buying x30...wise choice?

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boon · #1 Post by **boon** » Sat May 06, 2006 1:00 pm

I have checked most older thinkpad series and found the x30 to be best at a low cost...

i would buy the x31 but currently its too costly and little use for me...but in the future i plan to buy a x31 system board and a pent m for upgrading....

now i heard there are things such as wi fi is not on the x30 and other things that need to upgrade as well...and no usb 2.0 too.

since the only way i know how to upgrade/install is a system board and a cpu...other things i dont know...is the x30 good choice to buy?

#2 Post by **daeojkim** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:50 pm

If you are planning to upgrade later, I would rather spend extra to the X31 now mainly due to Pentium M and USB 2.0.

JK

boon · #3 Post by **boon** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:42 pm

cooldavy wrote:X30 and X31 are quite different, for instance, the location of USB port, Fan Assembly... you can have a general view by reading the Hardware Maintenance Mannual(HMM).So it's impossible to replace the X30 system board with a X31 one.

If you are looking for USB2.0 solution, I can give you some idea:I used to own a X20, and I use Docking staion(Machine Type 2631 or 2877) with PCI adapter(USB2.0+IEEE1394+IDE RAID) at home and PCMCIA card when traveling.

.but having check the HMM all the locations of x31 are same as x30's
is this true? just want to confirm

monty cantsin wrote:
sktn77a wrote:Anybody know if the X31 processor (P M Banias) is swappable with faster Banias or Dothan processors like the T40/T41 is? I'm considering getting a used 1.3GHz X31 that I could upgrade to 2.0 or faster down the road.
Nope. Why? Because on the X31 (and all its predecessors: X30, X2*, 570*/240* etc.) the CPU is directly soldered onto the mainboard.

http://www.sundigi.com/files/images/lib ... X31_23.jpg

so in these x models all the cpus are pinned down...

kodell · #4 Post by **kodell** » Sat May 06, 2006 5:45 pm

boon wrote: ...is the x30 good choice to buy?

My son has the x30 and I (and by daughter) have the x31 ... from a user's point of view it's difficult to tell the difference between the two as far as performance. I like the built-in wireless of the x31, the usb 2.0 and the fact that it came with 512 MB of memory. But the x30 is a perfectly fine computer. You could use it for a year or two and then if you wanted to upgrade, you could (probably) sell it for no more than a small discount from what you paid for it.

Kevin

#5 Post by **underclocker** » Sun May 07, 2006 6:06 pm

USB 2.0 is a big deal unless you buy a USB 2.0 PC Card for about $15.00 and don't mind having to use it.

Most people use USB 2.0 regularly to transfer digital pictures or music. The difference between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 is 40X the performance - 12Mb/s vs. 480Mb/s. Quite significant!

Go X31 or better.

boon · #6 Post by **boon** » Sun May 07, 2006 8:15 pm

problem is because the x31 is about 200-300$ more than the x30...some offers the ultrabase x3 so it would be fine...

but then the x30 wont last long as it wont have windows vista...not even sure if x31 works on the os even

dc_slim · #7 Post by **dc_slim** » Mon May 08, 2006 12:05 pm

Just out of curiosity, where are you planning to buy? What retailers have x30s and x31s available? Or are you planning to buy off Ebay? I'm trying to find an x31 at a decent price, but I haven't found much available, and I'm dubious about some of the units being sold on Ebay.

boon · #8 Post by **boon** » Mon May 08, 2006 4:56 pm

im trying to buy off ebay actually since I just need a cheap notebook and i like the x series the most. though some of them still have warranties left

I tried pricegrabber.com, which most featured merchants are good sellers but most are refurbished around 750, for the x31 better than used though

dc_slim · #9 Post by **dc_slim** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:50 am

As of this morning, IBM Certified Used Sales has an X30s (2672-4xu) in stock for $675. These come with a 7-day money-back return guarantee and a 3-month limited warranty. Not a bad deal for the price.

