Opinions on Best Value T4X machine

[chsu74]

I am looking for a thinkpad workhorse to replace a dying Sony Viao for my wife and all she really cares about is a large monitor at home. She will be using it for med school so basic net surfing and MS office is all that it will see. I have a budget of $600 total.

Dell is now selling their 22" flat panel for $159 which leaves me $441 including shipping for a thinkpad. I am on the hunt for the best value. If I can save money on the thinkpad, then I can get an external HD to make up for the smaller HDD.

Min specs are HDD should be 60 to 80GB and 1GB to 1.5GB RAM.
Will be running XP

Any suggestions on what to look for? I know Flexview is a bonus.

TIA

[jamerslong]

450$ should get you a quality T42p with the works here.

[awolfe63]

T42P seems silly with that budget if you are going to use an external monitor. Also - I have found the T42 series VGA to be very poor at high resolutions (fuzziness). (I have 5 T4x machines and I love them - but it's not the best choice here.)

I would recommend that you get an R-series refurbished from the Lenovo Outlet. They always seem to have some between $450 and $500. Otherwise - you should be able to get a used R60 for under 400. Remember - you only need an XGA screen since you won't be using it. This will save a bunch of money since these are less desirable.

I would also think hard about getting a mini-dock so you can use DVI. On some machines (T43 for example) this requires discrete graphics.

[chsu74]

Thanks to all for suggestions. I am looking for a port replicator so I can hook up the monitor to it and not damage the laptop's outlet. Guess that is going into the budget so how much is a docking station go for?

[chsu74]

T42P seems silly with that budget if you are going to use an external monitor. Also - I have found the T42 series VGA to be very poor at high resolutions (fuzziness).

Can you expand on this? "silly" meaning my budget is too high? If I can lower my budget to $500, then I will buy you a beverage of your choice next time we meet.

[awolfe63]

You should have no problem finding a good used T42 or T43 for under $300. A mini-dock with DVI is no more than $30 these days.

In fact - now that I think about it - I'll PM you with an offer

[chsu74]

In fact - now that I think about it - I'll PM you with an offer

Andrew,

Can you email me chaohsu74 (at) Yahoo (dot) com? The PM in this forum is weird. I have messages stuck in my outbox and inbox messages missing. I must not have donated enough money to this site.

[RealBlackStuff]

Messages stay in the Outbox, until the recipient READS them, only then do they move automatically to your Sent box

[underclocker]

You should have no problem finding a good used T42 or T43 for under $300. A mini-dock with DVI is no more than $30 these days.

Quite true. And for more performance and a newer machine, T60's are now in the $400 range, but the docks are about double, $60.