Thinking about a newer T61 8898-AGM

[cadillacmike68]

Hi all;

I'm thinking about getting a pair of T61s - 8898-AGM. It shows up in Lenovo's support site, but it's not in the on-line books. Basic specs are:

2.4GHz
4GB Ram
120GB HDD
14" XGA (not widescreen & i don't care b/c we use externals @ home)
DVD burner
Bluetooth (as if we care)
Fingerprint reader.
Can't tell if it has a smart card reader (that would help as I'm in the Army)
No idea of built in camera (but we both have nice Logitech ones)
No idea if it has the multimedia reader (again we have a couple Sandisks)
1 year warranty

$450 with XP or 7. I'm thinking 1 of each, and would try to use my wife's 8895-02U HDD to baseline the XP one for me and let her have the V7 one or the other way around, or just keep the original HDDs and clone new ones. I have a few 100, 500 & 750GB drives for cloning.

Over priced?

[ScottyBoy]

Hi all;

I'm thinking about getting a pair of T61s - 8898-AGM. It shows up in Lenovo's support site, but it's not in the on-line books. Basic specs are:

2.4GHz
4GB Ram
120GB HDD
14" XGA (not widescreen & i don't care b/c we use externals @ home)
DVD burner
Bluetooth (as if we care)
Fingerprint reader.
Can't tell if it has a smart card reader (that would help as I'm in the Army)
No idea of built in camera (but we both have nice Logitech ones)
No idea if it has the multimedia reader (again we have a couple Sandisks)
1 year warranty

$450 with XP or 7. I'm thinking 1 of each, and would try to use my wife's 8895-02U HDD to baseline the XP one for me and let her have the V7 one or the other way around, or just keep the original HDDs and clone new ones. I have a few 100, 500 & 750GB drives for cloning.

Over priced?

My tuppence worth would be overpriced, especially as you can easily get T61 WS TPs for a lot cheaper prices from looking over at eBay US/UK - it won't come with a built-in webcam or a multimedia reader, as per the basic specs (from Lenovo Support's website).

T8300(2.4GHz), 1GB RAM, 120GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1024x768 LCD, Intel X3100, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

[Cigarguy]

Overpriced. Around where I live a lot of corporations and institutions are upgrading and getting rid of their old T61. Over the past two weeks I was able to buy two excellent shape for $80 each--a T61 - 15.4" (1650x1080) and T61 -14.1". Both came with good batteries which was a bonus.

[cadillacmike68]

Cigar guy, I'm in the desert and can't avail myself of some of those options. These also come with a 1 yr warranty. But i'll take note of your and Scot's advice. I'm not interested in a widescreen model though, we use external monitors.

[Cigarguy]

Hmmm...OK that make sense.

Personally for that price I'd look at a T420 or something along that line from the Lenovo outlet.

[cadillacmike68]

Cigarguy, I'm also looking for something where i can take my wife's T61 8895-02U and put the old drive in the new machine and boot it up. So i need Intel graphics & non wide screen (might not matter). The 8898 fits that bill plus it's much faster than her older CPU. I'm still looking - plenty of time out here.....

[ajkula66]

Please tell me that you're paying $450 for the pair, and not for a single one...

[mikemex]

Overpriced. Around where I live a lot of corporations and institutions are upgrading and getting rid of their old T61. Over the past two weeks I was able to buy two excellent shape for $80 each--a T61 - 15.4" (1650x1080) and T61 -14.1". Both came with good batteries which was a bonus.

You can always get bargains but it's not representative of market value. That T61 seems top of the line, I'd say it's worth about $250.

The regular 4:3 model doesn't have webcam or card reader, it's almost identical to the T60 (I have one). Great machine.

[ZaZ]

I'm in the desert and can't avail myself of some of those options. These also come with a 1 yr warranty. But i'll take note of your and Scot's advice. I'm not interested in a widescreen model though, we use external monitors.

I almost bought a L530 with the HD+ LCD from Lenovo for the same price. I'd suggest keeping an eye on the outlet too. There's at times some very good deals there too. Plus, you'd have a year of warranty directly from Lenovo.

[elray]

Overpriced. Around where I live a lot of corporations and institutions are upgrading and getting rid of their old T61. Over the past two weeks I was able to buy two excellent shape for $80 each--a T61 - 15.4" (1650x1080) and T61 -14.1". Both came with good batteries which was a bonus.

Isn't this off-lease inventory of castoffs at-risk of GPU failure?

Is GPU failure overrated, or are you just calculating the risk low enough at $80?

[cadillacmike68]

Cigarguy can probably fix them, or get them fixed by RBS. I'd do it if my wife's was an Nvidia, but she has the Intel subsystem. I'm trying to simplify my long term maintenance load.

[ajkula66]

. I'm trying to simplify my long term maintenance load.

I don't get your math...

Both ThinkRob and myself have offered T61 14" (4:3) systems on this forum recently and you could've bought both of them for $450, probably less with some light haggling...and yes, these were Intel-based units...

Too late for mine - it's a FrankenPad now - but Rob might still have his...

[cadillacmike68]

I don't get your math...

Both ThinkRob and myself have offered T61 14" (4:3) systems on this forum recently and you could've bought both of them for $450, probably less with some light haggling...and yes, these were Intel-based units...

Too late for mine - it's a FrankenPad now - but Rob might still have his...

I'm not talking about the price of a system. I just got settled in here at this duty station, and have not gone through the marketplacce ads looking for a T61 yet.

