Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys, I am looking to buy a cheap laptop for my Mom. She needs a computer to check her emails and fill out applications so she can get another job.

I would prefer it to be at least a 1.5GHz and have internal WiFi, but without is fine.. I have a few WiFi adapters. It doesn't have to be a ThinkPad, all it has to do is work and look decent.

Looking for something under $100 shipped if that is even possible (Should be? My Dad just bought a 2.2 P4 Dell laptop for $60 shipped). If not, PM me with what you have. I do have 2 older ThinkPads and a PDA as a partial trade (760c and 760XD) and a Compaq iPaq PDA.

Thanks!

BGoins12 wrote:She needs a computer to check her emails and fill out applications so she can get another job.

If she just needs a computer, get her a desktop. For $100 you can get a quite capable desktop, but a not-so-good laptop. In fact, if you just ask around, you might get a decent desktop for free -- I have gotten quite a few just by asking.

Nah, she needs this to go with her...she goes to the Library and schooling and such.

Sent a PM with a possible candidate from my signature.

BGoins12 wrote:Nah, she needs this to go with her...she goes to the Library and schooling and such.

I see. To meet your budget and CPU requirements, you would be choosing from the R3*, R4*, T3*, or A3*. Among laptops of this generation (as opposed to the T4* and more recent laptops), the Thinkpads were by far the best brand and so I think you should just focus your search on Thinkpads. The R3* and R4* were actually made by Acer but their quality was still quite good.

Avoid the T40/41/42/p series because they have the loose GPU issue. The T4* gave IBM so much headache that they decided to sell the Thinkpads to Lenovo LOL!

BGoins12 wrote:I would prefer it to be at least a 1.5GHz

Keep in mind that 1.5GHz Pentium 4 is equivalent to something like 1.1GHz Pentium M. You may also want to consider a T23 with 1.2GHz Pentium III, which probably is also comparable to 1.5GHz Pentium 4.

If you're willing to go to $200, I just listed a practically new R60e with a 15" XGA LCD. This is probably a great machine for your mother and it's fairly modern and barely used --> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=94802

(My wife's parents share an R60, so I know first-hand how well it works for them. Quite.)

pianowizard wrote: Avoid the T40/41/42/p series because they have the loose GPU issue.

That's true for chips with gpu. I know in the T60 series there are thinkpads without additional gpu, these thinkpads run with integrated graphics. If there are T40 series notebooks with integrated graphics, they should work fine AFAIK.

I just listed a really clean T60 with a buy-it-now price under $200. I expect it will sell for $180. If you are willing to get an R60 or similar, you could get one cheaper. If you want a $100 machine, I would suggest a desktop

x31 goes around the 100 pounds on ebay.co.uk , some less , some more ( 139gbp usually )

for web / office if you know how to tweak win xp, it's a really good and capable machine.

Found what she wanted... a HP NC6000 laptop with a 1.5GHz Centrino for $50 off craigslist.