How much of a premium are you willing to pay for a Thinkpad?

Thinkpads cost more than a comparably equipped consumer laptop.

Assuming that you could get identical specs on a non-Thinkpad, how much extra is the Thinkpad worth to you? $100? $300? $One meeeeeeeeeelion dollars?

 

If they were the same specs, you wouldn't pay more...

You pay more for magnesium roll cages and an expectation of a higher quality.

 

30% premium. But the TrackPoint plays a role in this premium, and makes it difficult to compare with other brands.

 

Also the thinkklight keyboard is an almost must for me, and everytime I'm on a consumer laptop and come back to thinkpad keyboard I fall in love.
And then then's the awesome thinkpad password manager tied to a fingerprint reader. Literally one touch access to all password protected website.
There is a ton of "little" things thinkpads do/have that just make them amazing.

I used to compare them to Cadalics or BMW's. There's a lot of thought and refinement in them. Little features that aren't well known outside of thinkpad circles.

 

It's a tough call. I'm definitely happy with the price I paid, and probably would've paid $100 or so more for my T410. But any more of a price increase would have to be met with a proportional increase in quality.

I think Lenovo has done a good job of finding the right balance of quality vs. manufacturing costs to make the Thinkpad brand viable in the current market. I'd definitely pay more for a Thinkpad than for an equally spec'd Asus or what have you.

That being said, I'd also be willing to pay considerably more $300-400 if that price increase was met with a similar increase in build quality, as I mentioned above.

 

Paid for my W510 half of what a similarly spec'ed Dell Precision M would cost.
But normally, wouldn't mind throwing in a couple of hundred extra.

 

Wouldn't pay any premium for any Thinkpad, especially if compared to say Dell Latitude/Precision or HP Elitebook - I'd pick the cheaper one (though in Canada, Thinkpads are usually the cheapest).

 

Compared to other business class notebooks, I wouldn't pay much of a premium, maybe $100 at most. Compared to consumer notebooks though, I'll pay a higher premium. I paid more money for both of my ThinkPads than I would have for similarly spec'd consumer ones, and I don't regret it one bit.

 

I'd prefer to get a Thinkpad over any other business class laptop. The Thinkvantage software suite sounds amazing, with battery thresholds and other incredible options.

 

I would not pay a premium either ... simply bought a demo model. I must admit that in a number of ways they may be better ... but the screen well I think that aftermarket screens are the way to go

 

I wonder why ThinkPads are the cheapest here, in Canada?
Does Lenovo have a secret tunnel smuggling those in?

 

I paid 1600€ for my Thinkpad W510 (i7 720QM, 500gb HDD, 4GB Ram, FHD) with 4 years on site warranty and Thinkpad Protection. So I paid a premium price because some countries pay more than others and because the Thinkpad brand is more expensive.

I am confident that this will pay off in the long run, I had enough notebooks to judge build quality and support and I need the notebook every day so I guess the price is justified. Sure there are cheaper notebooks which work without a flaw for years (I had an Amilo M3438 which worked for 5 years before the GPU finally went haywire after gaming a couple of hours each week) but I also made some bad experiences when it comes to driver support and long time hardware warranty. Waiting 6 weeks for parts and stuff can be pretty annoying. I had some rather bad troubles with both HP and Dell and since at work we use Thinkpads I use them at home aswell.

 

my first ThinkPad was $5500 purchased brand new from IBM 15 years ago.   depending on one's perspective, today's systems are inexpensive in comparison.

saying a ThinkPad should cost the same as other competitors' systems is like asking Mercedes Benz to match Honda and Toyota in pricing without giving up quality in the process.   sadly, these days everyone expects PCs to be priced as low as possible yet have all the high-end features and build quality.   PC manufacturers are left choosing between making toasters (ie: competing on price) or making things as high-quality as they can afford.   i'd like to think Lenovo are following the latter model yet consumers keep asking for the former.

the day people aren't willing to pay what they perceive as a "premium" is the day we all walk home with a toaster.   i don't want a toaster, i want a ThinkPad.

 

I'd pay 15% over similar spec'd business laptop. However, for all my Thinkpad purchases I manage to get in on serious deals which negate the usual premiums.

 

Cost doesn't matter to me. I either get a Thinkpad or a Macbook Pro.

I really don't think there is much of a cost premium to Thinkpads anymore... since they were purchased by Lenovo, they feel priced well compared to other business class notebooks and the quality hasn't dropped.

