Sourcing a 4:3 T60p in Australia/NZ

Hey guys. I'm new, so I'm not entirely sure how many rules of unspoken etiquette I'm breaking, but I've come to a point of complete desperation. (For the record, I should be studying calculus right now, but I'm just too annoyed about this whole my-dream-is-no-longer-possible business.)

Long story short (you need this background information if you're to atleast try to comprehend my irrationality), I've been trying to get a T60p for the last few months. Trouble is, every time I go to buy one, Lenovo has end-of-lined the model I want a week before I want to order. It happened first when I wanted the 15" UXGA, then when I wanted the 15" SXGA+ IPS/Flexview, then when I settled for just plain 15" 4:3 SXGA+ (without the IPS/Flexview), and then, finally, when I wanted the 14.1" SXGA+ model.

Now they only make widescreens - which I'm trying to avoid at all costs. I've seen the designs of the T61 and, well, I'm disappointed. IMHO they have bastardised all that I loved in a Txx - the sharp corners, the grunty, boxish blackness, the sleek embodiment of pure power no other laptop could hope to imitate... I've devoted considerable amounts of my life to loving these things -and when it finally comes to get one, bam.

Hence, I'm not desperate. Seeing only widescreens available to me (which already halve the sexy-factor in any ThinkPad (IMHO)), and seeing even worse things on the horizon, I want to get my hands on a 14.1" T60p, like I wanted to a couple of weeks ago (but couldn't at the time - had to organise some monies).

So, after all that, I just want any advice on sourcing a (really prefer brand new) T60p 14.1" 4:3 (with the C2D T>7400) from New Zealand (or Australia if I have to). Ideally I'm looking for a 15" 4:3 model (UXGA, IPS, but that's stretching my luck a bit far) - but I don't think I'll have any luck in that area. My only hope is a 14.1" model which was available until oh such a short time ago. I've looked around the popular auction sites, I've called resellers, I've trolled the Lenovo site, I've called Lenovo several times - but it seems that the dream is horribly gone, vanished. Surely, somewhere, in some warehouse, one of these babies lies in wait?

It seems so hard to find these - and when people sell them it's normally because they're _that_ old.

Thanks very much in advance!

PS. I'm off to cry myself to sleep (and it's not because of the calculus).

 

You know, these can't be THAT hard to find. You mean, the US Lenovo site no longer lets you customise with a 14.1" screen anymore? Regardless, I just won an Ebay bid for one of those 14.1" T60ps, T7600, 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HDD, FireGL V5250, etc. There are a few more I believe.

This one ended up being a little over USD$1800, which is quite a bit cheaper than their street price over here in Australia. The only slight worry I have is the HK origins, the last time a bought a laptop there (Thinkpad R30) it turned out to be counterfeit (!). I did my homework though, and checked the serial number on the Lenovo website. This particular machine is still covered by the 3 year global warranty, so I guess all is well.

Edit: The system is brand new.

 

It is still listed on the US site (but I don't know how long that will last). I can't order it from there though, short of getting someone local to do it for me. Lenovo also says that as Lenovo in the US and in Australia/NZ are different, they will not honour warranties - to make things more confusing, apparently some models come with international warranties and others don't.

This is proving difficult - no supplier I have called has stock or is even willing to investigate. Everyone who already has one clearly knows how amazing it is and is not willing to let go

I suppose I should start trolling ebay...

 

Yeah, just make sure that ones you get off Ebay are covered by international warranty. You can check the serial number on the Lenovo website for that.