What i was talking about WRT simplifying my future maintenance load was in my goal of having units very similar to the one my wife has (same GPU, screen aspect & OS) so i can put a working drive in a new system board in the case of board failure, or put a reserve (spare) cloned drive in a system that experiences an HDD failure. That's simplified maintenance! I also like getting a machine that has at least 6 mo to a year warranty, but i'll look at the marketplace this week when i have a chance.

[cadillacmike68]

I don't get your math...

Both ThinkRob and myself have offered T61 14" (4:3) systems on this forum recently and you could've bought both of them for $450, probably less with some light haggling...and yes, these were Intel-based units...

Too late for mine - it's a FrankenPad now - but Rob might still have his...

I found Rob's mktplace post. I'll have to message him, because its comparing apples to oranges. But its 0230 here and i need to turn in.

[ajkula66]

What i was talking about WRT simplifying my future maintenance load was in my goal of having units very similar to the one my wife has (same GPU, screen aspect & OS) so i can put a working drive in a new system board in the case of board failure, or put a reserve (spare) cloned drive in a system that experiences an HDD failure. That's simplified maintenance! I also like getting a machine that has at least 6 mo to a year warranty, but i'll look at the marketplace this week when i have a chance.

Well, any of those two machines would've offered you that type of compatibility.

As for the warranty, unless you're getting it from Lenovo or IBM, I honestly wouldn't trust it at the price point that doubles the unit's market value, but that's me...

[TuuS]

If that 8898-AGM is all orginal, it will have a very rare 42w7872 system board, so I'd figure that adds about $100 to the price, but that still has it's value well below 450. The last 4:3 t61 That I sold with that system board went for $400 and sold in less then 2 hrs, however that was with a T9300 cpu, 4gb of ram, an SXGA+ screen, it was fully refurbished by me, and far above average condition. I'd say that one is probably worth in the range of $330-350 more or less, but for that price I could build you one with SXGA screen, and there is really no advantage in paying such a premium for the rare 42w7872 board unless your building something really special and you want to take full advantage of the Penryn cpu, for an average daily driver you'd probably never notice the difference between that board and it's merom cusin.

[Cigarguy]

Isn't this off-lease inventory of castoffs at-risk of GPU failure?

Is GPU failure overrated, or are you just calculating the risk low enough at $80?

For $80 it was worth the risk. Yes I knew the risk ahead of time. I had a T61 with an Intel GPU that I was willing to swap out for parts. Fortunately for me, the seller knew of the Nvidia issue and was willing to sell his T61 accordingly. As Cidallic said, this was a bargain. The battery and CPU alone was worth the $80.

[cadillacmike68]

Well, any of those two machines would've offered you that type of compatibility.

As for the warranty, unless you're getting it from Lenovo or IBM, I honestly wouldn't trust it at the price point that doubles the unit's market value, but that's me...

The machine Robert is offering hos no HDD, no OS, no optical drive, no warranty and would cost additional $ to ship to me at my APO, not to mention the USPS battery fiasco. Installing an OS from scratch & uploading every security patch & SP is also a royal PITA. So it's apples to oranges, pick your flavor.

[cadillacmike68]

If that 8898-AGM is all orginal, it will have a very rare 42w7872 system board, so I'd figure that adds about $100 to the price, but that still has it's value well below 450. The last 4:3 t61 That I sold with that system board went for $400 and sold in less then 2 hrs, however that was with a T9300 cpu, 4gb of ram, an SXGA+ screen, it was fully refurbished by me, and far above average condition. I'd say that one is probably worth in the range of $330-350 more or less, but for that price I could build you one with SXGA screen, and there is really no advantage in paying such a premium for the rare 42w7872 board unless your building something really special and you want to take full advantage of the Penryn cpu, for an average daily driver you'd probably never notice the difference between that board and it's merom cusin.

Don, they are supposed to be 8898-AGM, I will contact them again.

[ajkula66]

The machine Robert is offering hos no HDD, no OS, no optical drive, no warranty and would cost additional $ to ship to me at my APO, not to mention the USPS battery fiasco.

Huh...a couple of things here:

a) I'm not trying to sell you Rob's machine. If it goes unsold for a bit more I might just grab it myself. I just hate to see fine members of this forum waste their $$$ since most of them are not independently wealthy...

b) The cost of shipping to APO is the same as to any U.S. address. Been there and done that, more than once.

c) I don't have an answer about the battery problem, but media and hard drives can be picked up for a song nowadays.

d) I'd rather buy a machine with no warranty from someone like Rob than rely on a third-party-read-the-small-print-warranty that realistically doubles the price of the machine, but that's me.

Installing an OS from scratch & uploading every security patch & SP is also a royal PITA. So it's apples to oranges, pick your flavor.

There are disks available that have all of this already included...so it'really not that much of a big deal, not in my book anyway.

[cadillacmike68]

I'm taking it all in George, Just waiting on Robert to write back. I need to evaluate the differences (including the screen resolution vs CPU speed mismatch, and really put a value on my time to set up a machine from out here, with really no physical access to anything that is not in the PX (and there ain't much there!). So thanks for all the advice & info. I'm patient, this T30 is running fine. I'm mainly planning for a backup for my wife and an eventual transition to 7 for her and a newer, faster machine for me.

I've had good luck in the past on off lease refurbs. Never got a DOA and they lasted a long time. In fact every one i bought off lease as a complete system is still running, save for 1 HDD from my wife's T30, but that system unit is still fine and I used it last year (with a 100GB drive). Biggest problem i can foresee is failure of the CMOS batteries, one by one, which are an entirely too complex arrrangement to replace.

The lithium battery solution is to send them FedEx or DHL. Those are not "mail carriers".