Thinkpads Forum

Prior to joining this forum, I ordered a ThinkPad T61p from ibmfactoryoutlet on eBay.

Having regretted making the purchase after reading some other members here slate this seller, I waited in trepidation for my new toy to arrive from the US.

I was very pleased to unbox a mint condition, beautiful T61p exactly as the seller had described it.

Three working days for delivery from the US to the UK, well done UPS!

Some may baulk at this seller's prices however when one lives in Rip-off Britain they don't seem that bad. A similar spec Dell Precision would have cost in the region of 1,400GBP ($2,125 US) new or 1,000GBP ($1,515 US) second user.

And I'm sure y'all would choose a T-Series Thinkpad over a Dell Precision any day of the week

I made a (rubbish) little video of the out of box experience.

Oh, that reminds me, this unit was licensed for Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista Ultimate (both OEM Licences on base of unit).

The XP Pro licence is marked "IBM Refurbished PCs" so has not been activated previously.

One happy ibmfactoryoutlet customer

Here's my little video -

http://www.youtube.com/user/izools#p/a/u/1/O2CV2xHxlwM

If anyone wants to know more about my experience with this seller let me know!

I purchased a T61 from IBMfactoryoutlet last May. I can confirm what iztools said - no problems with shipping or pricing. In fact, although I used 'buy it now', I considered their initial price to be a bit high and e-mailed them that I would be willing to offer them 10% less than the posted price. They accepted that and lowered the price for me. The machine was brand new and came with a one-year warranty. I've had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the hardware, but the machine came with Windows Vista Home Basic which must be the worst OS ever produced by Gates and Co. However purchasing a copy of Win XP from a 3rd party vendor which has been mentioned here in other forum threads cured that problem!

Great video! Thank you!

Quick question - What's people's opinion on purchasing an extended warranty in light of the graphics card issues?

This one is in warranty until September 2010, but I plan to keep this for 18-24 months, and Lenovo offered an upgrade to September 2011 + On Site servicing for GBP 84

Or keep the 84 quid to one side to cover the cost of a reball if / when the need arises?

Hmmm

I purchased a T61p new back a while and purchased a 4-year warranty to go with it. The only error on my part was that I should have taken the 5-year warranty. No problems yet despite a wireless NIC upgrade, a memory upgrade and a hard disk upgrade. ... JDH

Same upgrades as me then, still waiting on the new NIC.

I presume the T61p has three antennae?

... At least I have until September to decide on the warranty

My T61p has 3 antenna wires (IIRC), but my NIC uses two and there is a spare floating in the breeze inside. ... JDH

jdhurst wrote:My T61p has 3 antenna wires (IIRC), but my NIC uses two and there is a spare floating in the breeze inside. ... JDH

How? Picture? Is that a mod?

izools wrote:Quick question - What's people's opinion on purchasing an extended warranty in light of the graphics card issues?

This one is in warranty until September 2010, but I plan to keep this for 18-24 months, and Lenovo offered an upgrade to September 2011 + On Site servicing for GBP 84

Or keep the 84 quid to one side to cover the cost of a reball if / when the need arises?

Hmmm

What about just purchasing another video card, figuring you'll swap 'em out when the first one goes bad?

Swap.. what? There is no separate graphic card but a chip that needs to be resoldered.

crashnburn wrote: How? Picture? Is that a mod?

No, it is not a mod. The lid has 3 antenna wires: white, grey and black. The grey and black wires are connected to the wireless NIC (and there is no third connection). The white wire is neatly tucked under the card. I have replaced the card and it only uses 2 wires.

The "floating in the breeze" comment must relate to another machine I worked on. ... JDH