FA: Used T42p 2373-Q1U

[Ojisan]

I have my T42p up for auction on eBay now because I have upgraded and settled into T61p. I thought I let fellow Thinkpad lovers know

Pictures and details are here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0224190278

A quick run down of my system...

T42P
Model: 2373-Q1U
15" UXGA (1600 x 1200) LCD
2GB memory
60GB 7200rpm Harddrive (factory original, comes factory reset)
Intel Pentium M 765 2.1GHz
ATI FireGL 128MB Video
CD-RW/DVD-R Multi burner 16 x 8 x 24 x 8 Slim
IBM 802.11a/b/g mini PCI
Integrated Bluetooth
Ethernet, 56k Modem
Infrared
PCMCIA x 2
Headphone / Microphone mini jacks
Parallel port
Fingerprint
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Windows XP Professional, US English
Two AC adapters.
Original box, manual, accessories, and warranty agreement.

[ajkula66]

Any warranty left on this beauty?

[Harryc]

From the EBay auction - The system still has Thinkpad Protection Plan (TPP) 3 year warranty left until 2008-09-04.

[Ojisan]

Thanks for the quick reply Harryc. I'm afraid that's all that's left. Hopefully with the last system board repair, this system is good for at least another few years. In the interest of full disclosure:

The machine has been sent back for TPP service twice since I bought it new. The system runs like brand new now.
* Oct 2005: Faulty graphics card connection. Replaced motherboard.
* Dec 2007: Intermittent system shut down. Replaced motherboard.

The first issue was a flaky display problem due to MB/Graphic card. The second issue is probably related to http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33952. I hope the new MB won't develop these symptoms anytime soon.

Thanks.

[Ojisan]

Bump. 6 days left. Thanks!

[RealBlackStuff]

Could the warranty on this machine be extended?

[ajkula66]

If the machine itself is less than 5 years old, the answer is yes, the warranty can be extended.

[BillMorrow]

Ojisan..

your pix don't show up in the auction..

how much if you were to offer this to a forum member..?

[Johan]

If the machine itself is less than 5 years old, the answer is yes, the warranty can be extended.

I'd like to add a bit of information here: If a T42p (the one for sale "here", or for that sake any other ThinkPad which came with a 3 year base warranty) is still covered by the base warranty, then the warranty can be extended for up to 5 years (that is, 5 years counting from the day the ThinkPad was delivered). Interested users may see the thread Warranty extension - the warranty extension probably of most interest would the "ThinkPlus service upgrade option (for 3-year warranty´models)" 41C9180, "5-year Parts and Labor (P&L) Pickup Depot" - is can be purchased from only $150 if buying it from a Lenovo partner, although if buying exactly the same warranty directly from Lenovo this would make you shorter by $220 (strange, but that's really the way it is!). The same extended warranty is also available for new ThinkPads - see e.g. Personal Systems Reference - Lenovo ThinkPad Notebooks - January 2008, version 334 (the well-known tabook).

Now, George says that if the ThinkPad is less than 5 years old, then the warranty can still be extended, and this is the point where things become (quite) complicated: If, say, the ThinkPad initial 3 year base-warranty warranty has expired, and you then some time later find out "Oops, I want to extend my expired warranty!", then there is the option of purchasing a "Post-warranty annual maintenance agreement"; this is discussed in the several threads, incl. very recently here: Post-warranty service pack for T60p -- questions - see in particular the posts by ryengineer pointing to this site: Lenovo Post-warranty annual maintenance agreement (MA) - Mobile Products. Note the small letters there, saying: "Note: Service begins at the end of the base warranty or the end of any other applied WAMO, whichever occurs last."

Now, the point where it gets real spooky is this: Why are no T42's mentioned at all in the Lenovo post-warranty document?? Does anyone positively know that T42/p warranty CAN be extended after the actual expiration of the base-warranty?? Has anyone ever heard of anybody really doing this? I am sure that if calling up Lenovo you would get different answers, depending upon who you spoke to - as the issue of warranty extension within IBM/Lenovo is surrounded by a lot of misunderstandings and much lack of knowledge.

