X24 good buy?

[PHall1007]

Hey there, I've just signed up to the site since I've just become the owner of a X24, and it looks like there's some good help and information here. As it is though, I'd like to know what you guys think about the thinkpad I've bought.

As I said, it's a X24 (refurbished). It cost me £285 which is equivalent to just over $500 US inlcuding tax and shipping. It has 256MB RAM a 30GB Hard Drive and comes with the docking station (DVD/CD reader, extra ports etc.) and Windows XP Pro pre-installed.

Although being refurbished there is the possibility of some imperfections, I have heard that the x24 is very durable so I'm not too concerned about this. Should I be? Also, I would have liked Bluetooth and CD writing capabilities, but a bluetooth dongle and USB memory stick should cover this, I hope. Would that be a reasonable assessment.

As far as I can see, the specs are more than enough for me. I'm not in need of anything ultra-powerful, just internet, E-mail and Office programs mostly for the last year of school.

Anyway I'm just looking for some advice on whether this x24 with these specs was a good buy at $500.

[bhtooefr]

Hmm... what processor does it have?

Does it have any warranty left?

I'd say $500 is an OK price, but I'm not sure on the 24...

Anyway, I've seen CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drives for $50 here. Your UltraBase can take any UltraBay 2000 device except for the battery. So, the UB2K hard drive adaptor will work. Heck, I think it's even possible to mod a slimline DVD-RW into an UltraBay 2000 drive.

[Mack]

Hi, I bought a X24 some time ago. I think it is a really good machine. I added 512 Mb RAM, making it total 640 Mb. I have no complaints, except that there is a high frequency noise (related to cpu load and power circuits I believe) when using the cpu on its 1.1 GHz setting. It also happens together when using random applications in Windows... regardless of cpu-speed. I am not alone with this problem, happens to many laptops, and I have learned to live with it...

Just do not drop the laptop, and I bet it will hold for a long time. Build quality is solid on these machines.

[wingman]

I think you got a pretty good deal. Best thing to do is max out the RAM and have fun with it. I had an x24 and even with my x31, I still kinda miss my little beast.....

[AndyL]

PHall, did you buy that from Tier 1 Surplus on ebay by any chance? I bought one of their X24's quite recently as well. Mine was £260 including VAT and shipping, but only had 128MB of RAM so by the time I had upgraded that it was close in price to yours. I thought it was a pretty good bargain. As a comparison, well-specced Dell Latitude C400's often go for £300+, and the X24 is a generally superior machine I think.

[PHall1007]

Well, it's arrived and it looks to be be in pretty good condition from a quick spot check. A few scratches on the outside and a couple of dodgy pixels in the top corner but overall not bad.

Andy, yeah I did buy it from them and to be honest I agree it was a pretty good deal for both of us. Even came with a wireless card which I wasn't expecting. See how it goes over time.

It's the 1.13 GHz processor which I understand is the fastest for the X24, and it still has 8 months left on the warranty, which was another pleasant surprise since I was told there would be 2-6 months left. Don't know what you think of that bhtooefr, but to my inexperienced mind isn't bad at all.

Thanks for the tips everyone. If there's any more for a new X24 owner please stick them in here.

[bhtooefr]

Very good buy, then. Eight months of warranty? I'd KILL for that.

(This X21 had had the warranty expired for just shy of a year, and I could have REALLY used it.)