Here is the link:
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... Id=2576396

I've bought a couple of laptops from IBM Certified Used Sales: an x30 and a t40p. They've both been great machines. Each arrived in excellent condition and has been as reliable as can be.

hadoken · #10 Post by **hadoken** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:53 am

$675 for an X30 is pretty pricey if you ask me. Maybe an X31, but compared to what I can get on Ebay, I wouldn't pay that much more for a used machine just because it is bought via IBM

dc_slim · #11 Post by **dc_slim** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:55 pm

Hadoken,

You certainly make a valid point. I have always preferred buying from IBM direct because of the 7-day, no-questions-asked return period. If you find any dead/stuck pixels or hardware problems, they'll take it back without any hassle. They even send a call tag to cover the return shipping charges.

Also, the two machines I've bought from them were virtually new. I'm not sure if they were off-lease units or returns, but they were virtually new.

Finally, you can count IBM's warranty. I have doubts about lots of the stuff being sold on Ebay.

I swear I'm not working on commission for IBM . . . I've just been really pleased with both of the refurbished machines I've bought from them.

boon · #12 Post by **boon** » Tue May 16, 2006 6:24 pm

seems the link that you show now the x30 is at 605$ at sale...but then might as well buy the one right below it is a t40 with 615$

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

that really shows the x30 being so pricy, just only because it is small....

kodell · #13 Post by **kodell** » Wed May 17, 2006 2:37 pm

boon wrote:im trying to buy off ebay actually since I just need a cheap notebook and i like the x series the most. though some of them still have warranties left

I tried pricegrabber.com, which most featured merchants are good sellers but most are refurbished around 750, for the x31 better than used though

Speaking of pricegrabber ... I noticed this one from there:

http://www.ebuysuperstore.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=168

for $389 with 90 day IBM warranty/bluetooth/802.11b/W2k

I've no personal knowledge of the vendor - they supposedly sell on ebay as "Premier-pc-auctions".

bigtiger · #14 Post by **bigtiger** » Wed May 17, 2006 3:23 pm

It is perfectly fine to buy from eBay. Just be careful to buy from a person with high-rate and many feedbacks.

After I sold my Dell Inspiron 8500, all my laptops are bought from eBay. No problems at all.

gyoza1 · #15 Post by **gyoza1** » Wed May 31, 2006 9:16 am

About the x30 (26724GU) for $389 that kodell mentions, I bought one from them two weeks ago. It's my first TP, I'm extremely happy with it. Other than a couple of white spots on the LCD, it's in great shape.

They're in Brooklyn--quite a trek from midtown--but well worth it if you want to avoid the cost of shipping.

Gustavo · #16 Post by **Gustavo** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:08 pm

Hi

I would buy an X31 (and I have) because it got an newer cpu P4-M versus the PIII on the X30 and its got DDR versus SD-Ram so updating ram is cheaper as SD is expensive nowdays. And finally the Radeon deticated graphics chip on the X31 is better than the integrated graphics on the X30. And finally the diff in price isnt that much.. so I think you would be much happier buying the X31 in the long run even if you have to spent a few extra bucks on it.

Good luck anyways................

RageRover · #17 Post by **RageRover** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:15 pm

What are you planning on using your computer for? Is it going to be your only machine?

I recently bought an X30. I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine! I bought mine 6 weeks ago off ebay for about $250 (not including anything, I had to buy an AC adapter for $20 off ebay too). I'm so enamored with mine; I am considering buying another one for my girlfriend.

Several of my friends are so impressed with my X30; one just bought one off eBay for himself.

I use it as my X30 as a work computer (so just office and internet). But I have watched a few Divx movies here and there.

The lack of USB 2.0 does not bother me. I do transfer plenty of word/power point files. But because the files are small, it doesn't matter that the computer has USB 1.0.

Don't forget, the X30 does have firewire! I have an external hard drive that has firewire, so transferring large files is fast. You can get a USB2 & firewire case for a hard drive off ebay for only a few bucks.

