Costco stopped carrying ThinkPad?

Still saw the SL, T, X and W Series on their site a month or two ago. Now I see nothing but the consumer grade Lenovos. Any idea?

 

Probably stopped carrying them cause average consumers don't buy ThinkPads? This is the case with MOST retail stores...my workplace used to sell X300, T410, T410s...not anymore. Our Lenovo rep keeps on saying we are getting in T420,X220 and that was like 6 months ago..

 

It's really a shame that ThinkPads are underrepresented in traditional retail. There's no way to check it out in person or buy from a place with full money back guarantee.

 

Yeah, that is a bummer. The line just doesn't have enough bling for folks I guess.

The Thinkpad line is a workhorse is an elegant, not flashy, workhorse.

 

The Thinkpads that were sold at Costco were very basic - and underwhelming.

Sure their target was the "$799 consumer" market, but HP has that pretty well dominated.

Plus Costco's stock rotates all the time depending on what kind of deal they get on a massive purchase.

 

The way Costco works for some sales is that they would go around calling various companies (or even retailers with left over stock) about superseded or left over stocks if these companies are not regular suppliers of Costco. Sometimes the company would approach Costco directly, but it is usually other way around.

So Costco may carry certain ThinkPads due to the excess supply of these laptops somewhere and that they can't get rid of.

Although lot of stuffs that Costco don't regularly carry in their stores, are likely to have cosmetic or cartoon damage.

This is one reason why some Haute Couture brand hates Costco, as they are selling an inferior experience of their brand at reduced price with possible defects. So much so some companies either go to Costco to buy up all these stocks or take them to court (or retailers supplying them) for breaking contracts of exclusivity or things like that.

 

Where can I buy ThinkPads now with full money back guarantee if things don't work out?

 

I haven't bought anything from them but NewEgg's got good return policies. But their prices aren't cheap.

 

Thinkpad have already became something of a niche product in the consumer market. It's rare to see an average Joe with one.

 

There's nothing new about that.

 

I think Costco only ever carried the SL-series of ThinkPads anyway. I'm guessing that's because they were being discontinued, and they got a great buy on a decent quantity of systems.

To the original poster, the SL-series weren't bad, but are definitely budget ThinkPads, not having the higher quality construction materials or features found in the ThinkPad X, T, and W series models. That line has been replaced by the ThinkPad L-series.

 

No. These were still available only a couple of weeks ago.

Costco - Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Laptop Intel® Core? i5-2410M 2.3GHz Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

Costco - Lenovo ThinkPad x220 Laptop Core i5-2410M 2.30GHz Integrated Webcam customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

Costco - Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Laptop Intel® Core? i7-2620QM 2.2GHz Microsoft Windows® 7 Professional customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings

 

I stand corrected. I haven't looked at Costco's stock in some time, it appears they added models to their lineup.

 

Online only though, right? I'd seriously doubt one of these T or X machines would be in the warehouse.

Costco sells sooo much more online than in the store (as does any B&M store). I guess the only sad thing about them stopping carrying these is the 90-day return policy.

 

Yes, online only. ThinkPads will never show up at the warehouse because they look "hideous" to the average Joes next to the super glossy consumer grade lappys.