Thinkpads Forum

Hi, I'm still fairly new here and a real newbie to laptops.

My old desktop's to big for my grandsons room so I want to get him a reliable laptop that he can use for school work, don't want to pay over the top for anything, so can anyone advise me on what would be a good buy and a decent price to pay for a used laptop, IBM preferably.

Wont be playing games on it but will need a modem and a floppy and cd drive.

I've been looking in this forum seem to have missed out on some good sales that would have been ideal. Was going to look on ebay but I've been reading some posts that have stopped me even thinking about that...

Does anyone have anything suitable for sale...

After reading more posts I've been searching, IBM UK don't do refurbished, just pass you on to resellers.

Found an IBM that looks ok to me, but as I said I'm new to all this so opinions would be welcome. As well as the IBM there's a HP...

What would be the better machine, no operating system so I'll have to buy one, even so is the price ok for what I'd get...Less then £300. around $600 dollars I think.
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IBM Thinkpad 390X
Pentium III 500Mhz
128Mb RAM, 11.1Gb HDD
Power Supply / Battery
14.1" Colour TFT Display
On Board Modem - NO LEAD
Neo Magic Graph 256AV Graphics Card
Soundcard
1.44Mb Floppy Drive, CDROM Drive
Ports: USB, Parallel, Serial, VGA Out, S-Video
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Hewlett Packard Omnibook 6000
Celeron 550Mhz Processor
288Mb Ram, 19.1Gb Hard Drive
1.44Mb Internal Floppy Drive, DVD-ROM Drive
14.1" XGA TFT Display
Power Supply / Lithium-Ion Battery
Internal 56k Modem
16 Bit Sound Blaster / In Built Speakers
Ports: USB Port, VGA, Parallel, serial PS2, Video Out
2 x PCMCIA Slots, Infrared
Dual Pointing Device: Pointing Stick & Touch Pad
Win 2000 COA (License Only, No Software Pre-Loaded)

**Please note, this laptop is to be sold with a Hair Line Crack (approx 1cm) by the side of the Touch Pad. This won't invalidate the 28 Day RTB warranty, but we can't accept any returns due to the Hair Line Crack.
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Anyone know what they mean by this....Win 2000 COA (License Only, No Software Pre-Loaded)

Hello...

I have this listed on Ebay right now http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... RK:MESE:IT ,I know you said no Ebay,but i've been a member on here for quite awhile,and sold quite a few things to other members(laptops as well)....and my feedback speaks for itself..!!!....I have shipped quite a few things to the U.K and NEVER had a problem..!!!

If you are interested,go to www.ups.com for a shipping quote I live in Canada and my postal code is K8N 3M6 (need for a quote)..

Later...

Greg St.L

770X is a good thinkpad for a grandson...that's what's above. I would also recommend a 600E or 600X. These are plentiful and their reputation speak for themselves. By the way, how old is your grandson? Age of a child would make a difference to me. My son is 12 and has my old 600E and that's plenty fo him...it has Windows2000 Pro loaded on it with 256MB of RAM besides the 36MB built onto the mother board. I wouldn't buy a blank thinkpad and install the O.S. myself if you haven't done that kind of thing before.

COA is the License...it has a license sticker for Windows2000 but the operating system (OS) isn't loaded, so conceivably you could "borrow" someone's Windows2000 installation disc and put it onto your laptop without violating any copy right laws. But like I said, I wouldn't load an OS onto a laptop without having done this yourself in the past. Just my 2cents worth.

I know that I'm biased here, but I'd stay away from Ominous Books....LOL

mij... Thanks for the tip on not trying to load the O/S I'm good at messing enough things up as it is without messing about with anything that's complicated...


soi... thanks for the pointer...I've mailed you a few questions via e-bay...having a little trouble with the site at the moment...need to sign in everytime I change a page etc. ( e-bay )

Grandsons 10 next month so I'd be buying as a birthday present ...on a bit of a budget since I retired so it's important for me not to make any mistakes...

OTOH, I would not use any laptop without first formatting the drive. Who knows what kind of cruft, spyware or worse is on there?

Buy a techy friend dinner if you have to, but make sure the thing is clean.

Another good idea formost laptops is if you can get ahold of the recovery CD's. This will let you clear your drive, put on the OS and all the drivers in a few steps. While not essential to have recovery CD's, they are good if you are a non-techie as you don't need to spend time looking for the software and drivers and setting up your machine will be easier.

Is it possible to buy recovery cds from IBM for certain systems.

Is it possible to make recovery discs oneself from what's already loaded...

Sorry...not really thick...just learning...

Oh yes, recovery discs. Good idea! This is virtually fool-proof. But still after all is loaded, you will want to do updates. Also, you will want to load a good antivirus program (AVG is free and decent...do a web search). Depending on the model, you won't be able to make recovery discs from the computer itself. Only fairly new models have this option and we are talking about more expense. I would recommend you get a 600E. I have a recovery disc for that model (Windows98SE). I would be glad to send it to you. I'm not sure of the 770 series, but if you decide to go that route, you have a whole community here that would be able to help you out, or direct you to where you can get the recovery disc(s).

If I'm not too late, I have a 600X (not a speedstep, 500 MHZ) with a bunch of accessories (docking station, two brand new 3800mAh batteries, an external battery charger, internal DVD/CD, external floppy, two AC adapters, 256M Ram, wireless LAN card, etc.). I'm just upgrading to a faster unit and thinking about selling my setup.

It runs W98SE (for now), but I don't have a recovery CD for it (where do you suppose those all go)?

Anyway, if you're interested, let me know...

Dan

hI lUTAMI,

iM IN tELFORD. iF YOU NEED ANY HELP WITH WHATEVER YOU EVENTUALLY GTE, AND ARE IN TRAVELLING DISTANCE, BRING IT OVER AND iLL SET UP ALL OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM AND WHATEVER OTHER SOFTWARE YOU HAVE...


Oh bum, sorry, caps lock...

PM or email me for my phone number if I can help

Thanks g8ina, I'd take you up on the offer only I'm in Kent.

Was lucky enough to see a 600e in a little side street computer shop on a trip to London (l was looking for somewhere to park)


It's fine so he's happy, advice from here said it was a suitable machine and it is.

Been searching for one for a relative now ( they think I'm an expert on a bargain now ) I've learnt a lot from these forums so I may be lucky.