Is now a good time to sell the X301?

I just got my x301 a few months ago, and since i just got a new iMac, I am looking to sell either my Macbook Pro or my thinkpad x301 to recoup some of the cost. I haven't kept up with the rumormill for the new thinkpads - will there be new 13" thinkpads that might hurt my sale in January?

I will do some more research but any advice would be great! It will be ether the Macbook Pro or the thinkpad that goes...and am sure sad to let go of either of them.

 

the price of the X301 have dropped, i think you would probably recoup more of the original cost by selling the Macbook Pro (assuming it is the unibody version). The X301 official price during various Lenovo sales is around 50% of its original price.

 

Thanks lead_org.

I bought my x301 for $1200 and it comes with the additional battery too. The macbook pro is not the unibody version - it is the version in my sig (older Santa Rosa haha). If I sell the macbook pro, I can get around $700-800 for it. I got my Aluminum iMac (2.4ghz 20") for $600.

I am a bit better with mac prices than I am with lenovo - haven't kept up with the trends. I am just afraid that that the x301 will go to the $800 range I guess...damn 50% direct from lenovo? What a hit...

 

I would sell the MBP too. If you plan on selling on these boards then generally people know about the upcoming CES so even before the next generation comes out people are still likely gonna pass and wait. The trend seems to be that the prices of Macs don't drop as much so you are probably going to get more out of your Mac. For example, I got my T400 for $575 and my X200 for $800 (with dock), and that's both with a 3-year warranty. There is no way I can get a similarly spec'ed Mac for those prices.

 

i have heard from my Friend whom just got a new X301 for 950 USD in USA just before christmas, so i don't know what sort of luck you are going to get with the X301. I can usually predict the price of thinkpads in Australia, since i know a lot of people whom do this sort of business, but in USA i am not too sure.

Try marketplace on forum.thinkpads.com and see what sort of price you get.

I am thinking around 750 to 850 USD is a fair price for it.

 

Yeah, with the 4 GB RAM and the SSD the OP can fetch a little bit more than other X301s.

 

Apple product thanks to Steve Jobs (he probably sells a lot of ice to Eskimos) has become a haute couture product..... so they do hold their value well.

 

wow thats so crazy! Technology changes so fast and prices drop so quick. What a huge drop for the x301.. hmmm... I guess that is what is making me lean towards selling the x301. The specs of my x301 are only going to look weaker and weaker because of that processor, compared to newer generations that come out.

I will poke around on the marketplace to see what the price is going for...my x301 specs are in my sig, and I have the additional 3 cell battery that stretches the battery life. Think I can get around $1K for the whole thing if everything still looks good?

That is true. My macbook pro is pre-unibody, although I know some people (including myself) who favor the pre unibody design.

 

The X301 is a competitor to the Macbook Air, the processor isn't that weak, just that it is bit lean on the mhz department, which should not really matter that much if you don't do a lot of photoshops and stuffs similar to that.

The old macbook pro had problems with the case separating...

So you should make up your own mind, also the Nvidia GPU used on the Macbook Pro is defective, so you are basically hording a ticking time bomb.

 

The X301 is likely going to be discontinued based on current trends. Lenovo appears to be concentrating efforts toward the promotion of the X210s and T410s models in the next quarter.

 

I don't think the X301 will get replaced right away (it wasn't in Lenovo's time line of upgraded laptops). It will inevitably et updated (X310 ??) but no one knows what it will be called yet (X302/X310, etc.). The info. is much more solid in the T410, T510, W510, etc. I would definitely not sell an X301 now. Keep her around for awhile.

 

Given the laptops you currently have, I would sell the one that I like the least based on my personal preference which is more important to me than a couple of hundreds bucks.

 

I would suggest sell the x301 while it's still valuable. x301 is locked into 1.8" drive storage just like the Samsung X360 and Dell E4200 so has limited expandability options as a hand-me-down in the s/h market. Also CULV tablets like 1820T will be appearing and I believe take a lot of sales from ultraportables like the x301.

