where are the resonably-priced older thinkpads?

[wxlidar]

Let me start off with an example:

(from my school's personal IBM site)
X30 2672-42U: $1529 (1.2 PIII, 256 ram, released Oct. 03)
X32 2884-A2U: $1169 (1.6 P-M, 256 ram, released Apr. 05)

Huh? Seems like a no-brainer, right? No!

I'm looking for the X31 that is cheaper than the X32. Similarly, the X40 that is cheaper than the X41.

Where are they?

Thanks,
Dave

[bhtooefr]

Could the X30 be old stock that they don't want to take a loss on? That could explain why it costs so much...

You better believe that I'd buy the X32, though

I'm assuming by your comments that the X31 is also more expensive than the X32, and that the X40 is more expensive than the X41.

I can explain the X40 - it uses the i855GME, which Intel is phasing out, in favor of the i915GM. It, or a variant of it, is used in the X41.

As for the X31, it could be less availability of Banias chips. The X32 uses Dothan chips, which are faster and cooler - which is why Banias isn't used much any more - there's no real advantage (not even price).

Of course, those are all theories...

[wxlidar]

I'm sure IBM has their reasons but it seems very counter to the rest of the market.

I'm considering the X40 over the X41 because of the longer battery life and less heat. I've heard there isn't much performance advantage to the X41 over the X40. But why would I pay the same price (or more) for older tech? This is the dilemma.

I've also considered the X32. Yes, I can get a X32 cheaper than the X31. It kills me to buy a new computer with 2 year old video tech, even if it will do the job. So that is why I considered the X31. If only I could get it cheaper than the X32.

-Dave

[blackomegax]

the 7500 is not altogether a slow GPU, it just has 16mb of ram in the x series, which gimps it, basically.

[cooldavy]

Here in China, I can get a second hand X31 with a reasonable price(between 800-900USD), since IBM offer 3 year limit warranty, so all of the X31s are in warranty, you needn't worry about the services.

[jkbrand]

I'm curious about the Lenovo site's configurator. I'm seeing an X32 that comes standard with 256MB RAM. When I add another 256, the following appears on screen:

The ThinkPad PC2700 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM and ThinkPad PC2100 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM memory can coexist on the same system but will operate at the slower speed.

Does this mean the base memory is slower than the add-on memory? Does one pay a premium for the added-on PC2700 memory only to have it run at the PC2100 speed? Or, am I missing something?

[azX32]

I'll be interested to see the interpretation that other people have on this. The base memory on the X32 is PC2700 333MHz, and tabook specs state: "memory controller limits memory speed to 266MHz" - which of course is the speed of PC2100 memory.

So, I'm not sure why the notice you mentioned came up when you tried to add memory. But I've wondered why there is PC2700 memory in the X32 if it only runs at PC2100 speed anyway.

[feejeean]

Here in China, I can get a second hand X31 with a reasonable price(between 800-900USD), since IBM offer 3 year limit warranty, so all of the X31s are in warranty, you needn't worry about the services.

Wow - that is a good price ... what about X31 parts? Are there any there that can be purchased online in China?

[YukYukLee]

wow so cheap now! i remember paying about 2grand on mine back in the day