Newbie seeking advice please! (Quite long)

[shock33]

(I'll preface this by saying I'm based in the UK! - apologies for the length as well)

Hi,

I've been having a look round for a cheap laptop, as usually seems to be the case I would only really be using it for browsing/worr/excel stuff and would ultimately like to wireless it up to my desktop gaming machine at some point.

Having said that I'd like to be able to play Championship Manager/Football Manager, Civ3 and some hexbased wargames.

With this in mind I think that an older T series laptop would suit my needs (feel free to correct me!).

I've had a look through ebay but it's always a bit difficult to guage what's the best buy, I've read through a lot of the threads on here and elsewhere which have been very helpful so I think I've got a handle on the makes and stuff.

I've seen the following on ebay, I wonder if anyone could give me any feedback on costs etc? (I've included everything including delivery with the costs)

IBM THINKPAD LAPTOP T23 1.13GHZ 512MB 30GB WITH DVD
£460 ($870)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 67971&rd=1

IBM THINKPAD LAPTOP T21 800-128MB-20GB +INFRARED
£330.50 ($624)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 59277&rd=1

REFURBISHED IBM THINKPAD T22 DVD/opt CDRW +1 Yr Warr'ty
£427.87 ($806)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 22255&rd=1

NICE IBM THINKPAD T22 P3 900 256MB 20GB DVD +ALL MINT!!
£416.50 ($787)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 12313&rd=1

Or this from a retailer:

IBM Thinkpad T22 Laptop PIII 900Mhz
£379.99 ($719)
http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php ... 49778ab89c

Just to add perspective the other option is this brand new r40e from ebuyer

IBM Thinkpad R40E Notebook Celeron 2.0GHz 128MB 30GB DVD 14"TFT Windows XP Home
£500 ($945)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products ... _uid=51905


I realise a lot of the people here seem to be based in the states so I've put in the $ as well (albeit skewed by the exchange rate!).

I'd be very grateful for any feedback.

Ben

[SimonCC]

i can understand the confusion you are going through my friend as im currently trying to get a t22 at the moment. Basically all of the deals you outline are great value for money but beware that ebay sellers often sell grade B stock meaning you can expect dead pixels, broken lid latches, sketchy drives etc etc. I gather you live in the UK as do i so, i recommend this website - www.studentlaptops.co.uk. They only sell grade A T22 laptops! The t22 comes with floppy drive and dvd rom drive, 30 days rtb warranty (extenddable) and free delivery! Check it out, otherwise, if you buy off ebay, ask lots of questions before hand about what the stock usually consists of, eg. what grade condition, who were they refurbished by etc.

Good luck!!

[SimonCC]

OOPS - THE ABOBE LINK IS WRONG, ITS WWW.STUDENTCOMPUTERS.CO.UK

[k3vb0t]

Have you thought of an officially refurbished from IBM?

[shock33]

Have you thought of an officially refurbished from IBM?

I thought about it but I cannot for the life of me find anywhere on the uk IBM site to get them. On the US site it is easy to get to but I can't find anything (bar some financing information) on the UK site.

(Oh and thanks for the previous link SimonCC)

[Toe]

Try:

www.buycsn.com

I got a T23 with:
1.13ghz PIII
512mb Ram
30 gig HD
DvD-Rom
(and a old-school floopy drive)

for $650 bucks...maybe I was lucky, but nothing is wrong yet.

Toe

[SimonCC]

shock33, the 'bigpockets' website you mentioned only sell ibm refurbished t22s as do www.studentcomputers.co.uk mentioned above, i should know, i just ordered one for my girlfriend from there!

[shock33]

shock33, the 'bigpockets' website you mentioned only sell ibm refurbished t22s as do www.studentcomputers.co.uk mentioned above, i should know, i just ordered one for my girlfriend from there!

Can you let me know what it's like?