OT: Major (25%) savings on Thinkpads (today only)

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 04:52:25PM -0400, Madison Kelly wrote:
> I swore up and down that I'd never buy a /Lenovo/ Thinkpad again, and  
> today I proved myself a hypocrite.
>
> They've got a sale on that ends today where you get 25% off a laptop  
> over $1,500 and free shipping.

Yeah I got my SL500 when they were 15% off in the spring, which made it
come to $950 or so, which is way too cheap to qualify for the 25% off.

> I was going to get an ASUS B50A but I can't seem to find them  
> anywhere... Even Supercom, whom I have access to through work, stopped  
> carrying them. The promotion code is "CAP72HOURSALE".
>
> I decided that my 3.5yo T43p is due for a replacement, so I got a shiny  
> new T400s (or rather, will have in 3 weeks). Apparently it's new enough  
> the Linux support isn't perfect, but I don't suspect it will be too long  
> before the bugs are ironed out, and none seem to be show-stoppers.
>
> I got:
>
> ThinkPad T400s (3.9lbs!)
> - Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400 processor (2.40GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)

So low power use.  Good for battery life.

> - Windows Vista Business 64 (I know...)
> - 14.1WXGA+ LED B/L (1440x900)
> - Intel GMA 4500MHD (I didn't want discreet graphics, preferring battery  
> life)

I prefer decent video.

> - 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (1 DIMM) (has a second DIMM slot, will upgrade later)
> - T400s UltraNav with Finger Print Reader (doesn't work in Linux atm)

Actually it might, with a bit of work.

> - 120GB Hard Disk drive, 5400rpm 1.8" Low Halogen (will upgrade when  
> SSDs mature a bit more)
> - Intel Turbo Memory 1.6, 2GB (not sure about Linux support, but should  
> improve battery life on platter HDDs)

Almost certainly not, and I thought on most models turbo memory prevented
bluetooth support for some reason.  I suspect turbo memory is totally
useless.

> - DVD Recordable, Ultrabay Slim
> ExpressCard 34 Slot
> T400s 6 cell Prismatic Battery (no 9-cell option [yet])

Strange.  I thought 9cell was always an option.

> - Integrated Bluetooth PAN 2
> - Intel WiFi Link 5300

Very good linux support for that.

> - ThinkPlus 3 Year EasyServ Total for 1 Year EasyServ (I expect my  
> laptops to last three years!)
>
> They have the docking station now, but it's not on the system yet. I had  
> to order it separately and the CSR was only able to take 10% off of  
> that, which worked out to an extra ~$210.
>
> All in all, this cost me $1,834.72 + the dock, saving me ~$811.35.  
> That's quite the savings, if you're looking for a business laptop... My  
> one warning though is; Don't expect even five minutes extension to the  
> warranty. Lenovo sticks to the end of their warranty period like glue.  
> My T43p's mainboard died 7 days after it's 3 year warranty expired and  
> they wouldn't help me. I ended up buying an R-series mainboard to keep  
> it going until I had the money to replace it.
>
> Anyway, hope this might help someone and if not, sorry for the line noise.

I have managed to tweak the settings on my SL500 down to about 17W idle.
A small tweak to knotify reduced it by 2.5W by allowing the audio chip
to go the sleep when nothing was playing (knotify currently keeps the
audio device open after using it forever preventing sleep mode).

-- 
Len Sorensen
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