A purchasing advise needed ...

[alexzabr]

This is for my brother: he needs a reliable, non-expensive laptop for his work (he is food industrial machines service (field) engineer working mostly in field repairing, installing machines as well priodic inspecting on behalf of the machine's manufacturer. He is supposed to travel between Israel (our country), Europe (mainly Italy, Netherlands) and Russia for his business.
So far he is completely newbie into computers (just a very basic internet usage experience), I'm supposed to help him get into PC world for more productive usage.
He will need internet surfing (such as search for the components, emailing, contacting vendors, etc...), Office, maintaining his equipment and components database as well as related documentation. At some point in near future he considers to start his own business in his field, so some basic finance documentation (or accounting) shall be handled on the laptop also.
Right now his budget for that is quite limited, don't think more then 500$ can be viable. Thinkpads are preferable for durability and reliability (and my own experience), however given the budegt I guess used, no-fancy machines is his best bet...
I'll be looking for your advises, what to look for according to the following summary:
1. Reliability and durability - expected to travel a lot and work in less then sterile environment
2. Battery life is improtant (again large percentage of usage will be remote)
3. No fuss usage for computer's non-savvy (regular OS - Win XP, Office, internet).
4. Wireless is highly desirable.

To keep cost down:
1. No any fancy things required (such as Bluetooth, games (probably except of very basic, fingerprint reader, etc...).
2. LCD can be of regular XGA resolution (1024x768), graphics can also be built-in (Inter 950 for instance or similar)

I realize old used systems will not carry any warranty, so a fully working, non-problematic system needed.

Your advises ?

[christopher_wolf]

A modern X Series sounds like it will do the trick just fine.

I really don't know what else to say about that, except that a no-frills X Series can usually be had for around as much as you are talking of.

If you want to get an older Thinkpad, you could look at the first few X Series systems, perhaps an older T2X, R Series, or even a 600X would fit the bill.

From there, it depends on what the particular tasks he wants to apply it for (e.g. does he need the most powerful CPU he can get for that amount of money in a Thinkpad given the current specs?).

[alexzabr]

X series ?? Frankly I wasn't aware about this line at all. What they are ? Do they fall under Thinkpad category ? Are they as reliable as Thinkpad line in general ?

Edit:
sorry for my dumb response above..X series..are you talking about X41 and similar ? I assumed these are even more expensive then T4x series in general, am I wrong ?

[Saysana13B]

The X series are the Thinkpad's smallest (American) laptop available. 12" screen, less than 3lbs, its pretty light... and cute.

EDIT: you have a T43 right? If you haven't already, maybe you should let your brother use it for a day or two and get him the same model.

[alexzabr]

Yes, once hitting Submit button on my response to Christofer I realized what he meant by X series . However, I mentioned budget restriction earlier in my original posting and X series tends to be more expensive then regular T in general, so may not be an option.

Yes, I do own T43 (as in my sig) and really enjoy it, so far this is my powerhorse for study and project. No problem letting him to use one to have the feel, but even though my may (and most certainly) like it, he will not be able to afford on (even used - unlikely to come down to 500$ in good condition) anytime in near future...
I thought perhaps a used T41/42 in good working order may be more realistic for him...

[dsigma6]

why an x41? why not an x23 or 24?

[alexzabr]

Xmm, indeed, didn't think about it.
How those x23/24 are in general ?

[Quattro]

X23 or 24 are great. Probably the best value Thinkpad right now, IMO.

[ANDS]

From what I've seen on Ebay, the X24/X23's generally go for around the same price as an X30/X31 - it shouldnt be TOO HARD to get an X30 for less than 400. There are a ton listed right now. In fact there are X30's listed sans Hard Drive and operating system, but if you bid right you can get the needed items and come in under 300 bucks.

But then theres the battery issue; these batteries cant be all that hot, so I would look into possibly getting a new battery as well. But if hes not going to be away from an adapter constantly, he should be fine.

[getlow]

i disagree, if they are in good condition (cosmetically clean, tested/refurb, and with all necessary components), i've only seen the x30's and x31's usually go for around 500 and x24s around mid 200 to 300..

[alexzabr]

Xmm, now that checking X31 options it indeed seems to be quite attractive given my brother's objectives, however a good samples (even refubrished by IBM) are usually sell in 600-700$ range. At these prices, adding another 200-300$ gets brand new T43...go figure...
X23/24 seems a bit too old architecture-wise. I would expect PIII to be far more power-hungry then P-M which obiously will affect battery performance which apparently is important for his kind of usage.
Also, vast majority of X23/24 on Ebay seem to lack viable built-in wireless facilities. I may guess external card usage (for wireless, for instance) isn't very efficient for him due to working in quite messy industrial environment (so avoiding any sticky-out devices woudld be wise idea)..

So far it seems trying to figure IBM-refub X31 for up to 600$ (or T41/42 for 100$ more) to be the best bet....

[hadoken]

Although I love my x31, you should see if he wants an internal CDRW drive or not...it might be important to him if he is travelling to have access to drop off data or something like that.

You can do X31, T40 or T41 for $500 but that is tight. I bought an X31 for $400 and a T41 for $430 but it takes a little work to find good deals like that. I really think a T23 would be better since it has built-in wireless and media drive. I would be less concerned about the battery issue - with the T23 you could even get him the optional Ultrabay 2000 battery that goes in the media drive slot and have him carry the cd drive around...that's easier than carrying around an X series Media Slice.

[schen]

I'll do a completely different way on this one. Mostly the posters have all discussed using the X Series due to size and weight, but I'd recomment the T40. It's only around a pound and a half heavier, but has a significantly bigger screen at 14.1", can use the extended battery, and has a built in optical drive which could be really welcome to someone who flys regularly (he can watch his own DVD instead of the whatever is on the airline). I've bought 3 off of ebay in the last 4 months for less then $500 dollars each. They've all had combo drives and 512Mb of RAM and at least a 30Gb HDD as well as wireless.

Just my opinion, but I think they are the best deal going right now in the under $500 range.

[alexzabr]

Although I love my x31, you should see if he wants an internal CDRW drive or not...it might be important to him if he is travelling to have access to drop off data or something like that.

This is exactly what I begun to realize few hours ago
Leaving alone travelling leisure, he may certainly need an instant access to CD/DVD-stored data (such as manufacturers catalogs, probably some kind of technical guidance clips that sometimes spread out by equipment manufacturers to their certified field engineers, etc..). This pretty much filters out X-series in whole.

In light of this, T40 (as Shen reminded) or T41 sound more viable indeed...

[skitty4gzus]

If you are interested Im selling a T30 of mine, it has 1.8g P4m, 512 ram, floppy drive, dvd rom drive, and DVDR/RW multidrive. Also, it has a 40g hard drive with WXP pro with a coa. I know its no t40 and it holds about a 2 hour charge at max with its battery, but it is strong and durable. It has 14.1 xga screen with no dead pixels. You could probably purchase a semi used or new battery somewhere and get about 2.5 hours on a charge im guessing. Either way, Im selling this for 400 in the states and shipped overseas would be a lil bit more, let me know if your interested. Oh, it also has a 108g atheros a/b/g card.