looking to buy an X31, advice requested

[qviri]

Hi guys,

I bought an X21 in January 2006 for $365 Canadian (~320 USD) plus a new battery. I absolutely love it, but I think I could use some more speed and an internal wifi interface.

More specifically, I was looking to buy a X31 or an X32. From what I understand, the X30 does not have a Pentium M, while the X40 has a 1.8" hard drive which rules it out for me.

I'm looking for 512 MB of RAM. Disk size does not really matter, as I also have a desktop computer.

How much should I expect to pay for a machine like this? I realise the battery may be not so good anymore, but I am prepared to get a new one. More specifically, I was hoping to get the whole thing (with new battery) for $500 Canadian - is this realistic, and if not, when do you think it will become realistic?

Looking over the marketplace forum here I see that many people want to buy a X31, but not many are looking to sell. Is this a wrong time for buying? Did the supply of people selling X31 as they upgrade to X60 run out already?

[Ken Fox]

The problem is that the remaining value in an X31 or X32 is more than the market price so owners are just keeping them. I'd no more sell my X32 for anything remotely similar to $500 Canadian than I would sell my dog, who is definitely not for sale

I bought an X60, on which I type this, but I'm keeping my X32 as it is worth way more to me than I could sell it for as it is still fully functional and worthy to keep as a spare. They are very nice machines and hard to part with even if you have already bought a replacement.

[tomh009]

There are a lot of X31s out there, but, as Ken said, a lot of people are quite happy with them, so there is no rush to upgrade to X60. More will come up for sale as time goes on, of course.

Pricewise, C$500 is the low end of the range. I checked on eBay.ca, and of the 17 completed auctions, only four were at C$500 or under; these were 1.4 GHz models, 256-512 MB and some with no wireless. Then add shipping (typically from the US) and taxes at the border, and it's likely to be close to C$600. And that's with whatever battery is in the system at the time.

There are some new X31s, with remaining warranty, available from eBay seller assetdisposition, but these will probably end up costing you close to C$700. Still less than half than what I paid for each of our X31s new -- and I still think they were good value!

If you have a hard budget limit at C$500 all in, I think you might need to wait a bit longer, maybe six months or a year, until the prices drop some more.

[qviri]

I see, thanks for the replies. I didn't mean to insult with the $500 price or anything. I'm just... a bit cheap

Those assetdisposition X31s look pretty awesome and are priced very agreeably (for a brand new machine) as well... unfortunately they do not ship outside the U.S.

So given that the new ones are available, what would be a good price for a decent used machine? $650-ish?

[dizzyspell]

In the US $ 400-500 range for used ones, in the US $ 500-600 range for new ones.

Translate that to Canadian dollars and you get an idea.

[fudgy]

I have an extra x31 (1.4, 512, 20GB, 802.11b) in great condition that I'm thinking about selling for $500 incl. shipping. let me know if you're interested.

[boon]

to be honest I think 500$ canadian would be a decent price. It's just the amount that a person paid for a new one isn't willing out to sell for a low price but that is what on the market these days.

You should be able to get one in ebay for a good deal if you looking around. And I notice the price seems a big difference depends on what processor it is wether 1.4 or 1.6, since you can't upgrade those...

you might not be able to buy x32 though unless you find really good deal.

[pianowizard]

qviri, if the X31's are currently too expensive, an X24 with 1.13GHz PIII and 640MB RAM should be much faster than your X21 and well within you budget. I just saw two like that last night, both with BIN prices under $300US. You can boost its performance further by replacing the HDD with a 7200rpm one.

[qviri]

qviri, if the X31's are currently too expensive, an X24 with 1.13GHz PIII and 640MB RAM should be much faster than your X21 and well within you budget. I just saw two like that last night, both with BIN prices under $300US. You can boost its performance further by replacing the HDD with a 7200rpm one.

Yes, but I forgot to mention one more thing that's compelling me to upgrade: USB 1.1. It's really rather slow compared to USB 2. I see that the X22 and up can come with internal wireless though, so I could trade a wireless PCMCIA for a USB 2.0 PCMCIA. I''l think about it, thanks.

[tomh009]

Have sent a PM with another possible (Canadian!) source for an X31 ...

[pianowizard]

Yes, but I forgot to mention one more thing that's compelling me to upgrade: USB 1.1. It's really rather slow compared to USB 2. I see that the X22 and up can come with internal wireless though, so I could trade a wireless PCMCIA for a USB 2.0 PCMCIA.

If you look up X24 in the tawbook, two of the five models have internal wireless (plus modem and ethernet), and two others have bluetooth instead.

[losmeme]

Qviri;

You have to be a real freak about it (like I am), but every now and then IBM Used Equipment shows an X31. They sold 2672-CXU's for about two hours last Thursday, before they sold out. Check them early in the morning on Wednesday's, that seems to be the time they update what they are currently selling.

I bought my X31 from IBM last September. I was up at 6am, on a Wednesday, and presto it was mine for $575.00. I had been watching for a few weeks.

Good luck, the X31 is a great choice and my favorite TP!

[Sweet Pete]

Based upon some positive feedback I read on this site, I recently purchased my X31 (2673-Y13) from ebay seller hyprlynk. They shipped to Canada for a very reasonable price using USPS. If you don't already know finding a US based seller that ships USPS is key. UPS and FedEx (ground) both charge very high brokerage fees to import items into Canada. My X31 arrived in well packaged, in excellent condition, and it has warranty until March 2008. I paid less than $500 US including shipping.

[qviri]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

losmeme, I bookmarked the IBM Canada Used Equipment site. I'll be checking it, but right now it has a X30 for 500 USD, which is not that great of a price. Hopefully if and when an X31 shows up, it won't be much pricier.

Sweet Pete, thanks for the recommendation, it sounds great. I'll check it out. (Yes, I learned the FedEx lesson the hard way...)

[pianowizard]

but right now it has a X30 for 500 USD, which is not that great of a price.

Check that site often because they have really good deals every once in a while. But of course, keep checking eBay too.

[tomh009]

but right now it has a X30 for 500 USD, which is not that great of a price.

Check that site often because they have really good deals every once in a while. But of course, keep checking eBay too.

Time is definitely an asset if you are looking for the best deal. The assetdisposition X31s on eBay are very nice, but the selling prices have been going up -- it looks like people looking for X31s have found out about the auctions. But there will be others if you have the time and the patience!