Marvel:
You are (impressingly!) unspecific in your requirements - why do you e.g. want a T42p/T43p and then only focus on the amount of
RAM? Many users would most likely rather focus on the CPU, the GPU, VRAM, display, HDD speed and size, weight, battery time - in other words the overall operation (incl. noise!) performance. You only care about amount of RAM - which is one of the easiest and cheapest things to upgrade?! I kindly advice you to be more specific!
As you may perhaps know, T42p/T43p's come in a fairly wide range, with CPU from 1.8 GHz up to 2.33 GHz, and with displays from 14.1" SXGA+ (being of the
non-FlexView/IPS type!) via 15" SXGA+ to UXGA, the latter two both being of the highly renowned FlexView/IPS type, and they come with or without fingerprint reader, and with or without DVD-burner, Bluetooth etc. etc.
If you buy ThinkPad's from
outside the EU (e.g. in the USA), and if they are shipped insured, the customs in your country will most likely open and inspect the shipment, and they will then immediately add the local VAT on top of the foreign (insured) value that is stated on the package. Even if being shipped not-insured, and if inspected by the import-customs, you will need to pay whatever the duty (VAT) applies in your country. In Denmark e.g. the VAT is 25 %
which will significantly increase the cheap price found in e.g. USA. Then, you have the issue of warranty coverage in your country; you should check that before buying.
So, what I am getting at is this: Do not rule out trading from inside the EU (and, yes, I know that you didn't actually do this, I am just mentioning this aspect), because if you trade within the EU no duty/VAT will be added to your purchase!
Right now, there is a very cheap T42p for sale at
www.ebay.co.uk, check
here but it does not seem that this person wants to ship outside of England. Anyway, keep an eye on eBay in England and Germany (
www.ebay.de). Also, keep an eye at
www.thinkpad-forum.de - in particular their "Marktplatz". A few days ago, a user in this forum won an auction at ebay.co.uk - and got a top-of-the-line T43p for only £ 650,- !! (check
here).
In Denmark, some new T43p's are available from
www.laptops.dk but they are parallel-imported so the warranty is not provided by IBM in your country, but via Laptops.dk, who may have to ship them to the country-of-origin for service (typically being USA). Not so fun...
Good luck with your new T42p/T43p!
Regards,
Johan