Refurbrished sales safe?

Message

wujstefan · #1 Post by **wujstefan** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:54 am

Hello;
I am looking for some good-looking

T43/p and such was found on thinkpaddepot.com
Had anyone heard about them? Is it safe to buy from them? these two machins give me some doubts:

http://www.thinkpaddepot.com/Product/32 ... urner.aspx
http://www.thinkpaddepot.com/Product/13 ... -t43p.aspx

Why the hell better machine costs less while both are factory refurbrished?

ajkula66 · #2 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:24 pm

Unless you buy it DIRECTLY from IBM, I'd caution against ALL so-called "refurbished" ThinkPads...

And even when one buys directly, mixed experiences have been reported.

Caveat emptor applies...

miscthree · #3 Post by **miscthree** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:43 pm

Agree, caveat emptor..

I've had good luck with refurbished laptops but they have been from IBM direct.

Those laptops are overpriced. You can get a t61p at those prices.

wujstefan · #4 Post by **wujstefan** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:57 pm

The trick is I dont want a T61/p or T6x of any kind.
I want a 14,1" laptop with 4:3 and reasonable graphics card. That eliminates a T61. What about T60/p? Got one, and I am really dissappointed.

I don't need much power. I just use a little bit of AutoCAD/Autodesk Inventor (which require only reasonable amount of RAM and a good display), play some extremely old games of my youth with HOMM4 being the most system-eating one and sometimes like to watch some good match. And i travel a lot by train all the time using my thinkpad. That's it.

I'd rather take some mint/nmint T42/T43 than a poor T60. I have one T43 with good specifications (stolen by my wife :S) - it cost me about 300$, but it was almost brand new. 3 cycles of battery, never opened. Now I am looking for a second one, maybe a bit better but not too good - and I must say its really hard to get something reasonable in my country.

That's why I am looking for refurbrished IBM. Unaccessable in Poland.
I will take a look over marketplace here.
If you know any sure reseller, please let me know.

#5 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 5:28 pm

You will have no problems if you buy from sellers like underclocker, ajkula66 (specializes in T43/T43p), harryc, BobA (or myself) to mention just a few.

In general, most members with higher numbers of posts can be considered reliable, but post-count alone is by no means a standard or a rule!

You can also check the "Positive feedback for FAIR Traders" thread at the top of the Marketforum.

ajkula66 · #6 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:48 pm

Having looked at the linked site with more scrutiny, I had to start laughing...

T30...factory reconditioned...you've got to be kidding me...

If we were in year 2006, I'd say OK but in 2011...no way no how....

And their prices are honestly quite high, even if we take them seriously, which is pretty hard to do...

BTW, wujstefan, you've got a misprint in your signature...that T60p is either not a 14" unit, or it's not FlexView-equipped, since it can't be both...

wujstefan · #7 Post by **wujstefan** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:01 am

I cannot be IPS, but FlexView - yup. Check the hardware support provided by IBM.
Actually it does look like FlexView anyway; angles of unchanged colors/image.

RealBlackStuff: Thanks for recommendations. I must say a person with a Thinkpad without knowledge of this forum can't get his machine to real work

lukee · #8 Post by **lukee** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:50 am

wujstefan, I am just wondered with your signature... there were not any 14,1inch LCDs in T4x/T6x LCDs available with FlexView technology.

wujstefan · #9 Post by **wujstefan** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:45 am

Must claim you were right. Hard to say but you know better what I have

Will change it in a minute.

lukee · #10 Post by **lukee** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:16 am

Sorry that I had to tell it to you. The 14,1inch LCD and FlexView combination just reminded me something from my essential knowledge about ThinkPads

#11 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:01 am

When you change it, correct this as well:
You have: 14,1' 1400x1050 SXGA +
You need: 14.1" 1400x1050 SXGA+

14,1' = HUGE = ~430 centimeters
14.1" = real = ~36 centimeters
' = foot
" = inch

UrbanFarmer · #12 Post by **UrbanFarmer** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:32 pm

I bought a great refurbished T43 from Overstock.com for ~$285.

It was in pristine, new condition. I wonder if it had ever been used. The battery was obviously old and 1/2 worn out. I swapped in a 9 cell battery from Ebay, installed Ubuntu, and I couldn't ask for a better computer.

So you don't have to go through IBM/Lenovo to get a good deal on a refurb.

Good luck!