Some X30s came with wifi, others did not. I just bought an Atheros card, which I will be installing this weekend.

The 1.2 ghz CPU is plenty fast for me.

I use notebook hardware control, so I underclock my CPU. Even while watching a Divx file, the CPU never goes beyond 800 MHz.

With the exception of a slightly faster CPU and USB 2.0, there is no difference between an X30 and X31.

Considering the price difference, I don't think its worth the extra $$$ for an X31.

IMHO, buy an X30, get a PCMCIA USB 2.0 card and save yourself some money.

As far as Vista goes, I don't understand why everyone is saying the X30/31 can not handle Vista! Minimum requirements (according to Microsoft) are 800 MHz! Which probably means you can go down to 500mhz.

lowie · #18 Post by **lowie** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 7:33 am

Gustavo wrote:Hi

I would buy an X31 (and I have) because it got an newer cpu P4-M versus the PIII on the X30 and its got DDR versus SD-Ram so updating ram is cheaper as SD is expensive nowdays. And finally the Radeon deticated graphics chip on the X31 is better than the integrated graphics on the X30. And finally the diff in price isnt that much.. so I think you would be much happier buying the X31 in the long run even if you have to spent a few extra bucks on it.

Good luck anyways................

I think it all comes down to comparing price with performance. I recentlt bought an X30 system w/60gb HD for 350€ (440$). After a RAM upgrade, this machine works great for my girlfriend. As some people indicated, the only real issues are slow USB and no integrated Wifi... but the ideal form factor makes up soooo much!

fschwep · #19 Post by **fschwep** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:24 am

I just ordered an X30 from eBay and can hardly wait for it to arrive. I looked at a lot of pre-owned ThinkPad models, as I wanted a backup for my T42 (which is in repair and it's taking a loooong time, which is another story... :~) ). I decided against the likes of T2x and T3x series; although these are perfectly good machines they have the same form factor as the T4x but with lower specs, so I would probably stuff it in a cupboard as a spare and rarely use it (we already have a perfectly good R51 as a second machine here at our home office, which of course has higher specs than say a T2x).
The T42 is quite decent for travel, but even so one still feels the weight. The X30 weighs one and a half pounds less and will fit even easier into my old Tenba traveler shouder bag (I never carry a branded laptop bag, to avoid getting mugged). It also sports two things that for me are very useful: a parallel printer port and a CF card slot. The first comes in handy with any ageing laserprinter (we still have a perfectly good HP laserjet 6MP, and when I visit clients they will often have a good laser sitting somewhere, that will be recognized by Windows or at least can be used as an emulated HP laserjet), and the CF slot takes the cards my cameras use (most digital SLRs still use CF cards). The X40 series have an SD slot, which is nice for the latest compact digicams, but no good for me.
The X30 I just ordered has already been upgraded to 512 MB RAM and has a mini-pci wifi card built in. So as far as performance and connectivity are concerned it should be no problem. Of course one could also buy a PCMCIA wifi card.
Now I'm just curious as to how the 12-inch screen will turn out...

The seller in this case was quite clear about the fact that the hidden IBM recovery partition was still there, and the licenced OS (XPPro) was freshly re-installed and updated, after the regular partition on the harddisk had been formatted. He promised me that the recovery disks will be packed as well. ThinkPads are usually sold new with a licensed OS and a licence label, so I feel that when sold used, it ought to be part of the package. Unfortunately, that often does not seem to be the case.

hadoken · #20 Post by **hadoken** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 12:42 am

as much as I like the X30, I can't justify the premium it goes for on Ebay relative to other 12" P3M's. I just got an X31 on retrobox (got REALLYlucky on price and condition) so I def like the X3 series, but for just a little more money you get a centrino, USB 2.0 and PC2700 RAM factor (this is big if you ask me cause PC133 is pricey). I would rather downgrade to an X2 series and get most of the performance of the X30 at significant savings, or get a Dell c400 or a Compaq N410c. Again not knocking the X30, but it seems to sell at a relative premium on Ebay.

lowie · #21 Post by **lowie** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:41 am

fschwep wrote: Now I'm just curious as to how the 12-inch screen will turn out...

