Laptops Lenovo ThinkPad T430 for $740 + 10k shipping/customs. Good deal?

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m0h1t

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I'm getting Lenovo ThinkPad T430 for $740 (679 + ~9%taxes) with the following configuration

Intel i5 3210M 2.5Ghz/3.1Ghz 3M cache
4GB DDR3 1066
14.0" HD+ 1600x900 LED backlit display (matte)
Intel HD Graphics 4000
320GB 7200rpm HDD
Intel Wireless N-2200 2x2
DVD Writer
6-Cell Battery
90w charger
1 Year warranty

Shipping and custom duty is coming to about 11000. It'll cost me a total of ~Rs.51500.
Locally I think ThinkPad T430 costs around ~60k? Can anyone confirm? I'm not sure if this is a good deal.
 
Yea there is international warranty.

The primary reason why I'm looking at the thinkpad t430 is because of the matte screen. I have been using thinkpads in the office for the past 3 years, and now I can't work with a glossy screen.

Plus the trackpad on the thinkpad series is amazing. I'm not going to watching a lot of movies on it, so I don't mind the TN panel and bad viewing angles. I really like the build, trackpad, the keyboard and more importantly I'm used to it.
 
Well the Samsung 5 series has a better config in the same price range with the 900p matte screen at 15.6" ( & 300 nits brightness).

You also get a full keyboard with the Samsung 5 Series. Build quality is fine.
Reasons why I don't like Thinkpads is that they usually don't have Webcams & HDMI out which is criminal now a days.

Paying 11k for shipping is really a lot, if someone can bring it for you then its great otherwise its nothing special.
Also 320GB HDD is pretty low.
 
Can't find a better deal in Samsung. It's got much bigger and heavier systems, almost everything is 15" and beyond. I prefer something around 4.5lbs, the thinkpad is 4.77.

The ultrabooks have 3317U instead of 3210M, I'd still live with that but nothing is cheaper than $800-849.

The only negative about the T430 is that it doesn't have a backlit keyboard

[DOUBLEPOST=1363624398][/DOUBLEPOST]dexBG can you post a link to series 5 laptops around $700-750, why can't I find them?

Also I searched around and called a few people in NP, the cheapest thinkpad t430 config still costs around ~65k, so I guess 51k is pretty good considering the local thinkpad pricing
 
Have you checked the Lenovo Outlet? I have seen better deals of new T430s at this price point.. I remember one with i5 3320M / 8GB RAM / 1600*900 HD+ / 128GB SSD / Intel Wireless N-6300 / 9 cell for ~700

I was also in the same boat. But couldn't get it via Lenovo Outlet (or most online sites in US) because the friend did not have American CC. So I finally ordered Asus Vivobook S500CA using Indian CC - http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-ViVoBook-S500CA-DS51T-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00BC4QMVE
Its even cheaper by $8 now (I ordered it @670)
 
R0H!T - What is Lenovo outlet, is it like store pickup or something?
Got it. It's their webstore for refurbished, dented and sometimes new units.

Does Asus honour warranty for ultrabooks/netbooks purchased in US?
 
Yes, the outlet is for new / refurb / dented units. If you keep checking the website for few days, you can find nice deals for new T430s.

I am not sure whether Asus honours warranty but on the Amazon it is mentioned as "1YR International" so I hope they will honour it here.
If not Thinkpad, I wanted an ultrabook (or ultrabook-style) with touchscreen. And that is why I chose this particular model.
 
There are Thinkpads and then there are other laptops. @ 51k the deal you've got is good - I would buy it if I were you. Thinkpads come with international warranty as standard which is honoured in India. My x220 came with 1 yr of warranty and I paid for an extra 3 years. Confirm once you get your thinkpad t430 in India whether it has Complete cover as my laptop showed 1 yr depot warranty when I got it and it had CC when I verified with IBM. The thinkpads are one of the most upgradeable laptops. I would suggest you get a good Msata SSD + 16gb of ddr3 ram to power it.
 
sunny27 said:
There are Thinkpads and then there are other laptops. @ 51k the deal you've got is good - I would buy it if I were you. Thinkpads come with international warranty as standard which is honoured in India. My x220 came with 1 yr of warranty and I paid for an extra 3 years. Confirm once you get your thinkpad t430 in India whether it has Complete cover as my laptop showed 1 yr depot warranty when I got it and it had CC when I verified with IBM. The thinkpads are one of the most upgradeable laptops. I would suggest you get a good Msata SSD + 16gb of ddr3 ram to power it.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks! What am I going to do with 16gb of ram in the next 3 years?
 
Well I got 8gb x2 ddr3 gskill sticks for 60$ shipped to India and it was well worth it. Its a cheap upgrade - having more ram is not a bad thing methinks.
 
As a ThinkPad user of ~7yrs, may I recommend the X series instead? I've gone from T43->T400->X301->X230 at work & use a X120e at home.

