Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops: BIG SAVINGS up to 30% OFF and X230 at $664.30 from EPP through March 13

Quote from goldendeals1 : 1) Can drive two full HD displays from a single port in various modes

how would you do that? so theoretically you could run three monitors right? (one vga, two displayport)

Quote from offthetop : how would you do that? so theoretically you could run three monitors right? (one vga, two displayport)

Integrated graphics generally won't let you do that. If they would, you could run two DP and a VGA or even the laptop screen itself. Without dedicated graphics it will usually only let you run a combination of any two devices.

Quote from rejctchoir : Pretty good deal. If you get the X230/X220 make sure you also get the IPS display.

I would highly recommend to stay away from the x220 tablets. Over the past 4 months of deployment 25 out of 40 have needed a LCD replaced! Unless there is a good warranty

The Lenovo website states warranties with ADP are 50% off, but the pricing in the cart does not reflect that. I just did chat with a sales rep and they were able to adjust the price manually for me. FYI.

For the X230, I have some other comments too in case it helps people :

- Try to get the Intel i5-3320 processor for $55 more, since it fully supports VT-d/virtualization.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/6489...4896,67355

- For upgraded IPS display : You get the 720p webcam if you have a 2x2 antenna in there. If you pick the 3x3 antenna then you could theoretically get higher speeds with certain routers, but there is no webcam then.

- The Intel N-2200 wireless card is 2.4ghz only, no 5ghz support. Mine works great 20 feet from the router, but on the other edge of the house upstairs, the wireless card totally sucks compared to my other laptops. Might upgrade later.

- The keyboard is backlit with a few brightnesses, and also a light on the top of the monitor that shines down on the keyboard too

- You can add mSata SSD (SATA2 speeds), but I chose to order a standard SSD (SATA3 speeds). Not sure if sata 2 vs. 3 matters. Note that only 7mm height SSDs like Samsung 830/840 will fit. 9mm height SSD will not fit.

- Ships with Samsung RAM. Can buy 2x8GB RAM for upgrade. Might extend time to hibernate if you get too much RAM.

- Integrated graphics Intel HD 4000 Ivy Bridge is included (shared RAM), and it's AWESOME compared to older Intel HD 3000. Blows it away.

- The touchpad is really, really bad. Haven't tried different drivers yet.

- Laptop is extremely light, but a little thick compared to Ultrabooks.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/3...30-review/

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Quote from goldendeals1;58090684...- Try to get the Intel i5-3320 processor for $55 more, since it fully supports VT-d/virtualization. [url : http://ark.intel.com/compare/64893,64895,64896,67355[/url] ... - For upgraded IPS display : You get the 720p webcam if you have a 2x2 antenna in there. If you pick the 3x3 antenna then you could theoretically get higher speeds with certain routers, but there is no webcam then. - The Intel N-2200 wireless card is 2.4ghz only, no 5ghz support. Mine works great 20 feet from the router, but on the other edge of the house upstairs, the wireless card totally sucks compared to my other laptops. Might upgrade later. ... - You can add mSata SSD (SATA2 speeds), but I chose to order a standard SSD (SATA3 speeds). Not sure if sata 2 vs. 3 matters. Note that only 7mm height SSDs like Samsung 830/840 will fit. 9mm height SSD will not fit.

Nice post. A few comments that might help clarify:
1. VT-d is not necessary for most purposes to use virtualization. For the casual user of KVM, Virtualbox, or HyperV, it's VT-x that's important and VT-d doesn't come into play unless you're trying to assign physical devices specifically to the VM, which is not usually the case.
2. Wifi: Completely agree about the 2200 (or, even worse, the "Thinkpad wifi" device). The3x3 actually makes a big difference to me, fwiw, in both range and throughput. Hopefully, people spending $700+ on laptops are buying dual band 11n or 11ac routers!
3. SATA speed is one thing (twice as fast on reads, 50-100% on writes depending on the device) and weight/power is another. By removing the hard drive and replacing it with a SATA drive, you reduce weight, power, and heat. BTW, I heartily recommend the Samsung 840 or 840 pro here. I have a 500gb 840 in my x230 and a 256gb 840 pro in my t430.

is it dead?

Quote from MrBojangels : Samsung used to. The Vizio 15.6in laptop would be amazing if the trackpad/keyboard wasn't utter trash. The finish and display on that laptop for the spec+price are great. Asus has ULV CPU laptops, but I'm looking for a workhorse not a web browser.

Check out the new Samsung 7 Chronos that's just trickling out now, it's the closest thing to a MBP for PC folks at the moment.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/0...7-chronos/

Quote from scottegos2 : Nice post. A few comments that might help clarify: 1. VT-d is not necessary for most purposes to use virtualization. For the casual user of KVM, Virtualbox, or HyperV, it's VT-x that's important and VT-d doesn't come into play unless you're trying to assign physical devices specifically to the VM, which is not usually the case. 2. Wifi: Completely agree about the 2200 (or, even worse, the "Thinkpad wifi" device). The3x3 actually makes a big difference to me, fwiw, in both range and throughput. Hopefully, people spending $700+ on laptops are buying dual band 11n or 11ac routers! 3. SATA speed is one thing (twice as fast on reads, 50-100% on writes depending on the device) and weight/power is another. By removing the hard drive and replacing it with a SATA drive, you reduce weight, power, and heat. BTW, I heartily recommend the Samsung 840 or 840 pro here. I have a 500gb 840 in my x230 and a 256gb 840 pro in my t430.

Isn't the 3x3 only effective with the 6300? Which isn't a configuration option any longer on it. The best you can do is the 6205 which leaves you with the 2x2 so might as well go with the camera unless you're going to upgrade.

is there a point of buying an 802.11ac router if you don't have an ac wireless card?

trying to decide between the refurbished yoga and the x230

http://slickdeals.net/f/5894320-L...-available

with an aftermarket SSD price is about the same. what do you guys think? i think it might be cool to have a hybrid but i dont know if ill really use it, and i worry about the long term build quality. i really need something that will last

Quote from droyder : Check out the new Samsung 7 Chronos that's just trickling out now, it's the closest thing to a MBP for PC folks at the moment. http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/0...7-chronos/

meh, not IPS, has a numpad shrinking the keyboard size.

Quote from MrBojangels : meh, not IPS, has a numpad shrinking the keyboard size.

it's samsung's PLS screen which many believe to be better than IPS..

The updated Series 7 Chronos, too, was something I was pretty interested in looking at. I had my Series 7 on me when I went to the Samsung booth, so I got a pretty good feel for the hardware differences side by side. The biggest change here is the 1080p PLS touchscreen panel, and a slight amount of added thickness to go with that.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/664...ook-lineup


and don't forget this machine is $1K cheaper than the similar rMBP

Quote from funkmasterta : x230 has NO HDMI

Why is HDMI on laptops even important anymore? I much prefer to just run a DLNA server and have a small media attached to the TV (wdtv, roku, etc) so you don't lose functionality of your laptop while watching a movie.

Why do they have so many damn models?

What's the best deal here? Just looking for something with an i5, 8gb of ram, and a decent screen.