IBM EPP

[Jassi]

I know for a fact that a good friend (I haven't met him) of a friend works for IBM. I remember people saying that the IBM EPP is good. How good? I am looking for a rugged laptop that can do mild gaming (I am content with Halo, WOW and HL2 working decently).

So, can anyone share how good the EPP is? I might have to grovel a bit so I want to ask before I put my pride on the line

 

[ultimatebob]

EPP's prices are pretty good now. On average, you'll get about 20% off of IBM retail price, or about 10% under "street" price. They also have "Managers Specials" on soon to be discontinued models, where you can save a bit more.

Just keep in mind that most Thinkpads aren't meant to be gaming machines. You'll need to pony up some extra bucks to get a model with high-end integrated video.

 

[mickles]

Same situation man. You get similar discounts from Mastercard/Visa websites, but EPP is still slightly better from what I've seen. I don't know if it's worth your pride, (I personally value mine), but it depends on how much you value those extra dollars.

Also, about that gaming thing... ultimatebob is right. You'll pay a ton for a FireGL, but I think the mild gaming you describe will be OK on a 9600 64MB.

 

[trikster2]

Discount is 35% off some models 15% off others.

Somepretty good deals, but.....

> You'll need to pony up some extra bucks to get a model with high-end integrated video.

They don't make a thinkpad with "high-end" video any more.

You can spend 4 grand on a T43P mobile "workstation" and all you get is a GPU based on the ATI X600.

You can easily spend 3 grand on the non-P thinpads and all you will get is an ATI X300.

It's either a heat issue or IBM just stopped caring after selling out to the chinese gov....

I have access to EPP and still I went with a Dell M70. 80% of the time I use my laptop it's in the docking station anyway, and I can live with the dellness when on the road....

 

[fbrdphreak]

I have access to EPP and still I went with a Dell M70. 80% of the time I use my laptop it's in the docking station anyway, and I can live with the dellness when on the road....

delness, ROFL!!!!

 

[Glendor]

I worked for IBM for five years, and still hold some stock, so I had access to the EPP, and the Stockholders discount offerings. The EPP was the better discount of the two, but it was NOT that good compared to good sale prices (after MIRs) on Compaq, HP, Dell, etc...

When I compared the EPP offerings to equivilent retail HPs, or Dells, the IBM was at best the same, but usually more expensive. Maybe things have changed in the two years since I left IBM, but that's the way it was.

Oddly enough, my when my wife was a teacher in the public school system (before M.S.) she had access to an educator's discount with Dell that was quite impressive. They were offered a laptop that was over $1000 less than the best price on the same laptop ordered through the catalog after discounts, coupons, etc... Unfortunately, we were not in the market for a laptop (aka broke), and she had to resign for health reasons shortly after that so I didn't get a second chance.

Glendor...

 

[qaa541]

I got my laptop through IBM EPP and it was a few hundred dollars less than retail.

While IBM is still more expensive than dell, hp, etc. to me, it is worth the price because of the quality of the laptop you get. Getting the laptop through the EPP program was just getting a better price on the same laptop. It is not a gamer laptop by any means, but my 2378-fvu will get me through just fine playing warcraft 3 and whatnot at 1400 resolution. I mainly bought this laptop to take to class and to use at my apt while my house was being built. When I move back I'll probably just use the laptop on a port replicator and hook up my 21" monitor to it and use my old computer as a server or something.

But then again if you are looking for a serious gamer laptop, then go dell or something else. By your post, I think an IBM would suit you well. The model I bought at $1400 a few months ago is selling almost for $1100, a great deal on a great laptop.

 

[trikster2]

> By your post, I think an IBM would suit you well.

Check out benchies for games you want to play

Toms called Halo on the slightly better mobility 9700 "barely playable"

(14.9 fps in SXGA)

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20040203/radeon_9700-04.html

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: trikster2

Discount is 35% off some models 15% off others.

Somepretty good deals, but.....

> You'll need to pony up some extra bucks to get a model with high-end integrated video.

They don't make a thinkpad with "high-end" video any more.

You can spend 4 grand on a T43P mobile "workstation" and all you get is a GPU based on the ATI X600.

You can easily spend 3 grand on the non-P thinpads and all you will get is an ATI X300.

It's either a heat issue or IBM just stopped caring after selling out to the chinese gov....

I have access to EPP and still I went with a Dell M70. 80% of the time I use my laptop it's in the docking station anyway, and I can live with the dellness when on the road....

Personally, I think that IBM purposely uses low-end video cards in their entire product line to keep the workers using them from playing video games at work Besides, the business managers buying these things for their employees are more concerned about cost and reliability than gaming performance. The "B" in IBM doesn't stand for "Gaming", ya know.

 

[trikster2]

Well Said UB

but the T43P IS designed to be a graphics/cad worstation and even it has sucky X600 based graphics. Really wish they would come out with a T52P with a nice graphics card (assuming formfactor of the T43 is the limitation).

 

[andertrack]

Can I get someones help with the EPP discount? I am a new college student and even with the educational discount the ThinkPads are still pretty expensive. If you can give me access to the EPP PM me please.

 

[cy7878]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: trikster2

Discount is 35% off some models 15% off others.

Somepretty good deals, but.....

> You'll need to pony up some extra bucks to get a model with high-end integrated video.

They don't make a thinkpad with "high-end" video any more.

You can spend 4 grand on a T43P mobile "workstation" and all you get is a GPU based on the ATI X600.

You can easily spend 3 grand on the non-P thinpads and all you will get is an ATI X300.

It's either a heat issue or IBM just stopped caring after selling out to the chinese gov....

I have access to EPP and still I went with a Dell M70. 80% of the time I use my laptop it's in the docking station anyway, and I can live with the dellness when on the road....

Personally, I think that IBM purposely uses low-end video cards in their entire product line to keep the workers using them from playing video games at work Besides, the business managers buying these things for their employees are more concerned about cost and reliability than gaming performance. The "B" in IBM doesn't stand for "Gaming", ya know.

That's the most absurd reasoning I have evr heard. Does that mean IBM included gigabit ethernet so workers can download porn faster?

Their video stuff is slow, but they choose stuff that will work for most things and most people. Gamers are special breed that need special hardware to be happy.

 

[HermDogg]

Originally posted by: andertrack
Can I get someones help with the EPP discount? I am a new college student and even with the educational discount the ThinkPads are still pretty expensive. If you can give me access to the EPP PM me please.

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