Concerning on buying a refurbished T42P.

[jevons9958]

I should be considered as a qualified “ThinkPad Fan”. I have used 600X, T22, X30, T42, X61. In my eye, the queen of the ThinkPad should be “T42P” and I am looking for it now. Currently, I show interest in a refurbished one sold by the IBM website as the Certified Used Machine.

However, as shown in the website, the machine I want to buy (T42P-C96) is slight blemished and indicated as “Slight Imperfect”. And I wonder if it is worthy of being possessed or not?

Here is the link:
https://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... logId=-840

I would be so good if you can give me some ideas.

Thanks a lot!

Joe

[richk]

I am always afraid of machines called blemished, when they don't tell you what the blemishes are. Does that mean small scratches in the cover or that the backlight is going out in the screen?

[Harryc]

Some very reputable sellers post T42/p's for sale frequently on our own Marketplace forum. My advice would be to wait for one of those to appear ...

[Johan]

In my eye, the queen of the ThinkPad should be “T42P” and I am looking for it now. Currently, I show interest in a refurbished one sold by the IBM website as the Certified Used Machine.

However, as shown in the website, the machine I want to buy (T42P-C96) is slight blemished and indicated as “Slight Imperfect”. And I wonder if it is worthy of being possessed or not?

Welcome to the forum, Joe!

As a (for the time being, happy!) T42p owner myself, I agree with you that these are the queens of ThinkPad's, but I have only seen few other Thinkpad's, so I may most likely be a bit biased!

Anyway, what you ask has been extensively discussed on this forum recently, and I therefore (kindly!) suggest you read the following threads - and also see the links made reference to therein (because no point in repeating what has already been extensively discussed and shared). There have been very mixed experience with the IBM certified user equipment lately, which will be evident from the below threads - see e.g. what Scott (user losmeme) had to go through... so I would surely advice you to read extensively and carefully on this forum before ordering (if...), so that you are prepared to the maximum. The threads I recommend reading (for a beginning!), if considering to buy a used T42(p) either via IBM as you consider or from elsewhere, are these (in random order):

IBM Factory Refurbished Units - Safe to buy?

IBM Certified used notebook questions

Certified Used T42p - Very disappointed

Flexview LCDs - inside dust and dark spots problem

T42p Screen Brightness

About to buy; T42 vs T43; NOISE, HEAT, 15" SX vs. UX LC

Is this a Good Price

T42p won't come out of standby or won't boot after shutdown

Would u say that a used T42P is reliable ? + Things To Check

Buying a 2nd hand T42p

Best regards,

Johan

[richk]

I have a really nice one that I am going to sell after I migrate to a T43p. It is like the one looked at, except it has wireless G but no fingerprint. It also has 60GB 7200RPM disk

[ajkula66]

People have been reporting a lot of issues with these (refurbished T42p laptops from IBM) and they only come with 3 or 6 months warranty...

Plenty of comparable machines are available from private sellers with more warranty remaining...that can be extended further which is not the case with "official" IBM refurbs.

Your money, your choice. But buying a refurb from IBM would be my very last resort.

Good luck.

[losmeme]

I've been watching those same T42p machines for awhile now. The same model will be shown at the same price, but not as slightly blemished. They have flip-flopped like that three or four times now in the past month and a half.

I ordered one of those early in January, and wasn't too happy, though I did manage to get the LCD and keyboard changed. The battery was less than a third of its' original design capacity.

I think you could do better elsewhere than these particular machines.

[jevons9958]

Thanks a lot Johan.

I really appreciate the threads you gave me. I am reading them now.

Thanks again.

In my eye, the queen of the ThinkPad should be “T42P” and I am looking for it now. Currently, I show interest in a refurbished one sold by the IBM website as the Certified Used Machine.

However, as shown in the website, the machine I want to buy (T42P-C96) is slight blemished and indicated as “Slight Imperfect”. And I wonder if it is worthy of being possessed or not?

Welcome to the forum, Joe!

As a (for the time being, happy!) T42p owner myself, I agree with you that these are the queens of ThinkPad's, but I have only seen few other Thinkpad's, so I may most likely be a bit biased!

Anyway, what you ask has been extensively discussed on this forum recently, and I therefore (kindly!) suggest you read the following threads - and also see the links made reference to therein (because no point in repeating what has already been extensively discussed and shared). There have been very mixed experience with the IBM certified user equipment lately, which will be evident from the below threads - see e.g. what Scott (user losmeme) had to go through... so I would surely advice you to read extensively and carefully on this forum before ordering (if...), so that you are prepared to the maximum. The threads I recommend reading (for a beginning!), if considering to buy a used T42(p) either via IBM as you consider or from elsewhere, are these (in random order):

IBM Factory Refurbished Units - Safe to buy?

IBM Certified used notebook questions

Certified Used T42p - Very disappointed

Flexview LCDs - inside dust and dark spots problem

T42p Screen Brightness

About to buy; T42 vs T43; NOISE, HEAT, 15" SX vs. UX LC

Is this a Good Price

T42p won't come out of standby or won't boot after shutdown

Would u say that a used T42P is reliable ? + Things To Check

Buying a 2nd hand T42p

Best regards,

Johan

[jevons9958]

Also thanks a lot for all your replies.

I think maybe I need wait for a while to buy this machine.