What's the best place to buy a thinkpad?

Any good websites that will sell me a nice thinkpad? I want to get the IBM T42 2378-FVU, it looks like it's really well priced for the specs (Is there anything I should know about it?). Anyways, thanks for the help

 

I vote for www.newegg.com

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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a few good online retailers would be www.newegg.com www.ecost.com www.ibm.com www.buy.com or www.cdw.com.

 

Good retailers include: www.newegg.com (if they have your model)or www.techonweb.com (where I bought my T42, 2379DXU. ibm.com will charge sales tax (though shipping may be free). Also check out www.costcentral.com. Your 2378-FVU comes with a 40 gb hard drive (I prefer at least 60mb). By the time it's preloaded with software your 40 becomes a 34 mb. Also your model comes with a 1 year warranty. The saying that whatever goes wrong will do so within the first year failed me on two separate occasions. My gateway and then my toshiba did this in the second year respectively. Both estimates for repair was more than what the machine was worth. Needless to say I always get a notebook with a three year warranty.

 

Don't buy direct from IBM, they will charge sales tax and they sell their notebooks at their MSRP. Get it from a reseller as they usually have them in stock and from IBM there is usually a 2 week wait as well as the high price and sales tax.

Try
www.newegg.com (good prices, but limited very limited selection)
www.mwave.com (great prices and large selection)
www.cdw.com
www.buy.com
www.amazon.com

Jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Run1track

 

I recently heard bad things about cdw.com

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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Link:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1971.html

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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There's always thinkpads.com,
aka Bill Morrows web page (he's
a certified IBM reseller). At
least check it out for a
most informative and active
open forum.

 

You can also save $$$s if you buy it from the IBM shareholder site.
www.ibm.com/shop/us/spp However, you need to be a shareholder. If you search few of the old threads in notebookreview or thinkpads, you can get the login id.

 

I would 2nd jschunke's suggestion of www.thinkpads.com, it is a very nice site and Bill over there can get you a great price on thinkpads.

Jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

www.thinkpads.com is the link. I noticed that bootlegs link has a comma at the end and it wont work.

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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Thanks,
my fingers have a mind of their own[ ]

jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

- But I don't think Bill of thinkpads.com can match SPP prices.

- Also does he give the 30 day satisfaction policy ? And also what is his return policy ?

 

Form the time I've been lurking over at thinkpad.com it looks like he must have some kind of return period, even for dead/stuck pixels!

Jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

Anyone know where I can get the access code and the ID number for canadians?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Vasant56

 

As others have said, I too highly recommend Bill @ Thinkpads.com for all of your IBM ThinkPad purchases. He has the best prices and the best support in the industry.

Web site: www.thinkpads.com
Email: [email protected]
Join the open forum while you are there!

James

 

I have purchased IBM Thinkpad laptops from both IBM direct as well as the IBM "certified used" program. The service was very good from both branches. The IBM direct new purchase had the problem of the laptop being shippped directly from Tiawan and being stuck in customs for several days. This was very annoying since I paid for "2nd Day Air" shipping. I requested a refund on my shipping from IBM which I never received. IBM was good about trying to help me and follow up on the order with UPS and customs to find my particular unint and give me an updated estimated arrival time as best they could. The problem of the laptop being stuck in customs seems to be a common occurence for IBM though because not only do you see quite a few gripes on various forums discussing this, but their web site has a disclaimer saying that they have no control over that specific circumstance and can not be held responsible for how it effects the arrival date of your system.

The purchase I made from the "certified used" service was the single best experience I have had purchasing a large dollar item ever.

1. Saved over $600 compared to new prices
2. System was as new, no perceptable difference with brand new
3. Shipped directly from North Carolina
4. Recieved the day after I ordered. with minimal shipping charge
5. Excellent customer service, e-mailed me with docs ASAP
6. Answered phone within a few seconds for every question I had
7. When I simply did not care for the system they accepted the return with no questions asked and even sent me a prepaid shipping label

Now, all that having been said, I returned the new model as well because, as it turns out, I just do not care for the design of the T series laptops. However, I would highly recommend doing business directly with IBM. The reason I went that route in the first place is because I know I am picky and it was easily the way to get the best return policy. As opposed to say, Newegg which will not allow you to return laptops at all, or many other vendors who want a hefty %15 restocking fee. I did the math and %15 of 2k is around $300 so it was worth it for me to go the direct route. Another compelling factor to go with IBM direct is they will give you a student discount of around %5 which helped me a out a bit and would pretty much offset having to pay taxes.

Laptop Nut Case

 

eBay Seller ThinkPadWorld is the best place to buy. They have the best prices anywhere and I have purchased multiple times. No one beats their service or price

 

Best I could find was ebay.com.

 

I bought my T43 from Buy.com. No sales tax saves $80 or more than buying directly from Lenovo.com I agree with Newegg.com but their prices are not always the lowest.

 

Buy.com is very good

 

I'm just wondering... gazbox is been promoting ThinkpadWorld on here and thinkpad forums NON STOP. I really do wonder if you work for Thinkpadworld or not.

Anyways... for Canadians... you can buy directly off Lenovo... but can get discounts if you paid by your Visa card through www.visaperks.ca

I saved from 2-300 off my purchase just by paying by my Visa..

 

I would say Online on IBM/Lenovo site, as they have lots and lots of pre-made models. Thats how my sister bought it.

 

if you buy it from somewhere else other than IBM/lenovo's site, you can't select the 3 year warrantee option

 

Not true. The model number dictates the warranty period. Some models are 1 year warranty, most are 3 year warranty. Doesn't matter where you buy a 3 year warranty model from, it comes with a 3 year warranty. Thinkpad Protection (accidental damage coverage) and onsite coverage can only be added through Lenovo.

Andrew

 

I Got A gr8 Deal From Premier-pc-Auctions on Ebay Bought a thinkpad T42 Very Helpfully bunch of Guys Cool machine

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZpre...QfsooZ1QQrdZ0?

 

i second www.buy.com

i ordered one from costcentral however they asked me for photocopies of a state id and credit card (both sides) before they would ship the order and bill my credit card. sounded a little to riskay for me so i called them and cancelled the order with no problem. costcentral had the lowest price but i paid a little more to get it from buy.com for a little peace of mind. however, many people have ordered from costcentral with no problem and i havent heard of any fraud. i just felt weird. just my 2cents.