Another document of interest (or usable to increase the confusion?) is IBM Maintenance Services - ServicePac for Warranty and Maintenance Options - Warranty Service Upgrade (WSU) Supported Products List where it says: "If your customer has an IBM machine that is out of warranty, OR they have an existing warranty service upgrade (WSU) or maintenance agreement that is about to expire, then post-warranty maintenance (MA ServicePac®) is the right choice. For details, visit IBM ServicePac for Warranty and Maintenance Options" In the latter document, it however only says: "Warranty service upgrades (WSU) are for IBM machines that are still within the original base warranty coverage period. " Confused? Welcome in the club!

A final comment: On one hand, hints to interesting eBay auctions are surely welcome (to me, at least), but on the other hand, I am peculiar to know if bumping an eBay auction here on the Marketplace is relevant to the forum members? I understand that this of course is in the interest of the seller, but I honestly wouldn't want to see this Marketplace becoming a sub-section of eBay...

Good luck with the sale!

Best regards,

Johan

[Ojisan]

Johan, thanks for the interesting insight into the warranty extension issue. I honestly didn't know how and if one could extend the warranty. I could call Lenovo/IBM to find out, but like you said, it might depend on who I talk to.

What I can say for sure is: 1) T42p was ordered on 8/22/2005, shipped 8/25 or so. 2) I ordered 3yr TPP, Part#:41C9340, on 9/19/2005, $169.

The following shows up for warranty status:

http://www.akogi.com/ebay/TPPWarranty.jpg

On final comment: I agree it would not be good if this Marketplace turned into a subsection of eBay. I'm sorry for setting a bad example... I should have posted my offer here first before I went to eBay.

Bill, if I knew better, I would have posted maybe ~$500 for it. Unfortunately, because there are already bids in place, I'm going to have to let the auction run.

Well, I know what to do next time. Hope I'm not causing trouble here...

Thanks!

[Johan]

@ Ojisan:

Thank you very much for your rapid feedback - this is how a true ThinkPad first-class forum fellow would respond; precise, prompt and not taking my "final comment" in any offending way (which I of course also not expected that you would - but nevertheless thanks for all your understanding - my pleasure!).

Just to finish off this warranty extension discussion: A couple of months ago, I bought a T42p via this Marketplace. It was still covered by its 3 year base warranty (like what yours is), and it also had a "ThinkPlus warranty upgrade", like what yours has (note that the "ThinkPlus warranty upgrade" mentioned in your picture under "Warranty Description" is the common name for any warranty upgrade, such as a warranty extension, an upgrade to on-site service, a ThinkPad [accidental protection] Protection Service - such as yours - etc). Well, as I wanted to extend the (in my case: Soon-to-expire), 3 year base warranty on my T42p, the seller (of the T42p, as he was in the USA) was kind on behalf of me to purchase the 41C9180. However, it turned into becoming very difficult to actually activate this extended warranty; first after many, many calls and after the help of Lenovo Customer Service (thanks Walter, Sharon and Mark!) the extended warranty was finally activated. The core problem? That only one "ThinkPlus" warranty upgrade (of whatever type) can be in place at a time. Because of this, I had to have the, in my case, remaining short period of on-site warranty upgrade removed, and first then the extended warranty I had bought was finally activated. All this however appeared to be almost in excess of what IBM could really handle... although there were no problems when purchasing the 41C9180 in the first place.

Conclusion? The warranty on your T42p can be extended for another two years (as discussed in my previous post), but beware of the potential problems with activating a warranty extension... all the "only-one-ThinkPlus-package-at-a-time" stuff.

Good luck with the sale; as you will understand I am a sworn T42p'er, so I really have difficulties understanding how anybody would sell such a fine machine! Are you REALLY sure that you are not about to make a fatal mistake here??

Best regards,

Johan

[ajkula66]

BTW, you can still cancel the auction although there are bids. At least with a forum member here, you know you'll get your money and not have to chase a deadbeat bidder...

Just my $0.02....

[Ojisan]

Johan, thanks for your nice comment and sharing us your experience.

I'm relatively a picky person just like many here, especially towards Thinkpads. I try to put out the details I want to see if I were looking for one myself. It's great to hear the comments and questions which I had not thought about before. I hope these information will be useful for the potential buyer.

As for selling the T42p... it was a very difficult choice. I just LOVED the flexview, the construction, etc everything about the T42p. But I do a lot of computational mathematics, some graphics work, etc so the overall benefits of T61p won. I had both systems for 3 months before I came to this decision. I hope it goes to a nice new home. The current WUXGA does not have the warm color and wide viewing angle of the Flexview, which will be missed.

Anyway, thanks for looking!