Where to buy?

[Stingray]

If you guys had a choice, would you buy a T43 directly from Lenovo.com or an online dealer like Costcentral.com, newegg.com or buy.com? Does Lenovo honor rebates if bought from an online store? Any bad experiences?
Thanks
AK

[chan_man]

You shouldn't have any problems ordering directly from Lenovo.. they should all be x-IBMer's

There are some decent deals on eBay if you don't have a problem with used equipment

[smugiri]

First off, I think that there is no substitiute for some hands on time with the machines to get a feel for them. No matter where I chose to buy, I would always start with some research online / visiting some of the stores that now carry thinkpads such as CDW / compusa or some place to check out the machines for myself and get some hands on time so that I have a pretty good idea about what I am buying.

Then
- if I was buying new and wanted a higher end machine, I would buy from Bill on this site since I would be guranteed a cherry picked tested praticially perfect machine instead of having to take my chances receiving / testing machines from IBM until I got one that worked pretty good. I think this service alone aside from everything else he offers is worth a substancial premium that I would gladly pay if I could afford it ( as many have who are in the market for this class of machine )
- if this approach was not an option, I wanted then buy direct from IBM with all the warranty I could afford.
- as a last resort, I would fall back on a reputable eBay seller for a used refurb machine. I would never buy an advertised as new machine on eBay as I suspect many of these rarely constitute value for money given the very high chance of getting a lemon.

Others may disagree but there it is ...