I'm sure you'll like the 12" screen, it is very crisp and gives a good image from various angles IMO. When I use it in combination with my XGA 14", I always get this strange effect when looking from 1 screen to the other. (Would love to upgrade my T42 to SXGA+!)
Actually, the X30 XGA screenresolution looks a bit like SXGA when you compare it with a 14" SXGA+ screen. If you understand what i mean...

christopher_wolf · #22 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:55 am

SXGA+ you mean, no Thinkpad has ever had SXGA.

The 12" screen is, indeed, quite crisp if you are comparing it to a T Series Thinkpad, especially a T43 or T42 with SXGA+. It seems to me that this is a general thing when dealing with 12" XGA LCDs versus 14.1" or 15" SXGA+/UXGA screens. The colors seem at least somewhat different on the 12" than any of the other size screens.

lowie · #23 Post by **lowie** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:15 am

christopher_wolf wrote:SXGA+ you mean, no Thinkpad has ever had SXGA.

The 12" screen is, indeed, quite crisp if you are comparing it to a T Series Thinkpad, especially a T43 or T42 with SXGA+. It seems to me that this is a general thing when dealing with 12" XGA LCDs versus 14.1" or 15" SXGA+/UXGA screens. The colors seem at least somewhat different on the 12" than any of the other size screens.

I just didn't bother writing adding the "+"; now I know there's a difference

At least we agree on what really matters here... (ie. how the X30's screen relates to T4x displays)

fschwep · #24 Post by **fschwep** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:47 am

I've had my second-hand X30 off eBay for a couple of weeks now and I find I like it a lot. It's as easy to type on as my T42, possibly easier (I don't like excessively large palmrests anyway and I have the touchpad switched off on my t42, so it's useless ballast there).
Some impressions:
- it tends to run a bit hotter than the T42, mainly because the T42 has a Centrino CPU that can be downvolted using Centrino Hardware Control, and the X30 hasn't.
- as said, the keyboard is excellent. I installed a small program to map a few keys to produce 'dead' keys on the UK keyboard it came with (for European continental languages with lots of special characters).
- it works with the T42 minidock, but it refuses to wake up from hibernation when in the dock
- the case had a tiny crack above the PCMCIA Cardbus slot, which seems to be a weak point in general; I repaired it with a bit of hard-plastic glue. Apart from that the case seems very sturdy, with very little flex in the palmrest (less than the T42 anyway)
- I like the construction of the back near the hinges, with those no-nonsense screws
- the CF card slot is a bit difficult to access when the machine is sitting on a desk, but the IR port and right-side USB ports are better placed than the ports on a T42 (most people have the mouse to the right side of the keyboard, and the USB cord on my MS mini opticam mouse is almost too short to reach around the T42 ; the T42 has its IR port on the front, so any other piece of hardware you want it to communicate with must be placed in front of it). Not very handy. The X30 will happily talk to a GSM phone to its left on a table (or to another laptop with a side-oriented IR port) without hampering you in the use of the keyboard or mouse;
- a 20-euro 4-port PCMCIA USB 2.0 adapter solves the USB 2.0 problem
- the X30 is not the world's fastest laptop but for normal office applications it is pretty fast enough. It runs Win XP Pro without a hitch, and as mine has 512 MB RAM I have switched off the Windows virtual memory pagefile to minimize harddisk use. It seems to be working (cross your fingers; I just got a beep...). You could max it out to a full GB (2 x 512) and then you would certainly not need the virtual memory. I don't see why one would need to run Vista on it anyway (it's applications that count, not the OS; if it runs the apps I need that is fine for me)
- The 811b wifi card in mine seems to have limited range (it was a retrofit, so there probably is no antenna in the lid).
- The screen is nice, sharp and bright, but outdoors it seems a bit washed out (as most LCDs do). I had occasion to compare it indoors to a much larger and more recent Acer, and it is a lot better. .
- Battery life with a new 3rd-party battery (6 Panasonic cells) seems excellent, around 4 hours.

