSD option, order now!
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Aug 5th 2008 5:30AM
posted Aug 5th 2008 5:30AM
It's almost certainly a mistake but if you head on over to the Lenovo store and plunk down an order for the 12.1-inch ThinkPad X200 ultra-portable with 128GB SSD, you'll pay $70 less than the standard 80GB hard drive configuration. This isn't just a misprint, we ran the config through Lenovo's site and sure enough, the entry level X200 price drops from $1,434 to $1,364 after selecting the biggie SSD. Hell, you'd likely pay that much for the SSD alone as the 64GB SSD lists for an $830 premium. Reader Sunil already has his order in so you'd better hurry up and do the same -- it won't be long before Lenovo wises up to the situation.
Update: Well, it was fun while it lasted, the 128GB SSD option is now gone, completely gone at any price. Do let us know if Lenovo honors those orders.
[Thanks, Tobias W. and Sunil]
Update: Well, it was fun while it lasted, the 128GB SSD option is now gone, completely gone at any price. Do let us know if Lenovo honors those orders.
[Thanks, Tobias W. and Sunil]
Hopefuly lots of people will take advantage of this offer, and that will show Lenovo that there is a strong demand for SSDs, encourageing them to lower the price.
A strong demand for an a free SSD and $70 in pocket. You'd never have thought that...
So I usually try not to boost myself up to the top by replying to the first comment but I thought this was important enough.
At the bottom of the page, you will read...
"Price does not include tax or shipping & handling and is subject to change without notice. Reseller prices may vary. Lenovo does not warrant non-Lenovo products. PCs shown here ship with an operating system. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice. Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors."
aw.. it's gone from the selection.
now it just reads all the other options minus the 128gb one..
:(
i think engadget should update us when they're being shipped/if they ever do manage to get shipped.
It's completely gone now off the site. Just the 64GB is left.
"Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors."
If THEY are not responsible, then who the hell is? Do they subcontract their website design to junior highschoolers? Are web hosting companies randomly moving decimal points on people? Is my optometrist the culprit? I want anwdsers.
(NHAnimator is not responsible for psychological or typographic errors.)
I'm thinking it was supposed to be "add $1700".
I'm thinking it was supposed to be "add $1700".
am thinking $700.
oops, my bad.
free 64G SSD option came to my email inbox this morning ... Will you guys take it?
Wow, wish i had more cash... % )
Just order a truckload of these and resell them for a profit before your credit card payment is due. Economics 101 ;-)
They won't honour it, of course...
If I had lots of money right now and I was in the States:
1) Order lots of X200's with SSDs.
2) Wait until Lenovo realise their mistake, and hope they deliver anyway.
3) Resell at the fixed price
4) ???
5) Profit!
Or:
1) Order lots of X200's with SSDs
2) Wait until Lenovo realise their mistake and cancel you order(s)
3) Wait for you money to appear on your card
4) Waiting time ...
5) Waste of time
:D
@ Jakob Henner
Will I still profit...?
Member of offtopic.com?
OT ftw.
They just won't send them out.
That is one HUGE Mistake!
Yes, it is! And when Lenovo attempts to cancel the orders of those who are trying to take advantage of it, they're gonna have a lot of angry customers on their hands.
Me thinks some Lenovo webhead is gonna get the scolding of a lifetime. Or maybe demoted.
or maybe an intern that doesn't give two shits
You'd have to be pretty damned unreasonable to be an "angry customer" when somebody refuses to honor a typo that discounts an item by well over $1000.
@Cassini
Angry because they couldn't exploit an obvious mistake? I'd call them idiots.
"You'd have to be pretty damned unreasonable to be an "angry customer" when somebody refuses to honor a typo that discounts an item by well over $1000."
I'm not suggesting it's right; but unless IBM is playing Santa Claus, right or wrong, they'll have a stack of "unreasonables" to deal with.
------------
"Angry because they couldn't exploit an obvious mistake? I'd call them idiots."
LOL, yeah well, we all know there's no shortage of those, eh?!
They also list the T9600 as a $150 upgrade and the T9400 as $425.00 for the new models that were just released.
purchase complete...
lets see if they ship it.
