I decided against buying it. It doesn't have builtin ethernet port, and power port is not the square plug like other (older) ThinkPads. My company upgraded to ThinkPad P1 (64GB ram, 1TB ssd), and it's crap. First laptop didn't recognize AC power plug, forcing me to charge via USB-C. Second (current) laptop crashes everyday, especially during Zoom but not always. I'm looking to upgrade my desktop. Hopefully with a laptop, but another desktop is okay too. I was going to buy the same laptop as work laptop, and I'm glad I waited. On 2023-02-28 12:12, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
| From: William Park via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | | I just received email promo from Lenovo: | | ThinkPad T14s Gen 2 Intel (14”) - Black | https://s.bluecore.com/Utrkeyg72dZq_0DQf820_NrJxD | | Is this a good deal?
The more precise question would "is this a good deal for me?" Unfortunately we don't really know what you need or want.
My current ideas about Lenovo:
- they have horribly high list prices
- they often put stuff on sale. Usually 40-50+ percent off.
- (all brands) expandability of notebooks is being reduced. Different models are different. Pro Tip: apparently no LPDDR4 DRAM is in sockets. Many machines have no RAM sockets -- all soldered. Some have soldered RAM + 1 socket (a lifeline but annoying because two matched SODIMMs perform better).
- they have a changing array of coupons to give you additional discounts. They are not secret but they are sometimes hard to find.
- sometimes you can get significant cash-back by going through rakuten.ca 10% yesterday and today but that is higher than normal. I've seen it at 14% a couple of weeks ago. Note: rakuten does not combine with some coupons (hard to figure out which)
- there is an educational / first responders discount through id.me I know little about it because I don't qualify.
About this particular computer:
- for that much money, I'd demand perfection.
- I'd prefer a better screen (more pixels, more nits, better colour perhaps, maybe touch)
- I'd prefer a later generation Intel CPU. They really seem to be getting better in each recent generation. I also prefer AMD but I think that Intel is now getting close and has some advantages (Thunderbolt, "efficiency cores").
(AMD Ryzen CPU naming is a misleading mess. You have to look up the particular chip to find out the microarchitecture generation.)
- I have not bought ThinkPads recently because the price premium has been too high. I certainly liked much about my ancient ones. Exception: I bought ThinkPad C13 ChromeBooks but they were less than $200.
- 16G RAM is much better that 8G but is it enough for the long amortization period of such an expensive notebook? (Three years ago I threw 32G in my main notebook because it was so cheap; I don't know if I need it) For most people, 16G is comfortable. For you: I have no way of knowing; probably you don't either.
- I find interesting deals on redflagdeals.com, in the Hot Deals Forum. Deals come and go.
- Randomly, this is cheaper and has better features but is a ThinkBook rather than a ThinkPad (not the same quality). Note: I'm not recommending it (I haven't looked closely at it)
- if still available, this is a little more than half the cost of the ThinkPad and better in some ways. You may detest the format: touch screen, can be folded into a tablet.
If you don't mind a barely used ThinkPad, this guy bought one at a very good price from Lenovo, decided he didn't need it, instead of returning it offered it to the community at cost, got stiffed, and is probably stuck with it. So: he might accept a bit less than his asking price:
Somewhere in the forums he mentioned why he didn't like it as much as other choices.
Note: his price will not be subject to HST. He might be able to give you a copy of his original invoice which will show the HST he paid.
Note: I haven't talked to him about this so much is guess-work on my part.
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