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Let's talk afordable Thinkpads

staubgame
By staubgame
in Laptops and Pre-Built Systems
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So I've been looking into getting a Thinkpad via the student program and my price range would be no more than 750. Preferably less. And 13,3/14 inch with FullHD, that's a must. 

I type a lot and have tried several keyboards from different manufacturers on a event recently, I decided to get a Thinkpad. I tried Asus Zenbooks, Acer Swift thingies and MS Surface (close second actually) and none came close for me.

 

Germany market.

 

In my pricerange, theres only a few models available,

E470 with i3-7100U, 8Gb RAM for 550€

E470 with i5-7200U, 8Gb RAM + 940MX for 700€

L470 with i5-7200U, 8Gb RAM for 700€

 

Now, I don't know the difference between the E and L series. Google implies that the L-Series is more business oriented and the I/O and USB stuff is in another place.

From my gut I'd say the 700€ E470 with 940MX for mild gaming but I ahve no idea how much this affects battery life when working (ie not gaming), in which case the 550€ version would maybe be superior (I don't think the difference between i3 and i5 is too big?).

Gaming is only secondary, so longer battery life would be appreciated. 

 

I know and would love to get a more expensive model, especially either the 13 or the T-series but they are too expensive. *cries in poor college student*

How does everyone afford a Macbook... ^^

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have you thought of used thinkpads? I got a T520 with a i7 2720qm and 8 gigs of ram and it is snappy (450 in cinebench).

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2 minutes ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

have you thought of used thinkpads? I got a T520 with a i7 2720qm and 8 gigs of ram and it is snappy (450 in cinebench).

I did (also I could get an i5- T430 from work, but that is not FullHD) but I am really unsure about the battery life. Also they are hard to find with full hd :)

And those I looked at were only mildly cheaper so I'd rather spend the money for new.

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Just now, staubgame said:

I did (also I could get an i5- T430 from work, but that is not FullHD) but I am really unsure about the battery life. Also they are hard to find with full hd :)

my thinkpad is full hd too. For battery life, the 9 cell battery that sticks out (makes a great way to keep the laptop sturdy with only one hand) lasts up to 3.75 hours according to lenovo

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3 minutes ago, staubgame said:

I did (also I could get an i5- T430 from work, but that is not FullHD) but I am really unsure about the battery life. Also they are hard to find with full hd :)

And those I looked at were only mildly cheaper so I'd rather spend the money for new.

I recently bought a used T430 with the upgraded 9 Cell battery and mine lasts me around 8-9 hours of light-mid range usage

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Just now, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

my thinkpad is full hd too. For battery life, the 9 cell battery that sticks out (makes a great way to keep the laptop sturdy with only one hand) lasts up to 3.75 hours according to lenovo

The E470 is rated with 8 hours, the T450 goes almost 15+ hours (know that from work) with this big battery :o

That's a huge difference.

 

Also just checked abey, there's barely any full hd models. :(

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3 minutes ago, TheUnderratedGamer said:

I recently bought a used T430 with the upgraded 9 Cell battery and mine lasts me around 8-9 hours of light-mid range usage

That would be quite enough then ^^

So just to find one. All models on ebay are 1600x900 

 

Edit: From what I found, there are no T430 with Full HD. There's a replacement kit though or something, or you can isntall a FHD screen...

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2 minutes ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

those use a low power cpu (10-25 watts, mine uses a 45 watt cpu

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T520-15-6-Zoll-16GB-1920x1080-FHD-320-GB-i5-2520M-2x2-5GHz/112621753667?epid=217654998&hash=item1a38c79543:g:fYAAAOSwry1Z9HvY

full 1080p screen

Ahh that's a 15.6 inch model. I want 14 inch :D

That is the main problem with the used search. Only T4xx models. ;) 

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9 minutes ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

how about this: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Carbon-20BS0032US-14-Inch/dp/B00PWF7WJA

Yes but that's not available bellow 1000€ :(

To reitterade, I'm fine with paying the prices for the new, but I don't know the difference between the E and L series as both cost the same but the E has a GPU on top.

Or even if the CPU difference is laughable and the E470 i3 is the way to go for 550 ^^

 

Also I just checked amazon, their used offers for last gen modells are more expensive then these student offers  I listed ^^.

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1 minute ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

that just plain sucks. i guess im out of luck since im from across the pond

Yeah I know, thanks a lot for trying anyway. Appreciate it. :)

The kicker is, the prices I listed are heavily reduced already due to the student probgram by lenovo.

 

Any input on the listed deviced maybe? 

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5 minutes ago, staubgame said:

Yeah I know, thanks a lot for trying anyway. Appreciate it. :)

The kicker is, the prices I listed are heavily reduced already due to the student probgram by lenovo.

 

Any input on the listed deviced maybe? 

they all are great laptops. Whats the reason for a 1080p screen?