As the T430 you are ordering doesn't have an external graphics card, the X would give you similar performance and much more mobility.
 
the x220 is better than the x230 methinks. the x230 which has the newer design features aka the ruined keyboard and build quality as compared to the x220 . the x220 was the last proper thinkpad.
 
dexBG said:
Well the Samsung 5 series has a better config in the same price range with the 900p matte screen at 15.6" ( & 300 nits brightness).

You also get a full keyboard with the Samsung 5 Series. Build quality is fine.
Reasons why I don't like Thinkpads is that they usually don't have Webcams & HDMI out which is criminal now a days.

Paying 11k for shipping is really a lot, if someone can bring it for you then its great otherwise its nothing special.
Also 320GB HDD is pretty low.
Click to expand...

@dexBG - let's lay the following concerns to rest:-
  • Thinkpads are available in the following configurations i.e preconfigured or user configured at the time of purchase
  • Thinkpads have webcams - my x220 has a 720p webcam with amazing clarity and it has a feature - keyboard noise suppression - which while using the inbuilt MIC suppresses keyboard noise(during typing) and shuts out ambient noise apart from the user's voice
  • The x220/t420 and earlier thinkpads had the best keyboards of all time in any laptop - the new t430/x230 has a modified island style keyboard which is good but lacks the finesse of the previous generation keyboards
  • Thinkpads have VGA/Displayport out - business class laptops don't usually have HDMI out - however a converter can be bought for the same
  • The 320gb hdd is a low profile 7mm slim drive and is a 7200rpm vs most other 4200/5400rpm drives in normal laptops
  • The 320gb hdd has shock sensors and parks the platters if any lateral movement is detected - something your average consumer grade laptops don't have - most mid range and quite a few high end laptops don't have this feature
  • Thinkpads are the gold standard in what a laptop should be - macbooks/ultrabooks/glossy consumer grade samsungs are all toys compared to this
  • Thinkpads are MIL STD 810 F/G compliant for ruggedness/dust/moisture
  • Thinkpads are serviced in India by IBM and worldwide, who've still got the best enterprise level support and end user consumer support - they are the absolute best - I've experienced it first hand (they do get a shock if high end T/W/X series laptops are brought by normal consumers as they are usually used to servicing thinkpads for their business users/enterprise users/large corporations)
  • Thinkpads in India cost upwards of 70-80k and go on to 1.2 lakhs
  • Thinkpads if in warranty will be serviced for free anywhere in the world by IBM irrespective of the country of origin/purchase
  • Thinkpads are the most modular/upgradeable laptops ever
  • Parts for Thinkpads are easily available thanks to the insanely large orders placed by corporates - this is true for the older models
 
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Whoops.. I was confused the DELL Latitudes with the Thinkpads so far .. :p Apologies

Thinkpads do have a lot of extra features but at a premium price.
 
sunny27 said:
@dexBG
  • The x220/t420 and earlier thinkpads had the best keyboards of all time in any laptop - the new t430/x230 has a modified island style keyboard which is good but lacks the finesse of the previous generation keyboards
Click to expand...


You know, I was thinking the exact same thing when I asked for a PC refresh @ office... I was in love with the classic keyboard on the various thinkpads I had used over the years and just did not want to give that up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't given a X220 as an option and had to settle (what I thought earlier) for the X230 with the crazy keyboard.

Now that I've used the X230 for ~5 months. I think the Thinkpad engineers have really improved things. The keyboard still feels comfortable (it took me <2 days to get used to it) & It's got backlit keys (along with the ThinkLight on top!). Cleaning the keyboard is now easier because nothing gets trapped underneath.

Can't comment if the spill-proof part is better or worse as I've never dropped liquids on my laptops (I'm quite careful).

The Home & End keys in the new layout are frustrating thou...
 
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s_anuj said:
You know, I was thinking the exact same thing when I asked for a PC refresh @ office... I was in love with the classic keyboard on the various thinkpads I had used over the years and just did not want to give that up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't given a X220 as an option and had to settle (what I thought earlier) for the X230 with the crazy keyboard.

Now that I've used the X230 for ~5 months. I think the Thinkpad engineers have really improved things. The keyboard still feels comfortable (it took me <2 days to get used to it) & It's got backlit keys (along with the ThinkLight on top!). Cleaning the keyboard is now easier because nothing gets trapped underneath.

Can't comment if the spill-proof part is better or worse as I've never dropped liquids on my laptops (I'm quite careful).

The Home & End keys in the new layout are frustrating thou...
Click to expand...

I will really miss the context menu key :'(
It's so useful in excel, who is going to use Shift + F10!
 
Well, its criminal to compare a Thinkpad with a frigging samsung 5 series, even series 9 will bow in front of it, Thinkpads are built like tanks and have the the best keyboards along with best reliability, Few years back I sold my old Thinkpad to my friend and he is still using it without any defects/problem and the age of the laptop is now 7yrs!!
 
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