| From: William Park via talk <[email protected]>
|
| 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)
<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/lenovo-canada-thinkbook-14p-14-2-2k-ryzen-7-6800h-16gb-512gb-895-after-codes-2596420/>
- 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.
<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/lenovo-canada-yoga-6-13-c-amd-dark-teal-aluminum-top-cover-starting-714-now-690-2600460/#p37263784>
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:
<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/open-box-lenovo-thinkbook-14p-ryzen-5-6600h-16gb-512gb-ssd-2-2k-screen-835-2600803/>
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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