I picked up a "refurbished" ThinkPad X201 from Lenovo's US outlet for my wife to use for only $800. It is clear that the box was only sliced open; I doubt the machine was ever actually used. It's in fantastic shape.
The X201 is a nice little machine -- smaller screen than my T410s, obviously -- but think the gain in battery life (6-8 hours, with wireless on) is well worth it. Overall, I think I actually prefer the weight/size ratio (there's no tradeoff in terms of performance, except that you lose the Ultrabay). (Perhaps my eyes might disagree as I get older...?) Also, given the increase in Intel HD graphics performance in the Core i5/i7 series, it's definitely more than enough for my needs. I get reasonable 1080p x264 video playback (low CPU usage) and it even plays StarCraft II. What more could you ask for in a little machine? This sure beats any netbook -- even a premium netbook with a Core2 processor from a fruity company.
I popped in a Samsung HM640JJ disk (on sale for only $60 with free shipping), replacing the 320GB disk that the system came with, and was surprisingly impressed with the performance. 640GB (at 7200RPM, 16MB cache) is a massive amount of space, and the disk performs excellently, even when compared to my OCZ Vertex 2 or Intel X25-M/X18-M SSDs. Certainly, having that extra 500GB of space for a fraction of the cost makes it a worthwhile contender for a "power" machine. I've since added this disk to my "recommended" hardware page. Once again, 1 screw to slide the HDD out, and 4 screws to remove the drive from the drive tray. Done in 3 minutes flat. Thank you, ThinkPad.
The keyboard is perfect, the small touchpad surprisingly useful. I can switch seamlessly from my IBM Model M to my T410s, to this X201 without skipping a beat -- the keyboard is that good. The integrated Intel 6300 3x3 wireless card delivers 8-11MB/s over wireless, although the 3rd antenna takes up the space that a webcam would otherwise use. With the Samsung HDD replacement, Outlook is very fast, and system bootup time is excellent. SD card slot allows me to copy pictures off my camera. I can even use my wireless Bluetooth mouse. The built-in stereo speakers leave much to be desired, but they definitely suffice.
I quite like this machine. A small little road-warrior that can handle anything you throw at it. Yes, the screen is smaller, but I hardly notice; it's just at a perfect sweet spot in my opinion. If you throw it on an Ultrabase docking station, you can even get DisplayPort out -- and the integrated graphics card can power a 2560x1600 screen -- I've only tested this with my 21" 1600x1200 screen though.
System statistics:
Intel Core i5-540M (2.53GHz-3.06GHz, 3MB cache), 2x2GB PC3-8500 1067MHz SODIMMs, 12.1 WXGA (1280x800 LED), 9 cell battery, Intel 6300 2x2AGN (3626-F7U)
Windows Experience Index:
Processor 6.8, RAM 5.9, Graphics 4.4, Gaming graphics 5.3, HDD 5.9 (Not bad for a spinning 2.5" notebook drive -- my Intel X18-M 160GB delivers a 7.2 score though, but cost almost 6x more)