About to order my first Thinkpad, wondering about delays.

[ajensen]

I'm going off to college in about a month and one of the things that I needed to do before leaving was to replace my laptop. In beginning my laptop search I wasn't really sure which brands I was interested in or, for that matter, which ones were better than the others. After reading countless reviews and customer opinions all across the web and in magazines I quickly came to realize that IBM Thinkpads are, without question, the best laptops available. That is when I stumbled across this forum and read various threads for hours on end in an attempt to decided which model Thinkpad to get for myself. Finally I decided on the T42 23733XU and found that I can get a few hundred dollars off of it through IBM's education discounts. I will be placing my order in just a matter of hours.

The one thing I have a question about is what the delays are like when ordering laptops from IBM. Their site says that I will have to wait 15 days for the laptop to become available, which isn't really a huge problem, but I've read stories around here about how people have received their laptops quite a bit before the listed backorder times. Is this a common thing that happens all the time or just a rarity when it occurs?


Thanks a lot for your help and for your knowledge of Thinkpads helping me to make my decision quite easy. I can't wait to get my new laptop and to be able to badger all of you with the many questions that I will surely have about it.

[dd]

Hi

From what I have read on this forum.....most people seem to get their thinkpads considerably quicker than the IBM websites says.

[Kenn]

From my personal experience and that of others here, it sounds most orders ship out 4-5 business days after the order is placed. IBM tends to be insanely conservative with ship dates.

[Greg Gebhardt]

Why not order from Bill who is running this site. If he has it in stock it "can" be at your doorstep overnight!

His prices are good and your will get a feather in your box!