Estimated Price for T43 2687-D8U with extra 1GB ram upgrade

[taishan]

I am wondering how much this T43 laptop is worth now in the market. It's been babied and about two years warranty remaining from IBM. The specs are as follows:

Product: ThinkPad T43 2687-D8U [change]


Operating system: All [change]

Original description: P M 750, 512MB RAM, 60GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CD-RW/DVD-R Multi-Burner, Intel 802.11a/b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

Everything works perfect and no dead pixels. Almost brand-new battery after the recall, only like 10 cycles on it. I also put another 1GB samsung ram, so total is 1.5GB of ram.

Thinking about selling it for a faster T60. Anyways, not sure how much I can sell it for. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ken Fox]

I am wondering how much this T43 laptop is worth now in the market. It's been babied and about two years warranty remaining from IBM. The specs are as follows:

Product: ThinkPad T43 2687-D8U [change]

Value is in the eye of the beholder. My opinion would be that T4x laptops, especially those in good condition, are being undervalued in the marketplace right now, due to three obvious facts: (1) the model has been superseded by the T60; (2) Vista is coming out and T4x laptops are viewed as Win XP machines even though many or most can run Vista fine; (3) there are a lot of them for sale.

I recently sold a T42 through ebay after listing it here for a few days. When I decided to sell it, I used the only objective and easily accessible database of value (for this sort of thing) that I know of; ebay completed sales.

If you are a registered ebay user, this information is available to you for FREE. All you have to do is an advanced search, checking the box for "completed items only." Input a few terms in your search line that will narrow the list of prior auctions found to those of similar machines. Some things matter more than others; RAM is easily and cheaply upgraded and hard drives are similar if demainding a tiny bit more technical knowledge. So, looking at your laptop configuration, I'd put this into the search line:

T43 SXGA+ 14"

If you get too many listings, then you could add

512mb 60gb 1.5gb

You could also check the boxes to only look at laptops sold in North America, or for your currency of choice.

You will then need to make allowances for condition, remaining warranty and any other factors you think might effect the sales value.

Good luck.

[pianowizard]

Yes, like Ken said, you should look up the completed auctions on eBay. But if you want to sell it on this forum (where the buyers are stingier than those on eBay!), and assuming that your fan doesn't make much noise, I would say $750US shipped at most.

You can most likely do better on eBay, like $900 minus fees, but that's just a wild guess because I haven't checked the prices of T43's, or any laptop for that matter, on eBay in over a month.

[Ken Fox]

I am wondering how much this T43 laptop is worth now in the market. It's been babied and about two years warranty remaining from IBM. The specs are as follows:

Product: ThinkPad T43 2687-D8U [change]


Operating system: All [change]

Original description: P M 750, 512MB RAM, 60GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CD-RW/DVD-R Multi-Burner, Intel 802.11a/b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

The other point of reference I could give you is that I bought a 2686M5u (that was delivered to me brand new from Lenovo the beginning of last week, from an online closeout) for $899 plus sales tax. That model lacks a 3 year warranty (has only 1 year) but otherwise is preferable to what you are selling. It has a 2ghz processor and a DVD-RW drive. This machine, no longer available as far as I know, was listed on the "outlet" page of the Lenovo site for at least 4-6 weeks at this price of $899.

From what I"ve seen on ebay, you will be competing with new machines in the T4x series once you hit the $900 mark. This is not only XGA models but SXGA+ models, and not all are refurbs. I've seen SXGA+ 14" models for sale with 3 year real Lenovo Warranties for $950-$1000 in the last week. The added stick of RAM is not worth much as anyone can buy a stick for ~$100, and replacing RAM is so easy I've walked my 70+ year old father through it on the phone, who is someone who would put his own technical expertise at maybe changing a light bulb.

[underclocker]

I concur with pianowizard, $750 here, anyone's guess on eBay - but definitely more.

It's a very nicely spec'd machine, but T60's drift below 1K occassionally.

I'm seeing XGA T40's w/o warranty going for $600+ on eBay. It all depends on the inventory, ad and the buyers at the moment. With two willing purchasers, you've got an auction.

[dsigma6]

I just sold my T43 on Monday with 1.86GHz, 1GB, 40GB 5400, 14.1 SXGA+ and brand new 6 cell for $900 locally. The machine was in perfect condition and has 26 months of IBM warranty.

[pianowizard]

I just sold my T43 on Monday with 1.86GHz, 1GB, 40GB 5400, 14.1 SXGA+ and brand new 6 cell for $900 locally. The machine was in perfect condition and has 26 months of IBM warranty.

Didn't you buy it here for under $700 just last month? So you made $200!!!

[underclocker]

disgma6 is on his way to a house...

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

[pianowizard]

disgma6 is on his way to a house...

I think he will get a T60 through this forum with his $900 and sell it for $1,200 on eBay.

[taishan]

Thanks guys for your replies. It's hard to put a price for a T43 nowadays. But for under $750, normally ppl won't get a T43 with an X300 but just the intergrated graphics. I might just as well keep it since it would be hard to sell the unit for around $1000 range. I spent about $1800 for the laptop and the memory upgrade. So I would not sell it for under $900 for sure....

I will check the listings on ebay and I will post the prices on similiar configurations later...

Once again, thanks guys for your replies.

[dsigma6]

Didn't you buy it here for under $700 just last month? So you made $200!!!

Closer to $750. $900 was my starting price, but the guy really liked the machine, and I assume he had enough money not to need to nickel and dime. I actually spent an hour and a half at Starbucks with him setting it up and speaking nerd to one another. He's familiar with the forum so I'm sure he'll be reading this any day.

I had some $%# face on craigslist say "Hey, if you don't sell for your asking price, I'll give you $500." I was very kind in my reply! As to the paperclip, maybe if it started out with a trackpoint cap, that'd be interesting!

I never wanted to sell it, at least not for another year, but I just found out there's a baby on the way...

[pianowizard]

I had some $%# face on craigslist say "Hey, if you don't sell for your asking price, I'll give you $500."

I have sold 23 laptops on Craigslist and usually get some lowball offers like that.

I never wanted to sell it, at least not for another year, but I just found out there's a baby on the way...

I do not want to keep my T43 for much longer but I have to because I have put $800 into it and it has so many problems that there is no way I can sell it for even close to $800. These are problems that I don't mind -- the fan is always on and loud, there are some major cracks around the USB ports, the optical drive cannot eject the tray, and the right palm rest squeaks pretty loud -- but most people would mind them.

Congrats on the baby!

[dsigma6]

23? Who's counting?

If not for the great condition and warranty of my T43, I wouldn't have sold it. Do you think changing the keyboard bezel would fix your squeak and cd ejection problem?

Thanks for the warm wishes!

[pianowizard]

23? Who's counting?

I have an Excel spreadsheet listing all the 49 computers I've owned. I just look through it and count which ones were sold on Craigslist.

Do you think changing the keyboard bezel would fix your squeak and cd ejection problem?

It might but that would require me to spend more $$$ on this T43, which I don't want to do.

[underclocker]

The IRS loves people with good records.