Buying a T42 Refurbished or Open Box??

[DJHingapus]

I'm considering buying a refurbished or Open Box T42 from ebay. I don't know what the terms exactly mean. What is refurbished and what is Open Box, is the one better than the other??

Anyone who has any experience in buying a IBM at ebay?

Best Regards
Rasmus Maul

Denmark

[rossman]

My understanding:

- Refurbished means it was cleaned/repaired/tested.
- Open box usually means a store display model or a customer return that is sold as-is.

Read the fine print in the auction and contact the vendor if you have any questions BEFORE you bid.

I bought my T42 off ebay as a "factory sealed." Basically this means it was refurbished by IBM. So far I have no problems or complaints.

Ross

[ZaZ]

I've bought two ThinkPads on ebay. Both of mine were new with three year warranties. As rossman said, read the descriptions carefully. If it is refurbed, it will usually say somewhere in the description. Buying from someone with a lot of positive feedback and someone who has sold notebooks in the past is a good idea. If someone has a lot of sales, PayPal usually offers protection. Paying with a credit card offers other avenues of protection.

[DJHingapus]

thanks for the quick respons, but i'm still very concerned about buying one of these.. Which one would you prefer?? Open-Box or Refurbished??

Best Regards

[dr. zoidberg]

from what vendor are you considering to buy it from?
i bought mine from premier pc auctions and it was listed as:

IBM Factory Remanufactured Certified Product. These Are Factory Sealed computers Some Are Excess New Products-Surplus Units That Are Still New, Duplicate Orders, Canceled Orders And Systems That Have Been Returned Because They Didn't Meet Customers Specific Needs And Some Are Discontinued Products In Perfect Working Condition they All come complete with all original accessories and documentation.

[DJHingapus]

I'm considering buying it from thinkpadworld on ebay.. He looks like a serious seller with great feeback. His computers are either re(something) or brand new open box.

The re(something) comes with 1 Year IBM Warranty with EasyServ + 3 Year Mack Computer Extended (worldwide)

And the Open box with IBM Factory 3 Year Warranty.

I still can't deside which one to buy?? Don't know if it is better to buy the re(something) or the open box..

Best Regards

[baertracks]

If the price for both thinkpads is about the same I would go with the Open Box because:

1) It is NEW rather than "used and refurbished". Sometimes refurbished items can also be new items that were purchased and then immediately returned. However, there is no guarrantee that that is the case. Open box to me means "really new" (probably just removed from the box to use as a demo).

2) More importantly, the extra two years that you would get with the three year IBM easyserve warranty with the Open Box deal is worth more than an addon "three year MACK warranty." Easy serve service is first rate and VERY quick.

Regards,
FRANK

[kaplanfx]

I think Thinkpadworld and PC_and_Camera are one in the same (they have the same number at the bottom of their pages). Anyhow I have a friend at work and when I first started to consider purchasing a thinkpad, he told me that he has ordered batteries (and I think even full systems) from this guy for some of his family members. He seemed to be satisfied that the quality matched what was stated in the descriptions. Anyhow there is a phone number at the bottom and he told me that if you actually call the guy its possible to negotiate price. You should also talk to Bill who runs this site and see if he can get you a comparable discount + there is the benefit that he sells new machines!

-kaplanfx

[DJHingapus]

I think I will try to call an negotiate price... How do I contact Bill??

Thanks for the usefull respons

[baertracks]

How do I contact Bill??

Start at http://www.thinkpads.com/start.htm to see Bill's current specials and then look for his email address on the same page.

FRANK