EDIT: Leaks of HP's 12" 2540P and 2740P are appearing. If they have HDMI with a thinner chassis then will be a great ultraportable.

Arrandale 32nm systems to be released Jan 2010 will sport new, more efficient cpus, 25% faster 5700MHD graphics, pci-express 2.0 mPCIe/expresscard slots. Great for DIY Vidock

 

How can a 12" be a competitor to a 14"?

 

You all make very good arguments, which is why I had some trouble deciding.

Mikesdell comment on no thinkpads replacing the x301 and nando4's comment on the sustained value of the x301 are the exact things I been thinking about.

 

Do you think the x301 will be one of a kind in the thinkpad line then?

 

Yes, I believe that may be the case. The X301 has not sold very well as it was too much of a niche. The X301 has been on clearance in many major markets, which is usually a good indication that the product line will be discontinued. There could be a replacement model, but I'm more inclined to believe that the X210s and T410s will fill this market instead. Every innovation that they developed in the X300/X301 models were incorporated into the T400s and the T410s will further improve upon this.

 

X301 was directly competing against the Macbook Air, so it is really a niche product, but strangely lenovo have concentrated a lot of marketing on this product as compared to the other models. But the business case of retaining the X301 line when the T400s is out, is a hard one to make.

Lenovo is also dropping the R series, which is a shame, considering the R400 is such a good alternative to the T400....

 

To OP: keep the one you use more often and sell the other.

 

If this is the case I am more inclined to keep the thinkpad then since I do think its the perfect size. The footprints of the x210 and the x410 don't quite work for me and macbook pros area a done a dozen.

 

Haha I have at least that much common sense I hope. But no..the pure basis of this question is to feel out the market and to make the smartest sale. Right now I use th macbook pro as a desktop and the x301 on the go for school...hence I use both equally. So alas..it is not that simple.

Thanks for trying though!

 

Gee when I was a student I only had one computer. In some years, that was the public one in the lab. lol. I think you need to buy low sell high. Any TP depreciates rapidly once its shipped. If you are not using it, then you are not getting any utility out of it and the most logical course of action is to sell the machines you don't use on a daily basis. There is no logical reason to keep a backup as the money you get for BOTH of your other machines you could buy a netbook with at any time and avoid the depreciation in value in those two machines. My takes is you are what they call a poet rather than a quant person. The Apple is the first clue.

 

Since you just bought an iMac, which is a desktop, common sense seems to suggest that:

1. You will use the X301 as much as you used to (because you prefer the X301 as your on-the-go laptop)
2. You will not be using the MPB as much in the future (because you now have a better desktop)

Seems simple to me.

 

Some developments that will mean ultraportables can become thinner/lighter:

*32nm manufacturing process. More efficient CPUs and chipsets
*2010 will see notebooks that can accept mPCIe SSDs. So no need for 2.5"/1.8" compartment for a 64GB SSD
* more powerful 2900ma batteries as used in Asus 1000HE, NB200 netbooks. More battery life without adding more weight.

CULV notebooks and upcoming tablets like 1820T are in the same performance category as a x301, though many offer 2.5" storage expandability and are substantially cheaper.

The x301's limited 1.8" storage expandability may explain why Lenovo will drop it in favor of the X200/X400s series, both with 2.5" options.

 

^^ Good input nando4
I do feel somewhat limited by the space on the x301 right now. The MBP has a 500gb harddrive..so I can actually watch my movies and listen to music on the go.

@ckx
I use both pretty much equally, and was considering using the MBP as my portable for school just as much as I was thinking about just sticking to the x301. I do a some video editing and photoshop projects for school so my MBP goes out with me sometimes when I have to do projects with groups and organizations.

@Mr.KL
Thank you for that input! Such an economist! I will definitely be getting rid of one of these computers. FYI, I actually have around 6 laptops in my apt right now - just that these two are my personal computers. I sell Asus computers on ebay as a side job to pay for the grad school bills so it's not to strange that I have so many computers lying around.

 

This makes logical sense to me.

