Thinkpads Forum

Thinkpad A21m (2628)

05/21/2007: UPDATE - SOLD for 275.00...to a happy buyer


Loaded and ready to use.

Price: $350 (Look at what you get)+shipping

04/24/2007: UPDATE - What is your best offer? See my post below.

Brief description:

P3-800 MHz,14.1" LCD,512MB RAM,20GB HDD,CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo (+spare),3.5" FDD, good battery(+spare) Windows 2000 (fullypatched) + Extra Utilities, Restore CDs + extra software
(Details below)

It is used but in good clean condition, and shall give good service for another few years to anyone requiring a decent machine for basic computing needs.


NOTES:
1. March 2007 - Original motherboard (2628-GTU) replaced with 2628-PRU, BIOS updated, tested and works without any problem.
2. Right-side lid latch has a stuck spring, and needs to be pushed manually to close.
3. LCD has no dead pixels, but a slightly bright finger-tip sized spot near center, unnoticable during use.
4. Carrying case: Padded notebook sleeve (used)

Link to IBM


DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
Motherboard: 2628-PRU, BIOS KXET36WW (1.09), 08 Sep 2003
Video: ATI 8 MB Video, AGP 2X (ATI Rage M)
LCD: 14.1" SXGA (1024x768)
CPU: Intel P3-800MHz, 100MHz FSB
RAM: 512MB PC100 (IBM, 2 x 256 MB)
HDD: 20 GB Hitachi 4200 rpm (Partitioned c:\ = 8 GB, D:\ = 10.5 GB)
ODD: 1. CD-R/DVD-ROM - IBM original
2. CD-RW/DVD-ROM - Sony 810, upgrade, use DeepBurner freeware
FDD: 3.5"
Ports: 1 Serial, 1 parallel, 1 USB 1.1, 1 PS-2, 1 VGA, PCMCIA slot, S-Video out, mic-in, line-out, head-phone out, built-in mic
Speakers: Stereo
Network: Intel mini-PCI PRO/100 SP + 56K Lucent Modem Mobile Combo Adapter.
Pointing Device: Trackpoint.
Keyboard: Legendary IBM Thinkpad (NMB), a pleasure to type on.
Slot for Thinkpad dock
Ac adapter: IBM 72 watt adapter (16V 4.5A).
Battery:1. Original (IBM) 3600 mAH (2001, 5-10 min backup ) - Use while plugged in.
2. New (IBM) 3600 mAH (2003, ~ 1 hr backup) - Stored at 50% charge in fridge when not in use.
3. New (aftermarket) 6600 mAh (2006, ~ 2.5 hr backup) - Stored at 50% charge in fridge when not in use
OS: Windows 2000 + Service Pack4 + Rollup + All current Patches
IBM utilities: Latest for A21 from IBM/Lenovo
Software: System restore CDs + CD containing SP4 + rollup
Extra Software (installed + on CD):
1. AVG free antivirus
2. Zonealarm 7.0 firewall
3. Spybot
4. Diskeeper Lite 7.0 Build 418
5. RegScrubXP, Regclean - To keep registry clean
6. 4T tray-mnimizer
7. Tugzip 3.4
8. Deepburner for CD-RW
9. Firefox 2.0.0.3
10. Java Runtime 6 Update 1
11. Acrobat Reader 7.08
12. WMP9, Real Player, WinAmp 5 (Lite), DIVX codecs, Adobe Flash player, Irfanview
13. ATnotes 9
14. Open office 2.2 (On CD) - MS Office replacement
15. GIMP 2.2 (On CD) - Photoshop replacement
16. More....

You can add:

1. External Mouse(~$5-10)

2. USB2.0 PCMCIA adapter (~ $15-20, 'Zonet' is a good one)

3. Wireless PCMCIA adapter (~$10-20)

4. Larger Hard drive (40GB, 5400rpm ~$50)

asadniazi wrote:You can add:

Where's the subtract option?

If you look at Ebay prices, the overall package I am offering doesn't need subtraction. If you want to trim down (less the restore CDs, less 256Mb RAM, less the spare optical drive, less the extended battery, less a slip-case) then you could bring it to under $300. In fact just the RAM module was ~$50 last I looked.

PLUS: Spare eraser-head for the trackpoint.

