Is this a good deal on a new T42p?

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texasdiver · #1 Post by **texasdiver** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:48 pm

Hi guys:

I've been shopping for a T42 to replace my aging Dell and looking at various pricing options for various models including the government employee purchase program (I'm a Federal contractor) or even going ebay.

Then I stumbled across this sale on the IBM web site:

$2299 sale price for a loaded T42p 2372HVU

Another link to the 2373HVU

It looks like everything I've been looking for in a new laptop, especially the UXGA screen because I work with a lot of large spreadsheets and do 2-page text editing and page layout work.

Since I've been shopping for Thinkpads, I haven't seen any IBM discounts of this magnitude so I'm about to jump on this deal. However I'm sort of wondering if I'm missing something. It SEEMS like a great deal but then I'm not really that close to how IBM sells thinkpads. I understand that the T43s are in the works and that might be why IBM is trying to unload the T42p. But I suspect a comparable T43p will be $3500+ I've gone over the specs on this machine as closely as I can and I can't see where IBM has skimped on anything. It seems totally loaded and even comes with a single 1GB RAM module so I can bump up to 2 GB with another module from Crucial without discarding anything.

So is this a really good deal on the T42p or is there some detail that I'm missing. The only special pricing that I legitimately qualify for is the Federal employee price and there is nothing in that section of the web site that compares to this deal.

Thanks for any comment. Should I jump on this deal or not?

rocketman · #2 Post by **rocketman** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:00 pm

Looks good to me. It's one of the models before the finger print reader but who cares? It has everything going for it.
Interesting that it's less than the 2379R9U which is the model I have. Too bad the 1600x1200 display resolution isn't good for me.

texasdiver · #3 Post by **texasdiver** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:18 pm

Yeah, I couldn't care less about the fingerprint reader. I work out of a rural home office and no one else ever touches or has access to my laptop.

I went ahead and ordered the thing to get into the queue since they don't show immediate availability. I can always cancel later if I change my mind or find a reason not to get this model. Going to have it shipped to my parents house in Oregon to avoid the Texas sales tax. With the free shipping my total came to $2299 which is close to Dell pricing for a laptop with this configuration.

Zeitgeist · #4 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:51 am

texasdiver wrote:Going to have it shipped to my parents house in Oregon to avoid the Texas sales tax.

Are you sure?
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... ct=2199304

rocketman · #5 Post by **rocketman** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:00 am

Oregon has no state sales tax.

texasdiver · #6 Post by **texasdiver** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:17 am

Rocketman is right.

Oregon and Alaska have no sales tax. I've lived in both states. As I recall, New Hampshire is another but I'm not positive about that.

I did have to go to my bank's online site to switch my mailing address to my parent's address so that the credit card charge would go through because IBM will only ship to your credit card's mailing address unless you make special arrangements with your bank to add a separate approved shipping address.

But the order has gone through no problem and I was just charged the $2299 without any additional tax or shipping charge.

Zeitgeist · #7 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:19 am

rocketman wrote:Oregon has no state sales tax.

I didn't know that.

Could I order this notebook through your parents??

JD24 · #8 Post by **JD24** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:58 am

IBM will only ship to your credit card's mailing address unless you make special arrangements with your bank to add a separate approved shipping address.

Is this really neccessary? As i understand
this is only for American Express cards.

My Brother own a VISA credit card he brought from
germany and i want him to buy me a notebook from
the ibm web store. Would this be possible?

Can someone tell me how much the sales tax
is for South Carolina?

JD

rocketman · #9 Post by **rocketman** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:07 pm

JD24 wrote:

Can someone tell me how much the sales tax is for South Carolina?
JD

I think is 5 or 6%

JD24 · #10 Post by **JD24** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:26 pm

I think is 5 or 6%

Oh, that's not much (compared to 16% in germany).
Europe prices really sucks...

JD

Zeitgeist · #11 Post by **Zeitgeist** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:33 pm

JD24 wrote:
IBM will only ship to your credit card's mailing address unless you make special arrangements with your bank to add a separate approved shipping address.
Is this really neccessary? As i understand
this is only for American Express cards.

My Brother own a VISA credit card he brought from
germany and i want him to buy me a notebook from
the ibm web store. Would this be possible?

No!
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... ct=2196980

International buyers need an american express card and a delivery address in the US.

"Oh, that's not much (compared to 16% in germany).
Europe prices really sucks... "

The tax system is just different: some products or services are cheaper in the US others not.

JD24 · #12 Post by **JD24** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 12:40 pm

That's a pity!

So there is no way for me to buy from the
ibm web store.

Maybe i'll order from Bill then (via direct bank wire).

JD

texasdiver · #13 Post by **texasdiver** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:45 pm

Well, if you have the money, I'm sure that IBM will figure out a way to take it if you call them.

When I was going through the check-out process on the IBM web site and got to the credit card section there was a bunch of fine print about how they would not process credit card orders unless the shipping address was the same as the credit card billing address. They do this to prevent fraud and people using stolen credit cards to order expensive goods to alternate addresses. Makes sense to me.

