Thinkpads Forum

Hello, I saw that someone else was getting opinions on selling their Thinkpad, and I was wondering if all of you might be able to give me a ball park figure on one of my Thinkpads...for what I can/should try to sell it for.

Keep in mind that for 5 years all I did was repair IBM Thinkpads, 600s through T43s, for an IBM repair center....so this has been my long term 'babied' system, and I'm ready to upgrade to a T60 or better, soon. I will miss this T30, it's by far my favorite notebook ever, other than the memory issue on the motherboards....(and the possible fingerprint marks that can show up on the LCDs)...

I understand I could part out a lot of this, but what if I was firm on selling all together? Thanks for your opinions and reading this!!!

T30 specs:

IBM T30 (2366-BU4) Keep in mind that the Base, LCD, and Motherboard have been replaced multiple times, so the BU4 is just to indicate what the original setup was. Don't think 2366-BU4 is anywhere to be found (as well as original S/N).

Only 1 memory space works, got sick of replacing motherboards, so instead, system has--

1 x 1GB DDR ram chip (IBM brand) -- other slot doesn't work -- gave up on getting addt'l motherboards after the 8th one. This setup works pretty well.

ATI Radeon mobile 7000 16mb ddr-- first notebook ready for 3d -- still plays games like Medal of Honor Allied Assault perfectly!

40gb Hitachi HDD -- newer than T30 -- 5400 rpm

Wireless G Belkin PC Card, w/ standard modem mini-pci card. Setup with wires internally for mini-pci wireless--I like the Belkin better for speed/price.

Windows XP Pro sp2 -- fresh build, COA on bottom, no media disc

LCD 1024 x 768 Perfect, no finger print burns or dead/colored pixels

Ultra-bay 2000 w/ 2nd 12gb Hitachi HDD

Larger cell regular battery

2nd Ultra-bay Lithium Ion Battery

3rd Ultra-bay Li-Ion Battery from a T40 -- this T30 includes 1 adapter to use T40 ultra bay products in this T30.

***all of these batteries are in good shape, although the larger cell regular battery has been used a lot, it's only 1.5 years old and readings indicate good shape. Both bay batteries barely used.

Ultrabay DVD-rom

Ultrabay DVD/CDr burner from a T40 (using adapter mentioned above)

Both Styles of Port Replicators, (I don't have the FRU's right now)...one is the small standard replicator, the other is the one with the powered USB hub in the Port, and the AC cord has a yellow plug on the end. Keys for the hub replicator, the other doesn't have a lock built-in.

Case and overall appearance are excellent--signs of wear are on keyboard and palm rest a bit, but the parts are not as old as the system is. They've been replaced a couple of times, each.

Trackpoint and trackpad are perfect condition.

Kingston Cable lock for notebooks

IBM optical notebook mouse

IBM carrying case (black) with shoulder strap (much newer than notebook)

For pricing... I recently sold a T30 with 512 RAM, a 20gb HD, and a standard CD drive for $300 on Craigslist. It was in excellent shape. You might get $350 - 400 for that system.

I understand that you'd love to sell all of this together, but you are likely to have quite a difficult time doing so, because majority of the buyers are not interested in getting a ton of stuff with the machine, not knowing what to do with it.

If this belonged to me, I'd be parting it PRONTO, but then again I'm a reseller, and I think like one.

If you were selling everything together, you probably would be in the $375-400 range. If you part it out, you're likely to do at least 25-30% better than that.

A non-working RAM slot is a kiss of death for an average buyer, and he/she would have a difficult time swallowing it in the range you'd be looking at if you are to sell it as a complete setup. It's much more palatable offering a base machine with 256RAM and no upgrades/extras at $250-275 and work your way up selling the rest of the stuff...

Let us know what you've decided.

Good luck with the sale.

All the best.

just askin to sell on craig's list or the paper.

If I sold on here, I'd already assumed parting it out would be the way to go.

I was thinking of the rare person that would have an old crappy system and I would be offering an upgrade that is a complete system...somebody out there, I think, would possibly like this setup. I know it would be rare, but if I didn't sell it, I'm still using it a lot.

I have repaired at least 3,000 broken T30s in my work experience for over 2 years straight, and in my opinion, it just isn't worth dealing with the bad memory slot on a T30 board. Unless somebody outside of IBM repairs the issue, I've never had any success with boards from IBM or refurbished by their people--never had any success with the front slot not going out. After a while, esp. with the system getting older (out of warranty) and larger memory chips becoming much less expensive for IBMs, I'd explain this to future possible buyers, that instead of 2 chips, just use one 1gb (or a 2 gb chip)...

...I do understand it isn't as fast as 2 512mb chips (because I've tried both ways, a lot)...but it isn't too bad....this T30 is very rock solid and I never have any issues with it. It's tougher than some T43s and X43s I've had when working for some companies. It's a 'thick brick' but I really do like the T30. Had to have it, cause I was playing 3d games before anyone else in my group of buddies when they were using their desktops at some far in the past LAN parties.

Take care all, and thanks for reading....PS. if anyone has any T30 repair questions, I did see all the issues over and over again, so I can help anyone with questions. I'll check that forum as well....



Dave

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