 

I forgot to state what statement in my previous post.
There simply isn't another laptop I would want to own and run day in and day out.
I can't give that a numeric number.

 

Ditto. Although substitute "my one ThinkPad purchase so far" for "all my Thinkpad purchases" for me.

This does seem to be true, especially when the aforementioned discounts are applied.

 

Which app do you use to make toast in your Thinkpad?

 

I have a T400 I bought almost 2 months back. Still using it now. Probably the best notebook I have used... I like the Lenovo Software update software with ThinkVantage. TBH, I don't know if I paid a premium for it (specs are in the bottom, i paid around $675 new, with 3 year warranty at purchase date). But If I was to get the same notebook with exact same specs (i guess no roll cage, fingerprint reader, ultrabay, service, rollcage, etc for the other) $550 vs $675? No contest, I would get the Thinkpad. I am in love with the docking station though, docking staiton as part of a feature in a notebook is probably a deal-breaker or visa-versa for me.

But I'd definately go for Thinkpads again (I would have definately gotten a X200S if i was aware of the prices in eBay instead of this). I was also looking at the non traditional lines of Lenovo (so... not thinkpads) id still get those. Y460P, Thinkpad Edge 13 or 14, or evne the G460.

 

Would I pay a premium for a ThinkPad?

I would pay the price commanded at the time by a ThinkPad! Whether this is a premium or not, I would not know. I am a very new ThinkPad user coming back to the line after a very long time (my last ThinkPad was when it was still sported the IBM logo which, BTW, I still have (though non operational) and will dig out to see if I can bring it back to life with some linux distro).

Having said that and taking into account a niggling palmrest issue (I have a R400), I love the machine. To me it is tight, the keyboard is excellent, the specs are excellent (though I have integrated graphics) and it looks damn good!

I think it is worth saving the money to keep to the Thinkpad line and I, for one, will try to maintain that.

So, about the premium...I think the ThinkPad is a premium machine and is well worth the price it commands. One thing though, I would probably avoid a used or refurb unit - but that I would do for any other product as well (with probably the exception of a house!).

 

I actually prefer refurb units. The refurbs go through a significant testing process and are priced much lower than the regular machines. Sometimes you can buy a refurb, use it for a few months, and then sell it for a higher price on eBay. Buyer gets a better price than a new thinkpad; you get to use it and get your money back. Since thinkpads are rock solid, it's a great deal.

 

It so happens that I don't seem to sell my machines. Difficult to do given my present location. And, any ways, I like new machines. So, I guess, it is a question of what we are individually comfortable with.

 

10%, but in a specific trade. I expect top shelf cust. service, and bombproof quality out of each model. Though thinkpad gains loyalty in this trade off. like many others, I look at thinkpads first as setting the industry standard, then try and find someone who can do it better, cheaper. usually that's a short or empty list.

 

waaaaay back in the day i used to use after dark.   that probably doesn't count though.

 

I'm jealous already. In Australia, W510 starts at (converted) 2500€

Much better than my laptop of which it's chassis might as well be made out of chocolate than plastic.

 

W510 in Australia starts at 2500 Euro?

 

Converted!

AU$3,689.94* as far as I can tell.

How much did you pay for your closest to current gen Thinkpad at the time?

I would say an average price I would be willing to pay for an average laptop is < AU$1500.

 

"Assuming that you could get identical specs on a non-Thinkpad, how much extra is the Thinkpad worth to you? $100? $300? $One meeeeeeeeeelion dollars?"

Why talk about price at all? You buy capability. I want a machine that will work and is a competive computer which is why I buy Lenovo, not because it costs X dollars. I buy it for capability.
Renee

 

Lol, the more this thread goes on, the less and less is the urge to pay any extras

 

some people pay upward of 300 Euros for a fancy brand of jeans ... the 40 Euro one has the same material. I mean yes there is a quality difference between laptops but does it warrant a 100% price hike compared to other brands? That of course is a personal choice.

 

Wow, I paid 1300CAD for the W510. If it costs 3.6k - might as well buy a Dell M6500 or HP 8740w.

 

I think the question is misleading.


I'm willing to pay what is required to get a good machine. In short here, there is far too much emphasis on the price of a machine instead of what it will do.

Renee

 

If I may suggest...you omitted to mention the following..." AND how it is built..."

And, at the moment, I would not pay a premium for a ThinkPad - build quality sucks, and what is worse, Lenovo Customer Service sucks!

Apologies, but I am not enamoured by Lenovo at the moment!

