T42 in CTO form

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barras · #1 Post by **barras** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:28 am

Hey all,

I'm helping a friend look for a T42. I've recommended the 2378-FVU which I am currently using. It's a fantastic machine and all, but I think my friend wants something that is more configurable. I'm guessing that a CTO (Configured to Order) might be more suitable.

Would any of you happen to have the CTO model number/ordering link for an equivilent CTO model on IBM's website? Also, which WLAN card is preferred? I've not had any bad things since I replaced my faulty 2200 BG, is IBM's a/b/g superior to the Intel Chipset?

Thanks in advance.

lfeagan · #2 Post by **lfeagan** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:44 pm

Use the tabook. If you can't find one in there that is pretty close...then I just dunno what to say.

ian · #3 Post by **ian** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 5:17 pm

How about "Well I'll be..." ?

Esteban · #4 Post by **Esteban** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:08 am

I saw CTOs at www.ibm.com/education/us/ offered from $853.20-- a T42 2378FTU with PM 1.5 GHz, 14.1 XGA, 32 VID. Regular Web Price $948. Availability 10 days. A good number of other T series CTOs at higher prices.

They're pretty bare bones without a hard drive, memory, operating system, and most likely more I didn't look for.

By buying the "missing parts" from NewEgg.com, Crucial.com, etc. one might build a very nice customized ThinkPad at a good price.

The path I took to find T series CTO's is roughly> www.ibm.com/education/us/ > Student PC Purchases > ThinkPads > Products & Services > ThinkPad T series > Express CTO > Show Only-all products.

A T42 2378fvu from IBM looks like a sweet spot as far as value for a Thinkpad-newbie-to-be like myself.

lfeagan · #5 Post by **lfeagan** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 3:15 pm

Esteban wrote:A T42 2378fvu from IBM looks like a sweet spot as far as value for a Thinkpad-newbie-to-be like myself.

You have reached the conclusion many of us have reached of recent. The FVU is a great value.

barras · #6 Post by **barras** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 3:29 pm

That it is. Can't find an alternative CTO system from the Tabook. I think I might've missed something.

That said, I wonder how many FVUs IBM pushes out, it seems that everybody else on this board has an FVU.

lfeagan · #7 Post by **lfeagan** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 4:28 pm

Yes, well...not surprisingly, IBM really isn't in the business of pushing out a lot of CTO machines, even though they do offer them, which I admit is quite nice. The FVU is a killer deal, esp if you get a student discount on it, which should be like 20%. Whereas on the CTO models you only get a 10% discount. This, of course, makes sense. Things like RAM and HDD are like pudding for IBM where they charge X and they only cost 0.5 * X. So, when you buy CTO you don't get the same % discount. If you are interested in a really top of the line model, however, the CTO deals can be quite good, as IBM (as with many companies) charge a premium that is absurd on fast hard drives, large amounts of RAM, etc....

steveho · #8 Post by **steveho** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 4:30 pm

This CTO thing is screwy. Can anyone explain the following:
IBM 2378EVU
web price $1,198.00
your price $1,078.20

Add to cart and it comes up at Base price: $1,533.80
This is without me adding things like memory, hdd, os, etc.

What gives?

steveho · #9 Post by **steveho** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 4:42 pm

OK. I figured out what was going on. The "add to cart" price includes items such as 30GB hdd, battery, modem, and dvd-rom, that wasn't reflected in the first price.

Some of the machines already include those items on the first page. That's where my confusion came into play.

whizkid · #10 Post by **whizkid** » Sun Nov 28, 2004 8:54 pm

From what I saw when trying to actually order a TCO machine from IBM, it looks like IBM requires you to buy some things. You have to have some memory. For the machines with no RAM (like some T models), you have to buy some. You have to buy a hard drive, and you have to buy an OS, and they only sell XP Home and XP Pro.

That's using the automated web store.

Lots of companies, big and small, and some individuals, have OS licenses already, or spare hard drives, or memory, and shouldn't have to buy them.

Does anyone know if you can buy barebones by phone or some other method?

T42 in CTO form

T42 in CTO form

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