Hmm curious if it really ships, keep us up to date if you will.
It's not ethical to encourage people to take advantage of an error like this. Does Engadget support this or is Ricker on his own?
not ethical???? loooool. Screwing the consumer with overpriced producst, is that ethical to you? And I'm talking about vital products.
Why don't you go hug some more trees and feed some homeless people. In this world it's eat or be eaten. Now Lenovo showed an opening and it's time to attack.
Thanks. I was hoping someone had mentioned this. I was a slightly taken aback when I read that. Boo on you EnGadget.
Yeah, I'm with broli! Let's eat the homeless!
You don't eat them silly, you compress them and burn them for fuel!
RC/yoshi
Ethics are dead for the most part, unfortunately.
It's unfortunate that a good company like Lenovo is subject to this kind of 'ethical' lapse, if you can call it that. However, I'm a believer that in an open market, you get what you pay for. Obviously they've hired someone who has done a substandard job, or their review process is deficient, which in turn will cause the company to suffer. It's not as if this hasn't happened before.
If you're ethically opposed to taking advantage of their mistake, then by all means, don't buy a X200.
I actually enjoy feeding the homeless, I stand on a bench on a summer afternoon and throw out sunflower seeds saying "eat, mwuhahaha eat you homeless people"
its a step up from not doing anything.
Greed is good, ladies and gentleman
I agree... Would have been nice for engadet to have just contacted lenovo and let them know about the obvious mistake. But hey, I guess posts like these drive pageviews.. which drive revenue... No harm, no foul if engadget can make money at Lenovo's expense I suppose...
right, so some poor secretary can't handle Lenovo's OCP, makes a small mistake: News on Engadget....
If they don't ship it SUE THEM.
Morality thrown out through the back door I see...
I remember when Apple made an error in the refurbished Macbooks page and listed the prices at $129.90 instead of $1,299.00. Apple actually did good and delivered those who ordered them but I just don't see Lenovo doing the same with a hard drive that costs a couple grand.
It's too bad they won't honor the price. And honestly, I'm pretty sure they don't have to. It's too obvious that it's a type-o. I just wonder what it was supposed to be. maybe 970 more and they entered -70 by mistake.
Why would anyone send this as news? Odds are if it was just one or two that caught that mistake they would honor it but not when hundreds of people try buying it.
(maybe) Their loss, everyone else's gain (hopefully)
No kidding thats what i was thinking! There is no way this will go through now.
Exactly. This is something you would mention AFTER your package has been shipped and credit card charged, at the very earliest. What could you possibly gain by giving it wide exposure? That pretty much guarantees that NO ONE will benefit from it - including YOU.
Already down...
Bummer.
as of now, it's still on
Touché! Silly me, went to the wrong page to build.
But yeah, that disclaimer at the bottom that the poster after me pointed out pretty much discounts any hope anyone might actually get this deal...
There's no way they'll honor it. They have fine print at the bottom that says "NOT responsible for typographical errors!"
* Price does not include tax or shipping & handling and is subject to change without notice. [...] Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice. Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors.
¬_¬
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor P8600 (2.40GHz, 3MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)1
Genuine Windows Vista Business12
12.1 WXGA (1280x800), 2x2 UltraConnect II antenna , WWAN, Camera
Intel GMA X4500 HD
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
128GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA4
CA_NOTE10
Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable65
ThinkPad X200 Series 4 cell Li-Ion Battery60
7454: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller7
Subtotal: $1,484.00
Shipping and handling: $0.00
Estimated tax: $124.29
Estimated total: $1,608.29*
I went as far as to the payment/review panel. wow. wish i can buy it now... this is sad, i have to use a crappy old acer for college.
wait two years and you can buy this for the price.
Alas, Lenovo's terms and conditions (which you have to agree to before ordering - just tried . . .) say rather clearly:
"If a Product is quoted at an incorrect price due to typographical error or error in pricing information: 1) Lenovo has the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed for the Product quoted at the incorrect price, even if Lenovo has confirmed the receipt of your order and charged your credit or debit card: and 2) if Lenovo has charged your credit or debit card but subsequently canceled your order, Lenovo will promptly issue a credit to your credit or debit card account for the amount charged."
