IMO, Thinkpad is a class above Lenovo... Lenovo is just an everyday laptop, nothing too special.

You should also seriously think about Dell Latitude Corporate-Class notebooks. They have a great reputation as well, and personally I'd cross-shop Thinkpad and Latitude.

Dell Latitude E5400 has 14.1" screen, and starts at $599.
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd
Why don't you click above, choose E5400 and customize it and see if you like it.