Buy a x200 now or wait till end of summer?

I need a new laptop for college. Right now there is a deal for the x200 and I can get this configuration
ThinkPad X200 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty

• Intel Core2 Duo processor P8600 (2.40GHz, 3MB L2, 1066MHz FSB) with Intel vPro Advanced System Management
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
• 12.1 WXGA, 2x2 UltraConnect II antenna; with Camera and Wireless Broadband Upgradeable
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
• TrackPoint with Fingerprint Reader
• 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
• Integrated Bluetooth PAN
• Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
• Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
• ThinkPad X200 Series 9 cell Li-Ion Battery
• 7454: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller

for $948 before tax or $1044 after shipping and tax
should I wait until the end of summer? there are only 2 advantages that i can think of to wait
1) it will be cheaper - has the x200 been cheaper than this before? this is the cheapest ive seen it
2) lenovo will refresh it - is this likely?

also would it be better to get a t400? right now im deciding between a t400 and a x200 but the only pros that the t400 has are:

• cheaper, but id pay the premium
• has optical drive - i plan on getting the x200 ultrabase
• more real estate - this is what i get for a 12"
• more powerful gfx card - i will bring a desktop for gaming

is there anything i missed that would push me to get a t400 instead of a x200?

 

Wait for august, lenovo refreshes its line during the back to school season

 

That's because the new Intel platforms historically come out around then. But, Calpella has been delayed to late 2009 or early 2010, so don't expect a Lenovo refresh coming up any time soon.

That looks like a good price, so I don't see any reason not to get it now.

 

That seems like a solid configuration and price. A small price drop is possible, but that is already quite a bit lower than the launch price.

I wouldn't expect a full refresh (e.g. x201) but a slightly faster CPU may become available between now and August.

My personal opinion is that the x200 is a far better choice than the T400 if you can handle the moderate price premium and external optical drive. The x200 is much lighter than the T400 but sacrifices very little in terms of performance and usability.

One other thing - If you want more screen real estate you may want to consider the x200s as it offers a 1440x900 LED display (it's lighter and gets better battery life too). You should be able to get it with an SL9600 CPU soon (2.16GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 17W TDP) so there isn't much of a performance drop. You would need to pay a bit of a price premium, but it's worth it in my opinion.

 

I dont think id pay the premium to get a x200s - the performance is less for just a little longer battery life. i think a regular x200 with a 9 cell already has long enough and even too long of a battery life. also, i might do the flexview upgrade. i would rather have a good low resolution screen rather than a crappy high resolution. moreover 1440x900 is too big on a 12". 1280x800 is good enough

that said ill go ask my parents tomorrow if i can buy it

 

wait for couple of months, you can get windows 7 upgrade option. that will save money.

 

i have a friend who works at microsoft. he can get me any windows for cheap <$40

 

I would wait, but not too long because in the summer when every new college student is ordering laptops the build times can be really long. Sometimes Lenovo's already have long build times depending on your configuration.

 

I definitely hear you on this. I previously owned a regular x200 and while I loved everything else about the laptop, the stock LCD is pretty poor. The x200s LED display is better, but the "Flexview" display from the x200T is incomparable.

Based on this, and the fact that you can get an inexpensive upgrade to Win7 when it is fully released I would say get the x200 relatively soon that you can get adjusted to it before school starts.

One other thing - You may want to consider upgrading to a 3-year depot warranty if you plan on keeping the x200 a while. The price on the upgrade tends to be quite reasonable and it can be invaluable if you have a motherboard component fail. You may also want to check with your University and see if they have discounts on ThinkPads. Many do and you can often get a further reduced price and avoid paying shipping/tax through an education portal.

 

If i upgrade the screen, wont that vboid my warranty? and can i stack the education discount if im also using epp?

 

if you wait, you'll be waiting forever.   something newer, faster, or better is always around the corner.   trying to keep up with computer technology is impossible unless you have an unlimited budget.   in your case, i would buy now because you'd get to enjoy owning and using a new system while everyone else are waiting for the unknown.

the only thing that makes a computer obsolete is if you decide that it no longer serves a useful function to you.   a newer/faster processor being released doesn't suddenly make your system any slower than the day you bought it.   food for thought.

 

yes, this would void your warranty.

education discount and epp discount cannot be combined.   you'll need to choose whichever is better for you.

 

Agree on this point. With a device like the x200, the characteristics that make it really good (build quality, battery life, weight, keyboard, TrackPoint, etc.) age very slowly. Even as the processor/GPU becomes outdated these characteristics will likely remain among the best for a device of its class.

I was able to keep a T40 for 5 years because it remained as good or better than every other 14.1" machine on the market in these categories for that entire time. Eventually the x200 offered double the battery life, 1.5 lbs less weight, and substantially more performance without compromising any of the features I cared about. As a result, only then did I decide it was time to upgrade.

 

You touch on a good point. People rarely correctly value their use of the machine during the prospective waiting period. Even if there is a sale a couple months down the road where you save $100 or so...you using the laptop is probably worth that much a month.

 

i still use and enjoy my X61s even though it's obsolete on paper.   it's not obsolete for my purposes though, and that's the key.   granted, my X61s is a step above the average system but that's not the point.

besides, how many times have people waited for the next model only to be disappointed?   quite a few, i'm sure.   heck, i drive a car with a manual steering rack because i hate power steering and really hate drive-by-wire.   i've never even owned a car with an automatic transmission.   go figure.   sometimes technological changes aren't what we want or need.   i say enjoy what's here today because what comes tomorrow might not be what you want and probably won't be what you need.

 

Agreed. I think I'll also keep my X200 and X61s for a long time.

 

Check the outlet I got this config save the 9 cell for 720 a month ago.

 

Nothing that cheap right now.

 

price went up by $50
i guess ill wait

 

jaredy:

What is the FRU of the NMB for the X200, I suspect mine is NMB but am unsure.

 

http://jedicore.com/x200/DSC03051.jpg
Here is a picture (upside down ). Does it have the blue pads?

 

What is NMB?

 

I, like you, am always in a bind between getting a 14" or 12" notebook. The ThinkPad X301 is the sweetspot in between if you have $2,500 to drop on a laptop.

Lenovo won't be completely refreshing their lineup until next year when Capella is refreshed. However, that doesn't rule out them adding an update to an existing family along the way such as with the dual screen W700ds. I'd wait until the end of June, see if anything as far as model updates has happened then, and if not pull the trigger at any point on a good deal that comes up.

You could also look for good deals on the X300/X301 in the Lenovo outlet.