Thinkpads Forum

Has anyone picked up a refurbished x200 or x30x from the outlet? Any thoughts on quality? That $1,600 x301 is looking mighty nice for the price ...

I got one with 4GB/64GB, Vista Business from the IBMOutlet on eBay for US$1600 as well, which I think is basically the same thing as the LenovoOutlet, but willing to ship to international buyers. Very happy with it. Not screamingly fast, but it does the job and is certainly far faster than my T42. I also love being able to boot it while walking, or to walk into a meeting while it's booting, without worrying about destroying the HDD. Though to be fair you also get that with any other SSD-equipped Thinkpad.

Only thing I would mention is that the screen is pretty poor for any colour-critical work.

FWIW, I've noticed lately that there is very little price difference (if any) between some of the machines that are new or refurbs offered through the Outlet. Recently I purchased a new T400 from the Outlet for just $8.00, yes only eight dollars more than an identical refurbished model. Had I not been following the site so closely I may have missed it.
.
Cheers...
posted via BlackBerry Bold

Do you guys worry about only having a one-year warranty? I got the three year on my x30 and though I didn't need it on the machine, I went through two ultra-bases in that time -- fully covered.

Ordered one of the last x301's from the last batch of machines from the outlet 11 days ago. I really want it to arrive so I can set about procuring an optical drive and 6-cell battery. (pd $1200 for 4gb/64gb/no dvd/3-cell) What's the estimated shipping time on the Outlet? All I know is that they should have shipped it by now, but I've heard stories of weeks and weeks with the Outlet shop.

cfen17 wrote:Ordered one of the last x301's from the last batch of machines from the outlet 11 days ago. I really want it to arrive so I can set about procuring an optical drive and 6-cell battery. (pd $1200 for 4gb/64gb/no dvd/3-cell) What's the estimated shipping time on the Outlet? All I know is that they should have shipped it by now, but I've heard stories of weeks and weeks with the Outlet shop.

Make sure to let us know what you think of it

miketoro wrote:Do you guys worry about only having a one-year warranty?

That's not a problem, as if you want a three year you may purchase it at the time you order the computer. I've found when I was looking through the listings for the T400 I wanted that many already come with a three year warranty like mine did. However again, that's buying a new model from the Outlet.

miketoro wrote:Has anyone picked up a refurbished x200 or x30x from the outlet? Any thoughts on quality?

While I chose to order new from the Outlet, I have several friends that have ordered refurbs. So far from the four I've seen, they are cosmetically as nice as a new unit and performance is the same. So that indicates to me that you would be quite satisfied.

Cheers...

I bought my x200 2.26/wwan from the outlet, took about 1.5 weeks to get it (ordered on the 11th, got it this last week, but while shipping, dealing with lenovo outlet's compley useless customer service was a major bother, the system is indistinguishible from new, save for the stickers on the bottom case over the serial tag retagging it as a CTR and the big "refurbished" sticker on the bottom.

all the film on the glossy surfaces was intact and the system was cosmetically perfect. very happy here once I finally got the system!

Glad to hear that you are happy with your purchase.

I know based on my experience dealing with ChannelAdvisor Corporation, the company that handles Lenovo's outlet billing and admin duties for the Outlet, it adds an extra layer to the operation further delaying things. Then as it was explained to me, when you first put in your order request, they have to send a person out and physically locate the computer in the warehouse. Seems like a very old ineffective system as it takes another three or four days before you are even assured that the computer you ordered is available for you to purchase. If not, then they ask you to find another one online, put in another order request, which starts the process all over from the beginning. Great for people that get thrilled with gambling.

I know that one of the times I ordered from them, it took three tries before they had the computer in stock that was shown on the web site. They freely admitted up front that it can take anywhere from ten days to a month to complete a transaction. So I respect them for that, at least they are honest. Originally I went there because I thought perhaps I could get a computer faster than ordering one, but I found out the hard way it was futile.

How funny, the second time around I ordered one from Lenovo and one from the Outlet store, on the same day. The ship date from Lenovo was six weeks out, and the estimated processing and shipping time from the Outlet was four weeks. Yes, you guessed it, the Lenovo order beat the Outlet, by ten days. You gotta laugh.

Lenovo... never a dull moment...

Recently picked up a refurbed X200 and after the shipping issues I am completely happy with my purchase. From lid to keyboard everything was essentially new. I could not detect any use on the keyboard or screen. It was only on the bottom with various stickers and such that indicated any difference from a new x200.

Now the shipping truly whizzed me off. In essence Lenovo promises you the worse and delivers the best. By all indications the laptop was going to ship out almost 9 days from when I ordered it and would get to me in about 12 total days. Since I had a business trip planned and I would be back around the time the machine arrived no problem. Well on the first day I left and arrived in Dallas that durn laptop arrives at my home via Ups. Just 7 total days from when I ordered.
So I had to contact UPS and switch from home delivery to hold for pickup. When I got back from traveling, I had to go across town to pick it up.
In todays shipping environment UPS and Fedex have much more accurate delivery schedules then what appears Lenovo's warehouse picking schedule doesn't seem to take advantage of.