 

I think build quality is not uniform across all the Thinkpads from what I read here. I do think there can only really be a premium price for a true premium product. I think there are standard laptops and then there are the likes of Thinkpads; Sony Z series, HP Elitebook, Dell Latitude and MacBooks. Now does Thinkpad offer more within this class of notebooks to warrant a premum? In my opinion that is very debatable. I would say Sony does but the truth is that I have not had a Vaio since 2005 so I cannot judge. That Vaio though had a great keyboard, plenty of ports, ran cool enough and silent enough and had a great screen. Every laptop has a modern CPU, a large HDD, a good enough graphics card etc. IMHO a true premium product must by definition excel in providing the best internal components along with a good keyboard and screen. Not a single brand can be considered premium unless it has all of this. Now personally I am not into glossy screens but that is merely a preference. For me the premuim deserving award goes to Sony Vaio and MacBook Pro, followed by HP EliteBook and Dell Lattitude and Lenovo. If however Lenovo were to constantly match Sony and a few others in overall quality including a great screen then I would only buy Lenovo. And of course one needs customer service which I think all brands fail at so that's a mute point.

 

I believe I said 'a good machine' with the emphasis being on the machine. If it's a Thinkpad that's great, because I'm familiar with them. If it's another machine physically, I don't know anything about them. I've never had anything but positive luck with Lenovo field service.

Renee

 

@Renee...I was referring to a ThinkPad and Lenovo Warranty Customer Care only.

 

@lines of flight,

I think you should take a short video of what your talking about regarding the flex on your palmrest..... this way everyone has a better idea of what you are complaining about.

 

I'd want a toaster if she looked like Six.

 

So say we all!

 

@lead_org...if I can, I certainly will. But I think you know now what I am referring to. For the moment, see this thread and my last post (#30, I think): http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=468763&page=3. I have included an outline image at least identifying the location of the problem.

 

I'll back you up here. my T500 has a lot of flex in the palmrest area and i was extremely disappointed with it.

that being said I would not pay any premium at all nor will I buy a thinkpad until Lenovo's quality control is fixed (if ever).

Elitebook FTW.

 

I can't type on that grippy feeling keyboard the elitebooks have.

 

Use whatever that pleases you the most.... Elitebook is not as easy to pull apart to clean the fan, the fan is louder then the Thinkpads......

 

The tragedy of the situation is that in every other way, my ThinkPad is excellent - keyboard is good. It runs cool. It is elegant. I find the screen adequate for my needs. If only they could fix the palmrest, for me it would be a perfect machine!!!! But Lenovo is being obstinate. I just got off the phone with them and now they say that they will talk to their "team" in China to "attempt" to resolve the situation. I suggested that they talk to David Hill who apparently takes care of Design and Product Development. One funny moment was when the guy I was speaking to asked me how I got the diagrams to remove the palm rest. I had to give him the url to THEIR site!!!!

 

Heh... I took a drop onto the floor to fix the squeaking in the palmrest on my T400; it broke a small corner of the CFRP base-plate between the palmrest and HDD cover. As for the flex... Let's just say a few sheets of Kleenex under the plastic later, and it's much better.

 

Premium sounds awful when you have toaster problems on a Thinkpad ! I would say Tricia Helfer (6) is definitely premium !

 

David Hill manages the design department at Lenovo, but the final fit and finish is more of a manufacturing concern.

 

Yeah, but fit and finish - as you put it - is a feedback system for design: This is common practise in process manufacturing.

 

I would not that far! For my needs, the machine is excellent value. The flex problem on the palmrest is minor but very irritating (for me). In my opinion, Lenovo could better justify their ThinkPad line (which is comparatively expensive) if they could pay close attention to details like this (and I suppose the screen (for some ) AND get their Customer Care to operate with much higher levels of efficiency.

 

But this would only be true, if the design itself is flawed. If the design is flawed, then it would be noted and the next laptop release would incorporate a better design that overcomes the flaw. Nothing would be done for the current or superseded line of Thinkpads, and R400 is no longer on sale in most countries.

However, flexing of the palmrest could be due to the use of thinner material than what is specified by the engineering design team, or it could be that the part manufacturers have lowered the standard of productions or QC process that allow inferior parts to be shipped through.

My R400 don't flex in that area, nor do any other colleagues whom use R400 have this problem. If the problem does not manifest itself in all or most of the R400, then it is usually a problem in the production process and not that the engineering/design team did a poor job in their original design of the laptop.