Is there an interest or market for old thinkpads?

I just broke down and applied for financing and got a thinkpad x260 yoga after my asus 2 in 1 pooped the bed for the last time. I was going to use my thinkpad x200s but I really enjoy and rely on touch screen, so now Im thinking its time to part but not sure if there is a collectors group or even slight interest in older tech.

Am I crazy to think there is?

 

You'd probably be better served looking on ThinkPads.com, where you'll find more ThinkPad enthusiasts. I would say there's a market for your X200s if you're looking to sell it, particularly if it has the WXGA+ LCD, though I wouldn't venture a guess as to what you can expect for it.

 

It does in fact have the WXGA+ screen and its a shame to have to sell it but I need to liquidate. I would be doing it more to give it to a person who is a thinkpad entusiast than anything as Im sure it wont garner much money.

When did you jump the thinkpad ship? Feels weird seeing you with a non thinkpad signature...

 

I was looking to bump up from my 12" X220 since I don't need a ton of mobility. My choices at the time were the T440s, which were selling in the Lenovo Outlet inexpensively, and the Latitude. The T440s has the lame integrated pointstick buttons, so I opted for the Dell. Had I known I could swap the trackpad out for one with buttons a few months later I probably would have gotten the T440s, but I didn't have that information at the time.

The Dell's been a nice notebook and the better warranty is a plus, but the keyboard and stick are inferior. I just don't use my notebook near as much these days, so it's not worth it for me to spend the money to upgrade. I almost bought a T450s for $500 in the Lenovo Outlet last week, but couldn't get myself to part with the cash.

 

@Thaenatos there's definitely some market. Just put it on eBay auction, IMO.

 

I currently use a Lenovo Thinkpad T410 which I love , it's only 14" and not of any use for a gamer but it has 8GB Ram and 1TB along with an i5-520M - I bought my son a Lenovo Z50-75 before knowing as much as I know now [ which isn't much but more than back then ] - when I saw the lovely big screen I wanted a bigger screen , then he wanted something more serious for gaming and I bought him an Acer Predator 17 as he wanted it from a shop [ my suggestion was PCS Defiance 2 ] - so now I want a 17" screen as wll !!
I've dropped my old Lenovo at least 4 times , it's as tough as old boots . That's why they gained such a good reputation - tough and reliable . If it had a 17" screen and more up to date specs I would keep it but as is the World these days the quality has dropped , corporations want more for less . IBM started them off for Lenovo to buy them out - not sure when the chiclet keyboard was introduced , it's pre chiclet that are collected I believe , not completely sure though .

 

Ahh I have always been a dell business and thinkpad addict and always will! Hard to beat their quality compared to most everything else. While my MSI gaming notebook has the best keyboard (steelseries) old school thinkpads are equal. But dell business vs thinkpads is a tough decision to make for me, but if i had to make a choice I'd take a thinkpad relatively easily.

I saw in thinkpads.com and elsewhere that my machine is a coveted one for sure. Wxga+ and more! But idecided it still has some life left and isnt worth what I'd get for it as it has been too useful for the better part of a decade. So now its repurposed as a scan station and may soon become a linux server in the near future!

Yeah there is a demand for sure! I had a t400 that got thrown off a roof of my wifes car while driving and then run over twice. It still booted and worked albeit the screen was only 90% usable and the case was messed up. But it still ran perfectly. My x200s has beeb to hell and back and I'm going to keep it. I just hope the 260 yoga will give me 8 good years or more like my old t series have and are!

 

Hi, I've also got an old thinkpad. Did you have any luck in selling yours? How did you go about it? Cheers

 

I didnt sell it. I repurposed it for a useful task that made my wife extremely happy. Plus the price wasnt worth the nostalgia.

 

There are a lot of different ThinkPad

All the x200s are not the same

Some are build with devices manufactured by different companies

Chinony, Delta, Furukawa, NMB....

Some are build with gold connectors, some with other metals

If your laptop is like new, in perfect condition, with NMB keyboard and Delta power supply it can have some value

If your laptop was entry level x200 and in bad condition it may not have a lot of value

 

There is a market for old Thinkpads but there are also a lot of them on the market, so prices are not extreme. It's not that they're sought after as a collector's item but because they are just extremely well built laptops or tablets that still perform quite well. The X2xxs series is one model that is in demand. So too the X2xxt tablets. Also, the X301 is in demand, as are the T4x0s series.

 

I know very well how well they are built as my t400 was thrown from a vehicle and run over and still booted and worked. The x200s I have is a higher end model and still very useful so instead of getting a few $$ it will fill a role thats making the wife happy and thus it now has limitless value now.

But I did go to a few sites and found that there is indeed a market for old thinkpads, especially certain models with certain part brands and option levels. Like my 1440x900 screen.

 

That sometimes can come down to plain old dumb luck.

 

That might be, but I have had my thinkpad T and X series take spills and falls due to kids or being clumsy and they never seem to notice those kinds of accidents. Either way they are tough as nails!