But who knows, maybe they're just feeling generous and will deliver anyway. . .
doubt it...
They should at least compensate for those that tried to order within that time frame, you know to generate some good karma on their part. For example, I wouldn't mind seeing that original price of $1199 we've been seeing before this as a way of appeasing those who tried to take advantage of the slipup.
but it says that its not a harddisk... i might be an idiot when it comes to configs on computers, but i'm pretty sure that is the reason for such a price drop.
No offence, but yes you're an idiot. Solid State Drives are more reliable, faster, less power draining but more expensive and generally smaller drives than HDD. Less likely to break if dropped, cooler etc.
They're normally more expensive. look at the price of the smaller SSD at the bottom of the list
Welcome to the world of 2008 technology.
sorry, like i said, i am an idiot when it comes to this sorta stuff. and i did just realize how the lesser amountage was more expensive. thanks for the edamecation
just a heads up for you: don't comment if you don't know what you're talking about. you're just gonna get bashed (or low ranked). for example, i won't go make a fool of myself on a wine blog or something since i know nothing about wine.
hope they will honor it.
In for 1. Someone posted this deal on slickdeals already haha. Price mistake = $100 coupon off next purchase
YEAH! SD FTW :D
oh no the intership will be fired and banned from lenovo for his lifetime :D
Haha you morons the 120 GB SSD is an empty SSD dummy :P
lol,. thats most hilarious comment
I wish I didn't already have a Kohjinsha SX about to ship from Japan, and a burning desire to get the new MacBook Pro, when it comes out. If I could just figure out some justification to get this too, I would give them my credit information - so that they could cancel the order.
Kid
Im from lenovo and its not a 128 GB drive, its only the SSD connection on the board which you pay for.
I mean its an "SSD ready" option. You have to buy your SSD by yourself.
ya, whats you got is Intel Turbo Memory 2GB for bios access only.
How is it true?
Why wouldn't it say 'SSD Connection' on the mark? Isn't that basically deceiving the customers?
It's not like Lenovo will ship out Windows OS CD or recovery so we could install it on our own purchased SSD. Does that mean we have to download every drivers?
Really? SSDs use a special connector? You sure it's just not...SATA? And SSD connections have a specific drive capacity? Get the hell out of here with your "I'm from Lenovo" retardation.
They'll honor it hopefully.
Does lenovo look like it's ran by samurai? Of course they won't.
Why Broli are you saying that Lenovo is not honorable!?
I got mine, Even cheaper with Student Advantage. No coupon today.. But this is already a great coupon!!
It would be deceiving the consumers if it is really 'SSD connection' because it does not mention a bit about 128 GB SSD Serial ATA being 'SSD connection.'
Moreover, it's not like Lenovo is shipping out neither Genuine Windows Vista CD or recovery disk so that we could install those on our personally purchased SSD. If not, is it really okay to assume that we will have to install all possible drivers?
Seems that you can no longer order this item... they must have wised up to it at Lenovo.
It says "expired line item" in the shopping basket... damn!
I just ordered mine...Wait and see.
what happens when they dont honor it and charge you a buttload
Next time maybe you will find a better way to draw people there rather than saying "Hey everyone!!!! Lookie here, they fucked up!!!! Get one Quick!"
I don't know how retail law works in the US but if it's similar to the UK then lenovo will probably be able to cancel the orders without any legal problems (though might sweeten the cancellation so as to avoid bad publicity).
Technically (in UK law) when you buy something, *you* are making an offer to the store, and *the store* accepts the offer. So filling in all your details on the website doesn't necessarily mean you are entering into an agreed contract.
Displaying a product with a price in a store is merely an "invitation to treat", not making an offer. That only happens, by you, when you go to the cash register. The assistant is under no legal obligation to take your money and let you walk out of the store with the goods.
An elaborate scheme to get a few hundred thousand dollars of extra capital for a day or two? Everyone loves a bit freebee interest.
If a company actually did something like that for the sole purpose of raising a crapload of overnight capital, I would bow down to their finance department. Pure genius. Why take out an overnight loan when you can just sucker thousands into placing orders that will be cancelled anyway!
