New T23! Rate my deal! Paid $463

[PrincipalValiant]

Hey everyone!

I just came across thinkpads.com and thought it would be interesting to see what the real experts think of my recent acquisition.

About a week ago I purchased a used T23 from a private owner for $550 even Canadian, about $463.32 American (for all you Yanks). I bought it from an old guy who was selling it for his son and he knew little about it. I am almost sure that it has a nearly brand new battery in it. Its an IBM brand, I get around or just over 2 1/2 hours run time with a wireless card and normal power saving settings, pretty sweet for a 4 year old laptop.

The configuration is PIII 1Ghz, 40GB (* 5400rpm) hdd, 256mb ram (I upped this to 768 with some I had around), DVD drive, its got the lower end screen that can only handle 1024x768 (anyone know what its called?)


The only downside I can think of this particular deal is its condition. It looks like it had been refurbished and well worked,

http://img29.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tp15cc.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tp22hv.jpg

However there are next to no scratches on its cover and the case is as sturdy as any Thinkpad I've worked on. Whoever was working on this didn't install the keyboard properly so I downloaded the service manual from ibm, popped it in/out and its fine.

Aside from that there are a few really faint smudges on the screen from the keyboard (and I guess sweat), does anyone know a way to remove these? I tried water, but I don't want to use anything that will damage the screen. They just look like common smudge buildup.

I remember hearing about the T23's popularity from friends and I find that just about any surplus computer store has parts for these. I'm really looking forward to finding one of the better screens (super xga or something?) and a cdrw for it.

The particular revision is a 2TU, does anyone know when these began/ended shipping? IBM's website has these refurbished (with a 20GB drive) on sale for $603CDN, however I'd have to pay 15% tax + shipping. What sort of case/battery condition do the ones from IBM come with?

So what do you all think? Did I luck out? Is this a cool setup or what?

[c333]

Welcome to the forums.

Use the warranty lookup:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

you can figure out when it was manufactures/shipped. Hopefully it still works for the older models.

I believe a distilled water and isopropyl alcohol 50/50 mix with a microfiber cloth can clean the screen and case. If you haven't already, I would recommend a format and fresh install. Enjoy!

[carbon_unit]

Sounds like a fairly good deal to me.
A 7k60 hard drive will speed it a little bit.
I would do the fresh install too. Is the restore partition intact?

[PrincipalValiant]

The restore partition is no longer in tact, I blanked it and loaded XP Pro. With the extra ram there is more or less no difference in performance between it and my desktop (athlon 64 4000) in everyday applications like web browsing, office and email. I'd say I'm definitely satisifed, hopefully I'll come across a new screen bezel sooner or later.

No luck with cleaning that gunk off the screen, its in a U outline mirroring the trackpad area. I guess the sweat must have really corroded onto the screen. No biggie, it just looks like dust, wouldn't see it at all unless you looked and you can't see it at all when the screen is on. Then again I'm a bit reluctant to clean it too hard. That mixture worked well for cleaning the keyboard and the rest of the case.

IBM says it was manufactured in Feb 02 and shipped in mid-March, the warranty expired only 5 months ago. As a precaution to prevent any further screen corrosion I cut out a thin piece of white cloth which I will place over the keyboard and trackpad area when closing the lid.

Would you guys say that the condition I received it in is consistent with a certified IBM Thinkpad?

Forgot to mention no dead pixels on it, the same model IBM is offering has only 128MB ram and a 20GB hdd

[baraider]

Nice pickup nonetheless. I'm coming from a brand new T42 to a used T23 and I think the trade off is worth it.

I do miss the fingerprint reader, the lighter weight, the faster dvd drive of the T42 but i like the sturdiness of the T23. It looks like i can knock it around hard without problem.

I have the higher end version of T23, put in the 7k60, upgrade the ram, put in new battery and I'm loving my T23 now. I think i can use it for a while till the T5x coming out

[ssm0003]

That's a very decent price for a used T23. I have a T23 I bought new back on 2003 and feel it's the best laptop I've ever owned. Once you get the memory above 500mb, the next best bang for the buck thing you can do for your T23 is drop a 7200rpm drive in it. I noticed a significant increase in speed after doing that.