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2 minutes ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

they all are great laptops. Whats the reason for a 1080p screen?

I do a lot of webdesign and found it to be a chore if not on 1080p ^^

Oh I also just answered you in another thread :D 

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2 minutes ago, staubgame said:

I do a lot of webdesign and found it to be a chore if not on 1080p ^^

Oh I also just answered you in another thread :D 

i saw. Web design really benefits from higher res. screens. You mentioned you tested other laptops before. Its hard to find FHD laptops that don't cost a fortune. Would you try Dell laptops like this: https://www.dealnews.com/Dell-Kaby-Lake-i5-Dual-14-Laptop-w-2-GB-GPU-for-600-free-shipping/2113459.html
 

and 600 dollars probably means 1000 euros based on the previous link (Why is it bold LOL)

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1 hour ago, staubgame said:

snip

Last gen ULV CPUs offer weak performance. Get a used T series Thinkpad with QM CPU, E series is just consumer rebranded model

Desktop specs:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Gigabyte B550M DS3H mATX

Asrock Challenger Pro OC Radeon RX 6700 XT Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8Gx2) 3600MHz CL18 Kingston NV2 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Montech Century 850W Gold Tecware Nexus Air (Black) ATX Mid Tower

Laptop: Lenovo Ideapad 5 Pro 16ACH6

Phone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 8+128

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1 minute ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

i saw. Web design really benefits from higher res. screens. You mentioned you tested other laptops before. Its hard to find FHD laptops that don't cost a fortune. Would you try Dell laptops like this: https://www.dealnews.com/Dell-Kaby-Lake-i5-Dual-14-Laptop-w-2-GB-GPU-for-600-free-shipping/2113459.html
 

and 600 dollars probably means 1000 euros based on the previous link (Why is it bold LOL)

Yeah, cheapest Full HD Laptops start at 500€ roughly, with an i3-5005U and 128Gb SSD.

But I think one reason is, our prices include tax, while US prices are usually without, or am i wrong?

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9 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Last gen ULV CPUs offer weak performance. Get a used T series Thinkpad with QM CPU, E series is just consumer rebranded model

been looking into the difference between E and L series. I'd think from what I gathered I'd go with L anyway as that is higher quality at affordable levels.

 

Used T models like the T450 with FullHD are sold around 700 on ebay. Same as the L series new with full warranty. :/

And for QM, there's offers like that:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-W520-15-Quad-Core-i7-2760QM-2-4GHz-16GB-RAM-128GB-SSD-1920x1080/172955941889?hash=item2844fa3c01:g:8OkAAOSwbw1Z91DV

which seems too expensive...

The compute power is nice, though. But that comes at the cost of battery life, I assume?

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5 minutes ago, staubgame said:

been looking into the difference between E and L series. I'd think from what I gathered I'd go with L anyway as that is higher quality at affordable levels.

 

Used T models like the T450 with FullHD are sold around 700 on ebay. Same as the L series new with full warranty. :/

And for QM, there's offers like that:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-W520-15-Quad-Core-i7-2760QM-2-4GHz-16GB-RAM-128GB-SSD-1920x1080/172955941889?hash=item2844fa3c01:g:8OkAAOSwbw1Z91DV

which seems too expensive...

The compute power is nice, though. But that comes at the cost of battery life, I assume?

You'll get long battery life too with a new large battery
Agree that L series is higher quality than E series
The used T450 seems too expensive, try finding older models?

Desktop specs:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Gigabyte B550M DS3H mATX

Asrock Challenger Pro OC Radeon RX 6700 XT Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8Gx2) 3600MHz CL18 Kingston NV2 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Montech Century 850W Gold Tecware Nexus Air (Black) ATX Mid Tower

Laptop: Lenovo Ideapad 5 Pro 16ACH6

Phone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 8+128

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1 minute ago, ZM Fong said:

You'll get long battery life too with a new large battery
Agree that L series is higher quality than E series
The used T450 seems too expensive, try finding older models?

Older models is rare with Full HD in 14 inch devices. :(

 the t440 with fullhd is around 500+ as well :(

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440s-i7-4600U-8GB-180GB-SSD-Ultrabook-2-Akku-Laptop-Full-HD/182839843123?hash=item2a921a9933:g:iFAAAOSwezVWulvB

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33 minutes ago, staubgame said:

Yeah, cheapest Full HD Laptops start at 500€ roughly, with an i3-5005U and 128Gb SSD.

But I think one reason is, our prices include tax, while US prices are usually without, or am i wrong?

Online purchases you only pay for the item and shipping and usually no tax on top of it (some items like steam games have a small 30 cent tax)

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1 hour ago, Sleeper PC 2016 said:

Online purchases you only pay for the item and shipping and usually no tax on top of it (some items like steam games have a small 30 cent tax)

Wow, that explains a lot of why there is such a price difference ^^

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