<p>Im currently looking at a 15 inch MBP for college with the 4GB ram upgrade and maybe a 320/5400 hdd upgrade... im going into compSci/engineering for college. I really want to work with mobile platforms and wanted to maybe learn how to develop for the iphone/ipod mobile os. However, MBP's are pretty expensive. </p>
<p>From what ive read here, you guys are pretty thinkpad centric. While Apple is my first choice, Im really afraid of it being a target for thievery. So what are the best dell/lenovo competitors for this midrange MBP? I know some research could probably find out the answer, but I wanted some opinions from real people. Anything special to look at/for? Thanks!</p>
<p>You should look at the ThinkPad T500 or W500. The main difference is that the W500 has a ``professional'' graphics card that make a difference for CAD/CAM and thus costs more.</p>
<p>The T500 and W500 are the corresponding 15.4" laptops available from Lenovo. I have a T400 (the 14.1" model), and I've found it to be far superior to the MBP.</p>
<p>R-series are entry-level, T-series are the flagships, and X-series are the ultraportables. They're comparable to the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air, respectively.</p>
<p>I second srunni and advise that you check out a T500.</p>
<p>I went on youtube and watched some review videos on the Thinkpad T400 (I was seriously considering this model as a replacement for son's older Inspiron 6000). The videos were not what I had expected. The flex of the keyboard looks very dramatic on the video. I can't imagine what it's like in person. More than one video shows the keyboard literally sinking (caving in on one side) when any decent amount of pressure is exerted onto it. The plastic where one would rest their palms also looks cheap and according to what is seen in the videos, also pushes in very easily. Does anyone out there have experience with the new Lenovo T400 series?
The complaints on youtube seem to be a severe decline in the quality of build. Now I don't know what to believe.</p>
<p>Thanks. Many of the responses confirm what I visually saw on the youtube reviews. You could actually see the flex. In the videos you could see how the keyboard mushed in and caved in when pressure was placed on the keys. You could also see the palm rest area push in with pressure. The quality of the materials looked cheap. Since becoming aware of the flex issue, I'm going to seriously rethink my idea of going with a Lenovo.</p>
<p>did some quick reading...it seems as though lenovo has put the old keypad/board back in its laptops...so no worries, i still think they are pretty good.</p>
<p>I've spent quite a bit of time researching the new T400's and I haven't seen anything stating that they've gone back to the original keyboards. Everything that I've read about the new Lenovo T-series is that the quality of the build has been drastically reduced. People have mentioned gaps around "frame" of the screen, cheap mushy keyboards, and very thin cheap plastic near the palm rest area that also mush and flex. I was seriously considering buying a T-400 over the summer as a gift for one of my kids. I wish I could post a few of the youtube links which show an obvious flex in the keyboards, poor workmanship around the framing of the screen and the cheap plastic (also flexes) where you rest your palms but CC doesn't allow youtube links. </p>
<p>I would love some proof that Lenovo is going back to their original keyboards but I haven't seen any hint of it.</p>
<p>srunni, thanks for the link. Maybe they'll get all of the kinks out of the T400 by midsummer. It seems as though the kinks involve structure as well as the cheap keyboard.</p>
<p>I purchased my T400 in November, and I had a faulty graphics card, which required two (2) trips to the repair center to fix. The first time they apparently decided to change the hard drive for some reason. I'm not too angry about the fact that the graphics card was faulty in the first place, as that is the fault of third-party chipset manufacturers as well as Lenovo's, but the quality control of their repair center has definitely gone downhill.</p>
<p>Anyway, ever since I got my T400 back the second time, it's been nothing short of amazing compared to the HP Pavilion dv9700t I was previously using. I haven't had any complaints, including regarding the keyboard. However, since they're offering a free replacement, I think I'll order one, just to see if it's any better.</p>
<p>You might as well try to get the replacement keyboard. </p>
<p>I'm not in a hurry to buy a laptop so I think I'll wait and see if Lenovo makes some positive changes from the current T400. Hopefully, with all of the current complaints about the cheapness of the thin plastic, the crappy keyboard flex, and the poor workmanship of the LCD frame (gaps and warped plastic frame) Lenovo will listen and go back to their original build quality.</p>
<p>If you hear any rumors, definitely post them here.</p>