X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Hey guys, I'd appreciate some advice here. Lenovo's eCoupon for additional 10% off expires today, and to combine it with the Amex Daily Wish deal I will need to make a decision soon. I currently have the following X201 configuration in my cart:



Intel Core i7-620M Processor (2.66CHz, 4MB L3, 1066MHz FSB)

Genuine: Windows 7 Home Premium 64

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 US English

12.1" WXGA (1280x8001 LED Panel, 2x2 UltraConnect II antenna, with Camera and Wireless Broadband Upgradeable

4 GB PC3 8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)

Keyboard US English

TrackPoint with Fingerprint Reader and Touchpad

320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

5-1 Media Card Reader and Modem

ThinkPad X200 Series 6 cell Li-Ion Battery

Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter

None

Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000

Integrated Mobile Broadband Upgradable

Win7 Language Pack US English



The total comes to $811.10 + taxes (I'm from CA and so taxes are extra 10%) = a bit less than $900.



The max I am willing to spend is around $900 (including taxes!), so you can see the above config already hit my ceiling. I would prefer a configuration with an i5 560 processor to get a better battery life, and more importantly to save costs and bring the price down to $720 or so (I'm a grad student, and although I run Matlab all the time, the difference in performance is not worth $180 to me, cause I can always use the departmental workstations).



I know that this is a really sweet deal, but I'm just wondering if I should wait a bit longer so that X220 gets released (I'm not in a hurry!). I'm hoping Lenovo will then lower the price of X201 even further (and possibly offer an i5 processor again), but then again I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by waiting too long and missing out what would turn out to be a great deal (when looking back). They might also have a promotional offer for X220 (which would be wicked!), but it is probably better to stay realistic and don't expect another price mistake (I cannot imagine getting a sub-$900 (incl. taxes) X220 with a better performance than the X201 above). On the other hand, I would prefer a longer battery life, better performing CPU and GPU, but to be honest, I'm not so sure about the display and some other new features (keyboard, etc.) they introduced with X220...



So do you guys think it is worth waiting a bit longer, assuming I can save a "significant" amount of money by doing so (I don't want to be checking my RSS feed every 15min for the next 2 months to eventually save $50)...



Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it!

Reply 1 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

The X201's don't compete well with the X220 since the base price of the X220 is much lower than it was with the X201.



For $865 (no tax) you can get the following config of the X220. This probably the only config you'll be able to get under $900 looing at tabook:



4286-2AU i3-2310M 4GBx1 12.5" HD 720p 320G 7200 Optional Optional Intel 1000 WWAN upg None None 6 None Pro 64



Performance of the X201 will be better with your config. The main advantage of the X220 even in a low spec like this one will be the option of running a SSD and HDD without having to resort to an external drive. Battery life should be better too. It also seems the standard screen might be a BOE unit, so it might also be significantly better than what's in the X201.



Either way, it'd be best for you to wait to get more info of the X220 standard screen if that matters to you; and even if not, wait for X201 prices to come down. They certainly will because it's not quite competitive against the X220 at current levels. Also keep an eye on the outlet. A couple weeks ago, there were nicely spec'd X201 refurbs going for $532+.

Reply 2 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Right now they maybe try to sell X201s to people who are completely unaware about coming x220. x201 probably definitely will be cheaper closer to x220.

And past x220 release there will be people trying to get rid of their x201s' (thinking ebay).

Reply 3 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

ok guys, I guess my hunch was correct - I'll pass on this deal and hope for another heavily discounted X201 closer to (past?) the X220 launch date



i3 is not an option though - I want something that will last for at least 3 years, so the entry-level CPU isn't really what i want...



thanks again

Reply 4 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobaccoMan ok guys, I guess my hunch was correct - I'll pass on this deal and hope for another heavily discounted X201 closer to (past?) the X220 launch date i3 is not an option though - I want something that will last for at least 3 years, so the entry-level CPU isn't really what i want...

Yep, you'll be better off waiting for the X220's release, and either snapping up a great deal on an X201 or getting a low-priced X220.



Many people are really fazed by Intel's marketing when it comes to choosing CPUs--really, the difference between the performance of a Core i3 processor and a Core i5 processor is not all that huge, and the difference between the i5 and i7 is even smaller. For Matlab, I doubt you'd even notice the difference unless you use a stopwatch or place it next to a computer with a faster CPU.

