Expert: Karl Zick - 3/14/2009

Question
saw where x61 list $ approx $2000, now on sale for $700. called lenovo, they said b/c "end-of-life" and have switched to x200, ie unloading inventory. question is: is this a good buy, or, fool's gold? will support cease in 6 mon to a yr? loaded w/vista home premium. any buying advice? thx/kalvis

Answer
My main machine is a loaded Lenovo AMD powerhouse and I cannot imagine having a better computer.  The best news is I only paid $300 for it.  Also, I just bought the Lenovo 10" netbook for another $300 and it is awesome.  Hence, I endorse Lenovo (or the new logo for IBM) all the way.

Going from where I am to the end of the line financially, I cannot comprehend anyone paying $2,000 for any home computer of any type these days for any reason.  What makes a computer hot' is it's CPU and it's motherboard - and beyond that everything is academic.  Those who understand the real subtleties between the are few and far between (including me).  A lot of folks still think that the more something costs the better it is.  Heh!!!

Looking closely at the Lenovo X61, the only big deal I can see about it is that it has a 12" screen.  So what!  As far as I can tell, that is still too small to have an internal CD/DVD drive so your flexibility is limited.  If you want compact, get an S-10 like I have.  If you want hot and easily portable, go for a 14" hi-end box like a Toshiba for about $450.

This discussion could go on and on - but I hope you get the idea.  You are looking at a $2,000 Lenovo for $700.  Probably a great deal, but what does it really get you in a practical sense?