I look at them every time I'm shopping for a laptop. They never offer anything comparable to a proper Thinkpad. The laptop you're linking to lacks nearly everything imporant:

  * No trackpoint  
  * Touchpad buttons are in the wrong place (must be on top, under thumbs)
  * No IPS display 
  * Keyboard is crippled. Compare to a proper keyboard [1]

The #1 and #2 basicaly mean "this laptop has no mouse" Apple-style touchpad is useless for people who type a lot (you can't use them while your hands are in FJ-position).

#3 means "cannot work with images with more than 65K colors".

[1] Proper keyboard: http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/ea701ff5cd.jpg Things to notice:

  * Giant "Esc" key
  * Dedicated forward/backward buttons for browsing
  * Full-sized Fn keys
  * Dedicated blocks for navigation keys
  * Because it's ergonomic, it's not a dumb rectangular shape. Lenovo hates 
    this IBM design because it is more expensive to produce.

Also, look at how UltraNav works: you can use the mouse by keeping your hands in a typing position (FJ). This way you can nearly instantaneously replace the previously typed word by using the trackpoint + buttons under your thumbs. This speeds up your typing or coding significantly. This gives Vim/Emacs users superpowers! :) Cheap laptops force you to move your hands a lot to switch between the mouse and keyboard.