RE:Thinkpad blues

i wanted to buy a T42 but it seems they have been phased out of the IBM website.

The configuration for the IBM i want to buy is:

Pentium M 1.8ghz
256 MB RAM ( will upgrade it by buying RAM from newegg)
60gb 7200rpm drive
DVD/cd-rw
14.1 SXGA with 64mb ATI 9600 card

Where would i be able to find this ideal laptop for around $ 1,500 in around 1 weeks time. Since i am leaving the states for Africa in 2 weeks time. Thanks in advance for your help.

N/B- i don't trust e-bay, too many fake sellers.

:buyIBM:

 

There are alot of fake scammers, but alot of good ones too.

Check out ones with 5000+ feedback, and at least 99.3+ percentage.

Also, check their previous items sold, and look to see if they sold laptops before.

Because if they were selling books, then somehow is now selling $2000+ laptops, that's suspicious!

 

And one more advice for e-bay, there are some stores on there that specialize in laptops or more specifically thinkpads. they also have a phone number posted, so you can call them.

 

avoid ebay, IMHO. The warranty is from a third party like Mack Warranty in new york, not from IBM. You save only about $150 for a comparable setup.

The best resource for buying a thinkpad T42 is via the credit card discount link. Heres teh one for discover, but the prices are the same for visa:

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...splay?storeId=821258&langId=-1&catalogId=-840

go there and then look for the specials. They have pages and pages of T42 and T43 configs with impressive savings.

What I did was then call up the thinkpad 800 number at lenovo and talk to someone who gave me the config i had seen on the site with no restrictions on what credit car to use (I paid with a mastercard actually).

 

Maybe i might be wrong but i can only see T42p's and those are way over my head, the rest are T43's and like we all know those have alot of heat problems and fan problems. :noisyfan:

 

I saw a couple T42s on ebay with Mack warranties. Perhaps you could upgrade the warranty through IBM? I bought both my ThinkPads on ebay with postive results, but you have to do your homework.

 

Can't you get a T42 from the Lenovo Express site? On the Canadian site at least, there are a few T42 offerings - and for good prices!

 

ah, youre right. Just two weeks ago there tons of T42s on there. Maybe they dumped their stock out to resellers and are just focusing on T43s now.

to be honest, your best bet is to call lenovo directly at 1-800-426-7235 ext. 3736 and talk to a sales rep. tell them exaccly what youre looking for, and they will find you a model, with eth same dscounts as on the visa/dscover pages.

 

Can't say for sure, but I imagine Lenovo is trying to clear out older inventory in anticipation of the arrival of the follow-on model (T-44 ? T-50 ?) when Yonah finally arrives.

 

How do you get to your CC's page (visa in my case)? I am wondering if I can get some more discount on the T43 models that are already on huge discounts (manager's picks).

 

Well well well i did do what you said but hmmmmz maybe its me but i can't seem to get any T42s so i think i will settle for a t41p. Its seems the next logical step 4 me.