Looking for a cheap Thinkpad

Hi there,

In order to no hijack other thread, I created this one.

The thing is that I want to buy a laptop for my dad, and my budget is $350 at the most, including taxes and shipping. I have to buy it pretty soon (let's say, this very same weekend lol) and I'm considering to get him a old but useful thinkpad.

He has no especial requierements, only uses the web, office and acrobat reader. I know for my budget I can get a netbook, but I don't want so, he needs a big screen and good sized keys. I have to buy it through a website (not ebay or craigslist).

What websites do you recommend to check out refurb thinkpads? The IBM factory outlet doesn't charge taxes or shipping which is good.

What do you think guys? Am I going a good route here?

I apreciate all your imput, and thanks for reading me.

 

You definitely can get a T or R series ThinkPad of the T6x or R6x era for $350. The cheapest route would probably be eBay or CL. You might want to post over on ThinkPads.com in the marketplace forum. You'll probably pay a bit more over there, but they tend to be much more honest about what they're selling, which has a lot of value, especially on a used notebook. Good Luck.

 

Thank you ZaZ, I'll keep your advice.

What do you think about this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad...iewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item3359281e30

Looks good for me, don't you think?

 

Here's the thing about eBay, you just never know what you're getting until you get it. I've seen it go both ways. I got my current R60 there, which was a fantastic deal, but I bought another one before that and it was a total dud. Ultimately, I had to dispute it and got my money back, but just dealing with it was a pain in the rear. It's why I suggested TP.com where it tends to be more friendly/honest as opposed to eBay where they exist to sell notebooks. This is especially important on a used notebook because you never know where it's been or how much it's been abused from some anonymous eBay seller. You probably won't get the best parts to price ratio on TP.com, but your Dad probably doesn't need that anyway. Post over there saying you got $350 to spend on a notebook. If you see anything you like, you can always go back to eBay.

Oh yeah, a third party warranty isn't as good.

 

Thank you for your imput ZaZ, is nice to hear from your experience.

The thing is that I live in Colombia, I have a BoA account, and a relative who lives in the USA, I buy the laptop using the BoA credit card and they send it to me.

That's why I have to buy from a e-tailer.

 

That specific seller has a great rep I heard.

 

The reseller looks legit, although as ZaZ stated, it's hard to know what you are getting, since those are refurbished laptops. That's my best option for now, since I can't deal with a particular over the tp forum.

 

I'd recommend this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/T60-Laptop-Port-Repli-Keyboard-Mouse-Carrying-Cas_W0QQitemZ320472480744QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item4a9da5fbe8

It has much better specs., comes with more accessories, and is quite a bit cheaper than the other listing.

 

Thanks for the heads up, looks pretty good!

The reseller ratings are good as well.

One question, the one listed on the IBM outlet is used also? I know they're refurbished units but I mean, have been used before?

 

Probably used before.

 

@ ZaZ: Concerning the paypal dispute, did you have to pay for the shipping of the laptop back to the seller? or was it paid and the full amount were refunded to you?

 

Can a Centrino Pentium M 750 deliver for basic tasks?

What about the heat?

 

yeah the Pentium M 750 is pretty good for net surfing, word processing, excel and some light video. I use them in my T43, its adequate but nothing flash, but if you are going to keep the laptop for a while, i suggest you go with the T60 or R60 with at least a Core 2 Duo, simply due to the VT and 64 bit support.

 

I guess my dad will be keeping it for a while. The Z60t looks pretty good since is a stock excess according to IBM, so are new units, never used. I don't want to go with a heavily used notebook.

lead_org, what do you think about the Z60t? Any know issues?

Thanks!

 

I'd have to agree, if you want to keep this for a while, a dual core CPU is probably the way to go. The Pentium M is going to chug a bit on more CPU intensive tasks. I'd say a R60 or a T60 is probably your best bet. You'll probably get a R60 cheaper, but they're were not as many of those. I don't know that you'll find a good Z61t on your budget, but keep looking by all means.

 

the Z60t is still a Pentium M machine, so you should skip that.... i suddenly found that my Thinkpad collection total value has went up....

 

He's not going to be doing things that require a modern CPU, the Pentium-M is more than enough just make sure it is at least 2GHz, that will do you fine for everything that you are saying he will be doing.

 

I sent an e-mail to the ibmfactoryoutlet (ebay) to ask about the Z60t, they told me those laptops were overstock and they are practically new.

Should I trust their word?

 

unlikely, more like A1 condition refurb, if it is overstock then it would be new and not practically new. The unit price for these A1 condition refurb z60t in USA is around 100 USD for purchase of 200 units and above.

 

Paypal did refund me the full amount from the auction, but yes, I did have to pay shipping. I was out that, about $20 as I recall, and all the time dealing with it.

 

hey man, love your facts ;-)

They said the unit was almost brand new as show in the picture. Don't know if it's true.

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Lenovo-Z60t...iewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item35a649de38

It's really hard to find a cheap yet good notebook and I don't know where else to look at.

 

how about marketplace on forum.thinkpads.com, they have far better deals.

 

the link list the item as refurbished, which is what i expected it to be.

I think i could earn a pretty good profit selling refurbed Thinkpads, in Australia i can get Z61t for around 300 AUD, R61i for 350 AUD, and T60 for 400 AUD....... T61 for around 400 to 600 AUD.