Ben's Bargains Serving Fresh Deals 24/7

for this screen size and only 1280x800 resolution? Intel GMA for 800$ no way!

#1, there is a reason why thinkpads are priced so high. These are very well built, structurally rigid and light laptops. They are aimed towards business users not the mainstream consumer market.
with this laptop you literally get what you pay for as far as businesses are concerned.

This is not a deal Ben...simple as that.

This thing is not built by IBM so should not be called "Thinkpad." My X61 (built right after Thinkpad was sold to Lenovo) battery died after 18 months. Replacement costs 180 plus shipping and tax. The machine is robust, I must say, still going strong after almost three years. However, I doubt these Thinkpads can hold up to IBM's business standard once being transformed to Lenovo.

even if they're not the "thinkpads" they used to be, these are still much better built than your average HP or Dell, enterprise class or not.

Don't really mind the GMA graphics, rather shorting me on desktop real estate with WXGA kills the deal for me.

#5, it's hard to tell, when you compare Lenovo biz class with HP and Dell consumers'. Besides, you can still buy an average Dell and use it for three good years and then throw it away (or donate it) and get a new one while your rivals are still using old Stinkpads from last century. Same cost.

Lenovo has been making Thinkpads for years even before they bought the Thinkpad line. Your X61 was made by Lenovo with an IBM badge on it. Lenovo Thinkpad line also has the same quality as IBM the made Thinkpad. So please don't down play Lenovo.

perhaps for the average consumer, a dell might last 3 good years, but it depends on how you use it.

I've actually resold many thinkpads to clients of mine, who are very satisfied with their 4 or 5 year old thinkpads. They work great, excellent reliability. I doubt you can find a heavily used inspiron that's 5 years old and doesn't fall apart. Once you factor in resell value in addition to reliability, then your thinkpad is a better choice.

The fact is, for most people, hardware has always been ahead of software, and that gap has only widened in recent years. That being said, 3 or 4 year old machines with decent specs back in the day are generally sufficient to meet the needs of the average user today. Perhaps Dell and HP purposefully design their machines to fall apart within 3 or 4 years so their customers will be forced to go out and buy a new one due to their cheap build quality, and NOT because their machines are truly under-spec.

I've had the 600E, T22, X20, X31, X40, T42p, T60, and X61. The T60 and X61 were soon after the Lenovo takeover. After the takeover, Lenovo also designed the machines in addition to manufacturing them. Build quality was just slightly worse, and drivers and functionality of integrated Thinkpad software was way worse. I used to only buy Thinkpad, but not any more.

I have the X200, it is an amazing little machine - very sturdy - runs for 8 hrs with the extended battery - and super light.

I also own a T60, T40, T21, T20 they are all still running. Amazing machines - I am a fan of Thinkpads.