Reply 5 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidnightSun Yep, you'll be better off waiting for the X220's release, and either snapping up a great deal on an X201 or getting a low-priced X220. Many people are really fazed by Intel's marketing when it comes to choosing CPUs--really, the difference between the performance of a Core i3 processor and a Core i5 processor is not all that huge, and the difference between the i5 and i7 is even smaller. For Matlab, I doubt you'd even notice the difference unless you use a stopwatch or place it next to a computer with a faster CPU.

Could be. Still, I'd like a CPU that will have the punch for years to come. I'm still using my 8y-old Thinkpad R40 (for Matlab, Mathematica, Stata, etc.) that came specced with a Pentium M 1.4 (and was significantly more expensive than their entry-level Celeron at that time), and I wonder if I that Celeron could nowadays still run these same applications just as smoothly (plus it was most likely limited to 1GB of RAM)... Anyway, thanks for your opinion!

Reply 6 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidnightSun Many people are really fazed by Intel's marketing when it comes to choosing CPUs--really, the difference between the performance of a Core i3 processor and a Core i5 processor is not all that huge, and the difference between the i5 and i7 is even smaller.

You can say that again! Heck, most people -- probably even most people here -- would be just fine with a Core 2 or even a Core Duo.



There's a lot to be said for keeping several generations behind. You can get better gear, pay far less money, experiment with more stuff, and get backups of all your hardware, and all for less money!



I'm using a T60 with a low-end Core 2 Duo as my main machine now, and even though I have arguably one of the heaviest workloads (multi-platform software development) I'm just fine with it. I'm not even CPU-bound most of the time! I'm far more likely to run into disk bottlenecks or bump up against the RAM limit during my day-to-day use... and even then I only really hit either of those during a large build or when running a couple loaded VMs.

Reply 7 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Probably I am doing something wrong, for the last three months I was using Ubuntu VM under Windows XP host. Vmware Workstation's Player was OK but still not good.



Vmware Player and VirtualBox were running this VM much worse. I hardly can stand it anymore. I use IntelliJ Idea and Qt Creator under that Ubuntu. GCC build takes 10-15 mins (VirtualBox) when natively people are doing it for 2 mins - core 2 duo (or 1m 40s - Core i5)





Dell E6400 - Core2Duo T9550/4GB/7200 RPM

Reply 8 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThinkRob You can say that again! Heck, most people -- probably even most people here -- would be just fine with a Core 2 or even a Core Duo. There's a lot to be said for keeping several generations behind. You can get better gear, pay far less money, experiment with more stuff, and get backups of all your hardware, and all for less money!

You've got a valid point, most users are well served by older gear. When I ordered my I7 equipped X201 in January, I broke a 10+ year trend of picking up used, off lease Thinkpads as my mobile machines. Every one of them has served me well, including the 1.5 GHz Centrino that was retired when my X201 arrived. For what it's worth, having a "Cutting edge" machine is a nice treat, though. My X201 may have only been cutting edge for less than a month, but it was nice to be top dog for awhile. :P



Being in IT, and a technology tinkerer myself, I do have high demands for my machines, but I'm also well versed in squeezing every bit of performance out of the system, and I only upgrade when I absolutely need to.



In reference to the OP - I'm probably a bit late to chime in, but I wouldn't wait. That's a killer deal on an X201, and its a laptop worth snapping up, even with the SB refresh around the corner. The only major leap I see with SB is the graphics capabilities, and the performance jump isn't enough to make it worth waiting - or give up 16:10 aspect ratio.

Reply 9 : X201 now vs. X201 later vs. possible X220 promo (???)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnightZero In reference to the OP - I'm probably a bit late to chime in, but I wouldn't wait. That's a killer deal on an X201, and its a laptop worth snapping up, even with the SB refresh around the corner. The only major leap I see with SB is the graphics capabilities, and the performance jump isn't enough to make it worth waiting - or give up 16:10 aspect ratio.

hm... just checked Lenovo's website again and realized they removed the "web special" option for the X201 from all their discounted sites (like SPP, Visa, Student, etc.) and from their main site as well. correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they always offer some "web special" deal, irrespective of the additional eCoupons (or other special deals) they might or might not offer. now we only have two options, either the X201i or the X201 with discrete graphics....