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Pricing Advice; TP T61......

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:22 pm
by alexander_s
I have a T61 with the original box, packing and such and wonder what a *reasonable* price might be were I to sell, it is out of Lenovo warranty.
Here are the specs:
ThinkPad T61 (7664-17U)
T7300(2GHz), 2GB RAM (now 4GB), 160GB 5400rpm HD (now 320GB 7200 RPM), 14.1in 1440x900 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, FPR, Turbo Mem, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Ultimate (now Window 7-32 Pro but I'd probably restore to the WinVista...)
I've been out of the market for such a machine so would appreciate any member input. Thanks!

Re: Pricing Advice; TP T61......

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:32 pm
by ajkula66
The first thing any potential buyer on this forum will ask is: what's the date code on the machine - located on the same sticker that holds the serial number and the 7-character model number - and that fact alone is likely to affect the pricing tremendously...

Best of luck with the sale.

Re: Pricing Advice; TP T61......

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:01 pm
by Faenad
Is the laptop in good cosmetic conditions? This will also affect the price alot, posting good pictures of the laptop is very appreciated.
I think the date is important because units produced prior to a certain date are plagued by unreliable Nvidia chips, a T61 owner could certainly tell you more.

Re: Pricing Advice; TP T61......

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:25 pm
by underclocker
Even with the NVidia GPU, I'd ask $300 (maybe another $25 w/Win 7), assuming the condition is very good to excellent. In the event the motherboard died, any 14" WS T61 or R61 mobo could be swapped in - Intel or NVidia. All the other parts are high end, the only thing that seems to be missing is the webcam option.

Too much more than $300 and you're in T400 range, they are faster and didn't have GPU issues.

Good luck.

Date code

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:20 pm
by alexander_s
Mobo is fine and the date code of this machine is 7/09.
Is that good or bad?
Alex/

Re: Pricing Advice; TP T61......

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:24 pm
by ajkula66
Let's just say that it's not a desirable time stamp.

That being said, that T61 might outlive all of us...

I'd go somewhat lower than what Ed suggested, but he does bring several valid points...what do I know anymore... :??:

For a machine of that description, I most certainly would advise you to post links to pictures, though...

Best of luck with the sale.

Re: Date code

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:00 pm
by TuuS
alexander_s wrote:Mobo is fine and the date code of this machine is 7/09.
Is that good or bad?
Alex/
Your unit was made in September of 2007. Units built in this era are certain to have the troubled nVidia chip. Read more here...

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... -defective

The only way you can be certain your unit is free of this problem is with a date code of August 2008 or newer, although it's believed that some built from March to July 2008 also "may" have the updated chip, there is no way to tell, so most informed buyers won't buy an nVidia model prior to 08/08. To make matters worse, the entire T61 line was replaced with the T400/500 line in September 2008, so very few T61 units were built after august 2008.

Good luck with your sale, but I think you'd be hard pressed to get $200 for it, even in premium condition, unless you had proof that the motherboard was replaced by Lenovo.

ps. With millions of effected units built, I still believe the total failures of the nVidia chips on T61 models are well below 1%, but this is no comfort to a person who turns theirs on and nothing happens, then Lenovo wants $575 to fix it, so it's definitely a buyers market... reputation has a strong effect on sales regarding these machines. Good Luck