WTB: A T-series ThinkPad (T61, T400, T500..etc) or similar

[Atreides]

>Forgot to close this, has been purchased<

My parents want me to get them a new laptop. Its really only my mother that ever uses it, and it will likely never leave the desk.

Basically I'm looking for a decent ThinkPad for as a little $ as possible. She wants a big screen, so T-series seems like the obvious choice, although I suppose a W500 would be fine as well. It needs to run Windows 7 smoothly, so T60 on is preferable. T61, T400, T500, or any of their variants. Maybe even a Core i one if the price is right (T410, etc). Even an R-series.

Battery life isn't important, neither is HDD space. Just a decent quality, clean machine. Even if its been partially parted out is a shell of a machine, I'm fine getting extra parts.

I'm trying to leave this as open as possible, so let me know what you've got. Looking to keep it at around $300 or less, less obviously being preferable .

[dorronto]

ygpm...................

Ron

[brucehe]

FYI...

My T60 X1300 with a T7200 CPU and 2.5GB RAM runs W7 Pro 64 bit just fine. You can see the Windows Experience score is limited by the graphics but that has not been an issue since I do not use the computer for gaming or modeling.

Component Details Subscore Base score

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz 5.0
Memory (RAM) 2.50 GB 5.0
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 3.6
Gaming graphics 1087 MB Total available graphics memory 3.6
Primary hard disk 5GB Free (34GB Total) 5.5
Windows 7 Professional

Bruce

[ThinkRob]

YGAPM

[craigmontHunter]

brucehe's T60s WEI scores beat my T61 in everything except hard drive, where I have a 5.8/9, depending on the day. Any T/R 60 or later with a dual core processor and 2-3gb of ram should work perfectly for your needs.

[underclocker]

PM sent with T400 option.

[virge]

If the machine is going to be stationary most of the time, it would be cheaper to go with an R series machine. These are cheap and quite durable. I've bought a couple of Celeron based R60 machines. Upgrading to a dual core is a simple process.

Here's a complete 14" Celeron model for $110 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180741070758

The same seller also has an R500 for an extra $100.

Upgrade to at least 2GB memory and both machines will run Windows 7 just fine.

[Atreides]

Thank you for all the PMs, all have been responded to!

@brucehe - You make a very good point. I'm not terribly familiar with the T-series, I just heard somewhere the T60 was limited to under 4gb RAM or something like that. A T60 would be perfectly fine, and I've updated my first post. I'm trying to keep it pretty open

@virge - Good point as well... I guess I'm just more familiar with the T-series and have never used an R. Would prefer to buy from a fellow forum member on this though, ebay is so saturated with T and R series it can be hard to sift through. I've updated my first post again though.