YMMV - Lenovo 3000 N100 for $799 AR at Office Depot (slightly upgraded model)

[najames]

New deal $799 with 1GB ram, 120GB drive, fingerprint reader. I'd rather have last weeks $599 rig personally, but this is not bad either. For the extra $200, you get $50 more ram, $50 more hard drive, and the fingerprint reader. I feel these are nice laptops, easy to work on. More info here, I'd skip the review because they are comparing expensive laptops with 2GB to a Lenovo with 512MB and read the user reviews. I have no affiliation with Lenovo or O.D, YMMV.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Lenovo_3000_N100/4505-3121_7-31756411.html

http://officedepot.shoplocal.com/office...%3d356876%26prvid%3dOfficeDepot-070107

They also have a cheap Sempy laptop this week for $450.

Dead deal info below.
I am in the market for a laptop. I went to Office Depot to look at a HP Turion for $549. I found that they were never in stock, which sucked. The second store I stopped at had this Lenovo model for $599 AR ($899-$50 Instant-$150 O.D-$100 Lenovo) and I have it sitting here unopened. What do ya think? Should I keep it or keep on looking? Non-gaming usage.

Original description: Intel T5500(1.66GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1280x800 LCD, Intel 950, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, IEEE 1394, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Home.

Model 0768-DKU, see Lenovo's site for more info.

This is the overly helpful information from Office Depot, don't laugh.

http://www.officedepot.com/textSearch.do?uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=0768-dku

 

[Steven the Leech]

i saw that earlier today, it sounds like a good deal to me. Has a Core 2 duo and the lenovo is reportedly unmatched for quality. Sounds like a hot deal to me. Correct me if I am wrong.

The one I am talking about is here

 

[najames]

Yup, that is the one. I don't know how you found the info on Office Depot. I looked, but couldn't find jack after checking sales and looking at all laptops.

I did find a nice support page on Lenovo that tells how to replace everything.
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/42t7842.pdf

The laptop needs a gig of memory though. Warranty is one year evidently. O.D. Stores here said they only had one on display and one in stock, but were getting several more in early this week (Tues?). They are evidently on sale all week. The box says "Manufactured for Lenovo", "Made in China". I HATE rebates too!!!

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Take it back! You will never get your full rebate from Office Depot.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Steven the Leech
i saw that earlier today, it sounds like a good deal to me. Has a Core 2 duo and the lenovo is reportedly unmatched for quality. Sounds like a hot deal to me. Correct me if I am wrong.

The one I am talking about is here

Correction. The Lenovo Thinkpad line is renound for it's sturdy build. The Lenovo 3000 line is theit budget line more akin to other manufacturers cheaper lines. Also, looks decent open in those pictures, but is much thicker than a Thinkpad and is gray pastic on the outside.

 

[najames]

Hmm, other recommendations? I will research it tomorrow a little more, the box is sitting here unopened. I actually prefer an AMD lappy, looked at a HP x2 1.6 but some were complaining they get hot and shut down.

Office Depot HQ is just down the street. I could send down Guido and Nunzio and smash their kneecaps if they don't cough up the rebate.

 

[brucekatz]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Take it back! You will never get your full rebate from Office Depot.

I got all rebates but one $150, it said I did not send UPC. Went back to store, showed the manager copies of rebate document, manager credited back to credit card. Oh, next time remember to use registered mail, I heard they don't dare to mess with post master.

 

[Bite]

For what it's worth, I've been using a Lenovo N100 for about a year -- the Core Duo version (not Core 2), and it's a great machine. This is my first Lenovo after owning seven Thinkpads (I still have two). I agree the N100 is not as sturdy as the Thinkpad, but it's been a very reliable and speedy machine for my use (mostly Dragon Naturally Speaking). The N100 also compares quite favorably to my wife's Macbook Pro for about 1/3 the cost.

The 599.99 machine is awfully tempting....Nice find.

 

[Spikesoldier]

i picked this one up on BF, same model and price.

good deal! i love mine.

 

[najames]

Ok Spikesoldier, did you get your rebates?

I need to know if they are reliable because (a) I don't have time to screw with rebate problems (b) I don't want to get hosed since I am going to get this for my family overseas, might like one for myself too though.

I can get a lowly Celeron M 420 at CircuitCity for $499 too, still a $100 CC rebate.

I REALLY hate rebates.

 

[Solema]

I was really interested in this laptop at first, but I really wish it had something other than the GMA950 onboard, since from what I have read on the internet it will not support Aero Glass in Vista. I liked the C2D and can easily upgrade the RAM, but the video kills it.

 

[najames]

I am NOT intending on running Vista on the laptop, but it appears here that it will run. There was an Intel doc that claimed it would too.

http://slashstar.com/blogs/alex/commentrss.aspx?PostID=2928

This is the video clip that claims to be running it. I have not used Aero Glass, can't confirm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTdTdTELZj4

I would really like to install Linux on the laptop and set it up nice, Vista is too much of a resource hog for me. I still have not opened the laptop box yet, wahhhh!!

 

[Isocene]

I picked this up today as well! I thought it was an awesome price.

One thing that really bugged me, nobody in the store would let me hold the laptop to see how heavy it was/how well it was built! I had to touch it while it was locked down with the plastic bar. I ran into the same problem at CompUSA the other day but they unscrewed it so I could pick it up.

