T430: buy now or wait?

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Azimuth

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Lenovo has a 15% discount for Cyber Monday (valid until the 30th). I want to buy a decent 14" laptop, and it seems that the Thinkpads are a good deal.

I am willing to wait a month or so if I could get a better deal. Should I just go ahead and pull the trigger, or should I wait and hope that there will be another sale for Christmas?

I am open to other laptop brand recommendations too. Edit: I am also considering the Alienware M14X. I do play some games, but I won't be using it mainly for such.

Thanks!
 
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IMO don't get an Alienware, currently at Lenovo website the best deal is the W530, you can get one of the best workstation's available to consumers directly for about $1300 configured pretty nicely. It is 15 inch form but if I did not just buy a MBPr, I would have jumped on that deal. As far as sales concerned, my intuition says that the %20 ish that they have off is pretty big discount and I would not expect much more than that, however consider the fact that touch screen laptops are becoming the norm with windows 8 so these laptops may continue to drop in price.
 
I've been watching/waiting for a while and I just pulled the trigger on a Thinkpad. I think it's a pretty good time to buy.

The T430 is a fantastic machine. If you intend to use it primarily for gaming (instead of school/work) you could also check out the IdeaPad Y480 for a 14", but personally I prefer the Thinkpad.
 
Get the T430 (not T430u, not T430s). That 1600x900 screen for $50 is a good deal, and make sure to upgrade from the base 1x1 wifi.
 
The T430/T430S are good laptops. They are sturdy, work great with Windows and Linux, have ports for a real docking station, long battery life... They would be great laptops but the screen is terrible and the trackpad isn't that great either.

Even the 1600x900 screen has the viewing angles and colors of a laptop screen from the Thinkpads of 5 years ago. Unacceptable when you look at the other laptop screens out there.
 
robvas said:
The T430/T430S are good laptops. They are sturdy, work great with Windows and Linux, have ports for a real docking station, long battery life... They would be great laptops but the screen is terrible and the trackpad isn't that great either.

Even the 1600x900 screen has the viewing angles and colors of a laptop screen from the Thinkpads of 5 years ago. Unacceptable when you look at the other laptop screens out there.
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Depends on the panel, as Lenovo doesn't have a single manufacturer so the quality can differ depending on who made it. The 1600x900 panel is better than most other laptops you'll get for that price, though.

The T430 a great workhorse, as are all the quality ThinkPads. If you're gaming though, I wouldn't buy a T430 and instead go with their Y580. The panel on that laptop is by far the best display you'll find under a ~$1500 price point and has great components. If you want a laptop that you'll carry around with you all day that's light and has a great display then I'd go with an X230 with an IPS panel rather than the T430.
 
Hmm, it seems they have a 30% discount on the T530 for today only. Decisions, decisions...
 
Azimuth said:
Click here; third column. It seems to only come with Windows 8. That made me reconsider.
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Hmm...yeah. You're talking about the $929 one right?
Not a great deal as configured. They auto-upgrade you with an expensive i7 dual core (only marginally better than the i5) and 4GB of overpriced RAM. It's only $35 more for the much better Quad core i7-3720QM. And it's missing probably my favorite option on the T530, the 1920x1080 screen which just pushes the price higher.
Not worth getting unless you need the CPU power of an i7-3720QM honestly, lenovo's build is not an efficient use of upgrade funds over a base model.


What can help you save a few bucks is creating a B&N Gold account at this link for better pricing on everything at lenovo. Nothing special required, just have to make acct and login to see lower prices.
http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrar...rtal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?sexpired=1
 
Kueller said:
What can help you save a few bucks is creating a B&N Gold account at this link for better pricing on everything at lenovo. Nothing special required, just have to make acct and login to see lower prices.
http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrar...rtal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?sexpired=1
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Isn't that for students and faculty only?

Right now I am deciding between the T530 and the W530. They can both be configured to be close to each other. It seems that with the W530, you are stuck with the very large 170W power supply, though it seems to come with a better graphics card.
 
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Azimuth said:
Isn't that for students and faculty only?

Right now I am deciding between the T530 and the W530. They can both be configured to be close to each other. It seems that with the W530, you are stuck with the very large 170W power supply, though it seems to come with a better graphics card.
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Only for the poor students of Barnes & Noble?

That's just a generic banner, don't worry about it, just enjoy the slightly lower pricing.
 
Gravestone Doji said:
Why wouldn't a person want the latest OS on a new laptop purchase? I don't mean to sound sarcastic, I'd really like to know. Is Win 7 64 better for a laptop? If so, why?
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The reviews I have seen so far have been less than stellar. I am also concerned about application compatibility.
 
Kueller said:
Only for the poor students of Barnes & Noble?

That's just a generic banner, don't worry about it, just enjoy the slightly lower pricing.
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I ended up pulling the trigger on the W530. It turned out that the discount is indeed for students and faculty members only (verified with an online rep). My spouse is a student and I was able to make use of the discount. :)
 
Azimuth said:
I ended up pulling the trigger on the W530. It turned out that the discount is indeed for students and faculty members only (verified with an online rep). My spouse is a student and I was able to make use of the discount. :)
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All I can tell you is if they actually wanted to limit the group(s) that could purchase through that portal, they would have added a passcode to it, like this one:
https://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibra...rtal/en_CA/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?sexpired=1

The non-verified portals like B&N Gold...well, Lenovo wouldn't sell laptops at those discounted prices unless they were still making money.
 
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