Looking to purchase a ThinkPad..

[msm0075]

Hello everyone! New to the board here, looking for advice...

I currently own two T40's and one T42. Due to my batteries only lasting for 20 mins tops and Microsoft no longer supporting XP im looking to upgrade to a Windows7+ ThinkPad.

My company also uses nothing but ThinkPads and the newer ones have a different TrackPad. I prefer to have the 3 button with the red TrackPoint stick. Its very important to me being that it is so natural.

Being able to do some older gaming (Half-life 2 being the newest) on it would be nice but not needed.

It does not need to be brand new, I don't mind buying a used one off eBay but I would want to be sure I would be able to reload windows after format. I've seen some with Win7 but I don't think it was preloaded with it. I just worry if I have issues and need to start fresh.

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
It would be helpful to give us some more info:
-tablet or laptop
-screen size
-screen resolution
-RAM size
-graphics (integrated or discrete)
-CPU wish?
-HD or SSD, and what size
-what OS
and most important:
-budget

[msm0075]

Welcome to the forum.
It would be helpful to give us some more info:
-tablet or laptop
-screen size
-screen resolution
-RAM size
-graphics (integrated or discrete)
-CPU wish?
-HD or SSD, and what size
-what OS
and most important:
-budget

I listed all my requirements in the post therefore anything else doesn't matter to me. Whatever you guys recommend! : )
Thank You!

[brchan]

-T420 for best all around size and performance (make sure to get 1600x900 screen).
-T520/W520 with FHD display if you want a nice screen and more speed.
-X220 if you favor portability. IPS screen is decent.

xx30 series (ex. T430) will be the better choice if you want even more speed, don't care about the new 6 row layout, and have a bigger budget.

[ajkula66]

The closest you'll come to the overall feel of a T4x machine is either T60/p or T61/p in the 4:3 format.

Any of these will run W7 without any issues, and they are quite inexpensive nowadays.

If you don't mind moving to a widescreen machine, then the world is your oyster...and brchan's recommendations are pretty much on the money.

[brchan]

Also, if you do choose to go with a T6x series, expect the hinges to be loose (the hinges themselves). Also, T61 hinges in 4:3 units (right side) are prone to snapping overtime. Lenovo dropped the ball on hinge quality until the T410 and later series. Despite these problems, I still love my T61 .

[msm0075]

Thanks for the responses guys!

I'm also not picky on if its widescreen or not. Whatever you guys recommend.

I guess my best bet to buy one would be ebay??
My only concern would be the operating system. I would like a win7 machine but what about the ones without an os installed or an older os like xp or vista? What would be the best way to get a fresh install of windows 7?

[ajkula66]

Your best bet would be to buy a machine through this forum's Marketplace.

Will likely cost a few bucks more than fleabay, but you'll deal with knowledgeable and trustworthy ThinkPad buffs.

[rkawakami]

^^^ +1

I would like a win7 machine but what about the ones without an os installed or an older os like xp or vista? What would be the best way to get a fresh install of windows 7?

Since you asked and I've just done this... I found a pair of T420 systems that I liked (4178-6VU; 1600x900 NVIDIA) on eBay two weeks ago from the same seller. The seller had provided photos of the machine type labels and BIOS main menu screens. From this, the serial numbers were obtained. I ran both through Lenovo Support's Warranty lookup site and found that they still were covered for a couple of more months. Both systems were described as having hard drives but no operating system (COAs were for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit). When the first system arrived the hard drive only had a bare minimum DOS (Windows 98) install on it. It was enough to boot the system and get a DOS prompt. I called IBM/Lenovo Support (number below) on the 15th to request the recovery disk set. This was provided at no charge since the laptop was still under factory warranty. Otherwise, it's about $45. Envelope arrived yesterday (17th; two-day air via UPS). Really can't get any better than that, especially at this time of the year.

Can you do this with just any used Thinkpad on eBay? No, of course not. But if you search carefully, inspect photos and descriptions and know how the "system" works, you can get original installation disks quite easily for "nothing".

ref: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/search (Product search; enter machine type here to get original configuration)
ref: http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/warrantylookup (Warranty lookup; enter serial number to get details on coverage)
ref: 1-800-426-7378 (IBM Hardware/Software Technical Support; Atlanta, GA)