"Open Box" Thinkpads

I have been searching this site for several weeks now and have been convinced to get a T61. My question is this. There is a small dealer in my home town that sells 'Open Box" thinkpads. He tells me that are not "used". They look brand, spanking new! There is a great saving on the price. He has a T61 with 14', 1.8 Core 2, 2gig ram, 160 HDD, DVD writer and XP Pro for $995 and full 1 year warranty( which he says is from IBM). Do any of you have any dealing with "Open box" units? Thanks in advance!

 

Don't know about open box units, but you should get the model and serial number before/if you buy and confirm the warranty:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=LOOK-WARNTY#sw

 

at reputable retailers, open box means that someone bought the product and decided they either didn't want it or didn't need it. open box items are usually very slightly used and would still be considered new. the retailer should check that there is nothing wrong with the product before restocking it and selling as open box.

i've seen some not so reputable dealers try to get away with selling well used and sometimes even refurbished items as open box

just look into it a bit more.. ask them some questions. "is it a refurb?" "what was the reason for return?"... ect.

the dealer should have some form of proof of the warranty.. if he doesn't, he should be able to get it from the provider. if they can't, something is fishy.

 

Thanks for the help! I did take a look at his stock and like I said, they look like they have never been touched. I'll check the models he has in stock on Monday and give IBM/Lenova a call about the warranty.

 

Ya our distbutor has same units Most open box are just that product that people did,nt like after buing usely nothing wrong with them beside most have full warrentys if anything breaks

 

You can get a better system for that price if not a little more.

 

Madflava54; give me an example! Thanks

 

Lenovo has a 15% off coupon for CTO notebooks, USPFEBSAVET. It expires today, but comes back the 15-18th. I personally would get it with the minimum hard drive and memory and upgrade it yourself. That's usually cheaper. The amount Lenovo charges for the upgrades is a ripoff, like $140 to upgrade to 2GB of memory when you can buy another 1GB stick probably for $30 or less. With 1GB of memory and 80GB hard drive comes to about $940 plus tax.

If you want to consider the R series which has it's own coupon USPTHINKR15. With the same specs it comes to about $920. The 14" T and R series are almost the same with the R being slightly heavier and thicker.

 

I bought this T61 15.4 in November for $1150 from Lenovo with online discounts
6465CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
Serial Number:

42X2727 SBB INTEL2DUO PROCESSOR T7250 2Ghz
42V8011 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME PREMIUM
42X1954 SBB MSWVISHMPRM64 US ENGLISH
42V8287 SBB 15.4” WSXGA+ TFT 1800X1050
42X0817 SBB INT GMAX3100 GM965W
41W2063 VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V8297 SBB UN(TRCKP TOUCHPAD) FINGERRE
42V8169 SBB 100GB HDD,7200RPM
42V8171 SBB CD-RW/DVD-R 24X24X24X8XUB-S
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK 4965AGN
62P6054 VBB INTEGRATED BLUETOOTH PAN
41W1508 SBB 6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
42V8339 SBB LPACK US ENGLISH
Options in Bold

 

I would suggest removing your serial number from your post.