The strength of the x301 is not performance (it's certainly adequate, but nothing spectacular). Instead, its strength is form factor, keyboard/TrackPoint/Touchpad quality, weight, battery life, connectivity, and build quality. These strengths age far more slowly than raw performance and the x301 will thus be able to fill its purpose as a note-taking, office productivity, and other light duty portable machine for a long time.

Your MBP is effectively a desktop now and will see even less use now that you have a more powerful iMac. Therefore, I'd keep the ThinkPad and ditch the MBP.

 

Lenovo is not going to drop the X30x line just because of the hdd form factors, considering that the T400s was released with the same format. Using your logic the T400s design would also be dropped, but we already have some leaked information that the current design format is going to stay. All Ipod Classic design use the 1.8 inch hdd format for sometime now, but when IBM first use it in the X4x laptop, there was only a handful of makers of such hdd, and they were also very slow, unreliable and expensive.

The X301 was designed to compete in the same segment as the Macbook Air, and take up rate for these machines is not as high as they expect them too. They will phase it out, simply due to the profit return on this model is poor.

 

T400s can accept a 2.5" 9.5mm HDD via an ultrabay to replace it's 9.5mm optical drive. x301's 7.5mm optical drive cannot do that, so the X300/X301 only has a 1.8" internal SSD/HDD storage option.

Lenovo certainly could refresh the x30x series to place it in the niche ultra-thin business ultraportable class. Consider an update x30x with a 64GB mPCIe SSD + 250GB 1.8" HDD + 7.5mm optical drive with an updated 32nm CPU. Could even forgot the 1.8" HDD altogether to decrease weight and thickness. A great tool for some roadwarriors.

Though I myself would prefer a slightly thicker X210 with 64GB mPCIe SSD + 640GB 2.5" HDD (no optical drive) or T410s with 64GB mPCIe SSD + optical drive/640GB 2.5" HDD.

My suggestion above on use of 64GB mPCIe SSD is based upon correspondance with Samsung who suggest notebook vendors will design netbook style mPCIe slots to accept sata SSDs.

The same mPCIe SSD idea means too that manufacturers can make razor thin systems that forgo use of optical, 2.5" and 1.8" drives altogether. I'd like a CULV tablet of that design with a docked HDD/optical drive solution. Eg:12" HP 27x0P tablet, slimmed down by 8mm (the thickness of a 1.8" HDD).

 

It is not the hdd format that forces the demise of the X301, but rather than the low sales volume...... X301 costs nearly 3000 dollars for an entry level spec, while the T400s only 2000 dollars, and you can easily find a new one in Australia for around 1600 dollars without the optical drive.

 

This post makes the most sense to me. After perusing ebay I see that I can sell the x301 for just about the same amount that I got it for...and that is not too shabby at all. I will wait for the iMac to come in and see which computer gets more use. What is sad is that I paid over twice the amount for the x301 compared to the iMac so selling it will give me some profits. (iMac=$600, x301= 1300) Just don't like having that hole in the bank account. haha

 

which GPU does your Macbook have? Do you need a really powerful GPU? If not i would suggest that if you have the Nvidia GPU Macbook Pro (i have one too before) to sell it too and keep neither. Instead wait for the sale and get a Thinkpad T400s instead.

 

+1. T400s :drool: Impressive gear.

 

Wow really? I got to read up on the T400s then. That's a 14 inch right?

I actually have a MBP with the Ati Mobility Radeon X1600 so I am not too concerned about the NVidia GPU. I do not need that powerful of a GPU because I do not do photoshop and video editing full time - I would say about 1-2 weeks out of a month I work on a project. I just kind of fight through it with my x301 or I bring out my MBP when I need to do something on the go. It really is tempting to sell the X301 because of how much I can get from the machine right now, but I don't think I have seen a nicer thinkpad buildwise.

 

yeah just sell the X301 if you can get a good price for it. I got a X301 from work, so if i had to buy it new, i would have cringed at the price that it was selling at compared to the benefits i will derive from it.