Take this for what you will, but I'm not in the market and so have no motivations what-so-ever other than to just pass along the information. I'm certain that your machine is in great condition and you have a lot of devices to go with it, but I think you'll find the $350 is going to be quite a bit over what folks (especially those on this list) will be willing to pay for a PIII/800Mhz laptop.

In the last year, I've bought 4 machines ranging from $325-400 and they were 3 T40s (all with at least 512Mb RAM and 40Gb HDDs) and 1 R40. They were also all with Pentium M processors and DVD/CDRW combo drives. I also picked up a T23 (PIII/1.13, 1Gb RAM, 40Gb HDD, DVD/CDRW) for $250 during this time.

You might try doing a search on what's been sold on this Marketplace and see what the prices have been.

I don't mean to be rude or anything friend but as schen said the price is steep for this machine with above mentioned specs.

Wow, you are offering a lot to go with this machine. Still I think the price is a little steep. I paid $150 shipped for my T21. Now this was a 750 Mhz model and had the 13.3" screen, but had CD- Drive, floppy drive, restore CDs, 10 GB hard drive, etc. I was offered to have the LCD upgraded for an additional $60, which is about right for an LCD. Over the month I have had it, I was able to get an 800Mhz CPU, 14.1" LCD and a DVD drive. If I were to sell it, it would be around $180. I would say for what you are selling, it should go for $220 easily. If you put this on ebay, I would expect around $250-275, but electronics have not been selling all that well in ebay as of late.

I've recently sold an A21M bought from the original owner, never out of the house, with a brand new 20Gb/5400 HDD, restore disks (W2K) and original ThinkPad case for $220 on eBay. If I didn't have kids who were dangerous around laptops, I would've kept it for its sheer museum quality.

That being said, if you're extremely lucky, you may walk away with $250 after fees on eBay, but not here. A very nice A21M has been sold here for $170 (or was it 130?) a couple of weeks ago..and it was pretty close to mint for something of this age.

Consider this: I've got an A22M (2628-VSU) with integrated wireless, and combo drive, 20Gb HDD, and before my daughter decided to snatch it from me, I've had it on eBay and couldn't go pass $190. Machine is by no means in perfect condition physically, but is still a pretty powerful entry-level wireless ThinkPad.

Oh, and by the way...I've been criticized on this forum for asking $350 for a T40 (with no HDD but otherwise complete and very nice) ...so you do the math...

Good luck. You'll need it with that price.

ajkula66 wrote:I've recently sold an A21M bought from the original owner, never out of the house, with a brand new 20Gb/5400 HDD, restore disks (W2K) and original ThinkPad case for $220 on eBay. If I didn't have kids who were dangerous around laptops, I would've kept it for its sheer museum quality.

Consider this: I've got an A22M (2628-VSU) with integrated wireless, and combo drive, 20Gb HDD, and before my daughter decided to snatch it from me, I've had it on eBay and couldn't go pass $190. Machine is by no means in perfect condition physically, but is still a pretty powerful entry-level wireless ThinkPad.

Oh, and by the way...I've been criticized on this forum for asking $350 for a T40 (with no HDD but otherwise complete and very nice) ...so you do the math...

IMHO the point is that beside the overall inability of computers to hold value, A2x machines seem to be somewhat underprice. I love them (especially for friends and family looking for something good, but inexpensive) and find them to be good solid machines. Occassionally, you'll find someone who will go to a higher price on a premium "P" model, but even that doesn't happen very often.

As an aside, if I was in the market at that time, I'd have jumped on a $350 T40 HDD or no HDD!

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, folks. I do understand that computers lose their market value exponentially - This one was $1700 or so when purchased in 2001 and I have put in about $300 worth of stuff +time over the last few years. I like the thinkpad (that's why we're all here, isn't it?) and would gladly have given it away to a family member if they didn't already have theirs.

What would be your offers?

Keep in mind that the system is ready to use so you don't have to spend time configuring it (your time=$ too).

If it helps, I can split up the sale (I would prefer to sell the bundle as it is less of a headache for me):

laptop+disks with
(1) cd-r/dvd-rom OR cd-rw/dvd-rom;
(2)choice of battery (old 3600mAH (5-10 min), newer 3600mAH (~60% of rated capacity, ~1 hr)), new 6600mAH(~85-90% of rated capacity, ~2-2.5hr)

NOTE: I don't have a sellers' paypal account (have only purchased stuff on ebay, never sold).