Buying a 2nd hand T42p

[ttan98]

Most of you are aware there are many new models of laptops appearing in the market now, some are quite cheap and others better made ones are slighltly more expensive. The best ones are still expensive. I consider the T42p are among the best, those appearing in ebay are very well priced now.

I am thinking of getting a 2nd hand T42p with these specs:

CPU: 2G
Memory: 1G
HD:60G
graphics: ATI or fireGL(the latter is better)

the others are std spec.

Do you think this unit is still a good buy, if yes how much should I pay for it(give a range)?

Thanks in advance.

PS - Currently I own 1*T22 and 1*T23.

[KristianJ]

I think that within Australia, anything approaching $1000 Australian may be reasonable...one sold via BIN on eBay for $958 AU shipped last week. It still represents excellent value, especially with a good deal of warranty remaining. T42ps come with ATi FireGL only, btw.

[Johan]

Hallo mate!

I understand your situation very well, and I would like to share how I thought, recently facing the same question:

After often having used a friends 1.8 GHz T42 w/15" FlexView/IPS display, during a couple or years (see its specs in my signature), and recently, on behalf of another friend, having purchased a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo T60 also w/15" FlexView/IPS display (see sig.), and having used this T60 for about a month, I recently wanted a ThinkPad for myself. Laptop users’ requirements differ, but what I wanted was a portable desktop-replacement. Because of this, its weight was of less importance (as I seldom carry it around), and likewise the battery time was also less important - as I most often run on mains. I would mainly need the ThinkPad for writing, surfing, mailing, and less frequently for CPU-intensive applications (as I have a more powerful desktop for this). I have never played any games, and have zero interest in this, so the GPU/VRAM was also not of primary importance. What however was equally important for me was: 1) Display quality, 2) Low-noise performance, 3) Overall hardware quality, 4) Duration of remaining warranty (note that you can no longer extend the warranty on a ThinkPad once it has first expired)

I have followed the T42, T43 and T60 discussions here on the forum over the last few years, and have learned quite a bit about noisy models, displays of poorer quality compared to the FlexView's in T42's (which were made by the no longer existing company, IDTech), etc. etc. Based on these many users’ reports, and not the least based on my own actual use of the T42 and T60 mentioned above, I choose to get hold of a good, used T42p before this was too late. Of course, I realize that the Dothan CPU's in T42/p's are not as "modern" as the Core 2 Duo's in T60's, but honestly I have no need for a Core 2 Duo... the single-core Dothan in the T42 has indeed served me very well, and I am sure that it would be able to continue doing so for years to come. Sure, there will be more demanding applications on the horizon, requiring dual-core CPU's, but I really believe that Windows XP, Firefox, Microsoft Office 2003 will continue to serve me completely satisfactory for perhaps some at least 3 years to come. I belong to those who don't need the newest, just because it is the newest - I need what I need, and not what I can get.

OK, to the point - based on all the above, I was on the lookout for a good T42p during this spring. One requirement was that it had to have the FlexView/IPS display; either SXGA - which I knew and was very, very satisfied with - or the UXGA which I had secretly been dreaming about for years! Eventually, I ended up buying this top-model, which actually was shortly before bought here. I was very fortunate to run into forum.thinkpads user noetus, who was extremely helpful and patient in waiting IBM to arrange an extended warranty (I wanted the warranty extended to the maximum possible, and this is cheaper doing this in the USA compared to in Europe, and it is also possible to extend the warranty to 5 years in the USA; this cannot be done in Europe). You will find some information about extending or upgrading the warranty on ThinkPad's here (see the post of Wed Jul 04).

If you want to buy such a used, "remanufactured" or refurbished ThinkPad, check this thread - and search this forum (and Google!) for information about the particular seller (e.g. the company ThinkPad World sells quite a number of refurbished/remanufactured ThinkPad's, incl. T42/p's - be sure to check this thread).

If I were you, I would give priority to what I listed above and I would care much less about the installed harddisk (type and capacity) and the same about RAM... as both can be upgraded easily and fast - and relatively cheap. Give priority to that which can not be replaced or upgraded!

What will you have to pay? Depends of if you are lucky, if you want to wait, and what model you run into. For top-T42p's such as mine (looking absolutely like new, zero dead pixels, 8 months of remaining warranty etc.), I doubt you will find it much below $ 1000,- but still I would by far spend this much (and even mode!) on this T42p compared to getting a brand new T60... part of which is explained in the fact that I much better like the design of the T42/p over the T60! The T42/p simply looks better...! I know that this is not technical, but it certainly has impact on the overall "user satisfaction"!

Would I buy this T42p again, if I were to get a "new" ThinkPad today? Yes, absolutely. It is - in my opinion, and based on my above requirements - better than both the T42 and the T60 in my signature. Almost inaudible (I have undervolted the CPU and downclocked the GPU using NHC), super display, wonderful design... it just doesn't get any better than this!!

