Thinkpads Forum

New to here but not to computers or Lenovo. Is there an advertiser on here that sells T520's or a trusted vender. Craigslist in my area has few ThinkPads listed. I found a T520 seller on EBay selling what looks like to be perfect off lease ones.

My T43 out in the my Shop just can't get a good WiFi signal, but my W500 signal out there is just like being in the House! I use my T43 to run my laser engraving machine (parallel port) and to run the TAZ Mini 3D printer on USB.

So my plan is to take my 500 to the shop, and buy a like new used T520.

Suggestions welcome and I will try Not to ask any stupid questions.

Hey...welcome to the forum here at thinkpads.com!

You might want to place a WTB (want-to-buy) ad in the marketplace section of the forum. It's often surprising what members have for sale, and you won't find a more honest and pleasant group of folks to do business with anywhere.

Sometimes there are deals at the Lenovo outlet too, but looks like the current offerings are more recent models than the T520. Here is an example:

http://shop.lenovo.com/outlet_us/itemde ... X004US/445

I agree with Neil. The marketplace here is a great place to sell an buy items, and ebay can be fine as long as you stick to sellers that have a good record. Lenovo outlet can yield some good deals, but you have no idea what the particular machine looks like, since they give you a stock photo.

I would avoid craigslist, though. Seems to be more sketchy sellers there.

Thanks for the replies. I did list a WTB here last night after Neil posted.
I looked at ThinkPad Depot and google search seems to bring up some not so good reviews.

I got a deal on my current W500 but here in Iowa its not a hotspot for Lenovo's. I take a lot of flack from people who say, you paid $300 - $400 for a used computer!!!
They don't understand quality and so far the T series has never let me down.

wmgeorge64 wrote:My T43 out in the my Shop just can't get a good WiFi signal.

Before sending your T43 to pasture, get a TP-LINK TL-WN861N 300Mbps WiFi-N card and be happily surprised!
I've bought quite a few from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/161127899311
They ship very fast, even from Canada!

RealBlackStuff wrote:

wmgeorge64 wrote:My T43 out in the my Shop just can't get a good WiFi signal.

Before sending your T43 to pasture, get a TP-LINK TL-WN861N 300Mbps WiFi-N card and be happily surprised!
I've bought quite a few from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/161127899311
They ship very fast, even from Canada!

It works without an external ant? Only getting 1-2 bars now at the most, will this double the signal strength? If so that's all I need. Thanks for posting.

Wifi-N is probably only interesting if your router also has wifi-N.
My N-router is in the basement and I have an N-range extender on the ground floor, and I get 4-5 bars everywhere, even outside on the deck.
My test machines are 15" T43 and 15" R52 (this SATA-modded R52 is for sale: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=118123 ).
Don't have any wifi-G router to test a G-signal with this N-card.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Wifi-N is probably only interesting if your router also has wifi-N.
My N-router is in the basement and I have an N-range extender on the ground floor, and I get 4-5 bars everywhere, even outside on the deck.
My test machines are 15" T43 and 15" R52 (this SATA-modded R52 is for sale: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=118123 ).
Don't have any wifi-G router to test a G-signal with this N-card.

Well it seems my modem is either B or G no N, and the date I wrote on the box is 2011 so my guess its to old. Works fine in those modes using a modern laptop. So I guess its a waste of time and money to update the T43 WiFi Card, unless it give more signal strength on the b & g modes.

T520 is a Nice machine and runs cool, landed one off eBay for $139. My best advice is to find one that has a 1600x900 or better screen and the brightness isn't great but overall pretty decent. The cooling is better than previous generations and better than the more moderns ones.

nforce4max wrote:T520 is a Nice machine and runs cool, landed one off eBay for $139. My best advice is to find one that has a 1600x900 or better screen and the brightness isn't great but overall pretty decent. The cooling is better than previous generations and better than the more moderns ones.

Just got a nice one from a User here.