In short, I like it a lot. For heavyweight applications like batch development of large numbers of RAW photo files one would need a faster machine (an X32 comes to mind, or simply a fast desktop), but for most uses it is perfectly adequate. Very good traveling machine, just slip it into a minimalist neoprene sleeve and it disappears into a non-laptop shoulder bag or small backpack with room to spare for some accessories (USB ultraslim burner for instance), paperwork, a toothbrush and a novel to read while waiting for airplane or train, without breaking your back.
If, a year from now, the X31 becomes available at similar prices that would be even better, but for now I'd go for an X30 and use the money saved to max out the RAM and/or invest in stuff like an external USB burner or a media slice.

asiafish · #25 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:27 pm

I don't think there were any turkeys in the X series, ever.T hese were always premium laptops with very high build quality and at least acceptable performance. For the tasks most ultraportables are used for, even the slowest X20 and X21 should be fine so long as you avoid the 800X600 SVGA models. The X30 is recent enough to offer outstanding speed and really only lacks USB 2, which can be added cheaply and likely not necessary when on the road.

One of my laptops is pre-USB2 and while transfer rates are slow with USB 1.1, for documents its still far faster than floppies were back in the day.

mpcook · #26 Post by **mpcook** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 11:44 am

I have both an X31 and X30, both bought on Ebay, the X31 was bought new a couple of years ago with original 3 year (2 yr 11 months) warranty; the X30 was bought about 6 months ago, no warranty, very good condition, $300. My wife is very happy with the X30, I upgraded the ram to 1Gb and the drive to a 7200rpm 60Gb, also added wireless PC card, and it is near as fast as my X31. Both are very reliable, very sturdy, run Win & Office XP quite well, they both tend to run somewhat hot but no problems.

Someone mentioned the Dell C400, I have one of those as well and in my experience, it is less reliable, less sturdy, and mine now has a bad MB (went bad when 1 month out of warranty) which is why I got the X30 for my wife. I would not recommend a used C400.

Ebay is fine for purchasing a used laptop, as long as you are careful and do your homework on the seller and the specific machine. In looking for the replacement for the C400, I found that X31's were selling for $200 - 300 USD more than the X30. However, add in the cost of ram upgrade, you will want at least 512Mb.

I think the X30 is a fine "midpoint" in performance and a good value in the $300 range.

boon · #27 Post by **boon** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:26 pm

Haven't bought the laptop yet I guess maybe waiting for price go down..

But I wonder if buying from some seller AS IS thinkpad x30, which it will only boot to cmos or bios. Which means the motherboard works and I should be able to install windows and run decently right?

But should I be careful on other things that needs to work such as USB, PCMIA, the firewire, hard drive connector(which auction doesn't come with hard drive), or even keyboard. would these things repairable though?

iavor_raytchev · #28 Post by **iavor_raytchev** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 5:17 pm

Keep in mind that parts for old models tend to get expensive and difficult to find. So better buy something that has all you need (the right amount of RAM, etc.)

#29 Post by **tomh009** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 6:23 pm

boon wrote:im trying to buy off ebay actually since I just need a cheap notebook and i like the x series the most. though some of them still have warranties left.

A friend of mine just bought a nice X31 from eBay -- for just over $300, including nine months of warranty, 512 MB and an ultrabase!

The deals are out there, just need to look for them.

boon · #30 Post by **boon** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:56 pm

oh my, thats what i want, and the price

buying x30...wise choice?

buying x30...wise choice?

Re: buying x30...wise choice?

x30 for $675

x30

thanks for all comments

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