 

[Dealbuyer]

I'm Not Planning On Upgrading To Vista...

This Is A Tempting Deal...

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Solema
I was really interested in this laptop at first, but I really wish it had something other than the GMA950 onboard, since from what I have read on the internet it will not support Aero Glass in Vista. I liked the C2D and can easily upgrade the RAM, but the video kills it.

GMA950 will support Aero Glass fine, just be sure to have plenty of RAM.

 

[Solema]

Sweet! I thought I was gonna be in the same boat as I am with my 915GM-equipped Inspiron 1300. Vista basic sucks!

 

[najames]

I bit the bullet and opened it up last night, but now I want another one for myself. DOH. I'm giving this to a family member overseas.

They put in one 512mb memory, so one slot is vacant, just waiting for another 1GB to slide in place. The hard drive is an 80GB Hitachi. The thing was on all night while I was deleting junk and configuring the wireless and didn't get warm, anywhere. Everything is accessible with a couple screws, memory, hard drive, and even the T5500 (verified) CPU.

I am not sure what some of the other pre-installed software is, or if I want it. Goodbye AOL, Earthlink, Google Desktop, Google Toolbar, Google Picasa, and Norton. More later, but the bottom line is this is a nice, sturdy laptop that runs well. Disk keeper seems ok. Tonight I can download a real browser and some non-nagware anti-virus software. I also installed 41 Micro$oft security updates last night. How many holes is there is this Swiss Chees operating system?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: najames
I bit the bullet and opened it up last night, but now I want another one for myself. DOH. I'm giving this to a family member overseas.

What do you think of the build quality, keyboard and LCD?

 

[najames]

"What do you think of the build quality, keyboard and LCD?"

I really like the build of the whole machine, at least the hardware, period. It is light years ahead of the 4 year old VPRMatrix 170b4 1.7 P4 lappy we been using. Go look at them at Office Depot.

The CNET reviews carped on the touchpad. I have no clue what they are using but it works very well, much better than on my other PC.

The keyboard is also very nice. I looked at many other laptops in the stores and the keyboards all seemed to flex and bow when you push keys. The Lenovo does not. The keyboard feel is ok too.

The monitor is fine, no dead pixels either. I like the widescreen over our old square 14".

The machine runs cool, there are NO hotspots on the case anywhere even after it has been on for 4 hours.

My only grips are from the software installed. After I removed the previously mentioned crapware, and installing AVG Free and Firefox (no extensions yet), I am dealing with the following:

1) The Diskeeper software does not allow you to schedule monthly, the schedule option is grayed out, and there does not seem to be any way to stop it from auto-running at startup without simply uninstalling it. It may go bye-bye, but I kind of like it.

2) Lenovo Thinkvantage software is running and is also nagging for setup information. I am not sure I want it either.

3) Lenovo Care software is also running and I am not sure I want it either, but there is a button that will autostart it so it might be wise to leave it. At least it is not nagging me yet.

There is a few other things running and I have not figured out what they are yet. Can't remember off the top of my head at work.

All I need is a secure, fast, clean running machine.

 

[fbrdphreak]

1) The Diskeeper is a limited version, the full thing does scheduling.
2) Which ThinkVantage software is that, I think just the password manager?
3) Lenovo Care is kind of a management suite which allows you to perform backups, defrags, and general system maintenance from a central location.

If you don't like something, uninstall it. You can always reinstall it from Lenovo's support site.

 

[najames]

Thanks fbrdphreak.

That was the same conclusion I came to about diskeeper. I am considering it because I know people never defrag drives. Auto-scheduling seems like a good idea since this is for a family elsewhere. MS scheduler might also do the trick. I am just trying to limit all the stuff auto-running on the thing at boot up.

ThinkVantage seems like it is the front end for all kinds of stuff. There is no clear short definition of what it exactly is, which sucks. They even have a training class for it, doh!!

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/think/thinkvantagetech/downloads_support.html


Lenovo Care babble - Getting the latest software updates is important, but it can be a time-consuming, manual process. You need a secure way to keep your system up to date without wasting a lot of your valuable time. The Lenovo Care environment can be configured to automatically download and install critical updates on your defined schedule, so that you always have the latest drivers and software updates. Your system updates itself so you can keep working.

I clicked on something 2 nights ago, maybe one of the above, that did all sorts of tests, memory, hard drive, LCD monitor, etc. It ran for quite a while.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: najames
"What do you think of the build quality, keyboard and LCD?"

I really like the build of the whole machine, at least the hardware, period. It is light years ahead of the 4 year old VPRMatrix 170b4 1.7 P4 lappy we been using. Go look at them at Office Depot.

I did and I wasn't that impressed, it looked and felt... cheap ... compared to my Lenovo ThinkPad T60.

However your laptop is cheaper than my T60 by about $750 :shocked:

 

[fbrdphreak]

I still haven't seen a review of that thing yet!

 

[najames]

Rossman, I don't think it is fare to compare it to a PC that is over double the price. Compare it to anything else in the price range, which is what I was trying to do.

I wanted to buy another one, but they are sold out everywhere for 50 miles. Oh well, he who snoozes loses.

I am gonna mark this one dead.