The one exception is if you provide an approved alternate address with your credit card company.

I don't know why IBM won't take international credit cards other than AmEx. You can always call and ask and maybe they'll make an exception or provide some alternate procedure. On the other hand, there are other ways to get thinkpads other than from IBM direct and I'm sure most of the other 3rd party venders are less picky about where the credit card is from.

JD24 · #14 Post by **JD24** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 3:07 pm

Thanks for your reply!

I sent an email to ibm and they
will investigate my questions.

I noticed earlier that bill also accept paypal maybe i'll
do it that way.

JD

chrisnyc · #15 Post by **chrisnyc** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:42 pm

Texas Diver, that's a great link for the 2373HVU, the discount is incredible. Do you know of any other links to other high-end T42's with similar discounts. This is a much bigger discount compared to the MasterCard, etc. discounts. Thanks.

texasdiver · #16 Post by **texasdiver** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:53 pm

I don't know of any other comparable sales available to the general public. This also beats all the specials they have for sale to government employees because I was also checking there. The only deals I've heard about from IBM that are comparable are some of the university student discounts like the one they have for Harvard University. Also, the IBM employee discount price is good. There are also some good deals by the host of this site, thinkpads.com and I would check there too.

Moogle · #17 Post by **Moogle** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:27 pm

Texasdiver,

I have just purchased that exact same system, and am using it to type this very message

I am extremely pleased with this configuration -- I was somewhat concerned that I might not be happy unless I had the best (With the fingerprint reader and the 2.1ghz processor) ... I just couldn't justify a ~$600 increase in price for that.

From a performance perspective, this system does everything I want it to -- and the screen is to die for.

I will caution you... this thing sucks down battery like no tomorrow. It ships with the 9-Cell extended battery, and I've only been getting ~4 hrs 30 minutes on the most conservative power settings. A friend of mine has a T41 (Banias core, 14" 1024x768 screen) -- It has signficantly more power consumption, I could probably get 6.5-7 hrs on this extended battery in his laptop.

Other than that, I think the battery consumption is a small price to pay for the performance and the beautiful screen.

-Moogle

texasdiver · #18 Post by **texasdiver** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 4:42 pm

Thanks Moogle, my unit is on the UPS truck and out for delivery. It came too fast and my parents aren't home yet to claim it so I'm going to try to re-direct the shipment to my home in Texas to see if that works through the UPS site. I can't believe that it was less than 48 hours from shipment from Hong Kong to the first delivery attempt at my parent's house in Salem Oregon.

I'm not really very worried about battery life. About the only times I ever used my Dell for long periods of time without a power cord was on airplanes and now most of the planes are coming out with power supply so even that isn't an issue anymore if you know which seat to request which you can find out via

http://www.seatguru.com

I was also thinking of buying a 6 cell battery as a backup or main battery so that the computer is slimmer and lighter to use when I'm mostly just using it plugged in. The 9 cell would then be the backup for long flights.

Glad you like yours! I can't wait to start messing with it and getting it set up how I want. The Dell I'm typing on is very much on its last legs. The lid is cracked and the body is cracked and the keyboard is coming loose and it blanks out at odd moments.

ntully · #19 Post by **ntully** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:47 pm

Just ordered this exact system and upgraded to 3-year next-day coverage - I figure for roughly $100 extra it couldn't hurt to triple the warranty period.

Does anyone who pulled the trigger on this system have any post-purchase dissonance? I'm considering cancelling my order (they pushed the expected ship date out to Jan 25!) and holding out for a T43, which should be available in Feb/March. I'm thinking this deal is too good to pass up though, considering the specs.

Sub-topic - does anyone know anything about using the NEC ND-6500A Slim DVD+/- Drive with a T42p? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 028&depa=0 - I'm wondering if the form factor matches the Thinkpad slim bay.

Thoughts?

NathanA · #20 Post by **NathanA** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:13 pm

ntully wrote:Sub-topic - does anyone know anything about using the NEC ND-6500A Slim DVD+/- Drive with a T42p? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 028&depa=0 - I'm wondering if the form factor matches the Thinkpad slim bay. Thoughts?

If you go to the NEC web page and look at the specs, you will discover that this is a 12.5mm form factor drive, not a 9.5mm. It will not fit, unfortunately.

-- Nathan

ntully · #21 Post by **ntully** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:15 pm

Thanks Nathan - do you know of a 3rd party OEM that manufactures a 9.5mm drive? The upgrade through IBM seemed a bit steep.

NathanA · #22 Post by **NathanA** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:18 pm

As others have stated before, the Panasonic/Matshita drive is the only known 9.5mm form factor multiburner in existance. There are no other options.

You could maybe find it cheaper by not buying an IBM-branded version of the drive, and then taking the bezel off of whatever drive you already have in your T42p and mounting it on the OEM drive. The logos on the bezel would not be representative of what the drive can do in this case, but it might save you some bucks.

-- Nathan

Is this a good deal on a new T42p?

Is this a good deal on a new T42p?

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