Thinkpads Forum

As the title states, I am looking for a very cheap, but working laptop. I just need a very basic one. Say a PI 100mhz with a 1g HD and 32 mb of ram. Or thereabouts. It will be used as a diagnostic computer for hooking up to a car to communicate with the cars ECU using a 1.4mb program. Windows 95 or 98 will be fine. A working battery would be nice, but considering the age of the machine (over 10 years old probably), I can't be too picky I guess.

If anyone has anything like this, can you please let me know how much you want. I was thinking in the $25 + shipping range, depending on what accesories it comes with. I know there are lots on E-bay, but I thought I would post here in case someone wanted to unload one instead of sending it to a landfill

Thanks for looking.

Well, I have a spare i1400, but I guess that's too powerful. (I never thought I'd hear myself say that )

LOL

My dad still uses an I series to check his e-mail. I can't believe he paid almost $3g's for that thing back in the day

I think I found a really cheap one locally in the local kijiji.com classifieds. $10 for a 750ec I think it was? I'll call the guy tomorrow. It comes with win 95 and an AC adapter. Even if I have to spend $20 on a battery from E-bay, I will still be ahead of the game.

Wingnut wrote:I think I found a really cheap one locally in the local kijiji.com classifieds. $10 for a 750ec I think it was? I'll call the guy tomorrow. It comes with win 95 and an AC adapter. Even if I have to spend $20 on a battery from E-bay, I will still be ahead of the game.

That's not a bad deal, good luck!

I use a 765CD for just that purpose. I just have it boot to DOS and autoexec.bat runs the diagnostic program.

Where do you guys get the programs?

I have an older laptop that I would love to put to work like this.

You have to buy hardware too. It is not just a software deal.
Here is what I have: http://www.scantool.net/
The low priced stuff like this is pretty limited in what you can do with them. You can read codes, some sensors and reset the MIL lamp and that is about all. You can't read data logs and such.

I use mine to work on VW's. You can download the software at www.ross-tech.com and with an interface that plugs into your serial port, you can use your laptop to talk to the cars ECU. With that software, I can check & clear MIL's, log data, like speed, temps, boost pressure, fuel quantity & stuff like that. You can also make adaptation changes like advance the timing, add or reduce fuel, stuff like that. That software even connects to other controlers in the car too, not just the engine ECU. You can program the door locks, change stuff on the instrument cluster (not mileage though) and even clear an airbag light on some models. It really is a great bit of software.

Anyway, back on topic. I found a local sale of 3 laptops for C$90 on Kijiji. 2 were IBM 365XD's (PI, 133mhz) and one was a Dell Latitude (PI, 233mhz). All came with A/C adapters and the IBM's came with working batteries, even though they only hold a charge for 20 min. For $30 a piece, I can't complain. I can only get 2 of them to work though.I can't get one of the 365's to boot up. It is giving me the I9990302 & I9990305 errors. They have something to do with the HD. But I will post in the correct forum for help on that.

Thanks to all who offered their old systems. Had it not been for the shipping costs, I could have gotten some good deals.