It has similar spec to my current broken laptop. Instead of a i5, it comes with an i7 8550U, 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. It is a renewed product, by the way. And it goes for around ₹24,000. Honestly, I feel like it is too expensive, considering how there are better spec laptops available.
you should aim at $200 max, that’s way too expensive for 8th gen tech. ram and storage aren’t important as those can be upgraded stupid cheap; it’s not a bad idea to buy the laptop without those,
what’s infinitely more important are good batteries, you didn’t mention what condition the ones you get are in. if you need to replace those, good batteries aren’t cheap.
I’m able to find them for as low as ₹19,000 (both T480 and T580 in i7, by the way), which is around $230, but I think I’m better off spending that money on my current Ideapad - maybe upgrade to around 12GB, fix the damaged body - all of which will be around ₹7k or $85, then I can probably buy a new device after two years.
do not compare thinkpads to ideapads (or thinkbooks or thinkpad V-series). the former are heavy-duty devices that cost thousands of $ new (and you can feel that the moment you grab one). they’re built for road warriors and are meant to be used and abused for years. everything is so much better, from the build quality, easy repair and upgradeability (several generations share the same chassis, so replacing keyboards, screens, hinges, plastic covers, etc. is trivial and easily sourced) to way better keyboards, hinges, screens, etc.
the latter are cheap, drastic-plastic, deal-of-the-week future e-waste compatible only with themselves, maybe, with way worse build quality and very limited serviceability and cross-generational part compatibility.
same goes for hp elitebook vs probook, dell latitude vs vostro, and so on; there’s a huge difference between enterprise-class devices vs consumer-grade.
as to CPU performance, you’ll have to be the judge of what’s most important to you.