But now that I have moved from my X60 to the X200 I would not go back to the x60. This x200 never gets hot and I can have it on my lap for hours. I upgraded from 2 GB to 4GB and this thing smokes.

It's getting harder and harder not to pull that trigger

Oh and for what's it worth, my machine came with Vista Business and so far beside the learning curve, it has not given me any problems. It is as fast as XP although I don't tax it with much outside of having many things going at once. Streaming vids and music while browsing the net while using email with spreadsheets open.
I figured since Windows 7 was right around the corner and it is supposed to be alot easier upgrading from Vista to Win 7 vs XP to Win 7, may as well get closer to the upgrade.

All in all I see no reason to buy any new laptop as long as you have the Outlet offering good deals on refurbed.

fkelly wrote:Oh and for what's it worth, my machine came with Vista Business

Any plans to up it to 64-bit?

I didn't have any shipping problems, and my X301 was shipped to Hong Kong!

I think I paid for the item on Wednesday evening. Despite a "Natural Disaster" in the US while it was being shipped via UPS Expedited, I had it in my hands by Tuesday and was able to track its progress using the UPS number. Was extremely satisfied.

If things are this good I doubt I'll ever buy a Thinkpad locally ever again...

YW-Slayer wrote:I didn't have any shipping problems, and my X301 was shipped to Hong Kong!

I think I paid for the item on Wednesday evening. Despite a "Natural Disaster" in the US while it was being shipped via UPS Expedited, I had it in my hands by Tuesday and was able to track its progress using the UPS number. Was extremely satisfied.

If things are this good I doubt I'll ever buy a Thinkpad locally ever again...

It's great to hear that you had an outstanding experience.

Enjoy your new ThinkPad!

Cheers....

I have actually gone through this ordering process a few time this year. I bought a T61 and X61 for my wife and 2 X301s from the refurbed outlet store. Shipping varies. My T61 was shipped out the next day. X61 was shipped out a week later. X301s ship 7 to 10 days from ordering.

Just becareful of the machine specs when you order. I returned one X301 because it didn't come with an untra thin DVD burner and will return another one because the WiFi is "upgradable" and not included.

Received my Outlet order today and could not be happier. Slim battery for a x60s shows zero cycles and was manufactured 7/08. The 90w AC adapter appears new - the velcro strap had never been opened.

Had been waiting for my x60s to arrive before ordering but was forced to order the night the Outlet deals were posted on Slickdeals & Fat Wallet. Waited a few days & called to confirm the order. As soon as I did that (with a very understanding tone) the order appeared the next day and shipped the following. It's a shame the world found out about the great deals available at the Outlet.

John

91011 wrote:Received my Outlet order today and could not be happier. Slim battery for a x60s shows zero cycles and was manufactured 7/08. The 90w AC adapter appears new - the velcro strap had never been opened.

Had been waiting for my x60s to arrive before ordering but was forced to order the night the Outlet deals were posted on Slickdeals & Fat Wallet. Waited a few days & called to confirm the order. As soon as I did that (with a very understanding tone) the order appeared the next day and shipped the following. It's a shame the world found out about the great deals available at the Outlet.

John

It's great to hear about the good experience you had. Thanks for the report, enjoy your new ThinkPad.

My Outlet x301 arrived today in great condition! They gave me a 6-cell battery instead of a 3-cell, and the optional bay battery to boot! I'm sitting on an estimated 8:53 remaining right now! I'm so happy with my Outlet experience.

Sounds like others have had better luck with Lenovo Outlet purchases than I did. Recently, I ordered a "redistributed" x200s. It turned out to be used, not even refurbished, as it had the first buyer's installation on it, and had a non-working wifi card. I wasted a lot of time on the transaction, all in all, even though Lenovo did readily take the machine back. Well, maybe I'll try the gamble again some other day, to see if my luck is better...

curious wrote:Sounds like others have had better luck with Lenovo Outlet purchases than I did. Recently, I ordered a "redistributed" x200s. It turned out to be used, not even refurbished, as it had the first buyer's installation on it, and had a non-working wifi card. I wasted a lot of time on the transaction, all in all, even though Lenovo did readily take the machine back. Well, maybe I'll try the gamble again some other day, to see if my luck is better...

I'm sorry to hear of your poor experience. It is indeed a gamble when shopping in the outlet. The important thing is to read their definitions of "refurbished" & "redistributed" very carefully. I would also encourage anyone who shops the outlet to get the name of the people you speak to in your numerous calls as it does help if you must hold them accountable. Finally it bears repeating, as one must have a lot of patience and understand that it may take two or more tries to get what you want. Everything has it's price and in this case it's time & patience. For those that succeed on the first try, you are very lucky.