And yet as we speak, there’s a whole contingent of nerds who feel that the line has become cheap, and is no longer worth the premium over other laptops.
In my case, I’ll keep buying them as long as they keep making them. I’d rather have a used T Series over a new Dell or HP. 🙂
Neither the T510 nor the T520 feel any cheaper than the T60’s I have around. Whether it’s worth the premium over other laptops I do not know. It’s possible that the others have gotten a lot better. But at least I know if something does go wrong with the Thinkpad, they’ll take care of me (or I will be able to take care of it).
Depending on who you talk to, some say that other brands have improved, more so in their corporate offerings, while for others, they have argued that the units have become worse overtime. I’m on a T410, and I’m rather content with it, and compared to what I’ve seen from other manufacturers, I’ll continue to pay extra for them, especially for the ThinkLight and the “clitmouse”. And, yes, I like the fact that their support is US based.
Okay, but are the Thinkpads really more durable that the Dell Latitude E series? (I will concede that they are a couple of pounds lighter.) Plus, the Dells are available with the i7 processor, while the T410s are stuck with the i5.
The T410 is an older model. The T420 does have an i7 option. The Latitude E series from Dell gets some great durability reviews (eminating from a study performed by Dell), but doesn’t hold much (if any) price advantage.
I don’t know that I would have a problem getting a Latitude E, though. Part of my preference for Thinkpad is experience plus helpful (American) customer support. The eraserhead is also a big part of it (though a lot of people don’t like them). And the other point for Thinkpads is that for other makers (including Dell) you have to specifically go high-end to get a durable laptop. Thinkpads are (or used to be, I don’t pay as much attention to what goes on outside the T-Series ever since they cancelled the R-series) more uniform.
The test that Dell ran against Lenovo involved a professional-grade Dell machine against the most popular Thinkpad. But if you go with a Dell, or an HP, and you seek out the best models, I’m sure you’ll be just fine.
I looked up the T420s on ebay. It comes with a significant price premium over the E6420. (I think these trims are comparable, but there is such a blizzard of options and chip variants that it’s hard to know for sure.)
The LatE starts off about $50 cheaper (Excluding Lenovo’s Black Friday discount) until you calibrate features, then the Thinkpad comes out cheaper. So which is cheaper is going to depend on what you’re going to want, but it seems to be within $100 either way. Dell seems to start a little lower, but has higher incremental upgrade costs.
I don’t know why the prices would be so different on eBay. My guess is that the Thinkpads there are more loaded up, Thinkpads retain refurb/resale value, or I am missing something in my calculation.
And yet as we speak, there’s a whole contingent of nerds who feel that the line has become cheap, and is no longer worth the premium over other laptops.
In my case, I’ll keep buying them as long as they keep making them. I’d rather have a used T Series over a new Dell or HP. 🙂
Neither the T510 nor the T520 feel any cheaper than the T60’s I have around. Whether it’s worth the premium over other laptops I do not know. It’s possible that the others have gotten a lot better. But at least I know if something does go wrong with the Thinkpad, they’ll take care of me (or I will be able to take care of it).
Depending on who you talk to, some say that other brands have improved, more so in their corporate offerings, while for others, they have argued that the units have become worse overtime. I’m on a T410, and I’m rather content with it, and compared to what I’ve seen from other manufacturers, I’ll continue to pay extra for them, especially for the ThinkLight and the “clitmouse”. And, yes, I like the fact that their support is US based.
Okay, but are the Thinkpads really more durable that the Dell Latitude E series? (I will concede that they are a couple of pounds lighter.) Plus, the Dells are available with the i7 processor, while the T410s are stuck with the i5.
The T410 is an older model. The T420 does have an i7 option. The Latitude E series from Dell gets some great durability reviews (eminating from a study performed by Dell), but doesn’t hold much (if any) price advantage.
I don’t know that I would have a problem getting a Latitude E, though. Part of my preference for Thinkpad is experience plus helpful (American) customer support. The eraserhead is also a big part of it (though a lot of people don’t like them). And the other point for Thinkpads is that for other makers (including Dell) you have to specifically go high-end to get a durable laptop. Thinkpads are (or used to be, I don’t pay as much attention to what goes on outside the T-Series ever since they cancelled the R-series) more uniform.
The test that Dell ran against Lenovo involved a professional-grade Dell machine against the most popular Thinkpad. But if you go with a Dell, or an HP, and you seek out the best models, I’m sure you’ll be just fine.
I looked up the T420s on ebay. It comes with a significant price premium over the E6420. (I think these trims are comparable, but there is such a blizzard of options and chip variants that it’s hard to know for sure.)
I went to their respective websites.
The LatE starts off about $50 cheaper (Excluding Lenovo’s Black Friday discount) until you calibrate features, then the Thinkpad comes out cheaper. So which is cheaper is going to depend on what you’re going to want, but it seems to be within $100 either way. Dell seems to start a little lower, but has higher incremental upgrade costs.
I don’t know why the prices would be so different on eBay. My guess is that the Thinkpads there are more loaded up, Thinkpads retain refurb/resale value, or I am missing something in my calculation.