Thinkpads Forum

I posted this question on the Marketplace forum Friday and have not received any replies so I thought I would try this forum since its the x60 series forum. Since I wasn't actually offering it for sale but just trying to get a handle on its value, I probably should not have put it in the Marketplace forum so apologies to sysop.

Loaded X60s - 100gb/1.5 GM RAM/BT/Verizon/X6 + DVDwriter/3yr
on site warranty

This X60s model (1704-69u) is the top of the line model with all of the available options including the X6ultrabase with DVD writer. It has been upgraded to a 3 year on site warranty with Thinkpad protection which covers accidental spills and/or falls or any other mishap. The warranty is good through Aug 2009.

Its in mint condition as I have only used it on a few business trips and the 8 cell battery has only a few cycles on it. Its a great little notebook but I have decided I really need a higher screen resolution. I am thinking of selling it but haven't decided for sure so was trying to get some input as to its market value.

Lenovo no longer sells the 1704-69U and they no longer offer the Verizon/Sprint WAN in a X60s. They do offer it in a regular X60 which is a bit heavier than the X60s. Currently the website lists the X60 model with all of the extras that match my unit on sale for $2,118. Adding $389 for the upgrade to 3 year on site coverage with Thinkpad protection and the total comes to $2,507.

The X60 on the website doesn't match mine exactly as its a 120gb hard drive versus mine which is only 100gb and has 2gb of ram versus mine which has 1.5gb of ram. So considering that plus the fact mine has 9 months less of warranty than a new one, and is used what would a realistic price be to ask?

Thanks

Definitely the wrong forum, but...

I bought a brand new x60s, model 1705-CTO with the following: 1.66GHz Core Duo L2400, 2GB RAM, 60GB 5400RPM, UltraLight screen, Atheros ABG, BT, 1-year warranty, 8-cell battery (but no X6, no DVD burner and no WWAN) for US$1330...

When you say "Definitely the wrong forum" I assume you are referring to my original post in the Marketplace forum. I would think a post trying to get a feel for the value of a x60s would belong in the x60s forum.

Your reference to the fact you paid $1,300 for a lower end x60s doesn't really help me as mine has over $900 of additional options. If you added those options to your $1,300 model it would be well in the low $2,000's.

So my question stands. What is the current street value of a fully loaded x60s that retailed in the low $2,000's last fall.

Thanks

hrdc69, I am not familiar with some of the features that your X60s has, but can tell you two things:

1) On average, laptops lose 40% of their values during their first two years, and 20% per year afterward. You've owned it for 9 months or 270 days, right? If you paid $2,507 9 months ago, it's now worth $1,718.09 as calculated by an exponential decay equation. You can easily do the same calculation yourself in MS Excel. Put the starting value in A1, the year-end fraction of the starting value (e.g. "0.6") in B1, "=(LN(B1))/365" in C1, the number of days in D1, and "=A1*(EXP(C1*D1)" in E1.

2) Your X60s doesn't have the Ultralight LCD. Non-UL X60s models are worth slightly less than UL ones.

hrdc69 wrote:Your reference to the fact you paid $1,300 for a lower end x60s doesn't really help me as mine has over $900 of additional options. If you added those options to your $1,300 model it would be well in the low $2,000's.

So my question stands. What is the current street value of a fully loaded x60s that retailed in the low $2,000's last fall.

Thanks

Well, let's compare my "lower-end" system and your "higher-end" system

According to Lenovo's website, your system comes with the following:

L2400(1.66GHz) -> same as mine
Graphics: Intel 950 -> same as mine
WLAN: 802.11abg wireless -> same as mine
Bluetooth/Modem -> same as mine
1Gb Ethernet -> same as mine
Secure chip -> same as mine
IEEE 1394 -> same as mine
Fingerprint reader -> same as mine
8c Li-Ion batt -> same as mine

HArd drive:100GB 5400rpm HD -> Mine came with 60GB
WWAN -> I don't have
X6 UltraBase + CDRW/DVDRW -> I don't have
2-year 3-month warranty -> I have 1-year

Memory: 1GB RAM -> I have 2GB
Screen: 12.1in 1024x768 LCD -> I have the Ultralight LCD

One can pick up a brand new X6 for $175, one 1G of Lenovo memory for $80 and a DVD burner from Lenovo for $300 and a 100GB 7200rpm HD for $75. The things that we can't easily price would be the UL screen and the WWAN.

So, let's do the math. It would mean that, everything being the same (aside from the UL screen and WWAN and warranty) I paid $1330+175+300+75-80=$1800 for my brand new low-end system in April. Now, tack on the value of the WWAN and the extra 1 year and 3 months of warranty, subtract the value of what you think my UL display is, and that should get you close to what someone should pay new for your system. Now discount that by an amount because it is used (using pianowizards 20-40% may be good) and you have your price!

