X30 - Good deal?

[ANDS]

Just wondering on price, Ive a chance to get an X30 for 415 shipped - good condition (according to listing on Craigslist) - wondering if this is a good deal at all. Comes with Windows XP SP2, 40GB hard drive, and 256 mb of ram, clean Keyboard, no breaks in casing, restore CD's included.

They also have a X31 available for 600 bucks shipped. Basically wondering, on standard machines, whats the difference between the X31 and the X30? If its just the WIFI installed internally versus a WIFI card - thats not enough of a difference to me (and cant you simply purchase internal WIFI-cards?) -

Any information would be much appreciated.

[jonnnny]

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

But I dont think you can install internal wifi cards unless the antenna is already built in.
I'm not sure which models have these antennas.. I'm not even sure if I'm right, perhaps one of the thinkpad experts can answer the question better myself.

[ANDS]

Hmmm - the guy said something like that. That there was no antenea on the X30. . .is there a way to tell other than asking? Like by Model # or some such? -

UPDATE:
So a page on IBM's website, and at thinkwiki says the "Ultra Connect" is only available on X31 and above laptops. This mean I'm pretty bonered on being able to have wireless without getting a wireless card?

[kodell]

x30 and x31 come in quite a few different variations - mainly on processor speed, memory size and wireless options - so you might want to get the exact specifications for each machine to do a fair comparison.

For me the big difference between the x30 and the x31 is that x30 is only USB 1.1. In my opinion, this makes having an ultrabase with DVD/CDRW a necessity for an x30. If I got an x30 with 256mb of memory I would want to upgrade it to at least 512mb, so there's an extra $40 to tack on to the cost of the x30.

That being said, the x30 (& even x24/x23) would be a more than good enough machine for a lot of people ... I've become a big fan of the x series after going through a lot of other lesser laptops.

[ANDS]

Couldnt I just use an external cd/dvd drive to install windows with?

[kodell]

Couldnt I just use an external cd/dvd drive to install windows with?

Yes, it should work. I didn't mean to suggest it was impossible - If all you ever need a cdrom for is to load the OS & software, then a USB drive would be fine on an x30.

I would find USB1.1 almost unusable for some of the applications that are important to me personally (digital camera, ipod, external usb harddrive, usb dvd-rw).

[superlyduper]

you can use a pcmia card to add usb 2.0, but it may be a bit clumsy

[ibmfan]

If you have enough budget, I suggest to buy x31 instead of x30,
not only because x30's usb system but it's defect of wireless utility as well.
I am using a x30 it's stable, quiet and a little bit hot. I am satisfy at it but still think a x31 is more perfect.

EDIT: x30 or x31 has a crispy crust so you may pay a little bit attetion when you use it, my machine has a crack at the right corner of keyboard and I even do not know how it comes out, a lot of fans complaint that the material of x30/31 is not so good that a lot of them have same experience as mine.