What should you pay for a used T42p? Depends of its specifications, the remaining warranty, and the overall condition. Try search the Marketplace on this forum for "T42p" and see what comes up... if you are really lucky, you may run into something like this! Otherwise, keep an eye at eBay - but I would prefer to trade through this forum, since it gives (at least me!) a feeling of a engaging with a trustworthy, competent seller. A potential "downside" by dealing through this forum may be, that folks here are much more aware of the value of good, used ThinkPad's compared to some people at e.g. eBay - and there is no time limit on how long a sale can be pending here. An auction may give you a better price... but my feeling is that you will know less good what you receive through eBay, compared to here! How many people on eBay would e.g. be able to check for dead or stuck pixels - or would be able to check the number of cycles on batteries, and the batteries present capacity? Not all...

I hope the above lengthy feedback may be of some value to you!

Good luck with your T42p-to-come...

Best regards,

Johan

[ttan98]

Johan,

A well thought out response, thanks for your time...

The info provided by you are invaluation to many who read them.

There is a 2nd hand T42p on auction now and I am bidding for it and the pricing is quite attractive I am not sure it will remain at this price. The current price is US$450 plus 10%tax. I think a good condition T42p would worth about $600-$650 and maybe slightly more.

cheers...

[yukka]

my t42 thinkpad has a 1024*768 resolution and the screen isnt amazing. is it possible to switch the screens (to a flexview) or is that too expensive/not possible?

[Johan]

There is a 2nd hand T42p on auction now and I am bidding for it and the pricing is quite attractive I am not sure it will remain at this price. The current price is US$450 plus 10%tax. I think a good condition T42p would worth about $600-$650 and maybe slightly more.

You're very welcome! It would of course be highly interesting to see the T42p you're bidding for, but I understand if you are feel that posting this information in this forum might raise the "competition", and hence have an undesirable effect on the price! Still, I wonder where this auction takes place...?

my t42 thinkpad has a 1024*768 resolution and the screen isnt amazing. is it possible to switch the screens (to a flexview) or is that too expensive/not possible?

Yes, you can upgrade the display in your T42 from your current XGA to SXGA+ but FlexView displays are only available as 15”, and not as 14.1” so if you have a 14.1” T42, you can only get a non-FlexView model. According to many users on this forum, an SXGA+ display will still be better than an XGA, even if it is not FlexView.

The display interface in your T42 cannot be upgraded or replaced; it is integrated on the motherboard. According to the [url=ftp://ltwbook T42's with XGA's came with the ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7500 display interface (w/32 MB VRAM), while the by far most SXGA+ models had the ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 w/64 MB VRAM. According to the thread T42 Upgrade Possibilities (see the post by whizkid of Fri Jul 20), at least three T42's however were shipped with the RADEON 7500 interface and an SXGA+ display. I am (also!) not a specialist here, but this seems to point in the direction than your T42 should support an SXGA+ display in any case. I recall to have seen a matrix of VRAM amount versus max. display resolution (at Wiki or ThinkWiki?) but I just can’t find it right now – anyway, from that I recall that the RADEON 7500 should be sufficient for SXGA+. I have no idea of the only 32 MB VRAM might imply some limitation in e.g. 3D video or gaming the like; you should check that yourself.

I see from your signature, that you have the RADEON 7500 interface. If you didn't know that (or if other users reading this does not know what's inside their ThinkPad's): To see what hardware is in your ThinkPad (if not specified in the ltwbook - not all Thinkpad's are there), enter your model here. To see the display interface type, you also simply right-click on your display, choose “Properties”, “Settings”, “Advanced” and see what display interface you have there. The most detailed information about your T42 is found in the ThinkPad Computer Hardware Maintenance Manual.

Specific information about your display hardware is here: 14.1inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p and here: 15.0inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p.

An e.g. 15” SXGA+ FlexView/IPS display has IBM FRU (“Field Replaceable Unit”) no. 92P6680 and is available e.g. via eBay for around $ 165 (as used or refurbished) or approx. $ 225 and upwards for a new unit. I suggest you check the Marketplace in this forum for any better deals!

I also suggest you check the following threads – as they all contain information about e.g. how easy or difficult such an upgrade is, and how the end result is found to be:

Will any T4x screen work in my T40?

Upgrade t43 xga screen to sxga (or other)

Is it worth upgrading my 14.1" T43 from XGA to SXGA+?

T40: Can you upgrade to a 15" display?

Upgrading lcd display on a 2686DHU from XGA to SXGA+

T4X specs

… I found all these posts via the highly usable Search function here – you should try it once!

Good luck, if you go this way – and kindly keep us posted about the price, trouble and end result!

Best regards,

Johan

[ttan98]

Johan,

You have become the resident guru of T42/T42p and possibly other models as well

cheers..

BTW the T42p auction IS NOT from Ebay!!!!

[yukka]

Thanks johan, i just got lazy on the last one. I posted that question then immediately got side tracked reading a post about flexview screens and replacement - should have come back here and deleted it

thanks alot for the great information tho

(I have tried my laptop out on a external monitor and it does go above 1024*7686 btw)

[crashnburn]

I might need some help around this Johan.