Wrong forum, but I will give you $1,000 USD for it! We can haggle, but I am stubborn.

hrdc69 wrote:When you say "Definitely the wrong forum" I assume you are referring to my original post in the Marketplace forum. I would think a post trying to get a feel for the value of a x60s would belong in the x60s forum.

Your reference to the fact you paid $1,300 for a lower end x60s doesn't really help me as mine has over $900 of additional options. If you added those options to your $1,300 model it would be well in the low $2,000's.

So my question stands. What is the current street value of a fully loaded x60s that retailed in the low $2,000's last fall.

Thanks

Currently you can get a 1705CTO X60s on lenovo.com, with almost identical specs( including 3years onsite and accidental coverage, with UL screen but no WWAN) for about $2050, before tax and any possible discount, cashback etc.

I would say 1 year elasped onsite warranty+UL is sufficient to cover the loss of WWAN(of course, it's a subject thing). So your config. would worth about $2000. And apply a 20% discount ( which I feel is very reasonable) for a year old machine, that gives $1600.

I would be surprised that you may get higher than that on a forum of gurus, but we all know miracles do happen on ebay

it is worth whatever some serious buyer will pay for it..

unless someone wants to act as a marketmaker for computers..
(how fast can you say bankruptcy? )

the sad fact is that ANY new electronic device sitting on a shelf is like an ice cube sitting on that same shelf..

both electronic device and ice cube are just plain MELTING..!

the inverse of moores law rather than an exponential decay or, maybe, both, dictate the value..

but then you can do the same thing i have done, off and on, for years, with cars and that is to buy the immediatly preeceding model at blow out pricing..
which would tend to hold values up by a fraction..

sooo, we come full circle..
it is worth whatever you can get for it..

IMO trying to learn if the price you paid was a "deal" or not is an exercise in time wasting..

The X60s 170469u was available yesterday at IBM Certified Used site for $1330, including courier shipping and a 7-day no-questions-asked full refund.
It comes with a new battery and 6-month IBM warranty.
The item should look like new.

I'd rather buy that than someone else's used one

And i hate to tell you this, but as an IBM employee, that 1704-69u is available to me for $996.
Again, free shipping.
And i forgot to mention, no taxes.

The previous poster's offer of $1000 is the most I'd pay. Actually, I'd rather get it directly from IBM for that (peace of mind and fully refundable).

For the record, the 7-day-return is in practice much longer. I in fact returned one for a full refund after almost 3 months.

what about mine?

X60s 1702-F6U
1.83 GHZ
100GB 5400 HD
3 year Lenovo Warranty
1GB RAM

how much?


---------

upgraded to
80GB 7200rpm (more like downgraded)
3 GB RAM

SkiBunny wrote:And i hate to tell you this, but as an IBM employee, that 1704-69u is available to me for $996.
Again, free shipping.
And i forgot to mention, no taxes.

And I hate to tell you this, ultimately, IBM is paying for these EPP discounts from your salary! There's no free lunch.

pianowizard wrote: And I hate to tell you this, ultimately, IBM is paying for these EPP discounts from your salary! There's no free lunch.

Actually, that's incorrect because IBM's cost is usually lower than the employee price. No gift or subsidy.

For this 1704-69u, it's off lease, and they're merely trimming some profit margin on the deal.

SkiBunny wrote:

pianowizard wrote: And I hate to tell you this, ultimately, IBM is paying for these EPP discounts from your salary! There's no free lunch.

Actually, that's incorrect because IBM's cost is usually lower than the employee price.

IBM is "paying" for it in the sense that they are losing the additional hundreds of dollars that they would have made had the Thinkpad been sold to others.

SkiBunny wrote:And i hate to tell you this, but as an IBM employee, that 1704-69u is available to me for $996.
Again, free shipping.
And i forgot to mention, no taxes.

The previous poster's offer of $1000 is the most I'd pay. Actually, I'd rather get it directly from IBM for that (peace of mind and fully refundable). .

I think we are talking apples and oranges here as I wasn't asking what the notebook would be worth to a IBM employee who has access to cheap pricing, but what it would be worth to the 99.9% of the population in the USA who do not have access to employee pricing .

My brother in law is a IBM employee and when I asked him he said the model was available to him for $1,149 so I am suprised the poster said he could get it for $996. Even so I assume both of those quotes only included the standard 3 year depot warranty, not the on-site Thinkpad protection warranty I have.

Thanks to everyone who responded and I can assume its worth around $1,500 give or take a bit. If you are a IBM employee then its worth less of course.