You gotta' read the fine print. Most conditions of sale say not responsible for typos, mistakes, etc. They can always say the 128GB SSD was a mistake even if you placed the order.
What ya' goina' do, sue 'em? Knock yourself out!
Also there is no mention of the X200s that was shown on the HKBU web page yesterday:
http://www.hknotebook.com/bu2008/notebooks/Slim/ThinkPad_X200t.html
Exactly stated.
Looks like they're taking some publicizing cues from Dell
ssd?
SSD?i wanna
As of now, my order still indicates 'In process.' So I assume that the Lenovo has not looked at my order yet.
We'll see.
quick everyone out there in engadget land, price mistake ahoy, now i can add a point to my post quota
Ordered around 3am eastern time, as now 10:32 am status "Order is being sourced" what does that mean?
i got an order in on time. they sent me an order confirmation page to my email and a status check link which on the status page shows the ssd with the price i paid.
they had better not cancel my order or i am totally going to freak at them.
I placed my order this morning w/ the 128GB SSD...but my guess is that the $70 is the "cost" of the standard 80GB HDD...and the 128GB SSD was a line item that was set up but never completed - maybe planned for the future but they didn't know how to price it, so they left the price empty (zero) - so..."-$70" is the difference between the "cost" of the 80GB HDD and zero. Not sure how they would respond...although it's possible they would just give people the 80GB drives, thereby "eating" the $70/unit and trying to pass it off to customers expecting the 128GB SSD as a "freebie". I hope this is not the case, but I can see the business logic of them taking this approach. I for one, would much rather just pay up the difference for the 200GB drive with full disk encryption.
This would be golden. Giving all the people trying to score a cheap laptop a laptop they don't need!
fawk it, i am gonna call them and cancel the order. they dont even have 128gb ssd for part. they probbaly just ship out standard 80gb without even asking, also keep in mind that they charge 15% restocking. this is shady business!
Here is the word from a Lenovo customer rep:
Lenovo: yes 128MB solid state drive was a error
Customer: so, what will happen to my order? can i change to a different drive? or will the order be cancelled? or will they deliver with the 128GB ssd?
Lenovo: you ca change it if you would like
Customer: how do i do this...and if i don't/can't, what happens?
Customer: thank you for the assistance
Lenovo: what hard drive did you want
Customer: if not the 128gb ssd, i'd prefer the 200gb 7200 w/ full disk encryption
Lenovo: ok one moment
Lenovo: HD changed
Customer: thank you - is there anything i need to do?
Lenovo: total price is $2617.77
Customer: just a question - if the hdd wasn't changed, what would have happened to my order?
Lenovo: would be canceled
Customer: ok...thank you!
Lenovo: are yo uaware of the policies
Customer: no, just wondering
Lenovo: we have a 21 day return policy with a 15% restocking fee
Lenovo: will be 2-3 weeks
Lenovo: are yo ustill there?
Customer: oh sorry
Customer: i'm wondering b/c a lot of people seem to have made the same order for the 128GB SSD
Customer: so i was going to let some of them know what will happen to their orders
Lenovo: do you know others?
Customer: http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/05/thinkpad-x200-70-cheaper-with-128gb-ssd-option-order-now
Lenovo: ok
Customer: could be hundreds?
Lenovo: I see
Customer: so the official answer is that all the 128GB SSD orders will be cancelled?
Lenovo: yes
Customer: but customers can change their orders via chat/customer service...
Lenovo: yes
Customer: do you know how soon the orders will be cancelled?
Lenovo: in a day
Customer: ok...so is it ok for me to let people know this?
Lenovo: is a web error
Customer: sure - but can i post your answers for people to know what will happen to their orders and so they can change them in time?
Lenovo: note advised a support rep will contact them about there order
I ordered mine just before 8:00am. I just called Lenovo's sales department and dispite trying to understand the guy on the phone, I managed to confirm that it was actually a 128GB SSD. I asked about it being a connection and he said "Nope, its the actual SSD." He then put me on hold to confirm and when he came back he said the same thing: definitely a 128GB SSD. I think it's still too early to gloat though.