Get a Lenovo computer cheap - and from Lenovo

Ever since Fab of the Linux Outlaws podcast has been gushing over his recently acquired Lenovo ThinkPad laptop, and before that really, I've been at times on the hunt for used ThinkPad laptops, never seeming to be able to "win" them on eBay.

Part of the allure is that ThinkPad laptops tend to work great with Linux and the BSDs, the reasons being (I assume) that the machines have always been well-documented by IBM in the past and Lenovo in the present, and the popularity of them among developers of free, open-source operating system software.

I decided to visit the Lenovo site — and in case you're wondering, the Chinese company Lenovo bought out the Thinkpad line from IBM some years ago and has surprisingly not mucked up the great reputation those Thinkpad computers had from their Big Blue days &mdash.

Quickly I zeroed on on one area: The Lenovo Outlet for new, redistributed, refurbished and "scratch and dent" gear.

I haven't done any kind of detailed analysis of the prices, but it looks like you can get somewhat of a deal on a Lenovo laptop, desktop or server model. So if you really want a Lenovo machine, this looks like a great place to start.

For instance, there's an IdeaPad netbook for $330, a "full-sized" IdeaPad for $688, a ThinkPad T500 for $902, a Value line H210 Tower for $273, and a whole lot of desktop machines between there and the mid-$300s.