Any Thinkpad buyer going to France ?

[pierreN]

Hello,


I’m french (so excuse me for my poor english ) and I want to buy a Thinkpad. As you already may know, those laptops are pretty expansive here : while you can have a really basic T61 for $830 in USA, here the minimum price for the same laptop is $1800 (http://www5.pc.ibm.com/fr/products.nsf/ ... eb_express ) !

However, since I saw a Thinkpad T61 at a computer conference, I want one. So I’m looking for anyone who is going to anywhere in France in a near future (until the end of September), and who would be agree to bring a Thinkpad here (of course I will give to him money as a thanks ).


Please send me an email/PM if you are interested,
Pierre.

[stgreek]

Pierre,

First of all, welcome to the forum. Since Lenovo is about to refresh all their Thinkpad lines, you can find basic Thinkpads in mush better prices than $1800 (E1200). Just looking at one of the thinkpad shops here in the Netherlands, I found brand new T61s with much better specs than the one you linked for 800-900 Euros, which I think is a safer bet than bringing a new one from the US.

[pierreN]

Thanks for your answer

Well, believe me, price in France are incredibly high. I don’t success to find a good reseller…

Maybe you know some EU reseller shipping to France ? Please let me know if you know some

[mpcook]

Hello Pierre,

I will be in Paris several times before year end, although maybe not before end of September. If you still need help after that, please get back with me and I will try and help.

Best regards,
Mike

[pierreN]

Thanks for your answer

Hopelessly I need it before the beginning October (before October the 2nd to be exact)…

[sarbin]

keep an eye here in the marketplace forum, too. t60/t61 pop up from time to time and a number of the sellers here regularly ship intentionally. just another option...

[pierreN]

For sure, I will

[stgreek]

Thanks for your answer

Well, believe me, price in France are incredibly high. I don’t success to find a good reseller…

Maybe you know some EU reseller shipping to France ? Please let me know if you know some

I prefer not to show reseller names in public, so check your PM

[Slump]

I'm in the same case as you, Pierre. It's pretty hard to find some Thinkpads at nice prices in Belgium. I'll start looking at the Luxembourg prices, which might be a little bit better, I'll tell you if I find something good.

And, Stgreek, can you send me your reseller name on PM too ? I'm really interested


Thanks

[DennyCrane]

me²

[pierreN]

Strgreek, thanks for the list. I sent you a PM.


Well. it’s obvious that a lot of people are like us. I found one solution while googling : http://www.squidoo.com/shipping-guru There is some companies which forward US packages to EU. Does anybody has some infos about it please ? There is a LOT of company doing this stuff (http://www.google.fr/search?hl=en&clien ... cher&meta= ) , so it would be great if someone has already tried one...

[Slump]

The thing is you might have to pay some custom fees when you buy something out of Europe. Maybe it's worth taking the risk ...

[oxygen14]

[quote="Slump"]The thing is you might have to pay some custom fees when you buy something out of Europe. Maybe it's worth taking the risk ...[/quote]
You could look for the custom fees before buying, and ask shipping companies how much they charge for handling custom clearance themselves. Expect to pay more than VAT.

[pierreN]

I finally decided to place an order to a german company given by strgreek

Thinkpad R61 7742-NCG : http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products. ... p/_NB0NCxx

Price : 792€ ($1192) shippinq cost/VAT included.

Since it is a 14" R61, afaik there is no difference between this laptop and one from the T serie (or am I wrong ?). I also won’t have to pay the window licence since it is shipped with Linux Furthermore,it seems that the warranty is valid in France, I’ll call Lenovo France next Tuesday to be sure.

I still haven’t done the payment (wire transfer), so if anyone knows a better deal

[RaysMD]

there's a minor difference between the R61 and T61 14"

The LCD and cover are the same, but the base is a little thicker. That's why the R61 takes a 12.5mm optical drive and the T61 takes a 9mm optical drive.

[pierreN]

there's a minor difference between the R61 and T61 14"

The LCD and cover are the same, but the base is a little thicker. That's why the R61 takes a 12.5mm optical drive and the T61 takes a 9mm optical drive.

Ah. I didn’t know that. Do you know why it is thicker ?



I tried to call Lenovo this morning.However, they said that I need to know type (which is 7742) and serial number. I don’t have the serial number of the laptop (since I didn’t buy it), so they can not give me infos about warranty... Does anyone have an ideas where/how to have those infos please ?

[stgreek]

Ah. I didn’t know that. Do you know why it is thicker ?

It is a design issue, a material issue and the fact that T-series would not justify the cost if they were exactly the same as the R-series

I tried to call Lenovo this morning.However, they said that I need to know type (which is 7742) and serial number. I don’t have the serial number of the laptop (since I didn’t buy it), so they can not give me infos about warranty... Does anyone have an ideas where/how to have those infos please ?

From the Lenovo support site, it seems that 7742 types are under international warranty, so it should not be a problem. Especially since both countries are in the EU, it is much easier than, say, a US-model being serviced abroad.

That said, I have had over 40 Thinkpads, and I never had service refused, regardless of their origin (To be fair, I have only used it 3 times ).

[basketb]

...
I tried to call Lenovo this morning.However, they said that I need to know type (which is 7742) and serial number. I don’t have the serial number of the laptop (since I didn’t buy it), so they can not give me infos about warranty... Does anyone have an ideas where/how to have those infos please ?

The seller should tell you.