Advice needed on used X31 purchase (was "Need help on...")

[davidspalding]

Need help here. I've had a T43 (and have wallowed over in the T4x forum) since 2005. Loved the X31s when I was in an IBM lab. Well, a colleague has an X31 (2672-REU) for sale. Upgraded to 1.5 GB RAM, replaced the MiniPCI with a 802.11b/g card from a T40. But it has no HDD, and no recovery discs. Battery life is pretty much spent, so a new batt would be a good idea.

Q1: I'm sure I can price a good, fast ATA-100 9.5mm hard disk. But what's the chance or cost of my getting recovery discs for this MTM?

Q2: Also ... it looks like the X31 was supported by the Port Replicator II, MiniDock, and Dock II, all of which I have. Can I boot off a Ultrabay 2000 CD-RW/DVD-R drive in the Dock II to do a recovery?

Thanks in advance. I know these answers are buried in previous threads, but I could be in a bidding war very quickly, and want to give the guy a solid yea-or-nea.

[ajkula66]

That's a pretty strong X31, given BT, Gigabit ethernet and upgrades...my offer would depend on how much seller's friendship means to me, but I'd be embarrassed to offer less than $125...

My $0.02 only...

[davidspalding]

Appreciate the feedback, guys, please keep it coming. I was considering offering ... on the low end, as I'm going to have to buy a battery ($40 - $60), and a hard drive ($80 or so?), then do the recovery, which could require a $45(?) set of replacement discs if my T43 discs won't work. My replacement costs could add up to nearly the cost of a new netbook device.

But I'm listening carefully to any opinions voiced here.

[ajkula66]

You can get a really nice new hard drive for around $60...and I mean Seagate 160GB. Don't know the pricing for the batteries, though. Recovery media (as a copy) can be obtained for $20 or so...not that bad.

X31 will still kick most of the netbooks' arses when it comes to performance as well...

My $0.02 only...

[georgelam]

Assuming this X31 is in decent condition, I would definitely pay at least $125 for it. The 1GB stick of ram is worth at least $30 these days.

[davidspalding]

I'm getting the drift ... $125 even without the HDD, though? (Looks at completed eBay auctions.) Hrm, beginning to see the light here.

Also interested in any suggested sources for NIB or NOS 9-cell batteries. Found one on eBay, but not an OEM maker ... a third party.

[T39andcounting]

I wouldn't bother with the recovery disks. Find yourself a CD of WinXP Pro and load a fresh copy. All the drivers, etc can be downloaded from the Lenovo website.

[godling]

I wouldn't bother with the recovery disks. Find yourself a CD of WinXP Pro and load a fresh copy. All the drivers, etc can be downloaded from the Lenovo website.

Ditto that. I used nLite to cut down my WinXP install disk by about 200MB, and added a Lenovo drivers directory so everything is in one package. Only issue I ran into is the OS seemed to drag the install while the wireless miniPCI card was installed. Had to remove the card, do the OS install, and then replace.

-J

[davidspalding]

Well, even if I have to buy recovery discs from Lenovo, that's cheaper than "finding" a copy of WinXP Pro, n'est-ce pas?

[T39andcounting]

Well, even if I have to buy recovery discs from Lenovo, that's cheaper than "finding" a copy of WinXP Pro, n'est-ce pas?

I guess it does depend if you've got a copy, or know someone who has!

[virge]

Well, even if I have to buy recovery discs from Lenovo, that's cheaper than "finding" a copy of WinXP Pro, n'est-ce pas?

If that X31 has an XP COA on it, then try to get ahold of an OEM install CD. That way you can have a legitimate installation without the recovery CDs.

[davidspalding]

Thanks for everyone's input. I got to look at it, it had a cracked case by the hard drive caddy, keyboard looked popped out at the upper left, lid hinges were loose, screen and keyboard were filthy (was used in a home with toddler), but booted up fine with Fedora 10. Screen had no bad pixels that I could see. Seller also had the under-the-bottom extended battery of unknown condition.

Made a conservative offer to the seller, someone else offered more. I offered less than what was suggested here, but it ... it was really scuffed and beaten up. I just couldn't offer a high bid for an incomplete and roughly treated kit.

Thanks again all ... I'm still thinking of finding the X31 of my dreams for a lightweight portable. But something that hasn't been treated like a doorstop.