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

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m0h1t

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)
 
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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.
 
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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.
 
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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!
 
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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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